Oh how I love potty training!

JUST KIDDING!

Okay, really...I do not think we are going to get Tate potty trained by the time he's 3. Is it possible that he just plain isn't ready? He doesn't get it!

We bought him a potty toy...you know, as bribery. Because that's how we roll! :)
He wants the potty toy...he wants it bad. He will sit and sit on the potty and then he'll get up and then sit and sit on it again and then get up and over and over. Then one time he'll get up and be just playing and suddenly pee. It doesn't matter where, he'll just pee in his undies while doing whatever else he's doing. He doesn't even care...it doesn't bother him.
So we say, "uh oh, you went potty in your underwear. Let's go clean you up. Next time you need to put that pee in the potty." He says, "otay".

I really don't think he's ready. I know by this age he should be, but I don't think he is. It's so frustrating! I mean, he's going to be 4 by the time he's potty trained!

But he is cute!

"Lord, please let me figure out this potty training stuff."

Or maybe a big glass of water will help me go...

I don't know whether to keep trying or to let it be and try again in a few weeks or month.

The Kremers Visit

One of my oldest friends Kay and her husband Ryan came to visit on Saturday evening. We have a very low key, but fun evening. We ate homemade salsa and homemade pizza. We played with Tate, watched him dance, gave him a bath and just chatted. It was nice. This morning, we all woke up and Sean and I made chocolate chip pancakes, hash browns and bacon and again sat around, watched Ratatoullie (however it's spelled!) and chatted again. They left around 1:00 to head back to Kansas City. It was so great seeing them and spending time with them!

Tate was quite fond of Ryan...

He was not fond of this little girl though...

This is Kay and Ryan's dog, Gidgett. She is a bit snippy with kids, but is harmless. She is so tiny!

Sean likes her too...

and I think she likes Sean!

And she was chilly, so she snuggled into Kay's sweatshirt...

Thanks for coming and visiting Kay, Ryan and Gidgett! We miss you already!

And this is what we do on Friday evenings...

We build LEGO towers.
Look at how proud Sean is for building this 7 foot tall tower that managed to stay standing for several minutes. I must say, it was pretty impressive!

Tate was pretty excited about it too...

And by realizing that I took 5 pictures of it, apparently I was pretty excited about it as well!

Yes people...we are an exciting family.

Union Park

Saturday afternoon, Tate and I met up with my friend (and co-worker) Jenny and her son Evan. We went to Union Park in Des Moines and ate lunch and the boys played. In the 8 years I've lived in Des Moines (WOW...it's been 8 years already!), I've never been to Union Park. It's a great park with a really cool, old carousel, several fun play areas and TONS of green space. I can't believe I have never been there!

Tate looked longingly at the carousel while we waited for our turn to ride...

Evan and Jenny were having fun riding the elephant...

In the meantime Tate was crying...the whole time. We road THE BENCH! I don't know what he was so afraid of, but in an effort to make him think it was fun, I said, "isn't this awsome, Tate?!" and he responded with a shaking fist and screamed, "NO, THIS IS NOT AWSOME!"
Well, okay then.

So we went to the park and played.
Evan is so cute...

Tate's pretty cute too...

What a little sweetie!!!!

It was a lot of fun to just play and chat with Jenny for a couple of hours and the weather was PERFECT too!

What else would we do on a nice night like tonight?

Well go on a walk of course!
We had beautiful weather yet again tonight!
We put Tate in the wagon and headed out after dinner. We love walking around and looking at all of the houses in our neighborhood. Tate likes going over bumps in the wagon and humming so he can hear his voice vibrate while he's being pulled over the bumpy sidewalks.

And what's our nightly walk without a photo shoot of Tate in the wagon?
Look at my handsome boys!!!!

There are a couple of things I love about the picture below.
First, I love the fact that Tate is SO HAPPY and Sean is beaming.
Second, I love the fact that I, for probably the first time, can see down Tate's throat without tonsils and see the open airway! I know it's been 8 1/2 months since his surgery, but I will never forget my poor baby's swollen tonsils and the fact that he had such a tough time breathing and swallowing. This picture of Tate's wide open airway brings me such joy!
(if you click on it, you'll see what I'm talking about because the picture will be larger.)

We watched the Aplington-Parkersburg game on ESPN tonight. It was nice to be watching football again, but I did get emotional when they walked onto the field. Tate is so sweet...he's started this new thing when I cry when watching a sad movie or show, he runs to get a wipe and comes up and wipes my tears and says, "I wipe your face, don't cry Mommy." Oh so sweet...that almost makes me want to cry more when he does that!

We're looking forward to Kay and Ryan arriving tomorrow afternoon and spending the evening with them! As usual, I am sure this weekend will FLY by!

It feels like fall...

...and I couldn't be happier! Oh how I LOVE the fall! We had breakfast for supper tonight. I don't know what it was, but for some reason, the smell of bacon just smelled like fall to me. MMMM...dinner was delicious! Breakfast for supper is one of my favorites! Tate loves scrambled eggs possibly better than anything else...add a waffle and some banana to that and we had one happy and full boy after dinner. He doesn't do bacon though, which is fine with Sean and I because it means more for us! :)

We have the windows open, are wearing comfy clothes and are cozied up with blankets. Love it! I think I'm going to put Tate in jeans for the first time for months this weekend. I can't wait to see our little cutey in jeans and sweatshirts! We're also looking forward to football starting this weekend! Sean is super excited that on Labor Day Weekend my dad got him, Paul and Brigg tickets to the IA vs. UNI game. The first Hawkeye game of the season is always so fun...I wish I could go!

Is it bad that I am thinking about making chili sometime in the next couple of weeks?

I love the fall!!!!!

Is it the weekend yet???

Ugh. I wish it was! I am exhausted already and it's only Tuesday.

I have been sitting here now for about fifteen minutes looking at that last sentence I wrote, trying to think of something else to say.

I got nothin'.

I updated the wall of photos...

I posted about how it is time to update my pictures in the frames I have hanging in our house here. And thank you to the great deals I get on Shutterfly (probably because I am one of their best customers!), I was able to get free shipping and SUPER deals on a few pictures to replace the old ones. It was practically free! There's nothing like getting a good deal! I left some of the old ones up so now there's a mix of 'old' and new. I love having more recent pictures up now! I'll have to take some pictures to show you. Tate has been a little bit better at smiling for pictures lately, so Sean I discussed possibly doing professional pictures. The last time we had professional pictures were Tate's 1 year pictures! I don't have a lack of pictures, that's for sure, but still...I would like to do some professional pictures of our whole family. Instead of doing them and paying an arm and leg, we decided we'd just have my sister take some pictures of us when we go to Muscatine next time. That way, if Tate isn't cooperative, it's not a big deal.

OH, by the way, Cassie...you're going to be taking some pictures of Tate and us as a family when we come to Muscatine next! :)

In other news...

I got a call today from my dear friend since 6th grade, Kay! She and her husband are coming to town next weekend and will be staying on Saturday night with us! I am so excited and always welcome the opportunity to spend time with her. They live in Kansas City and so the times we get to see them are few and farther between than we'd like!

And in even other news...

Tate things he's Usain Bolt. Since watching him break the world records the other day, Tate has been running everywhere saying, "I am BOLT!" It started when Usain Bolt took his shoes off (as he always does) right after the race and Tate noticed that they were Pumas. Well Tate immediately got up and ran to where his shoes are and grabbed HIS Pumas and said, "I want my shoes on!" Then he got into the position like he was in the starting blocks and yelled, "GO!" and stood up and started running through the house. It was pretty funny. And he hasn't stopped since...every day he does it. He was doing it ALL evening. He even imitated the famous lightening bolt action Usain does!

And that's all for tonight folks!

It could've been the first time

I have never in my life gone an entire summer (aside from probably when I was a baby/toddler) without a sunburn. In fact, I think I probably am nearly sunburnt all summer long! I am what some people may consider borderline albino...ha. I don't get tan...at all. Just burnt. Honestly, I can be in the sun for 5 minutes and will have a burn. So I have been pretty proud this summer that I have gone the entire summer without a sunburn. That is until today. I am so mad at myself!!! I got burnt at the beach. My face, shins, arms and scalp. So did Sean...his legs, head, arms, back, chest...his is worse than mine. Tate (thankfully!) didn't get burnt aside from about a penny sized spot on his scalp that Sean noticed.

I ruined my chance at going the whole summer burn free. Annoying!

the perfect day

for a picnic on the beach and then some fun in the sun and on the sand!

We headed to Raccoon River Park and Beach today.
We packed a picnic lunch, some sand toys, soaked ourselves in sunscreen and headed out!
As usual, Tate thought is was "tho awthum!" :)

It's so amazing...

...that I have a husband who is such an unbelievable father.
I think Tate's pretty proud to call him Daddy too!

I would say that it definitely helps that Sean is a complete child at heart!

concentration

Tate sticks his tongue out whenever he is in deep concentration.

He must have been concentrating really hard when he was building this sand castle...

Another evening walk...

We had yet another night of PERFECT weather, so we went on another walk. Tate was excited to put on his Manny sweatshirt again and yet again said, "thith ith awthum!" as we were walking down the road. He was so happy to go on our walk that he willingly smiled for a couple of pictures and for a change, I was actually in FRONT of the camera for one of them!

I love this picture of my two favorite boys in the world...

A lunchtime play date...

We went to one if my coworkers/friend's house today and Tater got to play with...

this little, adorable man, Jaxson...

They had a great time. Sean and Dave (my coworker Jamie's husband) talked sports, Jamie and I chatted and Tate and Jaxson played with all of Jaxson's toys. Jamie made a fabulous lunch for us too. Thank you Jamie, Dave and Jaxson for a fun lunch date!

A Nice Evening

I can say that I may have never in my life been more excited for a work week to be over than I was this week! It was so unbelievably stressful at work this week and I am SO ready for a nice, relaxing weekend! We grilled steaks and potatoes tonight and enjoyed this most beautiful weather!!!! We even put sweatshirts on and went on a walk.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this weather...it feels like fall and fall is my favorite season! Fall stands for not only great weather, but also for football, everyone in my little family's birthdays, our wedding anniversary, windows open for some fresh air and sweatshirts with comfy pants! There's nothing like fall!

Tate was so excited to put on his Manny sweatshirt tonight and hop into the wagon for a walk. We weren't 1/2 a block down the road when we heard Tate say, "thith ith awthum!" He is such a little sweetie pie! As you can see, he even willingly smiled for a photo!!! I think he loves fall as much as we do!

Gone Fishin'

With a stick.
In a baby pool.
In the front yard.

Yes...we are a classy family.

The Stick

Tate loved playing with this stick like it was a sword. Not really the safest toy ever, but fun none the less! I don't know what it is about pictures of him looking at me out of the corner of his eye...it just cracks me up!

And then we took the stick away...

Tate loves visiting Nana and Papa's house...

Nana and Papa P. have such a nice, large yard that Tate can run and play in. We cannot wait to have a larger yard someday for Tate to play! In the meantime, we will just visit Nana and Papa P. whenever we can!