Halloween

So, this was our first year to do Halloween with the kids! Drew was a frog and Ty was a football player--both were the cutest I've ever seen! Ty caught on quickly (he knew what to do after getting his first candy bar from the first house!) and had so much trick-or-treating. I think Drew was just wondering what happened to his hands! We had a lot of fun walking around with friends and visiting neighbors. Here are a few pictures from our night:


my little froggy

it's not so easy to pick up toys when you're a frog

getting ready
our little football player--Ty insisted on carrying daddy's football instead of a small one! :)

Daddy showed Ty how to hold it, but it was hard to hold it like that


trick-or-treating

Play-Doh

This was Ty's first time playing with Play-Doh! He loved it! It's so fun--squeezing, squishing, smashing and making animals with the little stencils! I think it kept him occupied for about an hour today! Here are a few snapshots...

family picture

In the next couple of weeks, my goal is to get a family picture with both boys smiling. Is that possible??? Here is our first (of many, I'm sure) attempts (with neither smiling). They smile all the time...just not at the camera. Sigh.

our crazy, eternity-long roadtrip

This past Thursday, we loaded up the car and the four of us headed to Port Washington, Wisconsin for my cousin Dana's wedding. What I optimistically thought would be "just" a 9 hour drive (7 according to Google Maps with 2 extra hours calculated in for feeding and changing the little ones) turned into an 11 hour drive--each way! We were in the car literally all day long! I forgot to factor in rush hour traffic in Chicago, and we missed the rehearsal dinner.

The boys did extremely well in the car, and they arrived at our hotel with much unexpected energy at 9 PM, which was really fun but not so conducive for all four of us falling asleep in the same room! (I think we all finally fell asleep around midnight!)

A definite highlight of the trip for both Corey and me was watching Ty and Drew play together. Ty would hang onto the pack-n-play (where Drew was) and make a game out of either shaking it or falling down next to Drew, and Drew LOVED it! Laughter was contagious this weekend--it was so great! They would just lay on the floor and laugh with/at each other (I captured just a small sample of one of these moments in the video below). Drew thought it was hilarious when Ty pushed him over!

With no naps on Friday, I was surprised that both Ty and Drew made it through the wedding without us having to take one or both of them out of the sanctuary. They both actually fell asleep in the car on the way to the reception. When we woke them up, so began the biggest joint meltdown I've ever seen. Ty cried so hard he made himself gag and almost hyperventilate, and Drew was flipping out too! Needless to say, we put them both back in their car seats and headed straight home, and we never looked back! We never made it inside the reception hall. We did, however, get to stop and spend the night in Chicago with our good friends, the Muller's, and that was a definite highlight! We miss them (and little Tommy) in the Lou!

this makes my heart melt every time...

splashing

This past weekend, our friends Brett and Maggie visited with their daughter, Ellie! We had so much fun catching up (but not as much fun as Ty and Ellie had together!) After their splash party in the tub, I think Maggie and I were just as wet as they were! So cute...maybe a budding romance will ensue? :)

pt...day 2

TY IS POTTY TRAINED...is what I'd like to report, but that's just not the case. So, today was not much better than yesterday. In fact, I think it was even less successful. The underwear had only been on for a short time this morning (after sleeping in a diaper) when Ty said something about going potty. He grabbed my hand, and I was so excited until I realized that instead of heading toward the bathroom he was leading me to where he had ALREADY peed on the floor (thankfully it was on the wood floor and not the carpet and thankfully it was just peepee!) After that, there was a lot of "No, not like it" about the toilet and an unwillingness to even try sitting on it. It could have easily become a power struggle between the two of us! At one point, I found myself trying to bribe the poor kid!

As a joke, Corey sometimes tells me that he will pay me $10 if I _______ (usually it's something I don't really want to do at that moment (like rub his shoulders). I tell him the same thing after I ask him if he'll clean up the kitchen that night. (I think it's funny because it's obviously not a good deal since his money is my money and vice versa.) So, at one point today I jokingly told Ty, "I'll pay you ten dollars if you go peepee on the potty." He just looked at me and repeated, "dollars." Oh well.

I've decided not to give up but to stick it out for a week. At that point, if there is still a lot of reluctance, we may quit P.T. for now and try again in a few weeks. My only encouragement at this point (I'm being dramatic here) is that he WILL one day be potty trained...nobody goes off to college in diapers, right? :) So, my last question is: Is there anyone out there who wants to volunteer to potty train my son for me??? I'll pay you $10! ;)

potty training

Well, after days (maybe weeks) of excuses (on my part, not Ty's), we took the plunge and started potty training today. We began our morning at Wal-Mart getting all of our supplies (underwear--a fun combination of Elmo and sports, reward treats, snacks, juice, etc), and I was pumped! I had read a how-to-potty-train-in-a-day book, had all of my what-nots, and had the peepee-on-the-potty pep talk with Ty--we were READY!

We put Ty in his first pair of underwear when we got home from the store and started our official training around 11. By 2:00, I was ready to call it quits and try again in a few months! Whew! It's hard! I probably should have started in the morning (which I will do tomorrow), but I didn't have all of the necessary "supplies." So, my day was filled with Ty either not being willing to even sit on the potty (I even tried bribary tactics, but he kept saying "not like it") or Ty saying he needed to use the potty but not really having to go--I think we made 30 trips to the bathroom today for "false alarms". It made me tired.

However, I'm still encouared and excited (he stayed dry for long periods of time today so that is exciting!). Tomorrow is a new day! And, Ty is the cutest thing walking around in just his underwear! Take a look...
(I love the socks! And look at those Elmo undies!) :)

handy man in training

apple picking

One thing we've been wanting to do while we are in St. Louis is to go apple picking at Eckert's Farm, and we finally made it out there! It was such a fun trip! First, we rode in a wagon out to the apple trees where we picked lots of yummy apples off the trees and even got to sample some along the way (that was Ty's favorite part!) Then, we took another wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch and picked out the perfect eight pound pumpkin for our porch! The weather was beautiful, all of the workers were so friendly...one of them even let Ty "drive" his tractor! It was such a fun morning! (Oh, and I have a really yummy apple crisp recipe if anyone wants it!) :)

looking for the perfect apples...

found one...

sampling the first fruits of our "labor" :)

ty and laine eating apples

riding on Miss "Enemie's" shoulders, which is what Ty calls her because he can't really say "Emily" very well yet! He LOVES his Emily and Nelson!

in the pumpkin patch (someone didn't mind missing out on all the action!)

driving the tractor--this was a definite highlight for Ty (the farmer was so sweet to let him get up there!)
in case you're wondering, they're in front of a really large fan here

little stud

Drew is so funny! He moves so quickly and he's into everything! And, he just got to that point where he can pull up, but he can't get back down so he often gets stuck! This happens often especially in his crib. I'll put him in there for a nap and a few minutes later I hear him crying for me to come rescue him! I remember this so vividly with Ty! It just takes a few weeks for them to learn that they can get back down on their own. Poor little helpless things! Here are a few pictures of Drew...I think my favorite is the one of him in the hoodie...what a little stud! Oh, and Ty loves to sit in the bouncy seat, which works for Drew who likes to stand on the opposite side! I love watching them play together!