Iowa/Illinois Vacation

This is a little late considering we traveled to Iowa and Illinois for a little family fun at the end of July, but oh well! We started off the 9 days or so that we were gone with a trip to Des Moines. The first night consisted of going out to eat and then to Prairie Meadows (a horse racing track). The boys loved watching the horses race. Sutton really enjoyed running around saying "hi" to everyone. Macalan loved it when his cousin Allison pretended to be the gate and he was the horse who would come charging out of it!

The next day we headed to Adventureland. It was a great morning to be at the water park. This proved to be another example of how Sutton is the gas and Macalan is the break. Sutton was happy to stick his head in everything that would spray him and he really wanted to swim by himself. He refused to be in a floaty and got very upset when he was held in the water. Macalan on the other hand wanted nothing to do with anything that would spray him and was content to sit in the floaty and get pushed around the lazy river.

Later in the day (after the boys had 3 hour naps) we headed back to check out the rides. Now here is where Macalan shocked us. He was asking to go on rides that I would have never dreamed he would want to go on, including the log flume. One ride that we went on he put his hands up like it was a roller coaster and afterwards said, "That wore me out!"

The next day my dad and niece joined us and we headed to Illinois where Kyle's family has campers at a campground. The boys had so much fun with their grandpa, grandma, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Kyle and I took advantage of the extra help and went to the Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport several nights in a row where we saw some great performances.

One of the days we traveled to Bourbonais, Illinois to see the Bears at training camp. It was a very annoying/long car ride with lots of construction, but eventually we got there. Despite the extreme heat and two little boys that hadn't napped and were too young for the play area, we made the best of it and got some good autographs and pictures. Sutton got to meet Staley Bear and get a picture with him. Macalan reverted to his introvert ways and said he was "too scary." I've never been totally die-hard when it comes to football, but it was pretty neat to see those guys in action and I know it meant a lot to Kyle. He kept stealing the camera away from me for fear that I wouldn't get the right shots. :)

I'm so grateful we had that time to make so many terrific memories with our boys!

4th of July

I haven't been very good about blogging lately. I guess we've just been having too much fun!

The 4th of July was pretty quiet and relaxed this year. We enjoyed the parade in St. Peter with a co-worker of mine and her family. Macalan wasn't too sure about the loud fire trucks, but he LOVED collecting all the candy! Sutton was happy to sit and watch the floats go by and munch on Fruit Loops. Afterwards we enjoyed a picnic in the park and some playtime at the playground.

Later in the day we headed to Vernon Center to their fun, small town parade. There was a fun band playing after the parade and some different food vendors so we hung around for a little while, but when 7:00 rolled around we realized we'd done everything there was to do and decided to head home.

We don't live very far from Vernon Center so after bath time we popped them back into their car seats and drove to a good spot to watch the fireworks. They weren't the best I've ever seen, but good enough for the boys and it was fun to just be together as a family.

POTTY TRAINING UPDATE:
Macalan has been doing really well with potty training. He has been holding it a majority of the time until we have him try and he's even started telling us when he has to go on occasion! The first time he did this was in the middle of church on Sunday. I rushed him to the lobby and we made it in time! He was so proud of himself and so were we. I haven't been brave enough to put him in undies yet. Maybe in the next week or two. I'm just grateful we've made this much progress!

The rest of our summer is going to be very busy. It seems like we are going to be gone somewhere new each week. At least it's all fun stuff!

Tubes

After what seemed liked a forever long waiting game, Sutton finally got tubes yesterday. I'll try to summarize the story as simply as possible.

Back in March we took the boys to the Baby and Kids Expo where they were doing free ear screenings. I opted to have their ears checked and fluid was discovered in Sutton's ears. We went back a month later to have them re-checked and the ENT seemed to think he should gets tubes put in. We agreed to the procedure, but when I met with Sutton's pediatrician at the pre-op he thought we were jumping the gun a bit. I was happy he said that because I felt sort of funny about it too, but figured the ENT knew what he was talking about. We pushed it off another month and a few weeks ago he still had the fluid.

With concerns for what the fluid might be doing to his hearing and possible speech delays everyone agreed it was a good idea to get the tubes put in for sure. We were hoping maybe he would start talking more and stop all the cave man grunting and 'roid rages. He tends to get easily upset (a huge personality change considering we used to call him our resident pot head) which results in toys being thrown across the room and lots of screaming. We can only assume that he does this out of frustration because he can't always tell us what he wants or needs.

Well surgery came and went and, so far, he hasn't been phased. When I went back to see him afterwards he was a little fussy, but nothing some apple juice and food couldn't cure! By the time we got home he was running around and playing just like usual. We'll see what the next few days bring. I'm hoping to at least get a few more words strung together so I can at least prevent a few more toys from being hurled through the air like rocket propelled grenades!

I wish I had pictures to post of him on surgery day, but they are all on Kyle's phone. He looked so cute in the little gown with his chubby little legs! So we'll have to settle for a picture that shows what his face usually looks like just before he gets upset. :)

Play dough and potty training round ??

With all the icky weather this week we had to find something to do to stay entertained. We made a really great homemade play dough today. The boys had fun playing and I didn't feel like I needed to do the finger sweep quite as fast when Sutton tried eating it!

This week I've taken on potty training Macalan AGAIN! Hopefully this time sticks. He's had more accidents than successes and I'm starting to run out of fun things to entice him to sit on the potty. We aren't above bribery either. Kyle bought a bunch of the new cars from Cars 2 to try to get Macalan interested. Each time he goes on the potty he gets to pick a new car. I plan on having him go 2 times, then 3, etc. as he gets better so that eventually he won't need the extrinsic reward. Sutton has really enjoyed sitting on the potty chair when it's not in use by Macalan so with any luck he'll be ten times easier to get into undies!

Speaking of Cars 2, we are really excited for the opening on Friday! We've made plans to go with one of Macalan's daycare buddies so it should be fun. I think we're more excited than Macalan is. Although he did get pretty excited today when he saw there was only 2 links left on his Cars 2 paper chain count down.

I included a picture of the new cars he has earned so far with potty training.

Father's Day

We spent a pretty low-key Father's Day together today. Of course the boys were up super early so I let Kyle sleep in while we got his presents ready to go. Earlier in the week I had Macalan paint on a rather large piece of paper (which Kyle had already seen because I had no where in the house to hide it while it was drying), I also made a DVD of some of my favorite pics from the last year with some great "daddy songs," I also gave him 2 8x10 collages of the pictures I managed to get while he was working late on Friday (thanks Katie and Audrey for providing assistance with this).

True to form he cried a little bit while watching the video we made. Kyle has always been a tough, yet very sensitive guy. A trait that I love and I know he has passed on to our boys. While watching the video with him and the boys today I couldn't help but continuously look over at them and think "I am blessed." I know what a lucky woman I am to have such a great husband and father for my kids. He is always going above and beyond to provide for our family and to secure a good future for us and our kids. He helps me be a better mom and person each day and has supported me in all of my personal and professional goals.

Life isn't always perfect and we've certainly had our ups and downs. I thank God every day for blessing me with such an amazing family, especially for a husband who will hold my hand through the good and bad times and lead by example for my children.

Happy Father's Day Kyle! We LOVE you!

Wedding Dress Party

Last week I had the opportunity to take pictures at a wedding dress party. All the guys were gone fishing so the ladies decided to have a party. It was such a fun idea. Those who came either wore their wedding dress or brought it along to show off. Here are just a few pictures from the party.

Let summer begin!

Our first fun trip of the summer was last weekend. We headed to Iowa (technically Illinois) to a campground that Kyle's family stays at. Macalan tried out fishing for the first time and he actually touched the worms! I was shocked because he tends to be more like me, sort of a scaredy cat about those things. He seemed to enjoy it so hopefully we can take him more often throughout the summer.

Sutton had a fever for most of the trip, but with lots of cuddling and naps he did just fine. I was surprised at how much fun the boys had playing with whatever random stuff we could find to entertain them. Who knew a garbage can lid, sand, and a few trucks could provide hours of entertainment!

When we arrived home my sister and niece came up to go to the Taylor Swift concert. It was a great show. It was probably the most entertaining concert I've ever been to. It was my niece's first concert so I was so happy to experience it with her. I was surprised at how many girls were just sobbing throughout the show. I'm used to cars, bugs, and dirt so this took me off guard. As much as I would love a little girl someday, I'm perfectly happy with my guys! :)