Potty Training Day 2

Marcus playing this afternoon
Big boy Carson

The boys before church Sunday
Cheesy Cole

Our babies are growing up...
Marcus is such a good encourager to his brothers!

While the twins are napping, and Marcus is busy working on a play-doh project, I'm finding time to update our blog...FINALLY! On Saturday we decided to spend the majority of the day working with the twins on potty training. I was relieved when Levi wanted me to wait until a Saturday to start, so that he could help out and not miss this fun milestone, because I remembered how tiring it was working with one child. Let me tell you, even with the two of us helping them, it was STILL very tiring. We were worn out by Saturday evening. All in all, I think it was a pretty successful day. On Sunday we had church, then the boys naps, then dinner at David and Deann's for Meghan's birthday, so we pretty much took a break from it all. I jumped back into it with the boys this morning and so far they've each had a very good day! Cole has really surprised me in that I thought he might be a little more difficult, but that has not been the case. In fact, on Saturday when he did have two accidents he actually started screaming and crying, yelling "Yucky, Yucky, Yucky!" I was so surprised that he even cared, as there are not many gross things that have EVER bothered that kid. It's so great to know he DOES have standards! :) Today he hasn't had ANY accidents at all. Carson has had a few, but usually as he is on his way to the potty chair. So we're gettin' there!

It was a fun weekend to celebrate Meghan's (our niece) birthday with her. She turned 8 on Sunday. Saturday she had a party at the park, with games, and a picnic. Then on Sunday night we had a family dinner to celebrate with her. She is growing up so fast...it seems like yesterday we were traveling up here to see her when she was born. Speaking of newborns, little Allison is doing great! She weighed a little over 7 lbs at her two week appointment on Friday. She is such a doll!

In a few weeks we will be heading to KC for Maven's (our nephew) first birthday party! I can't wait to see the little guy! He is changing so much every time we see him.

Yesterday I got all the boys signed up for their swimming lessons. They will start on June 1 and go for three weeks. After reading the requirements we decided to go ahead an put Marcus in the advanced class since he seems very comfortable in the water now, so he will go on Tues/Thurs nights. The twins will be in the beginner class on Mon/Weds nights. They are all three very excited about it!

Catching Up

Easter Sunday 2009

Cole and Daddy on the waterslide
Marcus getting ready to come down on his own
Carson and Daddy

Our little fish

The boys

Carson

The boys at Chuck E. Cheese

Bedtime the first night of vacation

Carson going down the little waterslide

The boys excited to go swimming

Hanging out

We are so thankful that our niece, Allison, is healthy and prayers on her behalf have been answered! The doctors did the x-rays again the day after she was born and can find no trace of the cyst that they had so closely been following! The Lord has done an amazing work! Not only is she doing well, but she and Deann were also able to come home a little more than 24 hours after she was born! When we got back from vacation I was able to go over and hold her. What a sweetie! The rest of my family has been battleing colds all week, so for now they are keeping their distance from her.

Well, we also had a very nice time of vacation last week! There were some pretty unexpected things, but over all it was a great time to get away and have time with the boys. I mentioned in an earlier post that we had car trouble on the way up to SD, but that we thought we had filled up with some bad gas...that was wishful thinking! Thankfully we did make it to Sioux Falls before things really got crazy with the car, but also it was good because there is a Chrysler dealer there that took good care of us. We called and they had us come right in to get it looked at, diagnosed it quickly, then ordered parts. Even better, we still had it under warranty! The only down side is that we had to stay a couple days longer than planned and get a rental car, waiting for the parts to arrive and be installed. It runs great now! We traveled back home on Friday in time for Levi to take call Sat. and Sun.

The boys absolutely loved swimming! It was so encouraging to see how much Carson and Marcus loved the water. Cole definitely enjoyed it, but was not quite as eager as the other two boys. Carson actually surprised us in that he is pretty much a little dare devil, even in the water...so we really had to keep an eye on him. I'm looking into getting all three boys in swim lessons this summer, so they are excited about that. It looks like it will be in June, which is good as Levi doesn't have to leave until July for his heart/neuro rotation. Since all three boys are still pretty young there has to be one adult per child in the pool with them. Grandpa Kelly volunteered to help us out, so we now have them all covered.

While vacation was fun, it is very nice to be back home too! I'm just catching up on laundry and stuff today. Fun, fun! :)

Our newest niece

Allison Deann Kelly made her way into the world at 1:20 today!  She is 6lbs 5 oz and 20 inches long.  Deann and the baby are doing great.  The doctors have evaluated her and everything seems to be ok, she is breathing on her own and is just beautiful! In fact, the pediatrician did some X-rays of her chest and do not even see the cyst they had been so closely following for the past several months!!  What an answer to prayer!  They want to check her again tomorrow.  I tried to download some pic's but can't get it to post on my blog. (Must be the South Dakota force field...YES, we are still here...) You can check out their blog  by clicking HERE.

Great day for a BIRTHday!

Please be praying for David and Deann today as they are down in Columbia and she is about ready to give birth to baby Allison.  We're praying for a safe delivery for both Deann and the baby, as well as for baby Allison after she arrives.  The doctors will be ready should any issues present themselves as far as the cyst in her chest.  David us updating their blog with details here.  We are so thankful to the Lord for this new life!

Family "Bacation"...

On Sunday we left our house at 7:30 a.m. to make our way to South Dakota.  Levi is required to come up here each semester for several days of classes/conference things for school.  He wanted the boys and I to join him, so here we are.  We're staying at a fun hotel with a toddler age pool, with slides and waterfalls.  It should be a fun week.  The boys are so excited!

We knew we would be traveling through a snowstorm warning yesterday, but we made our way just fine.  We hit the heaviest snow in Des Moines, stopped for gas, and shortly after our car seemed to be having issues.  While this was a bit worrisome we thought it might have something to do with the gas we just filled up with, rather than transmission issues.  Levi stopped and put some Heat in the gas tank and we kept going...several hours down the road the car started behaving normal again.  We are so thankful because the thought of paying for a new transmission (worse case scenario) is NEVER a fun one.  God is always looking after us and our needs.  We pulled into Sioux Falls around 4:30.  The boys were very excited to get to our hotel and check EVERYTHING out.  We have only stayed at a hotel with all 3 of them one other time, and that is when my cousin got married...the twins were 10 months old.  THAT was an experience, let me tell you!  So far we've had a great time.  Cole keeps saying, "We're on bacation!"  Yesterday we were waiting in the car while Levi checked us in and Marcus said, "Mom, this is going to be really special."  I definitely think he is right. :)

Potty Training the Twins

Here's the deal. I wanted to wait to do potty training when BOTH of the twins were ready. However, it seems like Carson is pushing us into it whether Cole is ready or not. This is a good thing though, because it seems like it will be a fairly easy task for him. He has successfully gone on the big boy potty a few times now, and yesterday wanted to strut his stuff in his big boy underwear. Since we didn't have much going on we let him wear them for the first time. We're getting ready to leave in the morning for South Dakota for several days, so when we get home we'll really get serious about all of this. Hopefully Cole will catch on and get excited about it too. He was SO sweet yesterday when Carson was sitting there trying to go. I was encouraging him and Cole kept patting Carson on the leg saying, "good job buddy!" It was precious!

Warm Spring Days

Cole going through the "car wash"

Marcus

Smiley

Teamwork

Carson saying, "See you later honey!" :)

Cole putting "gas" in his "car"

Marcus and Hannah

These pic's were from a couple of weeks ago when we had a few days of really nice warm weather. We can't wait for that warm weather to return to us...quickly please! The boys enjoyed riding their bikes around in the garage and on the driveway. They get pretty creative, so it's fun to watch the things they come up with. On this particular day they were pumping gas into their "cars" many times. Also there is a picture here of a playdate with Marcus friend Hannah. She is a little bit younger than Marcus, but they get along really great. It was fun for me to spend some time with Leslie, Hannah's Mommy, that afternoon too!