Richmond Visit

This weekend, we took advantage of Al's 1-Weekend-A-Month off, to visit Richmond. The Wasch family was gracious enough to house us and we had a great time with them! Hannah is far more mobile and the kids had fun with her! Thanks for sharing your toys, Hannah!

On Saturday morning, we headed to Chick-Fil-A to meet up with a fellow TPS teacher and friend, Heather, and her son Augy, who is 1 month younger then Alden. The last time we had hung out, both Heather and I were about 7 mo pregnant! The playground there is great- the little kids section is a jungle theme with all kinds of buttons to push that make various jungle nosies. The kids LOVED it!! Even though it was a short visit, it was still fun- thanks for meeting up with us!

The rest of Saturday, Karen and I hung out while various kids napped, but we were able to squeeze in a trip to Hancock Fabrics so I could get all the "stuff" to make Addie's flower girl dress!! Hannah even helped pick out the material- she's got good taste that girl! That evening, the guys headed out to watch a Richmond Renegades hockey game- they say they had fun. Karen and I chatted and played Phase 10. For what is probably the 1st and only time in my life, I won. I wonder if Karen let me?

Sunday we were able to go to our old church and enjoy a wonderful worship service. It was also nice to see and catch-up with old friends. After church, we came home to a fantastic meal that Karen had prepared. Yummy!! With full bellies and tired kids, we headed home. It was a great trip- thanks for having us Karen, Mike and Hannah!!

Heather and I with our kids!

The kids playing in the jungle

Hannah keeping an eye on Addie

Addie "helping" Hannah with her sippy cup.

LOVING the Ball Popper toy!

Working together to totally empty the box of toys- tasting each one, handing to the other to taste. I guess you could say they were kissing they swapped so much saliva!!

In-Car entertainment- pretzel rings!

Being a man, he just wanted them 1 at a time!

Addie's First Date

Addie has 2 special friends here. Anna is her special girl friend who lives in our same neighborhood. Her other special friend is Grayson and he only lives a few miles away. I'm so thankful that she has these friends as she learns so much from them. Not to mention that their Mom's are pretty awesome, too!! They also come with pretty snazzy Dad's and very tolerant younger siblings.

With that said, Addie had a difficult choice the other day. She had earned chocolate icecream at BJ's and could choose 1 friend to take. She had a long time to think about it- it took her almost 3 weeks to fill her "I Can Still Sleep Quietly And Well Without My Paci" chart. In the end, Grayson won out. I'm sure Anna will be the recipient of the next reward....

Here are the pics from her special "date"with Grayson. As you can tell, 3 parents and 2 younger siblings were there- so there wasn't much room to be really romantic....

Waiting to dig in!

Yumm!!

A girl and her prize!


Grayson was excited about his icecream

Really romantic...

Playing with Avery!

Ear Infection Pics

I've already shared about Alden's double ear infections- here are 2 pics of what he's been like- notice the extremes.....

Happy (as long as the paci was in his mouth), ready to cook me a meal or make a mixed drink!

Complete melt down! Yes, we are in public, and I still grabbed the camera to document....

Bushels of Fun

Addie's friends Grayson and Avery came over the other day to nap and play. I just love having a friend that I can child-care swap with!! After naps, they had a BALL playing and eating apple slices. So cute, that I had to pull out the camera and document the joys of being 3 and almost 3!

Making silly faces at each other.

Sharing! Notice Addie is the Mommy Hen- guarding all the slices and then judiciously handing them out to the boys....

She LOVES to have peanutbutter (or mud as I call it) on her slices- she takes it very seriously...

Grayson making me a silly face!

Alden didn't want to be left out! He's being, silly, too, wearing his Paci on his head!

Poor Alden

It all started 3 weeks ago.... He had nasty, gooey, colorful (I'll just leave it at that) snot. He was happy and only got upset when I would wipe his nose. All of a sudden, 3 days ago, the snot disappeared and grouchiness entered. He stopped eating (as much, he still ate some), only drank from 1 sippy cup, fell down ALL the time, and was constantly crying. The icing on the cake was when my solid sleeper, started waking up in the middle of the night, crying for 2-3 min, then falling back asleep- doing this over 5 times a night!

Today, I finally took him to the Doctor. Our current insurance doesn't cover office visits- thankfully the Lowes insurance starts in 15 days, not that I'm counting! The Dr's office originally quoted me $80 as my no-insurance-fee.... I kept hoping that Alden would just get over his ear infection on his own- I was sure it was an ear infection as the exact same thing happened at the beginning of the summer with him. After his teachers at MOPS even commented on how he needed to be held the entire time, and how tired he looked, I caved.

The Dr. took 1 look in both his ears and said they were both infected and completely full of fluid. Poor baby! After only charging me a fraction of the $80, we promptly got him some amoxicillian from a local grocery store who was offering free antibiotics! How great is that?!?

Hopefully Alden will be back to his happy, sweet, normal self soon! He's already sleeping a bit better- and that's only with 4 hrs of antibiotics under his belt!

For the Love of Dolls

Alden loves having a big sister. He has recently started copying her- from what she says, to how and what she eats. Here's his latest obsession.... And yes, I do plan on saving these picture for blackmail when he's older.

It started manly enough- he enjoyed stealing her "babies" and running away with them, tossing them over the railing, putting them in his trucks and driving them around.... All that changed last night...


Yes, he is holding a baby doll in his lap. Notice how she is carefully covered up with the little pink washcloth- such a sweet Daddy!

Here's how he carried Baby Madelyn (named for our friend, Baby Madelyn, who was born around the time that this doll was brought into our family)- over his shoulder. He is grabbing the washcloth to put it over his shoulder, like a burp cloth.


Being a patient Daddy as his baby sleeps....


Yay! I love playing Daddy!!

Warning- Underage Alcohol Handling

With a BJ's opening near us- less then 2 miles away- we have been having fun buying in bulk. One of our recent purchases was a case of beer. Alden was completely enthralled and quite the helper! Don't worry- we stressed the importance of respecting alcohol, waiting until he's 21 to drink, etc.

This makes a great seat!

Oh, even better! I can CLIMB on it!

Wow- it opens! I love that sound it makes when I pick 1 up and then drop it...

Want me to help you put them in the 'fridge?

Here ya go, Daddy! He actually helped hand most of them to Al, too!