Shopaholic

I confess, I am a shopaholic, but today, it was therapeutic, and practical. Kate's birthday is in a month and a half. Like Brett, the majority of her "present" is going to be installed in our backyard in less than 2 weeks, and I do have one other "toy" for her, but I also needed some clothes that would stretch us into early fall at least a little bit. This is where I get into trouble. Gymboree.com. It is my weakness. I love it. Period. The end.

What I love even more - an automatic 30% off ALL purchases online. What I love even more than that, finding another 20% coupon in my pile of junk that expires TODAY! It's too good to pass up. So, for a whopping $60 (including shipping), I got ALL of this:

I saved $105.85! I'm not kidding! AND, I got another $25 to spend down the road. Fan-freakin'-tastic!

3 year "well" check

This morning we had Brett's 3 year old well check scheduled at the pediatrician's office. Originally, Todd was going to try to work at home, but their same time system has been all screwed up this week, so he ended up having to go in, which meant that I got to take both kids to the pediatrician, for an 11am appointment - Kate's ultimate meltdown time. Fabulous.

Well, as it turns out, Kate's whole double ear infection battle hasn't really resolved itself after last week's Omnicef, so I decided that I'd get her ears checked too while we were there anyway, for another copay, of course.

So, we get there, and the waiting room is full (I've NEVER seen more than 1 other family in the waiting room, so I knew this was not a great sign.) The kids really did play pretty well together, and we finally got called back. They checked Brett's blood pressure and then checked his hearing with some little machine, but he had to hold to real still and we all had to be real still and quiet. The right ear went fine, but the left one kept failing, partially because the more times she tried it, the more squirmy he got, but whatever. Then, the nurse said that she needed a urine specimen. I was like, seriously? You expect a 3 year old to pee in a cup. You are flippin' crazy. Brett sat on the big potty for about 5 seconds and demanded, with tears, that he was all done. I saw the NP in the hallway and explained that he peed right before we left the house and that we just started potty training, etc., so she said not to worry about it. She finally came in and checked him out - come to find out, his left ear is infected, which probably contributed to the failed hearing test in that ear. So, now he's on amoxicillin for 10 days and will have his ears re-checked in 2 weeks. Then they'll re-check his hearing in about 6 months.

Like I said, I had her re-check Kate's ears too, even though she's only been on the new antibiotic for 8 days, I at least wanted to make sure that her ears were starting to look clear again. She's still having trouble sleeping through the night and waking up during naps, etc, which is usually her "sign" of an ear infection. One is pretty much clear, but the other still had cloudy fluid behind it. Of course, she still has 2 days of antibiotic left, so it's really a wait-and-see game at this point. If she's still cranky next week, then I'll take her back and we'll move to antibiotic #3, assuming they have her chart figured out. Don't ask...

So anyway, that was pretty much our morning.

In other news, Brett's potty training is still going really well. He hasn't had an accident in almost 48 hours and he's stayed dry during nap time and overnight the last 2 days as well. He even stayed dry while we were out at the doctor and Target this morning. He certainly knows how to rack up the stickers on his little chart! Workin' the system already!

We actually don't have a super-busy weekend planned for a change, so that's nice! We're having our friends over for a cook out tomorrow night, so that should be a good time! Hope you all have a nice weekend :)

Potty chairs & Hair bows

I am lucky enough to have this entire week off work, so I decided to take advantage of it and actually get Brett potty-trained. I will admit that it's not been nearly as bad as I was invisioning it. Granted, I'm still really antsy because I don't feel like I can leave the house at all, but he's getting the hang of it, so that is great! We still have to teach him that poop goes in the potty and not in the underwear, but we'll get there soon, I hope! The only accidents in the last 24 hours have involved poop - we'll leave it at that.

In order to save myself from going absolutely crazy this week, I'm utilizing nap time to be crafty, since my "office" is my happy place and all. A few weeks back, I had this idea to find a bow holder for all of Kate's hair bows. For those of you who haven't seen Kate in awhile, yes, she does have hair - lots of it, and curly just like her momma's! I looked online and saw some in a few stores, but they were all "girly" and would completely clash with the kids' bathroom, so that wasn't going to work. Then it occurred to me that I can just make my own and paint it whatever colors I like to match their bathroom. So here it is, all finished and stocked with bows!

Be quiet, God!

We had a pretty nasty thunderstorm come through right before naptime today... usually no big deal, but Brett has recently become really afraid of the thunder. It could make for a long summer seeing as how we get a thunderstorm at least a few days a week all summer long! Anyway, to help ease this fear a few weeks ago, we tried telling him that God was bowling. The problem with this is that Brett's never been bowling before, so this made no sense to him at all. One day, I was scolding Brett for zooming his cars too loudly up and down the foyer while Kate was napping, and it occurred to me that I could use that as my example... everytime it thunders, it's just God zooming his cars on the wood floor. Brett bought into it! So, this afternoon before nap, I was trying to convince him to go potty, etc. but he was so hung up on this thunderstorm. I reminded him about God zooming cars and he looked at me very seriously and said, "Be quiet, God! You have to play cars quiet!" That was the end of it... nap time went off without a hitch!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Brett!!!

Brett's birthDAY was more like birthWEEK at our house. His actual birthday was on Sunday, but I had to work all weekend, so I had already decided a long time ago that we weren't doing a big birthday party this year like we have in years past. Instead, Todd and I decided that we'd take the kids to the zoo and then get one BIG present for the two of them as sort of a joint birthday present. More on that later...

In the mean time, enjoy the birthday present opening pictures!



Basketball goal from Grandma & Grandpa



Yo Gabba Gabba people from the Noggin show that our kids are addicted to



You can't tell from the picture, but there is a new big Tow Mater in his right hand and he's jumping up and down because he is SUPER excited over the $3 present from Daddy!



He insisted on a train birthday cake, so that's what he got! He only eats the M&M's off the top and throws the rest away



New Playdough tools and stuff from Auntie Erin & Uncle Jeff



Kate was getting into the presents and disrupting, so Memere & Poppy let her look in the bucket of Playdough stuff



A happy boy in his new Cubs hat!



We love this kid SOOOOO much! Happy 3rd birthday, Brett!

Now THIS is their big present, to be installed in our back yard on June 12!!!



Ours isn't the exact same, but it's pretty close. We'll have a straight green slide instead of the funky wavy yellow slide, and we'll have one regular swing, one toddler swing, and one glider swing. The cool thing about Woodplay is that you can go back and add on all sorts of cool things as the kids get older, so we can get them new stuff for birthdays, Christmas presents, etc. The best part, now I don't have to put them in the stroller or the car just to go play on a slide and some swings! Yay!

Birthday Zoo Day!

We spent most of Memorial Day at the North Carolina Zoo as part of Brett's birthday present. There were sooo many pictures to post that I made the zoo trip it's very own site. So, click HERE or go to www.birthdayzooday.blogspot.com.

3 years in photos

I cannot even begin to describe how lucky we are to have this little guy in our lives. He has enriched it in so many ways. It's hard to believe that he's already THREE!!

Happy flights!

Happy flying, Aunt Dithy! Enjoy your trip to the Windy City!

Preschool Picnic!

Brett's last day of ECLC (preschool) was on Wednesday, so they celebrated with a picnic for the kids and parents and everyone. Grandma & Grandpa were in town, so they got to come to the party too! It was fun to see Brett really interact with the other kids, especially the boys - it really brings out the true "boy" in him!



It was pretty quiet for awhile - everybody chowin' down!



Brett with his friend, Ollie



Ms. Shelley, Brett, & Ms. Donna



Brett is Gabby's preschool prince!



I think she's a big part of why Brett finally adjusted to school this year!



I mean, who can resist a cute, blond-haired girl who loves race cars?!?!



Brett and the other boys thought this tree was pretty awesome!



Brett couldn't wait to show off his new hat... it had miscellaneous vehicles all over it!



Ms. Donna presented each of the kids with a daisy flower (they were the Daisy Class) so they could watch it grow, just like they watched the kids grow this year. Very Cute!

I am sooooo glad that we kept pushing Brett to get adjusted to school this year. I can't even put into words how impressed I am at how much he's grown this year. I'm so glad that Kate will be there next year too! This two ladies should seriously be nominated for saint-hood! I can't imagine doing any organized activities with TWELVE two-year olds!