Potty Training & More

I thought it would never happen, but Ethan is almost completely potty trained. FINALLY! He still has to wear a pullup at nap time & during the night, but we're working on it & he's doing really well. He goes all by himself now & after Erik comes home he'll even put his clothes back on for himself. Granted, he's still trying to convince me that he can't do it & that I need to put them on for him.

Evan is getting bigger all the time. He still thinks that he needs to eat everything in sight (even if it belongs to a stranger). At the grocery store yesterday, I let the boys have a sample of the sausage biscuit that they were demo-ing. The lady cut is pretty small (thankfully because I knew Evan would shove the entire thing in his mouth as soon as he got it). So they ate their pieces & then Evan proceeded to cry for the next 10 minutes because he wanted more. Mind you, I fed them before we left to go to the store.

He's also starting to talk more now. Ethan rambled & baby talked quite a bit at this age and Evan doesn't really do that much. He will do it from time to time, but most of the time he's quiet unless he has something to say. For instance, he's started asking for his cup now when he wants it.

The boys will be spending their first night in a long time away from me next weekend. Erik & I are going to Houston for my best friend Jeremy's 30th Birthday Party Roast. Ethan is going to Mammaw & Papa Wilder's & Evan is going to Granny & Grandpa Hamm's house. It should be for an interesting weekend.

Hurricane Ike. What can I say? It's so crazy to look at pictures of Texas City & Galveston and realize that things that I'd known my whole life no longer exist. The dike looks to have been wiped clean on both sides. No more bait camps, no more docks for the shrimpers. And Galveston... wow. My mom's office was on Harborside Drive (Port Industrial or Port I to those of us that grew up down there). The building is at the corner of 37th & is just after you come off of the big 4way bridge if you are headed towards UTMB. It took on 14 feet of water, 4' of which was over the loading dock and into my mom's office. Below the loading dock was the warehouse. All of the saws and metal in stock was under water. Mom's office had to be gutted and she lost all of her pics of the boys. Thank God this is the digital age & I can reproduce any picture that she had. Their house fared surprisingly well. There was no damage other than the loss of a few shingles, and the loss of power for a few days. Mom came up here & stayed with us, while dad rode out the storm in the house in Hitchcock. I'm so very very grateful that he is okay, as is their house. Some friends in the area weren't as lucky. I can't imagine what would have happened if this had been a stronger storm.

Busy Busy Busy

We had such a busy weekend. Saturday we went to New Braunfels for my cousin's son Talon's 2nd birthday party. While we were there Ethan fell in the pool. He was close to the side & I was able to pull him out pretty quickly, but it still gave Erik & I quite a scare. After the party, we headed over to meet the Wilder's for dinner at Salt Lick. But as soon as we got out there & started unloading the kids, it started pouring. We had an awesome dinner & the weather finally died down some before we left, but we still didn't get any rain at our house. The radar even said is was raining here the other day. But nothing. Erik's garden isn't doing so well with this weather even though he's been watering like crazy. However, I did see some storm clouds today, so maybe just maybe if we all keep our fingers crossed, we'll actually get some rain. Another bonus, our white trash neighbors finally mowed their lawn today. WOO HOO! The guys are nice enough but their yard is turning into a bigger dump by the day.

Hurray

Ethan started using the potty again today!!!!

He saw that I wasn't going to let him wear pullups anymore & actually ran to the bathroom saying he needed to go, when he's been putting up a fight for weeks!!!!

New do

I forgot to mention the other day that Erik's mom & dad, sis & Aunt Tammy sent me to the salon to get my hair done for my birthday. It was much needed & I greatly appreciate it. It's nice to not have to carry around all of that extra weight on my head anymore & it looks cute too.

It's August

I can hardly believe that it's August already. I've been home with the boys for just over 6 months now. It's been wonderful... even with all the attitude.

Lots is changing. I'm going back to work part-time starting this week. I'll be working nights from 6-10 at my old company. Just doing a scanning that sort of stuff. Nothing major, but it'll be nice for us to have some spending money again. We went up there twice this past week to get everything set up & the boys had fun running around & playing with everyone. They love attention & it's a change of scenery as well.

My parents came up this weekend to spend my birthday with us & got me this AWESOME new laptop. Now I can stay in the living room & post on here or email during the day without letting them out of my sight. Which means... less fighting. These days they fight a lot. Mostly, it's just because Evan won't take Ethan's crap anymore. So what happens is, Evan gets a toy, Ethan decides he wants that toy & attempts to take it. Evan in turn, hits Ethan & has even bitten him. Then I have both of the boys crying because they got in trouble. And Ethan doesn't understand that the reason Evan bites is because he used to do it to him. Fun fun.

Like I said I start work part time this week, so it'll be a new experience for us all. I'll probably be exhausted by the end of the week, but it'll be good for all of us.

It's Monday!

We haven't really been doing much lately. We've been in the baby pool a few times, but that's about it. On Saturday, Granny came & picked us up & we went out to the McDade Watermelon Festival for the day. We were completely exhausted when we got home & crashed out. The boys hadn't had a nap yet & I hadn't slept the night before, so we all went to bed when we got back & didn't get up until 7 that night. Here's a few pics of the boys. Evan is getting so big, but he's still so sweet. He gives kisses now too.
Ethan climbing on the hay trailer on Saturday. He tried to pick up a watermelon as soon as Granny put him up there.
That's about it for now. The boys are napping & Erik's home sick today. Hopefully, he'll start feeling better & the boys'll be in better moods this afternoon.

18 Months!

I'm not feeling real well today, so I'm going to make this short & sweet.

Evan had his 18 month appointment with the doctor this morning. Everything went well & he didn't even flinch when he got his shot. It's the last one that he'll have to get until he's 4 (which also means that Ethan'll be getting some the next time he goes - maybe I shouldn't schedule that one for his birthday). The doctor said that he is doing great & that the softspot has completely closed up. It also looks like he has managed to get all but one of his first molars in. The next ones should come in around 2.

Height: 32"
Weight: 26lbs 6oz
Head Circumference: 48 3/4"

He's right at the 50th percentile for height & weight, but apparently he has a pretty big noggin. It's in the 70th percentile.