Brother Time

Rachel and Bradley are still very crazy about their baby brother. I think he's quite crazy about them too...he LOVES talking to them with his little "coos" and "goos". It's quite precious. Rachel gets the most talking out of her baby brother and she definitely invests the most time. She's so sweet in how much she cares about Trent and wants to take care of him. Bradley genuinely loves Trent too...he just shows it in a different way. He gets excited, giggles and likes to lay wherever his brother is. Bradley loves it when Trent talks to him. The other day, I caught him in Trent's bed...again! He wasn't being rough, just wanted to be in there with his little brother and (I think) act a little bit like a baby. Bradley seemed to enjoy watching the mobile go round and round just as much as Trent does!! The brotherly love was so sweet and cute that I got a few pictures. I hope they're always close and love being together! What sweet little boys!!! I love them so!

PT = SUX

I'm sorry, but that's the way I feel about potty training. I know it's necessary, but it's just a darn pain! Poor little Bradley was so ready for potty training that he made me do it. He started pulling off his diapers or pushing them over and peeing out the side. Once he started that, we couldn't ignore the signs any longer. The problem is that I just didn't want anything else to have to do. I just wanted to go along playing, half cleaning, nursing Trent, taking care of R & B and NOT have to add in monitored potty breaks, accidents and clean ups. Oh well. He's actually doing well, but not because of any wonderful technique I've used. I decided that Potty Training is a process that can take weeks and/or months to get right. He now goes pee pee on the potty any time we put him on it, so he CAN control his pee. He just doesn't recognize the urge yet. He still pees any time he needs to go, wherever he is and whatever he's doing. He'll also poo poo on the potty, but only if I see his "poo" face and catch him in time to get him on the potty. Bradley's so proud of himself when he does it and enjoys watching the pee come out into his little potty. We're making lots of progress, but I have no idea when it'll be "through". Till then, we'll just plug along and do our best!

VBS and more...

We've had an extremely busy week this week with VBS. It's the first time my kids have ever been part of VBS and another reason we're so thankful for this church. I'm teaching 5th and 6th grade this year and get to work with a very nice lady...the pastor's wife. Rachel is really enjoying her class and Bradley thinks he's such a big boy going to his class of 3 or 4 with two great teachers. He gets to do alot of "big boy" things like, play on the playground, eat snack in a special room, play games, make crafts, etc... They both really love it! Trent has done great too! It is the first time I've left him with anyone, and even though I am in the same building with him, I still miss him. I just go nurse him when it's been about 2 hours and the very kind, nurturing ladies in there are doing a great job of rocking him and keeping him happy...which makes me happy! My 5th and 6th graders are lots of fun...really and truly a precious group of sweet kids. Most of their moms are working somewhere in VBS, so that shows what wonderful parental involvement they come from. I'm really glad I have gotten to work with such an older age group since that's so different from what I do everyday at home!

Written AFTER VBS:
One of the biggest obstacles this week was getting us all ready and out the door ON TIME every morning. It was quite challenging. I got up at 6:30 each day and tried to get ready before the kids woke up. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't. Trent is the most unpredictable since he still sleeps and eats whenever he wants. Another obstcale was our broken A/C from Sunday-Tuesday. It was SO hot and uncomfortable! I never realized how spoiled we were to having a cool house. But, we made it, our A/C was fixed on Tuesday afternoon and we slept great and felt refreshed the rest of the week. VBS was an absolutely wonderful, uplifting, exciting experience and I'm so thankful that we got to be a part of it!!!

A growing boy!

From 7 lbs. 13 oz. at birth to 10 lbs. 11 oz. at 1 month, to 13 lbs. 2 oz. at 2 months!

I'd say Trent is thriving and growing! We love him so much and think he's such a cutie!!!

8 weeks already!!??!!

"I see you!"
"Looka my belly!"

I can't believe our baby boy is already 8 weeks old! The time has definitely flown by and Trent has changed so much! He smiles alot now, coos at us when we talk to him and I've even heard a couple of giggles when I was tickling his belly. He's just a very precious, sweet, laidback little boy

and it's hard to remember what life was like before we were blessed by his arrival!

$5 of fun!

The other day, we were at Wal-mart and bought a $5 waterslide. The kids were so excited about trying it out. Rachel loved every part...the sliding, the water in her face, etc...but Bradley only uses it when the water is turned off. The slide is still slick and he can slide, but he does NOT like the water spraying him in the face. Anyway, the slide has been fun, but is not the best quality...it ripped the 2nd day we used it and after the 4th time, Nick had to use a ton of duct tape on it just to keep the water flowing through the tube. But, I think we've already gotten our $5 worth, so we can't complain!

Nick's B-day Celebration

Our lovely, more confident swimmer!

All 3 of my precious children...I didn't set this up!

We laid Trent here because he fell asleep and then Bradley wanted to lay next to him,

then it started raining and Rachel laid down next to Bradley.

I love the picture!

Nick and his 2 sweet helpers!


New swimmer!

Loving the pool!

All Nick wanted to do for his birthday was go swimming...so that's what we did. The kids were both so excited about swimming this year, which is a huge improvement over last year. Bradley would hardly get in last year, but this year was eager to get in the inner tube and swim his little heart out. Rachel was very excited about how much better she's doing at swimming too. She's also taller, which makes her even more confident since she quite easily reaches the bottom of the pool. I didn't get in yet and neither did Trent. I'm thinking Trent won't get to try out the pool until next year. Anyway, we ate steaks and veggies and of course, the kids and I made a lovely birthday cake for daddy. It was a VERY low-key, fun celebration for a fantastic son, husband and father!! Love you Nick!!