Sunday with the Schmidt Family

On Sunday we headed for a day trip with the Schmidt family east of Des Moines.  Our first stop was at the hotel Andy's parents and sister stayed at in Williamsburg.  This is the first time swimming this year for Henry, and the first time ever for Hannah.  It was amazing to see how far Henry has come since last year.  Talk about brave!!!

Big boy swimming in the pool all by himself (with mommy not too far of course).

Hannah's first time swimming - not so sure at first....

She warmed up fast though and just loved it.  I see a lot of pool days ahead this summer.

Then we headed to the Amana Colonies for a family style lunch.  Can you say yummy??  The last time we ate here was Camron's 1st birthday.  Three years later we are here again - with a much bigger Camron, and a few new additions. 

We then stopped by the Tanger Outlet mall and hit up a few stores before the tornado sirens went off.  We had a little bit of a scare, hiding out in the exercise room at the hotel, but once the storm passed we got back in the car and headed to the town of Victor.  Andy's cousin Emily graduated from high school and we stopped by to congratulate her.  The kids played outside on the now beautiful day.  Hannah loving her swing!

Camon opening his birthday present from us.  I love how Hannah is watching from so far away!  Had to keep her contained....

I could not keep her from chewing on this swing!  New news on the tooth front - her top middle teeth are coming in!! 

Hannah now helping the boys put together Camron's golf toy.

At the party there were containers that held play - doh.  Hannah was fascinated with removing the lid and then putting it back on.  It seriously kept her busy for a good 20 minutes!  Watching her very serious concentrating face was hilarious.  Both Heidi and I said at the same time that she looked exactly like her brother when she made that face. 

Henry and Camron camping out by the mint table.  I lost count of how many mints he had...

Look at that face!!

Another great spring weekend in Iowa. 

Baby's First Steps

I have noticed that Hannah has been standing on her own, with no hands, more and more lately (most of the time she isn't paying attention that she is even doing it because she is focused on the toy in her hands).  So today while Henry was taking his nap we tested out her walking skills.  Look at this girl go! 

She got so excited each time she tested her new skill out.  It was so fun to watch her take her very first steps.   

It is hard to believe that she will be walking before we know it.  Watch out world!

Driving Miss Hannah

Henry and Hannah stayed with my parents this past weekend while Andy and I traveled to Geneseo, IL to celebrate Nate's graduation from Pharmacy School.  Him and Heidi lived in Iowa City during his long tenure at Iowa and have recently moved to Nate's hometown of Geneseo, IL where they both have jobs.  It was fun to hang out, sans children, and enjoy some adult time (and maybe a few naps on their very comfortable couch...). 

Back to Shueyville - The weather was pretty chilly, but that didn't stop the kids from playing outside.  Henry continued to say 'It's nice out' while the rain was pounding down.  'It's nice out' translates into 'I want to go outside and it is nice out so why can't I'.

Last fall my dad bought Henry his very own battery operated truck that he can drive around their yard.  Henry knows right where it is kept and sprinted toward it the second he got out of our car. 

Hannah is big enough now so she can squeeze right in the car next to Henry.  Though you can't tell by the scared look on her face, she loves the ride!

Driving around Papa's yard. 

Henry loves driving Hannah around and is so proud to have her next to him.  Flash forward 14 years and it may be a different story.  Hannah will be begging her older brother to drive her to school and back - pretty scary huh???

You Should see the Other Guy

Henry got into a little altercation at school yesterday.  Supposedly he was fighting over a ball with another little boy.  Henry took the ball and the boy scratched him on his face. 

Doesn't it look terrible??!! 

I cleaned it up and put on antibiotic ointment.  Hopefully that prevents any scarring (me over reacting). 

It doesn't seem to bother Henry at all.  He forgets it is there until I bother him about it.  This morning it looked much better too.  

My little fighter.

Potty Training

Has begun.  It started about three weeks ago.  We bought Henry some Toy Story pull-ups and hit the ground running. 

We went to school on Monday, April 18th and told the teachers Henry had gone in the potty a few times over the weekend and that we were ready to start the training.  They are great with him at school.  They have the kids go every two hours.  He also has his very own sticker chart where he places a sticker each time he goes pee in the potty.  The first day he had one sticker, second day two stickers, third day three stickers, and since then his chart is full of stickers. 

Now, everyone always says that boys start a little later than girls with the potty thing.  With boys it is closer to age three.  So I guess we (Andy and I) just haven't been that anxious to get started.  Besides not having to purchase diapers we didn't see the big reward for us (selfish I know).  You still have to take them to the potty and wipe their bottoms.  It seems like more work than just leaving them in diapers!!  The thing with potty training is that the parents have to be more committed to training than the kids are!  And with Andy and I, our commitment level hasn't been where it needs to be.  But....we are doing better.  And so is Henry. 

Most times it is a battle to get Henry on the potty, but once he is on it he goes.  I have found that if I take his diaper off shortly before I know he has to go potty he will tell me when he has to go and I get him on the potty in time.  If he has his diaper on, which is most of the time, he won't tell us he has to go.  So we have to remember to put him on the potty every few hours.  I am not brave enough to let him run around the house bare bottomed all of the time. 

Last night he said to me with his 'I know I'm doing something I shouldn't' grin - 'I go pee in my pull-up', while he was peeing.  Progress.  He now tells me when he goes potty.  Next step is for him to tell me that he needs to go before he goes.  I'm hoping that is right around the corner. 

Two nights ago he was completely dry when he woke up for the day.  I was so surprised and very proud of him!  Another sign that we are really close.

Things I have learned with potty training:

• Both the kids and the parents have to be willing to try - it is a team effort.
• With little boys, you have to teach them to use their pointer finger and hold their pp down if they are on a kids potty, if they are on the big potty put them on it backwards so they can hold on and you don't have to worry about holding/tucking. 
• If they use a little kid potty let them dump the pee in the potty themselves and flush it.  Say 'bye bye potty'. 
• Reward the kids!!  Give them a treat and let them pick out a sticker to add to their chart.
• Make it fun.  There have been times where Henry will wear his Thomas underwear over a diaper or pull-ups. 
• Make a big deal about it when they do go in the potty.  Dance, sing, hug, kiss, all of the above.
• It doesn't happen overnight. 
• Give it time and be patient!!

My goal was always to have him trained by the age of three.  We still have five months until that happens, and at the rate Henry is going I don't think it will be a problem.  And now that he has been getting better and better it is more rewarding than I imagined.  The biggest reward is watching how grown up Henry is and how proud of himself he gets each time he goes potty.  Each time he yells 'I DID IT!!' 

Isn't it crazy to think we could only have one in diapers soon.  How nice is that??

Family Pictures

We started yesterday at Living History Farms Machine Shed Mother's Day Brunch.  For a table of 12 the wait was about 45 minutes.  Luckily they give free tractor rides, which Henry went on twice, there are tractors around the property to sit on, and water to throw rocks in.  We got seated with Jill, Adam, Bennett, Camron, my mom and dad, my two sisters, and our family.  The food was delicious and it was so nice to spend the morning with our family. 

For Mother's Day we really wanted to get a good family picture of the Salwey side of the family for my mom that she can blow up for above the fireplace mantel at home.  If you know anything about my mom and I, you know that we are obsessed with pictures.  I carry my camera at all times (though I somehow forgot it yesterday morning so didn't get Henry's tractor ride captured).  So we set up the camera on the tripod and took a few pictures.  Here are some of the good ones. 

My head is covering Andy's chin a wee bit....

I like this one the best - so I enlarged it for everyone to see! 

Somehow we got both kids to look right at the camera with no one behind it waving and making funny faces!!

This was the third set of five shots (so the 15th picture).  The men were about to kill us, and the kids were past their nap times.  So we called it quits.  There is definitely at least one keeper in the bunch. 

What a great looking family:)

We spent the rest of the day outside.  Mainly pushing Henry on his swing.  The girls took a walk around the neighborhood with Bowzer and Hannah, while the guys napped, grilled out and watched baseball.   

Have I mentioned how lucky we are to have family so close???

Mother's Day

I would be lying if I said today was the one single day each year I get for myself.  I am pretty spoiled and have a great husband who appreciates me and helps me out each and everyday.  Though today is still such a special day, and I won't complain to be spoiled just a little bit more than usual.  

Check out this wonderful artwork from my kiddos. 

The flowers Henry made.  

The poem and questionnaire from Henry.  Too cute.   

The card from Hannah with the finger art.

Hannah delivering the beautiful flowers from her and Henry.

And the two best presents I've ever received. 

Being a mom is such a gift.  Even though there are tough days, like really tough days....it is always totally worth it when those kiddos cuddle in your arms and give you the best hugs and kisses anyone could ask for.

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful moms out there!

Cousins!!

Henry and Hannah got to spend the last two weekends with their cousins, Bennett and Camron.  Henry LOVES his cousins.  Last night Bennett and Camron got to spend the night.  Andy and I babysat the kids for a few hours.  We went to the park, had bath time, and settled down in Henry's room.  Bennett and Camron slept on a blow up air mattress on the floor in Henry's room.  Listening to all three of them giggle until 9:30pm last night was pretty cute.  They finally settled down and slept all night.  Here are a few pictures of the cousins playing over the past two weekends.

Henry learning new tricks from his older cousins.  

Watching as Bennett jumps off.  At least it is good to know Henry will still like his outside toys a few years down the road.  These boys played on them all night.  

It was very hard for Henry to share his swing, but he was very nice and even gave Camron a few pushes.  

Camron and Bennett loved pushing Hannah on her swing.   

Hannah playing with the boys. 

Winding down time.

The trouble with having an almost 3 year old is that he has toys that his little sister won't keep out of her mouth.

Another great weekend.  One of the great things about living in Iowa is that people truly take advantage of their springs and summers.  Once the nice weather hits, every weekend fills up with get togethers with friends and family.  We don't take our nice weather for granted!!

Play (v) to make a big mess with toys

As I mentioned in my last post, one of Hannah's favorite things is to make a big mess in the play room at our house.  The wall in the play room was bare for the first few weeks.  I didn't know what to buy to fill up the big space with.  Andy's sister Jill bought us the cutest phrase from an online store http://www.tradingphrases.com/ for the kids room at our old place.  Unfortunately when we moved we had to take it down and it wasn't reusable.  So I purchased the same phrase again, only a little bigger and with different colors.  I also purchased some animals to go along with it. 

Andy helped me place them on the wall last week.  I think it turned out pretty good!

The kids play room, which is always a big mess of toys.