Our Busy Summer

When you don't update your blog for several months, its easier to do a recap of our summer! We've had quite the summer, the boys and I. Usually I send them to Mother's Day Out for June and July, but this year we only did June. I thought it would be hard for me, not having any time to get things done without kids, but we actually ended up having so much fun! We made lots of trips to Target, spent tons of time with our cousins, and lot and lots of outside time. The boys love to help me wash my car, and they live on their new playset. We've been visiting the library almost every week because Gavin loves to check out and return books. Im not sure how often he reads them once we get them, but the act of checking out is too much fun for him! 

One of the coolest things we did this summer was go to the air show at Tinker Air Force Base. Crew is still pretty obsessed with planes, so they thought it was awesome. We didn't time it right to stay long enough for the whole air show, but next year, we will. 

We've spent several weekends swimming, so I may have to post the majority of those in a different post. Ive truly enjoyed this summer with my babies, and I think we're getting to the age where we can go and do more things, sometimes skip our naps and still survive, and make some great memories. 

Splash pad with Susy and Lyndsie

Girls Golf Day

Annual Fischer Family Vacation

WARNING! Picture Overload

I tried to pic just a few pics from our recent trip to New York, but it just wasn't happening! There were too many wonderful memories to capture and share! 

Every year, we get to spend a week or more with the Fischer family all together! We look forward to it, and so do the boys. Gavin was counting down the days til he got to see his cousin Lincoln, and the rest of the family. The boys were both so excited to actually go on one of the airplanes they see flying over their heads every day! 

Unfortunately, just a few weeks before our trip, Eric had a work conflict and had to stay behind, instead of going with me and the boys. So I had to really get myself pumped up for flying alone with two kids. Eric and I dread flying with the boys in general, because its a lot of sitting, a lot of restrictions, and alot of us trying to make something fun out of a small confined space 36,000 feet in the air! Luckily, Eric was allowed to go through security with me, and the flight was direct, so I knew if he got me on that plane, and Eric's parents were waiting at the other end, then I was going to survive! 

Here's how the plane ride went: At first Gav was upset because he couldn't sit right next to me, but once he got over that, he was such an angel. Crew was strapped in a carseat, which was the perfect situation because he treated it just like the car. If I had one complaint, it was the BATHROOM BREAKS! I wish I was exaggerating when I said that I visited the 2x2 bathroom in the back of the plane, upwards of 10 times. But I'm not...  

Once we arrived in New York, the boys were over the moon and so happy to see their Nana and Papa! We drove straight out to Southampton, and were in the pool within 30 minutes of arriving! Eric and Ray arrived the next day, and we spent all our time relaxing in the pool, cooking awesome food, and soaking up some sun.

Ray and Jess's house in the Hamptons is beautiful and cozy and spacious and absolutely perfect for our whole family to visit together. The kids wanted to be outside the entire time, and the weather was perfect. We had a few adult nights, and ate some great dinners and walked by some great yachts in Sag Harbor. 

The day before we headed back to Oklahoma, we headed into the city to make the trip easier. It's a 2 hour drive to the city, so we wanted to get that out of the way. We spent the day walking the kids around the city, playing at different parks and shopping/eating our way around. The kids loved it and loved

We visited the 9/11 memorial and found the name of the man who was a hero and helped save so many. He inspired my new nephew's name, Welles. Welles should be here in late August! 

We had such an amazing trip, and love all the places we get to take our boys. They have seen so much of the US, and probably won't even remember it when they grow up, but they've had an absolute blast! Good thing I take tons of pics to document our travels! Thanks so much to our amazing hosts, as always, above and beyond! Until next time...

Let's Build a Fort

Our boys needed a fort. Plain and simple. They are always off pretending and play so well together, so Eric and I thought we would get something fun for them to play on outside. We thought about a trampoline, but Oklahoma winds aren't so nice to them, so we decided to go the fort route. 

Eric and I worked on building the fort for a few weeks before the big construction day, and built several of the smaller pieces first. The morning of construction, we had so many wonderful people volunteer to help! Uncle Ryan, Uncle Justin, Jared, and Davis. It took all day, and the guys didn't get to anchor it down before a random rain and wind storm tried to ruin the fort building. But when it was finally finished, the kids were so pumped to play and swing to their hearts content! Thanks to all who helped...you have no idea how much that fort is a part of our daily play routine!

Peace Out Diapers

Gavin has been telling me every day for the past few months that Crew needs to wear underwear. He tried for weeks to bring Crew a pair of underwear every time I told Gavin to bring me a pair for him.

G: "Crew wants to wear underwear like me, so I brought him these Thomas underwear. He can wear them, he's a big boy."

Remind me NEVER to take the word of a 3 yr old big brother over my own intuition. I just KNEW I should probably give it more time than it took with Gavin. Gavin wanted to wear underwear at just over 2 yrs old. He wanted to wear them so bad he pretty much potty-trained himself...totally not kidding!

But Crew was not so easy. I blame myself, once again, because I dont think he's ready. But now I am committed! And there's no going back.

We started with a few days of a few pee accidents, but I was diligent and took him to potty about every 12 1/2 minutes. :) He got a sucker for pottying, and started getting the hang of it. When I got him to poop on the potty, I thought we were home free! I was sure it was all going to click! Instead he always told me about 30 seconds too late.

Crew would follow me into the bathroom all day long and tell me "GOOD JOB!" every time I went! He would tell me that I get to have a sucker! And when we would spend 20 minutes or more together while Crew sat on the potty, we sang songs and Crew would tell me stories and have me read books.  But inevitably, every day, at some point in the afternoon, he would sneak away and poop. Or he would get all the way out to the playset to play, then tell me "I POOPY!" And I didn't have the slightest chance to get him all the way inside before he had an accident. He literally waits for the most inopportune moment to NEED to go! It's been a quite a bonding experience for the two of us these past two weeks!

Speaking of 2 weeks, after officially 14 days....WE HAD OUR FIRST ACCIDENT FREE DAY! I thought I won the lottery when I put him to bed a few minutes ago and hadn't had a single pair of underwear on the sanitary cycle in the washer! (TMI?....sorry)

This cute little booty is on it's way to rocking underwear like a champ! And I won't be sad to say goodbye to diapers forever! 

Summer Here We Come!

The boys just finished their last day at Mother's Day Out for the school year, and I just had to snap some pics of their cuteness! Each year they perform a few songs or a verse for all the parents, and then we have a small party in their rooms afterwards. Gavin did great singing all the songs with his class, and spent the entire time smiling and singing just for his Mommy! It was so precious. Crew, on the other hand, didn't do so well. He saw me and immediately wanted to come down the stairs to sit with me instead of performing. When he found out he had to stay put, he started crying, and crying, and continued crying until the performance was over! It was sad and cute at the same time. He just loves his Mommy too. :)

Gavin: Over this past year at school, Gavin has learned so much! He now knows the pledge of allegiance, and several bible verses. He's come home countless times telling me stories from the bible, and also recognizes his letters and numbers pretty well. We're working on writing at home, although I know they started working on that at school this year too. We've got a ways to go, but he is seriously excelling so much with everything he's learning.

Crew: Crew was already a talker before he went to school. He's learned some songs and loves to sing every day. He loves to pray each night for all his family members, including Lexi. I honestly think he was the life of the class because he is so loud and bossy! His teachers loved him so much and always had funny stories of Crew's day to tell me when I picked him up!

Precious