Kiln Park

Last Friday the kiddos and I lunched at a nearby park. It was nice and sunny and warm, and the park has this beautiful creek going down through it. We threw rocks in the water, climbed a tree, jumped in a pile of leaves. It was so nice out. Owen even woke up for part of it--long enough to eat. We were there a couple of hours, and it was very relaxing. Much more enjoyable that sitting around the house.

getting out

When Owen was 2 weeks old, I felt recovered enough to go back to CBS, MOPS, etc. Then they both got sick--so I went back to "plan A" to wait until he's at least 6 weeks old before going back. But we have not been totally isolated! A fun neighbor gal, who also has a 2 year old and a new baby, dropped by Monday evening. She wanted to bring over a gift for Owen, and wanted to get out of her house now that her husband was home from work to take over kid duty. Then we headed over to her house this morning to play. It's fun to have a change of scenery, to talk with another mom in the same stage of life, and to have Ava enjoy another kiddo's company. There was a lot of toy grabbing and subsequent yelling, but it made for good practice of some new social skills for Ava--like sharing. ha.
It's nice having a like-minded, fellow-mom around the corner for these type of impromptu events! Before moving we prayed a lot over the details of this transition, and asked God to bless us with some fun neighbors with young kids. He has certainly gone above and beyond what we could have ever imaged in this department!

Ephesians 3:20-21,
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.

Ava

"Bye, mommy. I'm going on an errand. I'm going to Target to go shopping. See you later." She then "drove" off on her toy train, around the corner and out of the kitchen. I'm amazed every day at the things she says and the ideas she shares.

The first week in our new house we were without our furniture, so our "meals" were picnic-style on the floor. This is very messy with a toddler, so we made a little table from a box and left out a paint can for a chair. She thought this was very exciting, and at every meal would exclaim, "I'm sittin' on the can!"

body art

Sweet Ava got a little creative with the red marker this afternoon. I was feeding Owen while she worked at the kitchen table. When I caught up to her, she had a full sleeve tattoo going. She was very excited about it, but asked if I could please "take if off now" so she could get down from the table. When I told her it might not all come off right away, she got a little upset. Isn't that the most pitiful face you've ever seen? She got so worried! So I told her that we should leave a little bit left on her arm so she could show Dad when he got home. Once she felt like it was her intention to leave it on, she was all smiles again. whew.

On a happier note, she really got into wearing the baby carrier yesterday afternoon. She liked carrying around her baby, who she's named Owen. It was uber cute.

And by the way, it snowed yesterday. Welcome to Wisconsin.

Trick-or-Treat!

Our little town officially goes trick-or-treating on the Sunday before Halloween. This was the first year Ava could really get into the trick-or-treat scene, and she seemed to really enjoy it. Several groups of kids came to our door before she was ready to go out, and she was so excited to see all these fellow children out and about. She practiced saying "Trick or Treat" and then headed out the door with Steve. She got a kick out of carrying around her pumpkin bucket, but she didn't eat any of the candy--in fact, I don't think the word "candy" is in her vocabulary yet. When I bagged up all her loot and sent it out the door today, she didn't mind at all. I don't think she knows that there are yummy-tasting things in those brightly colored wrappers. I'm sure by next Halloween this will have all changed.
But she did love running around in her costume. She was the cutest bumblebee ever. She would make the buzzing sound and "sting" you if she got the chance. This proved to be a good costume choice since it was drizzling and cold and very windy out. Our neighborhood goes all out with this event--we had over 100 kids come to the front door. For real. I'm thinking we may be a "drop-off" neighborhood. We had been warned of this ahead of time, so we had plenty of candy (despite my best efforts to eat it all over the past few weeks). It was fun to see all the cute kids, and fun to say "hi" to the parents we've been meeting.
Owen, on the other hand, did not like his experience at all. Owen and I stayed home to pass out candy, so his evening consisted of 1) being held by mom, 2) being abruptly placed down in his swing, 3) crying his head off while his mom answered the door, 4) repeat. Better luck next year, big guy.Another big event yesterday--Owen had his first tub bath. He was all fussy before, and as soon as we put him in he got all mellow and happy.

yipee for night time sleep!

Owen had a super duper night. I'm not going to hold it against him in case the next few nights are terrible; I'm just thanking God for all the sleep we had. He ate before we all went down for the night, and didn't wake up hungry until 7 hours later! That feeding was short and sweet, and it was another 5 hours before he was up again. Lovely. I'll take it.

Get ready...get set...never mind...

So this Saturday was going to be the big day to start potty training Ava. We talked about it earlier in the week and went to the store to pick out "big girl panties" with Elmo on them. But then Ava came down with a cold and shared it with Owen. By Thursday we all had it. Owen was also starting to show very sad signs of reflux after every feeding, so I took both kids to the pediatrician on Thursday. Between Owen's bad nights from the reflux and giving him medicine with every feeding and general crankiness in Ava from the cold, we abandoned the mission yesterday. Maybe in a couple of weeks, after the meds start improving Owen's tummy troubles. Sorry, Ava!

In other news, we did get to carve our pumpkin on Friday night. Ava scooped out the guts inside with much enthusiasm and she's a big fan of roasted pumpkin seeds. Owen slept through the event.