Busy Summer

Wow. I thought the anticipation of going to visit my brother was bad. For the next two months I'm going to be very consumed with 4th of July celebrations, birthday parties, VBS, vacation and Disney World.
We've been invited to our friends Fourth of July party. To keep the kids cool, there will be kiddie pools, water slides, sprinklers and lots of juice and water to go around. For the parents, we're hoping to have an ADULT-sized water slide and we can't forget the BBQ!! I will be making my famous macaroni salad and I might surprise everyone with a yummy dessert. I'm leaning towards cool and refreshing on this one. Soo possibly a fruit salad or strawberry shortcake!! Yummy. I've heard they're having a real DJ this year, so it should be a BLAST. And we can't forget the fireworks! The kids are going to have alot of fun. I can't wait.
Evan celebrates his 2nd birthday next month. I decided that we would have a large friends and family celebration at our local State Park. I vowed I would never have a large birthday party at the house again. Or at least the current house we live in. Since the weather has been EXTREMELY, unseasonably HOT what better way to celebrate with cold water nearby to splash and swim in. It's a lot cheaper than renting a $200-300 water slide, not to mention the added expense of a security deposit.
Two weeks after we celebrate Evan's birthday, we're taking a "stay-vacation". We won't be traveling too far from home. We're planning a few beach outings, hoping to potty train Evan and we're taking Kelly and Evan to Disney World for her 6th birthday. We had originally planned to take her horse-back riding but for liability reasons they require a minimum age of 9 to ride the horses. So that idea got scratched and we had to come up with another idea for her celebration.
I can't believe we're actually doing it. DISNEY!!! Here were come Mickey Mouse! What a great way to spend the summer. We're so busy with weekly activities and the weekend's are full of fun stuff.
By the way, I'm wishing myself good luck on my potty training adventure. I'll keep a log of how it goes. I'm hoping he's going potty by the end of July. Big boy under pants or BUST!

Kids do the darndest things

After eating dinner, I always ask Evan if he's done and he answers in his little boy voice "ahh done". It's the cutest thing. When he got down from his high chair tonight he must have not been finished. He ate his dinner before us because we were eating tacos and he doesn't like them yet. He sat down at his big boy chair at the table he that uses sometimes and said "eat". We gave him some cheese but he handed it back. I finished eating and sat down in the family room. Evan was wandering around, climbing up in my lap and busy being a boy. I never noticed when he walked over to his highchair and dug into the seat area. He pulled out a cookie that he left there from dinner and ate it. Not my idea of a snack. Boys will be boys. Something I'm trying to get used to.

Christmas Photos

So I took my own photos of the kids this year. Kelly has always been a great photo subject. She has been posing since she was 18 months old. Evan however, could care less. So this is what I got.

Holiday Blues

I really hate it when my kids get sick. I feel so bad for them and wish that it would quickly run it's course. Not this time. Poor Evan has been dealing with the effects of his cold that started weeks ago. It started out with a runny nose then progressed into a cough with the snotty nose that doesn't stop running. I tried home remedies before finally taking him to the doctor. They diagnosed him with an ear infection in one, possible in the other and an Upper Respiratory infection in the chest. The doctor prescribed him Augmentin which he's taking 2 times a day. So last week I noticed that his lips had some white skin peeling on them. I wasn't too worried about it. Evan WAS still using a pacifier and I figured he'd been sucking it too much. But it all changed Sunday night. I got him out of the bath and noticed that his lips had these red bumps all over them and down inside the mouth. The white skin that I had seen earlier in the week was now inside the lips. I called the doctor's office that night and left a message for the on call doctor. In the meantime I checked the internet for possible causes. I found out that using the antibiotic Augmentin can cause Thrush. Once I talked to the doctor and decsribed what it looked like, he thought without seeing Evan, that it was possibly Thrush. He recommended that I bring him in the morning to the office to have him checked out. So Monday morning I was at the doctor's office where the bad news was confirmed. Evan has a case of Thrush. Possibly caused by the Augmentin he's taking for his ear infections. Unfortunately he still has to finish that medicine as well as now take another antibiotic for the Thrush. Even worse, Thrush is contagious if Evan were to swap pacifiers with another child. So I kept him home for 3 days from daycare per their request. So as of last night, Evan no longer has his paci and is still taking antibiotics. Hopefully everything clears up soon. Poor guy.

Mom Tip #1

Do you ever read in the parenting type magazines where they have those "Mom Tips"? Well here's mine, to prevent this from happening to you.
Ever since Evan started walking I was glad that he could walk himself to my truck. Carrying his heavy load, he weighs 29.6 lbs as of yesterday, was killing my back. Carrying him and my purse, his cooler bag, my keys and whatever else we need in the morning was beginning to be TOO much. SoI started letting Evan follow Kelly to my truck in the driveway. He had figured out the routine and knew which side of the vehicle his carseat was on. I always let him climb up in the truck while holding his hand and once he is on the seat I let him crawl into his carseat. I usually leave that door open and load up the rest of our stuff in back of the truck.
I've always had this feeling that one day he might slip on the seat and fall to the ground. But he's been so curious about the dome light above his seat that he's usually standing in his carseat turning it on and off.
Today I decided that I would close his door while I loaded up. I still had our jackets on my arm and I opened up his door to buckle him in and he must've been leaning on the door and came tumbling out. I grabbed at him preventing his fall from being about 4 feet down to about a foot. But he still hit the concrete ground on the side of his head. I freaked out and scooped up my crying little boy. I checked him for blood and cuts. Thank God he was not cut. I felt so bad and knew that letting my 16 month old climb into the truck and not just following through with buckling him in was a mistake. So from now on. NEW ROUTINE.

Saturday Fun

Evan hanging out with Grandpa and Daddy

Kelly playing on the Prowler Kelly I work every Saturday while my hubby has it off. He is the caregiver for the day. But this Saturday is different. He is doing a favor for my dad and the kids are hanging out with me. It hasn't been bad so far.