Panties

Panties today:
Today I send Emma to daycare in panties. I am tired of her not careing and knowing it's no big deal if she pees adn poops in her pull up. So we are attempting panties now. SHe wore panties all day today (except naptime and now bed time) she had 4 accidents at daycare (on poopy one) but no other accidents the rest of the day. She even wore panties to Boo at The Zoo and staed dry the whole time and all the way home before I put her on the potty and she went. Sweet! I know it's still going to take some time before we are accident free and telling people on her own that she needs to go but it's a start at least. It has helped that Kellie is doing the same thing with Isaac. We can both sympathize with each other, give each other encouragement and use it to our advantage with the kids (positive peer pressure). We are also useing candy as positive reinforcement. They get 1 skittle if they sit and try, 2 skittles if the go pee pee, and 3 skittles if they poop. Neither one has yet to get 3. But that's usually the hardest to learn and make happen. I was just so proud of her making it this evening without any accidents at the Zoo. She's growing up so fast these days. :)

Halloween Party #3

We went to Boo at the Zoo tonight with Kellie, Casey, Isaac, Me, Matt, Emma, Garrett, and Abby. Well . . . . the kids enjoyed it and will be talking about it for years . . .. which will be about the time we might consider taking them back. It was way packed! and not worth all the money you'd have to spend to do all the stuff, which 2 year olds couldn't really do anyway. You could do better buying two bags of candy at walmart. If you enjoy the crowds go to walmart at a busy hour and you'd still come off better moneywise. Ah live and learn. I do have to take a moment to applaud Matt and Casey tonight. They were both forced to go and stepped up and took it like real men. :) They helped out with the kids a great deal! I was very thankful for both men being there. Kellie and I would have gone crazy with 4 kids by ourselves! So, Thank you Matt and Casey for going and helping so much! Garrett did a good job putting up with the frog costume for the last 3 days now. He did good tonight either in the stroller or in Daddys arms. It was a ton of fun taking Abby too. She is too funny! The things that come out of her mouth amaze me. They are either seriously funny or supprisingly smart. If you ask her she'll tell you "I'm smart and a geniuos" So, I told her "Do you know why you're so smart?" this confused her so she said "No why?" and I told her "Because I've been your teacher since you were 5 months old!" I told Marci about this conversation adn she laughed and agree with me. Here's a picture of the girls and I on the one ride Emma could ride and a picture of Kellie and Isaac on the firetruck.

Halloween Party #1

We had our first Halloween Party at the Noels house. It was fun to get to spend time with our friends and watch Emma play with Claire, Elizabeth, Emmy and, Ainsley.

Halloween Party #2

Tonight was the teen party at our house. It began at the church building, they split into teams and went on a photoquest hunt, and then ended up at our house. We had a ton of kids here! It was great!

HU Homecomming

Harding Homecomming. We went down Friday eve, went to the musical 'Fiddler on the Roof'. It was good but way too long! (3 hours) Emma had a hard time being still and quiet during the play. About 15 minutes before it was over I had to take her out to the lobby because she was bored to tears. Then the kids and I stayed at Tan's apt and Matt stayed with John. This morning the kids and I got up and went to McDonalds untill time for the Pied Pipers. After that we went to the pony ride, petting zoo, and lunch. Then, Granny and Big Daddy showed up and spent a little time with us. Next, we came home and got out costumes ready for our Friend Halloween party at the Noel's house.

Eating like a big boy

So far Garrett likes bananas, spaghetti, bread, peaches, pears, cheerios, fruit puffs and, pasta. He loves eating like a big boy. Some of it actually gets in his mouth and some of that actually goes down. ;)

Painting Pumpkins

Here's the pumpkins we painted. Sadly it beagn to downpour a day later and most of the paint washed away. Oh well it was fun to paint in the first place! :)

Aaahhh

When Emma and Isaac go outside they begin screaming since they have been told they can't scream inside the house or car. Here's her screaming. She wanted me to take a picture of her screaming outside.

Help me Jesus

Garrett when he was really mad he wasn't getting his bottle fast enough. He has learned to raise his arms and "grow, grow, grow" for a Bible class song and now he does it all the time.

pulling up

Garrett 7 months Emma 8 months

Race Day at Grannys

This weekend Marie, Riley, Kellie, Isaac, Emma, Garrett, and myself went to Grannys house for the Texarkana Race for a Cure. We were joined by Lulu (Laura) and her friend Laurie. We got up early saturday morning and had fun at the race. Marie and Kellie each pushed a double stroller while we walked. Thanks girls! You Rock! Mom got to start the walker portion of the race then she got to pick a New Balance winner on stage . . . none of us though! Then the kids and mommies went to the mall, ate lunch, did a little shopping, and played at the playplace there. After a fun filled morning we went home to nap. We played at Granny and Big Daddys for the rest of the night. Today we went to church with Granny and Big Daddy then to a wedding shower for Tanya. It was a fun filled weekend. It was fun to get to spend time with Marie and Riley. I miss them! It was also fun to get to spend time with Kellie and Isaac. I love them!

Garrett 7 months and Riley 11 months

Swinging

New Toys

Why do we buy them all those expensive toys when they'd be perfectly happy playing with spoons?

Sitting up stright

Garrett has been sitting up straight for about a week now. He has been sitting propped up for quite a while but would fall backwards when he tried to sit up straight. Now he can do it great. He crawls around, sits up, plays a minute, then begins the process all over again. He loves being able to move and groove like Emma. We love him and are glad he can move too . . . most of the time. ;) Now he tries to climb the steps. He can pull himself up on the bottom step then gets mad because he can't do anything else.

It's in their blood

Boys and their toys. It must be in their blood.

new carseat

Here's Garrett in his "new" carseat. He's a big boy in his big boy carseat. He loves being even closer to Emma now too.

Games

Emma's older cousin Kyle came to visit recently. Kyle loves his Gameboy. Emma has now taken to playing her "games" too. Actually it's a big calculator but she thinks it's games like Kyle. It's funny to watch her.

Hallelujah!

We went out tonight and got my new camera! Sweet! So you will all see pictures up on this site very soon.

Fun in the sun

Today we went to the pumpkin patch with Kellie and Isaac. Emma and Isaac had a ton of fun running around trying to decide on which pumpkin to choose, playing on the hay bale, going on a hayride, and posing for the endless pictures Kellie and I wanted. :) Garrett wasn't as enamored by it all but hung in with the big kids and put up with the pictures. We also learned that Emma and Isaac are together so much they think they're family. I'd set Emma down, put Garrett in her lap for a picture, stand up to take a picture, and there was Isaac sitting with them. One big happy family! It was a fun morning. We'll def. be returning next year.

sickness update

Garrett has been fever free for a full day now. He had no fever last night or today. Though we have hit a new snag. Since he's been so pitiful while being sick now he's used to me holding him. Now he crys when I leave the room or if i'm in the room and not holding him. It's a pain.

On the upside, our living is now painted! Popo came and painted for 4 days and it's finally done. He did an awsome job! Once I borrow Kellie's camera and she emails me those picts I will attempt to post them for all to see. Thank you Popo! Thank you Meme for cleaning everyday while popo painted and for cooking dinner twice.

Sick again 2

Tuesday we stayed home and Garrett was fine all day long. He went down for a late nap and was ok but kinda warm so i drugged him. I wnt to wake him up and brought him downstairs to try to drink some milk when we put emma to bed at 9pm. I thought he felt hotter so we checked his temp. 105.6. Ok we call mom. We give him advil and put him in the tub. Which he was not happy about at all! It went down to 102. I called Rachel (my boss) and asked her if I could only work 9-11:30. She was fine with that since all the kids but teachers kids are gone by 11:30 on wednesdays. Matt stayed home with Garrett until I got home around 12:30. Daddy says he acted fine just slept alot. He slept alot during the day. He was fine at Bible class but fell asleep. He was difficult to put to sleep. Not because he wasn't tired but he was acting like his tummy was hurting. So I gave him gas drops and after about 45 minutes of rocking and shifting positions 500 times he fell asleep for the night. He was fine most of the night but around 3:30am started feeling hot again. I drugged him all day and took him to daycare. He was ok but wanted to be held alot. He's asleep again now and kinda cranky. I guess he's begining to come out of the darkness and slowly working towards the light.

Sick again

Garrett and I went to Children's After Hours Clinic tonight. When we got home I was changeing his diaper and he felt really hot. He'd felt hot at daycare but I didn't think anything about it b/c he'd just woken up from his nap. I took his temp and it was 102.6 under the arm BEFORE you add a degree. So really it was 103.6. Yikes! So I gave him tylenol and stripped him down to just a diaper. He kind of just laid around on the floor. 20 minutes later I checked his temp again and it was 102.3 w/o adding any. I called our handy dandy personal nurse (Granny) and she said give him a lukewarm bath. I did and re checked his temp. It was still 102. So, I made an appt at the clinic. We got in and saw the dr. He said Garretts ears and chest were clear so it was prob just a fever virus I had to let run its course. He's pretty pitiful laying in my arms and he's so hot to the touch. You can tell he just feels horrible. I'm going to dope him up every 2 hours tonight and tomorrow to try to help him feel more comfortable. Other than that I just have to make sure he keep drinking plenty of liquids and he'll be better in a couple of days. I swear we have either been to or called the Dr every week for the past two months. How old do you have to be to be diagnosed with Hypochondria?

Crisis has struck!

We are in a crisis right now! My beloved camera which has kept all of you in "the know" with our lives has bit the dust. It stopped taking pictures yesterday after taking picture number 4790. It now makes a wierd noise and tells you to turn it off and on again. So, I am taking donations for a new fancy one if anyone feels the urge to send cash, checks, or credit card numbers (and limits):) Untill then I will have to teach Kellie to always have her camera on her in case I need it as well.


Matt figured it up and I have basicly taken 5 pictures a day for the last 3 years. :) No wonder my daugher can cheese it up for any camera like a pro!

Cousin Buddies

Emma has really enjoyed haveing her cousin Kyle here for a few days. Today we went up to a school nearby and played on the playground. It was a fun time outdoors now that the weather is cooler.