Trip to Dallas ( 3 years and 17.75 months)

After Great Wolf the kids got really sick.  Sydney had a bilateral ear infection.  She got started on antibiotics.  Austin had a bad cold with fevers and cough.  I gave him his inhaler a few times because his cough was so bad.  We even kept them home from school on Thursday because we were leaving for Texas on Friday and needed them to get better.

Luckily they did get a little better. Friday morning my mom came and played with the kids so I could finish packing.  After lunch we drove to the airport.  Our flight was at 3:30pm to Charlotte. The kids were pretty good on the plane.  Flying requires constant entertaining but we know that going into it.  They like watching their Kindles, playing with stickers, or reading books.  Sydney did not like having the window shade up so she always wanted it down.  When we arrived in Charlotte we ate dinner.  Then went to our gate.  We found out that our flight had been delayed because of an ice storm in the east which had our plane delayed.  We were delayed about 2 hours.  Brian let the kids run around the airport.  They were bored and needed something to do.  Finally we boarded our plane to Dallas.

That flight was easier because the kids both slept most of the flight.  When we arrived in Dallas the airport shuttles had stopped since it was midnight.  We went and got our rental car.  It was not what we planned but what we had to do.  Brian installed the car seats and we drove to our hotel.  We checked in and tried to go to bed.  Despite being 2am back home, the kids were wide awake when we arrived at the hotel so it took some work to get them to go back to sleep.

In the morning we drove out to Donnie and Cheri's house.  Everyone was there waiting on us.  It was so nice to see everyone.  Cheri made an awesome breakfast.  She got the kids so much stuff.  They really liked it.  They had stuff to play with like bubbles, puzzles, books, and blankets.  We hung out at their house for the day.  They have a playground right across the street.  It was perfect.  Austin and Sydney loved it.

That evening we went out to dinner then went and saw some Chinese lanterns.  It was really neat to see.  Eveyone had a great time.  It was nice having so many people with us to help push the stroller or carry Austin.  Sydney really wouldn't go to anyone other than Cheri.

The next morning we all went to the Dallas zoo.  The zoo was awesome.  We walked around and looked at the animals.  Austin had everyone carry him around.  He wore his uncles out.  :)  The best part of the zoo was you could feed giraffes.  Austin and Sydney loved it!  It was really cool.  We got some really good pictures of it too.  The weather was beautiful and it was a great day to spend at the zoo.

That night we went to an Hibachi restaurant for dinner.  Austin and Sydney were a little scared at times but did enjoy watching them cook in front of them.  It was neat.  Sydney loved eating shrimp and steak.  This was her first time eating sea food and she liked it.  Austin did not eat any of his dinner for some reason.  We got him a doggie bag and he ended up eating it back at the house.

Monday was our last day there.  We went to a local park with a bigger playground.  Again Austin had a great time.  He was every where playing.  Sydney had fun too.  They played with balls and bubbles too.  They even went and fed the ducks.  It was another fun day.  We had dinner at Donnie and Cheri's house.  Sadly it was time for us to leave to head towards the airport because our flight was really early Tuesday morning.  We had a great time with everyone in Texas!  I was sad to leave.

Once we checked into the hotel, Brian went and returned the rental car.  Austin did not take a nap that day so he was super tired and went to sleep before Brian got home.  Sydney however really did not want to go to bed. Finally we got her to sleep.

We woke up at 4 am to get ready to leave for the airport.  We packed up and went down to the lobby to catch a shuttle to the airport.  We were the only ones on the shuttle.  Once we got dropped off Brian was placing the car seats on the luggage so he could move them around the airport.  He belts them to a carry on suitcase so he can easily wheel them around  It is very impressive on how he does it.  Then I looked for my purse and could not find it.  My heart sank. I thought I had it on the shuttle but the morning was a blur so I wasn't sure.  In my purse we all of our passports, my wallet, and phone.  Brian called the hotel and they had to check with the driver.  About 10 minutes later they called back and said it was in the shuttle.  Luckily the driver brought it back to me.  I think Brian wanted to kill me for doing this.  He says now Austin is in charge of the passports because he is more responsible!

The flight home went well. Austin watched his Kindle then took a nap.  Sydney played with stickers and read books.  It was a direct flight.  When we got home we had about 8 inches of snow in our driveway.  Brian had to do the driveway before he went to work.  I went grocery shopping and tried to get laundry done.  I love traveling but it's a lot of work packing and unpacking with everyday chores on top.  We had a great time in Dallas though!

During our Dallas trip Austin was doing good with the potty for a few days.  Eventually he regressed to decide to only go in his pull ups and not use the potty.  At the zoo he had to go potty and I left the potty seat in the car.  Austin was very upset by this but I thought it may help him with starting to go to the potty at school.  After a lot of talking Austin did go pee pee in the potty at the zoo without his potty seat.  However he did not use a potty again until we got back home!  It took a few days back home but now he is using the potty every time for pee pee when we are at home or out (Walmart, Dr office, etc) but he still won't use it at school.

Ear tubes Again and Great Wolf (3 years and 17.5 months)

Austin had his ear tubes placed again on January 27, 2014.  We decided to have it at Rainbow this time.  It was a longer drive and the weather was nasty that morning.  We made it fine however the doctor was running late.  The surgery was suppose to be at 8:30 am however they did not take him back until around 9 am.  Austin got to pick who he wanted to go back with him and he picked Daddy.  It worked out because I went back with him the first time.  Brian kept Austin busy talking about Mousekatools and looking for tools in the operating room.

The surgery was quick and the doctor came out and talked with us.  He had a lot of fluid behind his eardrum so it was good that we got the tubes again.  Hopefully this will be the last time.  Austin woke up and we were not there.  It took them a while for them to call us back.  He was a little dazed but basically himself.  He did not want to drink anything but he had to drink before we could leave.  Finally he drank some juice and we were on our way home.

My mom stayed with Sydney while we were at the hospital.  This helped since it would have been very hard to bring them both to the hospital.  When we got home Austin was back to himself.  He was running all over the house, jumping around, and playing with Sydney.  You wouldn't know anything had happened.  There is no slowing Austin down.

Austin has been potty trained at home for pee pee.  He has not went poopy on the potty yet.  He will also go in public places if we have his Mickey Mouse toilet seat.  He will not go at school.  We don't understand why.  We have tried and tried.  He now wears pull ups because he will keep them dry and use the potty unless he poops.  He is still not dry at night though so he wears a diaper then.

This past weekend we went to Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky.  We went with Lisa, Keith, and Kaitlyn.  We left on Sunday after lunch and stayed until lunch time on Monday.  Austin had so much fun.  He loved all the water slides.  Sydney had fun too but Austin really had fun!  The water park closes at 9pm.  They usually start going to bed at 8.  Austin still wanted to play at 8:50 and we had to carry him out!   It was nice to get away.  Kaitlyn and Sydney played together a lot when Austin was off doing something they were not interested in.  They had a smaller pool area with a little slide that they both liked.  Austin liked the little bit bigger water slide and climbing up an area in the middle that had water falling on it. There were areas that he could turn on and off the water using knobs, ropes, and wheels.  It was a good time.

Austin was quick to claim a bed in our hotel room at Great Wolf Lodge.  Can't you just hear him asking, "So where is everybody else sleeping?"

Winter Weather Fun

It has been a very cold winter with lots of snow this year.  The past 2 winters have been very mild.  Last winter Brian only used a snowblower once.  This year we've had lots of snow and it's been very cold.  We have had snow on the ground most of the winter since it hasn't often gotten warm enough to melt much.  It has been somewhat refreshing to have a real winter again for a change.  The kids have had a lot of fun with it so far.

Early on this year, Brian decided to shovel the snow into a giant pile for the kids.  He originally did this with Austin's help.  The first few snows were only a few inches, so it was more reasonable to do. I say more reasonable because our driveway is still 100 feet long and two cars wide, so that's a lot of snow to move.  He wanted to preserve the snow for them as long as possible knowing our limited snows last year.  Eventually he ended up using the snow blower to blow it into the pile and it got bigger and bigger.  Austin called it his snowman and would put a bucket on it that he called his hat.  He also brought out carrots to put on eyes and ears.

The kids across the street built a giant snowman that was 7 feet tall.  Austin went over to see it and helped a little and got his picture taken with them.  They have been over to sled ride in our backyard at night with Austin and Sydney.  They even played on the playground.  The yellow slide was icy and was so fast that it would shoot them out the bottom a good 5-6 feet from the base.  Sydney went down it twice and loved it. Apparently she has a need for speed. Austin did it once too.

We also made snow ice cream this year.  One of the kids books mentioned it, so Brian looked it up online.  You just mix sweetened condensed milk with snow and serve immediately.  The kids helped scoop up some clean snow after we got a few inches one day and we made some.  They both liked it.  We had some too and it was good.

In addition to having regular snowfalls, it has been remarkably cold this year too.  That has allowed the snow to pile up and never melt.  Our temps have been the coldest in 20 years.  Lake Erie froze solid for the first time in our lifetimes (last was 1979).  We've had two waves of bitter cold with temperatures -10 F or colder with wind chills even colder.  We've seen days where the high temperature was below zero!  Fortunately both frigid periods were early in the work week when I was home with the kids, so I stayed inside.  Brian worked.  The one day leaving work, he said it was so cold you could feel the inside of your nose freeze when you inhaled (the temperature was close to -10 that day).  The one night our wind chills were close to -40.  Brian found it fun and played outside.  He used an infrared thermometer to measure the temperature of the gutters on our house and they measured -40 F degrees.  It was so cold, we actually had ice on the inside of our windows!

Brian also went outside and blew bubbles to watch them freeze.  They would fly away and you would see them pop and little pieces of ice fall to the ground.  During our first cold spell, it didn't occur to him to take pictures.  He said it was also probably too windy.  During our next cold spell, it was not as windy the one morning and temperatures were -12.  We had clear skies, so Brian went outside and blew bubbles and took photos of them freezing on the hood of our car.  He also took pictures of them frozen on the ground, but they were not as impressive since there wasn't good contrast against the white snow.  He went into work late the one day and spent about an hour taking photos.  He got some really cool photos of frozen bubbles.  It was too cold and the kids were too little to go out with him, but they'll have so much fun with him doing these crazy things as they get older.

In the bubble photo below, I briefly went outside to help Brian.  I blew bubbles while he took pictures. Most pop, but this one landed on the hood.  Brian took this photo before it had completely frozen.  You can see our reflection and the rising sun behind us.  It's kind of cool.

Happy Birthday Austin (3 years old and 17 months)

On Austin's birthday, I took the day off to be with him.  Last year I took Sydney to school so I could have a special day just with Austin.  This year it felt right for Sydney to be home with us too.  They miss each other when the other is not around.  I took them to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  They ate lunch and played on the playground.  They had fun.  Then in the evening Lisa, Keith, and Kaitlyn came over to celebrate with us.  We had a cookie cake and ice cream.  Kaitlyn wasn't feeling too well but she was very excited it was Austin's birthday.  Kaitlyn got Austin a lego train set.  It is awesome.  Austin loves it.  He has been playing with it every day.  We had so much fun with them.

Then on Sunday, my parents came over and we celebrated Austin's birthday with them.  Lauren made Austin an awesome Micky Mouse coconut cake.  She makes amazing cakes.  They got Austin a piano music toy.  He loved it.  It has a microphone and he was pretending to DJ.  His favorite thing to say is "Everybody dance!"  It is really fun. He likes to play music and wants everyone else to dance. They both really like music and dancing.

We have been potty training for over 2 weeks now.  Austin is basically potty trained for pee pee at home.  Until this weekend he absolutely refused to potty any where other than home.  That includes day care.  He will not go there at all either.  On Friday night we went to Kaitlyn's house and he went potty there on his potty seat.  Then on Saturday he went pee pee at Walmart again on his Micky potty seat because he wanted a donuts.  We bribe him with what he wants.   It is small steps but we are making progress.  He still has not gone #2 in a potty yet.  I can't wait for that to start happening.  He wants a play dough garage truck at Target.  We told him he can get it once he poops in the potty.  Hopefully it will be soon.

He starts in the preschool room this week at school.  In that room, Austin and one other kid are the only ones not potty trained.  We are hoping that once he sees everyone else going potty there he will too.  I really hate that he pees in his pants at school.  I feel bad for him.  When he is ready he will do it but it's hard knowing he could be wet at school.

Austin went to the doctors for his 3 year check up.  He is now 34 pounds.  When the doctor checked his ears he had an ear infection.  This was his 4th ear infection since June.  We had to see an ENT again.  Our last ENT left this area so we needed to find another one.  We got an appointment on Tuesday to see him.  He highly recommended ear tubes.  We really don't like him having surgery but don't like all the ear infections and antibiotics.  So we scheduled surgery.  Hopefully that will go well.

More Potty Training

Last week Brian dropped Austin off at daycare and his normal teacher (Ames) was not there.  He thought it was odd.  Then he saw a letter on all the kids' mailboxes.  He knew that his teacher had quit.  Austin had this teacher for over a year.  We really liked her and had been talking with her about potty training.  We were shocked and upset by the news.  We were worried about Austin and how he would react.  Ames was always there to comfort Austin if he was sad when Brian left for the day.  Now it was just not the same.

Part of me felt we should delay potty training even more because of this significant change.  The other part of me knew we were on our own and had to get this done.  After all, Austin is going to be 3 next week!  Austin's new teacher approached me about potty training.  She asked what we were trying at home.  The hard part was we were trying things but it didn't seem to be working. Brian and I talked that night and he said that I needed to stop putting Austin in pull ups.  I didn't like that but it was true.

So Thursday and Friday night we had him wear his underwear for a few hours before bed.  He had some accidents.  He was not a fan of this at all.  He would cry and not want to sit on the potty.  He wanted his pull ups or diapers on.  It was very sad.  They say you shouldn't force it but we had to get over this.  Saturday morning came and I knew that was the day no more diapers (except when he was sleeping).  I put on his underpants and tried to get him to drink as much as possible.  Brian was home and worked with him too.  He was fine after the initial fight of putting on the underwear.  He didn't like to get wet so that is why he wanted the pulls up so bad now.  Finally he started to "get it" and was great at being able to feel it coming, stop it, and make it to the potty.  By Sunday he was only getting his underwear a little wet (no puddles or anything).

Today is Tuesday.  We have worked with him for 4 full days now.  He really gets going pee-pee.  He's had an accident today after we got home from Walmart but that is about it.  Again he will still get is underwear a tiny bit wet but can stop it in time to run to the potty.  He really likes his frogy potty.  He initially liked the froggy potty by the front door but today he decided he liked it in his room.  He also will sit on his Mickey mouse potty seat on the big toilet but not as often.

He hasn't gotten the poopy in the potty yet though.  The last 3 days he has went in the underpants.  On Sunday, when he had to go I was changing Sydney's potty diaper.  On Monday, I was cleaning up after lunch and he got away from me and did it.  And today he did it during nap time in his pull up.  Hopefully he will get that soon!

My mom has been here both Monday and Tuesday.  That has been a great help.  Austin now doesn't want Sydney to bother him so having someone else here is huge.  Today she is bought him a donut for doing such a great job on the potty.  He was really happy.

I am home with him tomorrow so hopefully things will continue to move along nicely.  Potty training is hard and stressful.  I am so glad we are finally making progress.

Potty Training (2.99 years and 16.5 months)

Since we were both off over Christmas break, we hoped to potty train Austin.  It didn't go exactly as planned.  I was thinking he would just "get it" but he didn't.  Austin doesn't understand yet when the pee pee is coming.  We tried getting him to sit on the potty.  He would, but nothing would come out even after extended periods waiting on the potty.  This went on for several days.  We tried big boy underpants. That worked well except again he didn't really pee pee in the potty.  He would hold it until a diaper would go on for nap or bedtime.  We encouraged him to drink juice but wouldn't drink enough.  Finally Brian had a great idea to try chocolate milk.  Austin loves chocolate milk and it was easier to get him loaded up on it.  That worked great and finally he went on the potty.  We celebrated but he doesn't like making a big deal out of it.  He only likes one of us to be in the potty with him. And most of the time Sydney also needs to be sitting on her potty too.  We have had two days that he actually went in the potty. But now he is not liking the potty.  He gets upset if we ask him to use it.  But he will now finally wear pull ups so that is what we are doing right now.  Hopefully over the next several weeks to months he will get it.

New Years Eve we just stayed home and watched a movie.  We had appetizers for dinner and just hung out.  Actually over Christmas break we rented 4 movies.  We haven't rented that many movies all year.  It was nice to watch some movies and just relax.  I slept though some of them but I really like "We're the Millers"

Before Christmas Austin and Sydney only wanted me to put them to bed.  That was so unusual for Austin.  Brian always puts Austin to bed.  It was so nice for me putting Austin to bed.  He would read his books and then lay right now and I would lay next to him on the floor and he would go to sleep.  Sydney takes forever (30-40 minutes) to fall asleep.  If I put her to bed I usually fall asleep too.

That only lasted about a week and now both kids want Brian to put them to bed.  Austin usually wins and gets him.  Sydney tries really hard by grasping Brian's finger and trying to pull him into her room at bedtime.  Austin whines and cries more about it so usually Sydney settles more peacefully for me to put her to bed.  She is now okay with that for now.  The easiest way for me to get her to sleep is to let her sleep on the floor next to me.  After she is completely asleep, I move her into her crib.  It's not ideal but it's working right now.  We considered moving her into a toddler bed because we think she would like that better.  The problem is that when I am home by myself and neither child we go to nap, I have no where just to put Sydney.  We are planning to keep the crib for several more months.

Sydney now only gets mommy milk right before bed.  I am ready to give it up but she definitely is not.  I am grateful that it is just once a day now and only for about 10 minutes.  I stopped feeding her in the middle of the night right after we got back from Disney.  There were nights she cried it out but now she basically sleeps though the night.  It's wonderful.

I still don't sleep that great.  I am usually up at least once or twice a night for some reason even if it's not the kids.  I always end up on the couch.  Part of the reason is that I don't like our bed.  Austin also encourages it because he likes knowing where to find me, so if I'm not on the couch he'll get upset.  Brian usually sleeps in later than me so I close our bedroom door so he can get some sleep.  He doesn't go to bed until midnight or later so 6:30 am comes really fast (that is when Austin gets up almost every morning).  I use to hate getting up that early every morning but now I don't mind it.  I enjoy my hour or so with Austin before Sydney wakes up.  We sit on the couch and he watches his Kindle and I read on my phone.  I watch some videos with him.  The days I work I miss my mornings with him.  Sydney usually gets up around 8 am now.  And by 8am I am ready to play and so is Austin.   They both go to bed around 8:30-9pm.