There and Back Again

During this past weekend, we took a whirlwind trip down to Illinois. We were celebrating Rob's Grandma's 96th birthday and there was a big get-together Saturday afternoon. We had a wonderful time seeing many people we (or Rob) hasn't seen in years.

We set out with a small amount of fear and trepidation on account of Matthew's recent potty-training, but our fears went unfounded. I put him in plastic pants for the trip down, but he never needed them and told us everytime he needed to use the potty. One time we were close to the rest stop and we told him he needed to wait. He informed us every few minutes, "I'm keeping the pee-pee in!" And he did! I didn't even need the plastic pants on the way home. He never had an accident while we were there, either. And I must admit, it was very nice having only one child to change!

Both boys travelled well, although they barely napped in the car, which is unusual for both of them. When we arrived, we made a quick potty-stop at Grandma and Grandpa Litwiller's, got the wagon, and walk the few blocks to GG's house. (Rob's grandma) The boys we so excited to see everyone, which included Rob's aunt and uncle who had come up from Florida, both of Rob's brothers, and Aunt Kim (Dan's wife.) We had a nice supper and then Matthew got spoiled rotten with all of his early birthday presents. So far his favorite is the Doodle Pro, but we did watch Spongebob last night (one of his new videos). We'll get the Play-Doh kitchen set out later and I'm sure he'll love that one as well. As least he's old enough to know not to eat the Play-Doh.

We stayed up pretty late and the boys had a hard time settling down, but I didn't mind a bit. Our trip was so short that I wasn't going to fuss with bedtimes. (Besides--they crash on Sunday and Monday after these trips!) I was pretty tired, but I've been tired for a few weeks now with no known cause, so nothing new there.

On Saturday, the boys were up early (of course) and they spent their morning playing with their grandparents. They went for a walk in the wagon and Rob and I took that opportunity to go out a bit. Then we had our big get-together at lunch. That was fun, although Matthew was tired and clingy. He perked up for a little bit, but had a meltdown right as we were leaving. Ben was his usual congenial self, thankfully. We left after packing up the car and saying good-byes, and travelled home.

Both boys slept until supper where we tried to go to a Wendy's. A lady came out and told us that she had just had the worst meal ever and not to eat there. We found a DQ instead and then finished our trip home. Ben was pretty tired of carseats and was cranky for about an hour, but that's nothing new. He's usually cranky on the ride home, as soon as we leave the interstate.

Anyway, we're resting today and very thankful that we went. It would have been nice to have more time, but we're glad for the time we did have. I think I'll go watch Rob play Nintendo with my eyes closed......

Tales from the Potty Trained

Here are some Matthew-isms as he is fitting into the world of the potty trained.

1. I held out his Diego underwear for him to put on this morning. He said, "Aww...they're so cute! Mommy, you should get some like this!"

2. "Ben-Ben still goes in his diaper! Ewww!!"

3. I couldn't convince him that his Buzz Lightyear underwear were to be worn with Buzz on the back. "Mommy, Buzz goes on the front, the white part in the back!"

4. So far, we have a daily 5pm accident. At 6:30pm he informs me, "Mommy, there's where I peed on the couch."

5. "Mommy, what's that?" he asks, referring to the little slot in the front. My response was, "When you get better at this, I'll show you."

I'm still in shock that I'm down to just one in diapers!!!

McDonald's, Here We Come!

Matthew James has (drum roll, please) given up the diapers and is wearing underwear! I decided to see if he would wear them yesterday after his nap (he has been very resistant thus far) and he agreed. He had one accident, but has been in underwear since. He even wore them to bed last night with no accidents. Even if he starts have mulitiple accidents, he's staying in the underwear. He's very proud of himself!

So, after going poo-poo successfully this morning, he got his coveted tape measure from Daddy. He's been measuring everything, including the sky. If he stays dry and clean until Sunday (minus accidents while we're out or on our weekend trip) we'll be going to McDonald's for lunch on Sunday. It seems that cold turkey wins out again for Matthew. It's how we got rid of bottles and pacifiers and I guess now diapers. (Well, he was in pull-ups and did take himself potty during the day, but still used it too often.)

I'm so excited! Can you tell??

Today was the first day we got the pool out this summer and all three of the boys had a good time. As you can see, we had a little rainbow effect going on, which Matthew enjoyed. We also have a "deep end" only because our entire backyard slopes. Rob got in with the boys seeing as the temp is over 90 today. I did not really join in the festivities, other than blowing bubbles and taking pics. Anyway, a good time was had by all.

My other picture is of Benjamin sitting at the big table. He's only sixteen months (today) but he really did not like the high chair anymore. We dug out Matthew's old booster seat and Ben loves it. He sits better and is acutally eating better as well. Tonight he crawled up there and got himself seated! (Of course, he also crawled on the table twice before supper and pushed a chair up to the counter and got into my coffee. And yes, he would have drank some--he and Matthew are coffee junkies.)

Pictures

Here are the two pictures I promised from the Fulkerson 4th of July cook-out. The first pic of of Matthew and his cousin Kara discussing Matthew's toe. The second is of the entire family. Backrom is Joel, then my daddy, Chris, Adam, Kara, and Rob. Front row is Cara, Matthew, my mommy, Mandy, Kate, Melanie, Callie, Ben, and me. All spouses are together but the kids kind of got spread out. The girls belong to Adam and Melanie and the boys are mine (of course.) Aren't we a handsome group???

A Happy 4th of July

When I think about the Litwiller 4th of July, I smile. Yesterday was quite a lot of fun. Exhausting, but fun. We had two big events planned and both went well.

Every year Watertown has a big parade on the 4th and since we're only a block or so from the parade route, we decided to go. Rob set out our chairs the night before (along with everyone else in town) and then it rained. By the next morning, the rain had stopped and the chairs were dry enough to inhabit for the two-hour parade. Yep, two hours. It was long, but it was fun. We were surrounded by people from church (thankfully...don't you hate it when you get stuck next to smokers and swearers???) and we had a blast. We had to train young Matthew in the fine art of running into the street for candy. He looked at us with a funny look because he knows better than to run into the street, but once the candy started flying, he lost his inhibitions. We asked him afterwards what he saw in the parade. He said, "Candy! And more candy! And it was coming right at me!" We have quite a haul of goodies in the cupboard right now. Oh, and Rob and I have our own treats as well. Ebert's Greenhouse handed out plants, Pizza Hut gave out frisbees, and Berres Brothers threw out small packages of coffee. That was the funniest one, because all of the adults started standing and make spectacles of themselves (Rob and I included). We had a great time. We came home just a little sunburned (because Mommy forgot to grease everyone) but at least we got our Vitamin D for the day.

After the parade, we quickly packed the car and headed to Bartlett for a family get-together. My brother put together an impromtu cook-out and amazingly, the whole family was able to make it. His wife's parents graciously opened their home to our crazy clan. It was a ball! We were able to visit with everyone (although with so many people hanging around it was hard to talk to any one person for more than a few minutes.) My nieces are still adorable as ever and I got to hold the newest addition. I know we live far closer now than we did when we were in Cali, but it doesn't seem close enough. I'd love to get to know those darling little girls even better.

Matthew was actually behaving pretty well and Ben was being his usual charming self. I'm impressed that I didn't even really need to discipline MJ (well, until he ran out the door and didn't obey his aunt, for which I think he apologized.) He and his older cousin spent a good part of the time visiting together and I got a very cute picture of them. Oh, and we finally got a full family shot, something we hadn't done for a long time. I'd add them to this post, but I don't know how. I'll figure it out sooner or later.....

We left, rather reluctantly, so that Rob could get some rest before heading to work at 5am. Rob stopped off at a Starbucks so he could revive himself for the trip. Ah, sweet nectar of life that is coffee! Anyway, we had a fun trip home and were able to see lots of fireworks in the various towns as we drove. We did get stuck in a rainstorm, but thankfully we were near our exit and just waited it out at a gas station. The kids took little five minute naps off and on on the way home and were ready for bed. Well, Matthew was. Ben stayed awake and listened to the fireworks outside. He laughed his little head off at the noises! He loves noise!

It was a very good day. The only interesting downfall was hitting more toll booths than we anticipated. We had to blow through the last one before getting to Bartlett, but Rob asked a toll booth worker about it on the way back and got a form to fill out and send in with the missed payment. You just gotta love my honest husband. (I know, I know...we could get a ticket, but it's 60 cents, for pitty's sake!)

All in all, it was a great day. The kids slept in this morning (7:20!) and are napping now. I think I will join them zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..................................

Bike Rides

Today I decided to be a bit adventerous and took Matthew on his very first bike ride. He has a miniature bike, complete with pedals and training wheels, and he's been trying to ride it in the backyard. Most of the time he just rides it down the sidewalk back there and walks it back up again. He's been pretty good about actually pedalling, so I thought we take it for a test run on the sidewalks of Watertown.

Yeah. So, my amazing little cyclist took forty minutes to go five blocks. It's a good thing that Ben is a patient little guy, because his stroller was constantly stopping and back tracking. I was patient, I used calm words, and I taught Bike Riding 001 to the best of my ability, but I still ended up frazzled by the end of the trip. He did do well and managed to go a few sidewalk squares at a time before having to push himself, but most of the time he was frustrated. We tried to visit his friends down the block, but "Shanti" was upstairs and didn't hear us and dear little "Gretel" wouldn't open the door. So, we ended up back at home after a long, grueling ride/walk. Will I take him out again?? Absolutely. In fact, we'll try to go tomorrow. As much as it wears on my patience, he needs to learn, and we'll keep going at it until he is successful. Even if it kills me.

Ben had his own little ride today. After our bike/walk, we came home so we could grab some library books and head off to return them. I left Ben in the stroller on the porch, because I was (say it with me, Moms) ONLY GOING TO BE A MINUTE. In that short time, Matthew took his bike around back, came onto the porch, and pushed the stroller down the stairs. I came outside to find Ben flat on the ground, but still strapped into the stroller. He didn't even cry and looked at me as if to say, "What? That was fun!" Thankfully, our library trip went off without a hitch.

Thus ended our amazing morning adventures. I think they earned their naps and I earned my coveted card-making time. :)