Michigan vs. Iowa

Well, it's almost Christmas and we have a lot of blogging to catch up on. One of the fun things we did this fall was watching Michigan play against Iowa with our good friends, Dave, Stephanie, Wes and Ella. Dave is from Iowa so we have a built in rivalry!

Leave it to an Iowa fan to pick their nose! :)

We love these two crazy boys! When they get together, things get WILD!

It's a good thing they can still be friends, even though their dads cheer for different teams!

Ella was devastated about having to wear that shirt.

Dave's team was victorious that day, so we mourned our loss for a moment.

We ate good food, watched fun football, chased kids, and truly enjoyed being together that day. We're so thankful for good friends!

Fall Time in Oak Glen

We love to do our best to visit Oak Glen each fall. We hope it's a tradition that our kids will grow up enjoying. It just feels more like fall up there (even though it's usually hot). With the pretty colors, apple orchards (with cider and donuts), pumpkin patches and hayrides... it just gets you in the mood!

We are savoring this season, but are we're also looking forward to the holidays, which will be in full force very soon. It will be a busy and fun time with lots of visitors for both Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Potty Trained!

Well, it's sometimes still surreal to think and say that "Jack is potty-trained"! Two weeks ago today I took the plunge and made him go cold turkey from diapers to underwear. He had been going randomly, or before bath time, since this summer, but I had put off the actual training because of my focus still very much on my newborn at the time. After talking with a couple friends who have kids near Jack's age, I was resigned to the fact that he really was ready and I was just dreading the process of actual training. My friends convinced me that I just needed to do it and get it over with. So, we followed a very intense training method, and I would say it worked for the most part, but not without several stressful moments and a desire to give up several times! I took the above picture during those first couple hours.... prior to any accidents. I couldn't get over how cute he looked in his new big boy underwear. However, within a couple more hours after this picture was taken.... I was ready to tear my hair out. The first and second day were the worst (with 5 and 2 accidents respectively). But by day three he only had one accident (in nursery at church.... oops!). And now he has more accident free days than not. He hesitated a bit about pooping on the potty, but once he did it the first time, he has done great since then. I'm still SO proud every time he yells, "I have to go potty!" and starts heading for the bathroom. :) He transitioned well to daycare and has had minimal accidents there. He even stays dry during most naps and nighttime sleep (though we are too scared to go without the diaper at night yet). WOW. I have a kid that's old enough to be potty trained. Crazy. Hooray for only one child in diapers! ;)
Way to go, Jack! You are our BIG BOY, getting so grown up and everything. We are SO proud of you!

Trick-or-Treat 2011

Halloween was a lot of fun again this year. It was fun to see Arie wearing the same costume Jack wore when he was about six months old. Below are some highlights from the fun day:

Jack and Betsy carved the pumpkin. Jack insisted on wearing this fireman hat even though we had a much more authentic-looking plastic one. He's starting to insist on wearing what he wants much more often.

Jack was pretty proud of the finished product. (Betsy did a pretty nice job, don't you think?) If you're wondering, Jack has only underwear on bottom. Halloween fell in the middle of intense potty training time. :)

Arie was more interested in tasting the jack-o-lantern than any carving or scooping.

We weren't sure Jack would actually go through with trick-or-treating this year. Until the day of Halloween he was positive he wanted to be a "monster." He would tell this to anyone who asked. Betsy must have worked her magic, because the look below indicates his excitement as we left the house. He was ready to go....except for the horrible job of dressing by his Daddy---check out the mismatched buttons on the jacket. Good thing Mommy has attention to detail.

I'm not sure what we told him here, but this is a classic pose.

We had a great time with our boys. We also learned that taking a six month-old and a two and a half year-old out for Halloween earns the best or most candy each house has to offer. Mom and Dad even got offered candy a few times! Jack did start to recognize the scaryness of some decorated houses. There was a home owner dressed up like the Grim Reaper (nice touch for little kids, right?) and Jack would NOT accept any candy from him. Jack said, "Daddy, I no like him," as he clung tightly to me. Good discernment, buddy. Daddy should have used better discernment before taking you to that house. Fortunately, he got over the scare quickly and continued to walk on people's porches without much fear. He didn't seem to have any night mares, either. Whew!!

We love our "Little Stinker" and "Fireman Junior."

Our six month-old

Last week was Arie's six month birthday. It's hard to imagine that he's been with us for a half-year already. Conversely, we could not imagine life without him. If you look at the pics below and think, "Wow, he looks like a happy kid," that's because he is. He is extremely interactive and he loves attention. Just a look usually elicits a big smile. We appreciate how calm and laid back he is almost all the time. He's also very big. At last measurement (just last week) he weighs 21 pounds. That puts him in 95th+ percentile for his age. How big would he be if he would have stayed in utero for that ninth month?

Other fun things that Arie does:

• Rolls over both ways. However, most of the time he's content to lay on his back and grab whatever is above him or near him.
• Laughs a lot, especially at his brother, or when being nuzzled or kissed on the cheek.
• In the past day, Arie has been finding his voice. He happily screams at top of his lungs and prefers to do this while we're reading both boys a book. This makes reading difficult to impossible. :)

We're so thankful for our healthy, happy, and huge Arie. We love you, buddy.

Bare Bear Boy

September Memories

September was a busy but FUN month for our family.

Here are some highlights:

Our boys continued to grow and change.

Ahhh... brotherly love.

We got together with Betsy's family to cheer for UofM in their awesome victory over Notre Dame!

Jack enjoyed his very first Drumstick during the game.

Needless to say, we were a little pumped up about the exciting game!

This is a genuine picture, by the way. It was not posed later. It was taken during true celebration. :)

We also enjoyed great times with good friends. Here Matt reads to all the toddlers. :)

And a quick visit from Auntie Betsy was enjoyed by all!

Our baby continued to grow bigger and gave us lots of sweet smiles.

He is SUCH a happy boy.

We made our annual trip to the LA County Fair. Once again, the highlight for Jack was at the petting zoo. We could hardly keep up with him. He bobbed and weaved through the animal pen, barely touching each animal, but he giggled the whole time.

Ben and Dave just had to play one game. Ben ended up making several shots and won a prize. He let Jack pick out the prize, and Jack picked this HUGE stuffed banana. The little boys were SO enthralled with this giant fruit man. The moms were not so thrilled, and joked about selling it. Next thing we knew, a teenage boy sheepishly came up behind us and said, "Were you serious about selling that banana?" Stephanie quickly said "Yes, $10 bucks!". SOLD! HAHA! The teenage boy bought the ugly banana for his girlfriend... how romantic! While all of the adults were glad we didn't have to take the banana man home, the boys were a little shocked to see their new friend come and go so quickly. Good thing we got a picture to save the memory. :)