My Little Stinker!

So Tyler is really enjoying having his mommy home all the time for summer break. So much so that he doesn't think he should have to have any milk from a bottle. Ever. Saturday night he refused a bottle from my mom. My dad and I had gone to the LHS band reunion. Fun times. Monday and Tuesday I had PD at school. My mom brought Tyler up to school so I could feed him before his morning nap. She didn't want to try the bottle again. Tuesday Carol kept the boys while I had PD. She tried the bottle and Tyler wouldn't take it from her either so he was brought up to his mommy at school so I could feed him. It used to be that Tyler had a bottle every day while I was at work (pumped milk). It got to the point where he would only take said bottle from Andy...so not sure if he would still do that for his daddy or not! Good thing he'll be 1 in September because he can't come up to school to be fed this fall!

In other feeding news Tyler has tried many new things including: mac & cheese, little bites of green beans, grilled cheese, little bites of cooked carrots, rice, maw-maw's cinnamon apples, and many different types of bread. He is a fan of them ALL. :)

Did you hear a high pitched scream?

Just letting you know if you keep hearing a high pitched scream and you aren't sure where it is coming from, it's just Luke. He has started screaming any time something makes him mad or upset. It's shrill and LOUD. I am doing everything I can to make it stop other than spanking him every time he screams. Not sure what else to do. He screams 1, 456,999 times per day. The only other thing he does about as much as screaming is spill everything. I have cleaned up juice, applesauce, chocolate milk, white milk, coke - basically anything in his reach, even if it has a lid on it can get spilled around my little Luke. I love him so but ahhhhh!!!!!

He doesn't want to pull up his undies or dress himself. When we're getting ready to go somewhere I'll tell him to go find his shoes and put them on. Then he starts crying. He is NOT independent and doesn't seem to have any desire to be independent. Wilson is growing up so much and is actually able to help me a lot. He gets dressed, puts his shoes on, takes care of bathroom issues by himself, etc. (I just wish I could get him to start taking showers...) I'm hoping Luke will begin to develop some independence soon...any suggestions? The "don't you want to be a big boy?" angle doesn't work. Neither does saying "I bet you can't put these shoes on". Nope he's tricky! But I love him so!

Luke was so cute at VBS this year. He attended his first preschool VBS. He participated! He sang songs and did hand motions! He didn't have a fit everynight! He didn't care that he wasn't in my group! You can see that the 3 years Wilson has been in preschool VBS were a little different. It was nice to see that Luke was involved and carefree at VBS. Wilson enjoyed VBS and had a lot to say about it at home but there is something about him that in public he pulls back from the group and doesn't want to be away from me. I love Wilson so much too!

Running errands with 3 boys...

So today we went to take Lottie to the vet to get her stitches out. She is doing well. Then we went to the library. Then to the mall to buy 2 birthday presents. Then to the dr for Ty because he still had a bad cough. It is now a sinus infection. Then to Meijer for his prescription. Finally got home around 1pm. Tyler was exhausted and sleeping in the van. The boys and I were starving! I wish automatic car seats were already invented. If you could just set them in and press a button!! Know how many times i buckled someone in or out of a carseat today? 20 times. Thank goodness Wilson can buckle himself.

Happy Father's Day!

A day late but I still wanted to post about two very important men in my life! My dad and the wonderful daddy Andy is to our children!

To my dad: You are a wonderful dad and I always know that you love and care about me. Thank you for always being there to help me or Andy out when we need you! I also know I can tell you anything and you will love me just the same. I think you are hip, supportive, and very talented. I'm so proud of you- an extrememely talented musician and instrument repairman, a wonderful grandfather, father, and husband, and a great teacher. I'm glad I followed in your footsteps as a teacher even though you and mom tried to talk me out of the teaching profession! I love you! Happy Father's Day!

To my Andy: You are the best dad our boys could have. I don't tell you enough! You have stayed home with our boys and taken such good care of each one of them. I love that you are so involved with our children. You know them so well and love them immeasurably. They are so blessed to have you as a daddy. I am so glad that our jobs allow us to raise our boys together. I love how you spend time talking and explaining things to them, building legos, and making them pancakes! You are a GREAT dad and I am so glad we are in this together. I couldn't do it without you. I love you! Happy Father's Day!

Funny things from today!

Before I forget these funny things I want to share them with you! We went to the ballpark tonight to pick up Wilson's new t-ball trophy and medal. He was soo excited to get another trophy. He now has 3 t-ball trophies, 3 game balls, and two medals. When we got back home he decorated the fireplace mantel with all of his t-ball stuff. It's hilarious. He has his trophies, game balls, medal, two Reds uniforms, his t-ball hat, and his team picture spread out on the matel. He did this all on his own, completely his idea. I was laughing and rolling my eyes in my mind!! He cracks me up because from this you would think he was a die hard t-ball player. But not so much. There were many times this season and last that we had to make him attend a game or a practice. He enjoys it once he's there (usually) but he is a strong willed child and when he doesn't feel like doing something, he doesn't think he should have to...

Luke's funny things from today were: wearing his sunglasses and pajamas while I read him his bible stories before bed. The boys are both completing the summer reading log from the library and a summer bible reading log for church. The other funny thing was at dinner. Luke was eating an apple slice and because he eats SO slowly it was starting to turn brown. He asked me why it was turning brown and I said because it is peeled and in the air. He asked me to please turn the air off so his apples wouldn't turn brown! I laughed out loud!

The Major Project

Notice that all the cast iron pipes are gone, replaced with white PVC pipes!

Here is a look at what Andy has been working on night and day. He finished up this phase at 2am. Now the pipes are all replaced and the air condition condensation drips down into a pipe and out the cleanout drain instead of into a bucket that Andy was emptying at least twice a day. Already great progress has been made! I am amazed that Andy can do anything around the house...including major plumbing changes. He bought a book and used the internet and it looks like its professionally done. You are awesome baby!

What a Week.

It's been a rough week. Andy marked a trench from the front of the garage to the back to set the pipes for moving the washer. Then he used a concrete saw to cut the trench and a jack hammer to break up the concrete. All of this = thick layer of concrete dust throughout my house. It came in through the vents and got everywhere. In doing this he found the main clean out pipe for the house. It's old and was cast iron and now had a couple holes in it from jack hammering. He was going to just repair the holes but then decided to replace all the cast iron under the garage and downstairs bathroom to PVC pipe. This was a great decision we found out because the pipes were rusting from the inside and were nasty and narrow. He has also fixed the plumbing for the downstairs bathroom and sloped it so it will all work appropriately. So what was going to be a remodel laundry room project has now turned into something MUCH bigger - but for the best! It's been a long hard week for Andy. Thankfully my dad and his uncle have been over helping. One night Andy and Uncle Bill worked all night, until 5:30 am on the pipes. Crazy. I'll post pics soon. They are finishing the pipes tonight. So this week was rough because Andy was working night and day on the project. The house had concrete dust EVERYWHERE. I was helping with VBS every night from 6-8:30 which just makes dinner and bed time tough. The DVD player broke. I had times without water - couldn't flush the toilets or use the kitchen sink. Thankfully we can use water everywhere now. The washer and dryer haven't been useable for a couple weeks. Thank you to my mom, Stephanie, and Ma-maw for helping with the laundry this week. So I'm hoping to spend some time with Andy tonight or at least tomorrow to celebrate Father's day. He definitely needs a day of rest and relaxation!

Tyler had his 9 month appointment and weighed 23 pounds, 7ounces (87%), was in the 91%ile for height and get this...99%ile for head circumference!!