Quote of the Day

Coleton: "Mommy, do you know that Grandma got a 'squito bite from a dog?!"

(Awaiting explanation, Mom.)

Sarina is Two Today!

I can hardly believe she's two! I didn't plan anything special for today, because we're going to be celebrating with family in a few days, and (quite honestly) I almost forgot that today is the actual day! So, Chase had the grand idea of putting a candle in her oatmeal this morning and the 3 of us sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

In these past two years, Sarina has developed into a sweetheart and a spitfire. She recently moved out of her crib and into the toddler bed. We are in the process of potty training, and she seems to be catching on. As I was getting her ready for her nap today, I was about to help her get her Pull-Up on, and she said, “No. I do it myself!” (This is her new favorite line.) As she puts it on, this was our conversation:

Sarina: “It’s diaper.”

Me: “No. It’s actually a Pull-Up.”

Sarina: “No! It’s diaper!”

Me: “No. It’s kind of like a diaper, but it’s called a Pull-Up.”

Sarina: “Oh. Pull-Up?”

Sarina: (Now as she stands I pull her Pull-Up up.) “Oh-weee-so-fun!”

I started laughing. Coleton (who had just been crying because he didn’t want to take a nap) asked me what she said, so I told him, and he starts cracking up.

Just a few pictures I took today of my two kiddos on the front step...

P.S. Notice the flowers. I mean, put it on record that they're alive and thriving. I think this is the first year I've kept my flowers alive this long. (In all honestly, some of them did get scorched when I forgot to water a few days, and I had to pull them out.)

Doing Dishes with Grandpa & Grandma

Sarina is so into helping and doing things by herself lately, so Grandma let her "help" with dishes. She was making a huge mess, but I wasn't going to interfere, so long as my mom didn't mind. It was driving me nuts, but dare I "stifle her creativity"!? This would not happen at my house, but of course things are different at Grandma & Grandpa's house - a lot more fun! Note: it is my mom's idea for Sarina to get Grandpa wet. And when Grandpa returns later with towels, Sarina remembers what she's suppose to do! (Notice I'm kind of freaking out in the background. I was actually controlling myself quite a bit.)

Biscuits & Potty Training

Saturday morning Chase made us breakfast. He's such a loving husband and does this many times so that I can have the luxury of sleeping in. This breakfast, however, I had to blog about. Chase is great in the kitchen, and sometimes he experiments with new things. This morning he tried making biscuits from scratch, just using the recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook. They were out of this world, the best biscuits I've ever had! We had them with butter and All Fruit ("don't ever call it jelly"), and I felt like I was having dessert for breakfast! I knew as soon as I tasted them that I had to take a picture and brag about my chef husband! Thanks, Honey! You're the best! (I won't mention anything about my being in the kitchen for the next hour cleaning up. ;-)

Today, I decided to put Sarina in underwear. We've been having her try going on the potty sporadically, just to get her started on the idea, but I've never put her in underwear or been consistent about having her go. I've been feeling like she might be ready, so today I decided I should just get her in underwear and get more serious about training. She hasn't had an accident all morning and she's gone right away all 4 times I've put her on the potty. So, I'm cautiously optimistic. This is definitely not the way it went for Coleton.

I’ve also had another, greater blessing this morning. Most of the morning, Coleton and Sarina have been playing together, independent from me, but very engaged with each other. At one point, I realized I hadn’t seen them in a while and it was fairly quiet in the house. I walked into their room to see that Coleton had been reading Sarina books for apparently quite a while. Throughout the morning, they’ve been playing together with this toy or that. Coleton has also been a great encourager to Sarina with the potty training. Every time she goes, I give them both an M&M. (I don’t want him to feel left out, as he is already trained and doesn’t have the same opportunity to earn the M&M.) So now, when I tell her to sit on the potty, he goes and watches her, and if she doesn’t go right away he says, “Did you go? Oh, not yet. Sit on the potty a little longer, so you can go pee-pee and get a M&M.” (I'm sure there's no ulterior motive involved.) There's little that brings as much joy as seeing my children love each other. I pray that my children will be the best of friends!

A Day at the Beach!

(Okay, so I still have trouble getting my head around blogging and getting the pictures in the correct chronological order, so this first picture is from the end of our day at the beach. Otherwise, the pictures are chronological.)

Enjoying our picnic lunch after a fun time at the beach!

Today was a very special day! Chase got to take the day off and it was a beautiful warm day - a perfect day to go to the beach. This is the first time we have ever gone to the beach as a family (in almost 5 years of marriage). The kids love the water and were so excited. Chase was excited about being able to do something special as a family. I was soaking up the memories, sometimes with the camera, but the best part is when I can just interact with everyone, forget about that "I need to get a picture of this", or "I should really be straightening things up or getting ready for the next thing".

Does every guy love to grill? Well, Chase does. A picnic with Chase has to involve grilling. My mom found this little charcoal grill at a garage sale, and we've used it quite a bit. It's so nice to just pack up and take to a park.

I'm so grateful for my family, for Chase getting the day off, that he loves to spend his time off with us and putting extra work into making special memories together, for that he encourages me to take time to relax and just enjoy my family. Thank you, Lord, for a special day!