Six on Saturday

1. Last Saturday one of our rough neighbor boys broke Corbyn's trike. We tried fixing it with glue, but it wasn't holding. On Monday I called Huffy. They send the part we needed for free and it came on Thursday! Talk about awesome customer service!

2. Tuesday night I was going crazy after being cooped up for what seemed like an eternity. Luckily Rog didn't have bishopric meeting and one of my friends was having a Usborne Book party. It felt awesome to get dressed in real clothes, put on makeup, and get out of the house for a few hours. Rog took care of Corbyn's diarrhea and got the kids to bed without a word of complaint. I ordered some activity books that will hopefully help keep the kids occupied while Rog is up on the stand. Fingers crossed!

3. The last half of the week was uber hot. We braved the heat Thursday night to go to Rog's softball game. I wanted to sit behind the stands under a tree in the shade, but Corbyn insisted we sit in the stands. He had a great time with a little boy (named Peyton) running back and forth. I about died of heat just watching them.



4. I have been wanting to make another quiet book as Corbyn has destroyed a lot of the pages in the quiet book from the quiet book exchange I did a few years ago. This week I discovered this site with tons of amazing quiet book patterns. Now if only I could find the time to get going on them!

5. I'm amazed at how well Corbyn has done with potty training. He rarely has an accident and wakes up dry almost every morning. (I was going to say every morning, but he wet the bed this morning.) He has had more trouble with pooh, but I think he is finally getting it after my visiting teacher told me they call it a pooh snake to help her little boy. At first he refused to go on public toilets, but I ordered this folding toilet seat and now he has no problem with that either. (Best $9 I ever spent!) We still have to remind him to go and I wouldn't say he is officially potty trained, but he is doing great!

6. Yesterday we had a crazy day - we had lunch with Mariah and Charlotte at Arctic Circle, my visiting teacher came, and we went to IKEA. We were rushing home to watch the Howard kids while their parents went on a date. (Rog was already home watching them because IKEA took longer than planned.) We stopped at Costco to get gas and a pizza. I put the pizza on the roof of the car while I strapped the kids in and drove off with it still up there. I realized when we were almost home and by the time I got back there it was a smashed mess in the parking lot, so it was plan b for dinner - mac and cheese all around. We came home to find that Rog had a new little buddy. Sweet Calla wouldn't leave his sight! (I'm a little - ok maybe a lot - jealous of all her hair! Peyton's is getting there slowly, but surely.)

Last Weekend

Ugh, last weekend... Saturday was pretty good, but Sunday was awful. And what was even more awful was that it was only the start of the awfulness that was to come. Monday and Tuesday were equally awful. Let's start at the beginning. (This is mostly for my memory, so if you don't want to read about a horrible case of the stomach flu at our house, feel free to skip this blog.)

Saturday morning I found some throw up in Peyton's crib. It looked a little red (like blood), but she had some craisins close to bed time, so I thought maybe it was just that. She was acting pretty close to normal all day, so I decided that it was just because she had eaten junk all day Friday while Corbyn was potty training.

Saturday was day 2 of potty training and it wasn't too terrible. It helped a lot that Rog was home, so we could take turns watching him and helping him remember to use the potty. I was able to go on my long run (4.5 miles - training for the Speedy Spaniard 10K on July 24) and Rog was able to go for a bike ride. In the afternoon he let me sneak off and do a few errands. I had a return to do at Gap and while I was there I figured I'd look around to see if I could find a shirt for me. I found one that was on sale for $10. Before I left the mall, I decided to just peak in Aeropostale for a minute. I hit the jackpot with 3 shirts for $3.99 each! That's 4 new shirts for $21.97 + tax. Pretty good! I also got us a new trash can at Bed Bath & Beyond because our old one was white and it was looking pretty horrible. And this one locks, so Peyton won't be able to throw stuff away!



My parents came up that afternoon for a relative's mission farewell the next day. They got us Cafe Rio for dinner and we played Sequence after getting the kids to bed. My dad and I were on a team and we came from behind to win both times!

Sunday morning came and Peyton woke up early. She wouldn't go back to sleep in our bed like she normally does, so I went to put her back in her crib. That's when I found more throw up and this time I knew it definitely had blood in there. I freaked out and we almost rushed her straight to the ER. Luckily we decided to call the on-call doctor which just so happened to be our doctor that night. He said we were ok to watch her because it was a small amount of blood and she was acting normal. I was still worried, so I called Dr. Jason. (Soooooooo nice to have a doctor in the family!) He agreed with what our doctor said and explained a little more which made me feel a whole lot better. While I was on the phone with him, Peyton threw up all her breakfast (but just food, no blood this time - phew). And then threw up a few more times throughout the day. That was good because it meant she probably just had a virus and the blood was from forcefully throwing up while her stomach was pretty much empty.

Rog had meetings starting at 8 am and he didn't come home until 3 pm. It was a long day for me taking care of a sick baby girl and continuing to potty train Corbyn. Peyton stopped throwing up, but then had diarrhea the rest of the day and had no appetite for food and drank next to nothing.

After we went to bed Sunday night, Rog started violently throwing up for hours. Peyton wasn't sleeping well and I could tell Rog was really sick. The first counselor in the bishopric was able to come give him a blessing before he left for work and he started to do a little better after that. He stayed home from work and pretty much confined himself to our bedroom upstairs while I tried to keep the kids quiet, so he could get some rest. Peyton was doing a little better, but still didn't have much of an appetite. She threw up one more time after dinner, but then finally started to get better after that.

Tuesday morning Corbyn threw up once, but then was pretty much fine the rest of the day. He didn't want to do much, so we watched a lot of movies. He had some diarrhea which was really fun with potty training, but he handled it like a champ. (I'm just really glad he got a minor case of this sickness and that it didn't derail all our potty training efforts!)

So basically it was not a fun 3 days at all! This post from Rachel was rather timely and I could not agree more.

"Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for." 
- Elder Neil L. Anderson

I'm so grateful I have the opportunity to be a mother - even on weekends like this one when I get thrown up on and have to clean up potty training puddles.

Corbyn's Birthday: Pictures

We got Corbyn's 3 year pictures taken the Saturday before his birthday at CheapShots Photography. They went much better than Peyton's 1 year pictures. And they were as different as night and day from his 2 year pictures last year! He was so easy to photograph - sat still (for the most part) and said "cheeeeeeese" while smiling.









At the end we let him hold Peter Pan and Captain Hook. That of course was his favorite part.



We love this little cutie!

Corbyn's Birthday

On Corbyn's birthday he came downstairs to find streamers. (I forgot to buy balloons, but I didn't want to do nothing.)



His presents were waiting, so he opened them first thing. He got Peter Pan (want), the Number Land Leapfrog DVD (need - to learn his numbers better), a Jake shirt and underwear (wear)...



The Peter Pan Little Golden Book and the Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Play-a-Sound Board Book (read).



I had ordered a Jake balloon for his friend party off Amazon, so Rog went on a search for helium. (Does anyone know how we have a shortage of helium? And also is there always going to be a shortage? Weird.) He finally found some at the 3rd store he tried and got it filled up.



He also picked up some donuts for breakfast. Yum!



Then it was time for his friend party. After the party and while Peyton napped, we let him watch Peter Pan again.

And then we headed over to Seven Peaks for the afternoon. We had planned on going to the zoo, but it was crazy hot that day (like 95), so we decided to postpone the zoo for a cooler day later this summer.



He was being brave and we got him to go down the slides in the bigger kiddie pool (the one with the snake and the crocodile) alone with me waiting at the bottom.



We picked up Applebees to go for dinner and called it a day! It was a great day celebrating our big 3 year old!

Father's Day

We had a pretty laid back Father's Day in the midst of a crazy weekend celebrating Corbyn's birthday.

I got up with the kids and let Rog sleep in. We made him breakfast burritos and woke him up with just enough time to eat them, get ready, and head off to a meeting.

After church, we let Corbyn open one of his presents a day early, so he had something to keep him occupied while we made dinner - Peter Pan.



We had Sweet and Sour Meatballs for dinner. My dad raved about them and that's saying something because he served his mission in Denmark where they specialize in meatballs! We've been having them for so long that I forget how good they really are! (Thanks Megan for the recipe!)

After dinner we pulled out the slide again. Many of our neighbors came out to enjoy the nice weather and chat. The kids took turns doing tricks off the slide. My favorite was Corbyn's summersault dismount.



The kids and I got Rog a new pipe for our drain. (He actually had to go back and get the right one after the Home Depot worker told me the wrong one to buy, but it's the thought that counts right...) Our old one was really beat up after being run over many many times. This time he rigged up a system that should keep it from blowing around and getting run over!



We also made him a Father's Day Photo Book.



In it is each of the kids' handprints...



And of course a bunch of pictures from the last year of Rog with Corbyn, Peyton, and a few of the 3 of them. (This is just a sampling of a few of the pictures in there.)



It was fun having my dad here to celebrate Father's Day with. We also got to FaceTime with Rog's dad. And I'm always glad there is a day set aside to celebrate fathers because my kids got one of the best dads out there - really they did!!

Corbyn's Birthday: Friend Party

We did a Jake and the Never Land Pirates theme for Corbyn's friend party because we figured the kids would be more familiar with that. We had it the morning of his actual birthday. (Rog took the day off.)

The invitation. We invited Rhys and Hazel Howard, Stockton Goodrich, Johnny Kramer, and Carver Couey. And Blake and Peyton were there too.



We let the kids play with all of Corbyn's Jake and the Never Land Pirates toys.



And sword fight while we waited for everyone to get there. The blow-up crocodile became part of the fight.



Then we played "pin the X on the map."





We opened presents.



He got some fun toys - a Transformer, a Batman figurine with Batman stickers, a coloring book, and a water gun.



Then we ate lunch - pizza, juice boxes...



And crocodile jello.



We had two tables of 4 but of course all the kids wanted to sit by Corbyn, so we ended up squeezing 2 more in by him.



For the cake we had Pirate Ship Cupcakes.





And for the favor bags I found Jake and the Never Land Pirates Tattoos, Mini Pirate Rubber Duckies, Jake and the Never Land Pirates Fruit Snacks, and gummy crocodiles.



It was fun to have a little party for his friends!

Five on Friday

1. I finally came to terms with the fact that Google Reader is going the way of all the earth at the end of the month. I haven't had time to research replacements, so I took the word of Lisa and Janssen and Kayla and went with Feedly because I read blogs almost exclusively from my iPhone. I like that Feedly is an actual app (Google Reader wasn't) and other than having a hard time commenting on posts from my phone, I have liked it so far.

2. I watched Charlotte for a few minutes the other day. It had been awhile since I watched her last and she has grown up a lot in that time. Now she rolls and sits up making her more fun for Corbyn and Peyton. Peyton thought she was her own personal real live doll and couldn't stop giving her hugs and kisses. It was just about the cutest thing ever!



3. Corbyn got a toy he already had for his birthday, so we returned it to Walmart and I let him pick out another toy. He loved that and ultimately decided on Hook's Accessory Trunk Play Set. He has had fun playing with it, but hasn't stopped talking about Jake's Talking Spyglass - his second choice. Lucky for him, he just started potty training today (see #4 below) and will be getting it as soon as he fills up his sticker chart. (We're definitely not above bribery - especially when it comes to potty training!)

4. Today was potty training boot camp for Corbyn. I followed the program described in this blog post. I've been dreading potty training, but it wasn't as horrible as I thought it might be. I absolutely refused to try until I was sure he was ready and I'm sure that made a huge difference. I'm not saying he got it immediately, but he did do pretty dang good. As in, I cleaned up more popsicle spills than pee. Fingers crossed that tomorrow goes just as smoothly!



5. After dinner tonight we set up our new tent for the first time in our "front yard." Corby, PJ, and I had been cooped up all day on the linoleum potty training and we were needing an excuse to get out for a few minutes. We were pleased to discover that we'll be able to fit a queen blow-up mattress and a pack 'n play in there with room to spare. With that discovery, I'm feeling a lot better about a camping trip we have coming up in July with some friends from our ward.