Summer is Almost Over Already...

So I thought that I would have lots of time to blog over the summer, but I haven't posted since Easter...so sad.  And now I am preparing to head back to school in a few days...I can't believe how quickly the time has gone : (  I am so going to miss my boys, but Colten will actually be in preschool 3 days a week too.  I cannot believe that it is already time for him to start school.  In some ways I am so excited for him, but I am so scared too.  I wish that I could protect him forever and am dreading the day that he comes home sad because he felt left out and I am worried about how he will do in a classroom setting; at home he seems to never stop moving.  And I hope that he treats everyone fairly and with empathy.  I am so excited to watch him learn and grow and develop new friendships though : ).  I decided to take his first day of school off so I can drop him off and pick him up, knowing full well that the drop-off will probably be harder on me than it will be on him, especially because Kayleigh (or as Colten refers to her, 'his girlfriend') will be in the same class with him.  This makes me so happy because he will have a ready made friend and someone familiar to help him make the adjustment away from us.  Whether or not he was able to attend preschool hinged on getting potty training; our potty training adventures follow...and then I will break the summer season down into other subcategories since I have so much to catch up on : )
Before we get to potty training...
Payton's Baptism - Shortly after Easter our niece Payton was baptized!  I didn't get many photos because I was wrangling two children while Tom did his duty as Godfather : )  The day was beautiful though, and congratulations to Payton and her mom and dad, Amanda and Marc!  After mass, we headed to a lunch a Amanda's mom's house.  The food was delicious and the company was even better!  In fact, Melissa's son Nate had a Cadillac there, and Colten actually drove it.  He had had his Camaro for over a year and had yet to drive it.  Luckily after the party he jumped in his car at home too!

Mommy and Ryan and Colten at church for Payton's baptism

Aunt Amanda with her daughter Payton and me.

Colten driving Nate's Cadillac

And then driving his car at home!  Yay!

Potty Training-
Colten was showing little interest so my hopes of waiting for him to be ready faded quickly.  I wanted him ready for preschool in September so by mid-June we decided that IT WAS TIME!  He lacked motivation so we went all in.  Colten had to earn any toy that he wanted as a potty prize, and for each successful potty, he earned either a toy or a sticker that would eventually earn him a powered John Deere tractor and trailer.  To start we took his last pee diaper outside and buried it in the yard.  Colten was really excited as he helped Daddy dig the hole. Then he placed the diaper in and finally filled the hole.  We immediately had success with peeing; in fact, he asked us to go buy him underwear that night because he didn't want to wear pull-ups.  We were more than happy to oblige, and Colten selected a superhero pack, a Thomas the Train pack, and a Disney pack with Mickey, Jake, and Handy Manny.  Within 5 days, Colten had peeing down, but pooping was another story.  He didn't poop for days and then one night started screaming out in pain in his sleep because his belly hurt so much.  I held him and implored him to poop on the potty or even in his night pull-up.  At that point, my heart was breaking for him and I didn't care where he pooped but just that he did it.  Unfortunately, he fell back to sleep without pooping, but not before breaking my heart more as he said, "I'm sorry, Mom.  I wish I could poop for you." He wanted nothing more than to please us; I just hoped we weren't putting too much pressure on him.
The next morning, I called the doctor to see if I could give him anything to help him along, and in the meantime I gave him juice and fruit.  And luckily, he went!! At least a little bit, and in the potty too!  I thought we were on the fast-track to being potty trained, but Colten had another idea.  For the next 3.5 weeks I spent my time chasing Colten around the house whenever it got too quiet, and I always found him pooping in a corner somewhere; sometimes we made it to the potty and sometimes we didn't...So many people told me that the pooping takes time and that it would eventually just click for him, but I was getting frustrated to say the least.  I even resorted to making him clean out his own underwear.  He hated this job as much as I did, but it still didn't stop him from doing it as I had hoped...  We kept reminding Colten of his John Deere tractor but as much as he wanted it, he would not willingly poop on the potty, simply saying, "I don't want to poop on the potty," when we asked him why.
The turning point - one day we were talking about his ever-elusive tractor, and Daddy mentioned that Toys R Us didn't have many left.  Colten ran over to me and said, "I better hurry up and get potty trained if I want one."  And that was it.  He decided that he was ready, and there was no looking back : )
In some ways, I can't believe that I spent so much on a potty training bribe, but to watch Colten on his tractor makes it all worth it.  He is in heaven on this tractor and literally rides in circles around the house or up and down the street with Daddy every day until the battery dies.  Seeing him so happy is priceless.  And it is so nice to have him potty trained too!!!

 

 

 

Our Trip to South Bend -
Shortly after the school year was over, we headed to South Bend to visit the campuses.  We hadn't been back in years so we were all very excited! This was going to be Ryan's first visit too!  And this time I made sure that we were there on a weekday so the SMC bookstore and halls would be open.
First stop - SMC!

Every time we visit, Colten loves to run on LeMans green.

Mommy and her boys; I made sure to tell them both to find their wives at SMC when they go to ND : )

Going across the bridge

And now off to ND!

A family photo

Daddy taking the boys up to the stadium.

Colten looking down the tunnel toward the field ~ maybe one day...

Ryan turned 7 months old!

That night Ryan took his first bath in the big tub since we didn't bring his!

The next day we headed to St. Joseph MI.  Tom and I went there once when I was in college and just loved the beach area and the quaint little town and shopping area.  Granted it had been over 10 years since our visit, but we were hoping that the charm remained.  And we were more than pleased!  We had so much fun visiting all of the shops, and Colten really enjoyed the pirate theme.  All along the street, there were statues of pirates dressed in traditional gear to ones dressed as Elvis, and there was even a  pirate ship too : )  We also spent some time on Silver Beach there.  Colten had a blast digging in the sand, and Ryan seemed to enjoy his first visit to the beach too!  But it was a little too windy so sand was blowing around a bit too much for my liking with Ryan there.  We cut our beach trip a bit short but everyone was still more than happy with the day.  And exhausted too!

 

 

 

Footprints in the sand ~ Daddy, Colten, and Ryan

I took this photo for part of Daddy's Father's Day gift.  Laura told me about a poem for dad's and their kids, so I found the poem and then made a collage of the poem, this photo and the boys' actual footprints. (I painted their feet with glue and then stamped them on paper and poured sand from our beach trip over the glue prints; it was too cute if I do say so myself!)  The poem is below in case anyone is interested.

 

"Walk a little slower daddy," said a child so small.
"We're following in your footsteps and we don't want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they're hard to see;
So walk a little slower, Daddy,
For you are leading us.

Someday when we're all grown up,
You're what we want to be;
Then we will have a little child
Who'll want to follow us.

And we would want to lead just right,
And know that we were true;
So, walk a little slower, Daddy,
For we must follow you."

Finishing off the day with yummy ice cream!

Colten passed out on the drive back to our hotel.  I love that he is still clutching his pirate gun!

In all of Colten's 3 years, he has never stayed asleep from the car to his bed, but I guess there is a first for everything!  The beach really tuckered him out!

 We had a few more things to look forward to on the way home.  Stop 1 was the South Side Soda Shop in Goshen.  We had seen it featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and wanted to check it out since we were close.  And it was delicious!

Colten drinking a milkshake and Daddy with chili

Sharing his Oreo ice cream with Daddy

Stop 2 was an outlet mall were we met up with the Krieg family!  Yay!  They just so happened to be visiting family in Fort Wayne while we were in South Bend so we had to take advantage of being so close.  We loved seeing how big David is getting ~ I love his curly blond hair!  And we were thrilled to meet Emmaline!  She is such a beautiful girl like her mommy!  And they were able to meet Ryan too!  We only spent about an hour together but it was so great to be together again!  The only thing missing was the Belschner family.

Colten and David

Beth and Emmaline with David and Me with Ryan and Colten

Ryan is Growing Up so Quickly - I can't believe that Ryan turned 9 months old the other day and that I will soon be planning a 1st birthday party in a few months.  He is growing so quickly and learning so much everyday!  The pictures will take you through some of his milestones since April.

4/15/2012 ~ "I don't want to swallow my peas!"

5/7/2012 ~ All bundled up after a bath

5/15/2012 ~ Ryan's 1st walk sitting in the stroller

5/20/2012 ~ Ryan's 1st time eating in his highchair

5/31/2012 ~ Resting on Lady

5/31/2012 ~ Ryan started crawling the next day!  This is an action shot of him trying.

6/16/2012 ~ Ryan's sits up by himself for the 1st time!

6/19/2012 ~ Ryan relaxing in the pool!

6/20/2012 ~ Ryan's 1st night in his crib, and he slept so well!

6/22/2012 ~ Ryan stands up all by himself for the 1st time!

7/3/2012 ~ Ryan's 1st bath in his inflatable blue seal!

7/11/2012 ~ Happy 8 month birthday smiley boy!

7/13/2012 ~ At Grove City Outlets - 1st time in a restaurant highchair!

7/14/2012 ~ Future Brown's football player

7/30/2012 ~ "Check me out!"

7/30/2012 ~ 1st time climbing the stairs!

7/31/2012 ~ "I might not like yogurt melts yet, but I love these arrowroot cookies!"

8/3/2012 ~ Ryan's 1st time riding in a shopping cart and next to his big brother Colten too!

8/7/2012 ~ Enjoying a ride with Uncle Mike around the pool

8/7/2012 ~ Christian holding Ryan and Colten laughing

8/8/2012 ~ Ryan climbed into his race car track to sit - silly boy!

8/8/2012 ~ Colten snapped this photo of Ryan as he peeked up to see Colten!

Visiting Uncle Mike (2 separate times) -  We went for the first visit over Memorial Day weekend; we love making a trip to Columbus that weekend because we don't have to work on Monday so we get to enjoy more time with Uncle Mike, and we get to celebrate Daddy's birthday while we are there.  Before we get to the trip, I wanted to show Colten decorating Daddy's made-from-scratch lemon birthday cake.  Colten drew on it with blue frosting and then decorated it with star sprinkles, airhead twists, and pull and peel Twizzlers.  Let's just say that Colten had so much fun decorating and EATING as he created his masterpiece for Daddy!
Daddy's favorite place to celebrate his birthday is Schmidt's Sausage Haus so we headed there for his birthday dinner where everyone enjoyed yummy food and their famous cream puffs. 

Concentration is key.

"Ta-Da!"

Ryan and Colten at Schmidt's

While we were in Columbus, we also spent a nice night with the Melnik and Moss families.  With everyone's super busy schedules, we don't often all get together so it was great to relax at Uncle Mike's, chat, and watch the kids play.

KC with Braden and Ella; Mommy with Ryan and Colten

Braden and Colten playing with water guns - watch out everyone!

Ryan and Colten both in pirate shirts

For our next trip, my mom and I took the kids down mid-week, and then Daddy and Grandpa followed on Friday.  We had a blast just bumming around at Easton and other shops with Uncle Mike.  I really think that Colten believes that Uncle Mike exists purely to play with him; in some ways, he just might be right : )  On Saturday, we all headed to the Jazz and Rib festival along the river in Columbus.  We enjoyed yummy foods and lots of fun!  Since I can't eat sauce on my ribs, I was looking for a place that offered dry-rub ribs.  As we were walking along, we asked a worker who was at her booth if they had dry-rub ribs, and she told me to just ask for them 'naked' when I ordered.  When I went up to the counter, that is exactly what I asked the man for.  He looked at me funny and said, "you mean you want dry-rub?".  I laughed and said yes; I guess the joke was on me : )  Despite the scorching temps, Colten was very adventurous.  Usually he is hesitant to try things and often wants us to go with him, but he surprised us all by asking to go into the bounce-house!  And he did such a great job!  Shortly after, Uncle Mike and I decided to take him canoeing on the river.  I was a little leery as to whether he would actually do it, but we thought we would give it a try.  We signed the forms.  So far so good.  Then the lady tried to put one of those paper bracelets on him and he FREAKED out.  It looked like Mike and I were just going canoeing as Daddy took him over to the side while we received our instructions.   Luckily Colten wanted me, so we got him back over to us, distracted him with a train going by and put on his life-vest.  From there, it was easy.  He climbed into the canoe like a champ and we were off!  He had a blast!  And even used his oar to help us maneuver the canoe!  Way to go Colt-man!
And thanks so much for an amazing weekend, Uncle Mike!

Colten bouncing around

Mommy and Colten canoeing with Uncle Mike.  Check out Colten using his paddle!

Mommy, Uncle Mike, and Colten after our canoeing adventure!

Uncle Mike with his two nephews Colten and Ryan

Fun with Kayleigh - Colten absolutely loves his "girlfriend" Kayleigh, and they have had quite a bit of fun together over the past few months.  Every time Krissy and I are on the phone together, Colten and Kayleigh beg to talk to each other.  I love watching Colten walk around the house and tell Kayleigh about his transformers and cars while she tries to talk about princesses.  They are too much together : )

Colten and Kayleigh at Chuck E. Cheeses.  Neither of them like the rides that move, but together they made it work!

Cruising

Out for a spin

Holding hands poolside

Going in for the kiss

Colten, Kayleigh, and Ryan trying to beat the heat on a REALLY hot day

Mother's Day and Father's Day -We celebrated Mother's Day all weekend but everything was low-key, just how I like it.  Saturday was the perfect day.  We spent the whole day as a family and the weather was ideal so a park day it was!  Nothing eventful really happened but that is what made the day so special.  It was an ordinary day where we all just enjoyed spending time together.  I couldn't ask for more for Mother's Day.  But don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my Pandora bracelet and charms ~ thanks Colten, Ryan, and Daddy!  I love all of my boys! Sunday was just as special except for one thing.  I love going to church as a family on Mother's Day and was looking forward to that all week.  We don't often all make mass because Ryan naps at that time so Daddy usually stays home with him.  So I anticipated somewhat of a meltdown from Ryan that morning; however, I was wrong.  For some reason, Colten through an absolute fit and would not go to church.   Normally we would not give in to his tantrum, but I wanted to enjoy mass and so gave up my hope of attending as a family.  Instead I took Ryan by myself.  It was still beautiful even though I was without my other two men and even though I had to hold Ryan the entire mass to keep him from crying.  Regardless, I was spending my mother's day with Ryan for the first time and now I have a special memory to share with just him.

Ryan's first time at Boardman Park

Playing together at the park

Mommy and Ryan after church.  Ryan really liked the flower I received there.

Father's Day was another fun weekend.  Since we had just returned from South Bend a few days before, we decided that it would be easiest to have everyone over for a cookout.  It was so great to have everyone together; too bad Uncle Mike was missing.

Laura with Uncle Howard; Papa with Uncle Marc and Daddy; Uncle Marc with Payton; Daddy with Ryan and Colten; Grandpa with Mommy

Mommy and Ryan playing with Payton and Aunt Amanda

Daddy got father and son Darth Vader mugs so they enjoyed Oreos and milk to end the night ~ the dunk...

And the bite!

Happy 4th of July! -  Ever since I was in high school, I have attended the Beck's July 4th party and this year was no exception.  Aside from the intense heat, we had a blast.  Perhaps my favorite part is the parade that kicks off the festivities.  Every year Mr. Camuso leads the parade on his tractor and all of the children ride their decorated bikes, scooters, etc along the street as the rest of us line the street cheering and taking photos of course!  For Colten's first parade, I decorated the stroller, last year we decorated his mower, and this year I so hoped he would learn to pedal so we could take his motorcycle.  Well, he didn't disappoint.  On July 3rd, Colten started pedaling!!!  During the parade, the pedals started going a bit to fast for his legs so we resorted to Flintstone style, but I was still a proud mama : )  And we can't forget about Ryan's first 4th of July.  I pushed him in the stroller, and he soon tuckered out : )

Grandma with Ryan at the Beck's 4th of July party

Colten getting ready for the parade

I got the boys matching pj's for the 4th

I can't get enough of Ryan's smile!

Indian's Game and Brown's Family Night -  On August 6, 2012, Daddy and I took Colten to his fist Indian's game.  In his usual Colten style, he threw a fit, insisting that he did not want to go to the baseball game (even though he had never been to one before).  But we went, and he had a blast!  We had really good seats and fun people sitting next to us. In fact, Colten and the little girl next to us danced like crazy trying to get on the big screen, but to no avail : (  We stayed through the 6th inning and then headed for home.  Colten still wanted to stay but we had an hour drive home and wanted to reprieve my mom from watching Ryan.

Daddy and Colten watching the Indian's game

Colten, Mommy, and Daddy at the Indian's game

Two days later, Daddy took Colten to Brown's Family Night at the stadium.  I stayed home with Ryan so I don't have too much to report, but Colten said that he liked to see the 'football guys' practice.  He even took his Brown's helmet and jersey : )  Hopefully next year we can make it a family affair! 

At Brown's Family Night

Super Fan!

A few other random photos -

Aunt Amanda and Uncle Marc took Colten to Chuck E. Cheese's.  Here Uncle Marc and Colten are playing air hockey.

Colten dressed up as a policeman

And now as Captain America!

Colten and Christian driving a race car at St. Joe's festival

Colten loves peanut butter and "ice cream".  He came running into the living room holding all of the supplies and smiling!

Colten at Touch-a-Truck, trying on the fireman's helment

Colten as Darth Maul - check out his Darth Maul shoes too!

Colten and Daddy pulling weeds!

And now trimming bushes!

I hope everyone had a great summer, and I wish everyone a happy and healthy school year!
 Lots of love!