The good news and the bad news

We went to our friend's house last night to celebrate her husband finishing his dissertation. They have a really fun yard for all of the kids to play in, so Jacob and Gavin were in heaven. There was a giant trampoline to jump on, kids playing baseball, a curvy tree that was perfect for climbing (Jacob's personal favorite) and a tire swing.

Gavin and Kailey ran to the tire swing and a friend from our small group was spinning them. When I say spinning, I mean Gavin and Kailey clutching on with all of their might as they twirled around as fast as the tire swing could go. :) I stood there, dizzy just watching them, wondering if I should get Gavin. He looked like he was having so much fun though, yelling "Gain, gain!" (again, again) Kailey eventually got off and was pretty pale, but Gavin kept going. Until he threw up. Everywhere. (Did I mention they had just eaten dinner?)

Anyway, the good news is that while I was stripping Gavin down, he wouldn't let me put a new diaper on. I wasn't sure why, but figured it didn't really matter if he wanted to run around naked. When I looked again, he was squatted down and peeing in the grass. I realized that he didn't want his diaper on because he knew he had to go potty! After that, he let me put on his diaper and clean clothes and he was off to play.

Could it be? Gavin's first notion that he is ready to potty train? Jacob never showed any interest in potty training. Once he turned three, we decided it was time for him to learn whether he was interested or not. I was so glad we waited because he was fully trained in a couple of days. Although summer would be so ideal for Gavin to potty train, I don't think we are going to master any new concepts before the baby is born.

The bad news? We were at the playground today and Gavin wouldn't even go NEAR the tire swing. He would sit on the regular swing, but didn't even want me to push him on that. He just sat there. Poor little guy... I hope he isn't damaged for life.

Summer nights

Adam and I have wanted to buy a firepit forever. We finally decided to do it when the weather was gorgeous this past weekend. I have to say, it was one of the best purchases we have made in a long time.

There's nothing better than sitting outside on a warm summer night, hearing the fire crackle, talking about life, making s'mores... We loved it so much that we have built a fire and cuddled outside together every night since we bought it. Jacob calls it "pretend camping." Which I interpret as getting to enjoy the luxury of camping, except you don't have to go to bed on the cold, hard ground reeking of smoke.

Jacob and Gavin were so excited as they watched their daddy make a fire. They saw Adam blowing on the flame to keep it going, so they tried to help.



The downfall of firepits... when your two year-old decides to play with the ashes the following day. Seriously, that stuff does NOT come off! I was scrubbing him in the bathtub forever, not to mention scrubbing everything he touched on the way up to the bathtub. Totally brutal.

Playing T-Ball

Since Jacob and Kailey are four this year, her mommy and I couldn't wait to sign them up for T-Ball together. The YMCA has co-ed teams, but Kailey happens to be the only girl mixed in with ten boys. She is such a trooper though and can really keep up with all of them!

Jacob has already made huge gains since the first T-Ball practice three weeks ago. When the coach first threw the ball to him, he held his mitt out and watched the ball drop beside him. When it was his turn at bat, he wasn't sure about how to hold the bat and swing with accuracy. At his practice last night though, he caught three balls by himself and hit the ball two times on his first try.

Here are some pictures of his last game:

Jacob and his teammate waiting for their turn at bat
The coach helping Jacob get all lined up
My little outfielder waiting to catch the ball
Kailey's dad telling Jacob when to run home
Run Jacob run!

Me and my brother...

It's so much fun to watch Jacob and Gavin bond as they grow up together as brothers. My sister and I are really close, so I can only hope my boys will be the same. It melts me to see them give hugs when they are upset, humbly share their toys, and miss each other when they are apart.

Here are some fun things they have been up to!

Jacob helping Gavin put together a puzzle
Sharing the new trampoline Gavin got for his birthday from Papa and Grandma Kathy

Learning letters together on starfall
Playing with their new sand in the sandbox
Finding them naked upstairs as Jacob helps Gavin into his crib
Cracking up once they made it in the crib together

Practicing back floats in the bathtub once mommy collected them from the crib

Productive with a capital "P"

So I'm pretty sure that I want my mom to move in with me. ;) Adam is flying for the military for the next two months, which means longer trips. I'm not a big fan of him being away... for any amount of time. The only thing that cheered me up was my mom telling me she would stay with me when he was away. And I have loved every minute of that.

Today, I dropped Jacob off at preschool and came back to my mom in the backyard. I haven't touched my backyard since last summer. Probably because I pretty much despise weeding more than anything. But you know what? When you have someone helping you, it's actually not that bad. It was so nice to be able to do double the amount of work in half the time. We made our way around the backyard, finished the front yard (that I started yesterday), and then my mom even wanted to mow the lawn for me (with Jacob's help)!


After all of that, we filled Jacob and Gavin's sandbox with new sand, watched Tom Cruise's 25th anniversary of being a movie star on Oprah, fed the boys dinner, and made homemade caramel corn for Jacob's snack day at preschool tomorrow.

In my life, it just doesn't get any more productive than that. Thanks mom... you're the best!