Healthy Again!

These are some random pictures taken in the past couple of weeks - presickness.

Jonathan loves playing in the sandbox, and eating the sand, and dumping it on the ground...


After dinner mess. I think he had just enjoyed an Oreo in this picture.

After dinner orneriness

Who knew the laundry basket could be so much fun?!

Andrew grabbed Keith's sunglasses and hat the other day and said, "I want to look like daddy." How do you not take a picture of that?

(Please disregard the basket of laundry and messy dining room...I don't know how those things got in the picture.)

We are finally all healthy! Keith was the last victim in our family. He didn't feel great on Wednesday, slept all day Thursday, thought he felt better on Friday and even went to work, only to get hit hard on Saturday. But by Sunday night he was back to eating normal food and had his energy back.

Jonathan finally stopped having diarrhea on Thursday and has been eating. like. a. horse. ever since. He has made up for all that he lost and then some! And both boys seem to have banked all of their unused energy when they were sick and are cashing it in now! Too bad it is cold and rainy and not great weather to run off some of that extra steam!

But we are so thankful we are all healthy and are praying we can stay that way for awhile!

Happy Birthday, Mom/Grandma!

Grandma and Jonathan

Andrew and Uncle Matt

Jonathan and Uncle Matt

Last night we celebrated mom's birthday, even though Jonathan was still sick. We thought he was getting better - see previous posts...Anyway, we had a great dinner and fun hanging with grandma, grandpa, and Matt.

Matt is in town working on his house and helping dad with the chores, etc. This was our first chance to visit Dad since his gall bladder surgery, which he had on Friday. He's had multiple attacks and always thought the pain was from his back. Turns out, he had several gall stones and a very diseased gall bladder. Fortunately he had a great surgeon and was home Saturday. We are so glad that it was caught before it became emergency surgery, and that he will hopefully be pain free after his sutures heal!

Andrew found a lot of lady bugs to watch in the sandbox. That's his new thing - searching for creatures. So far, he hasn't wanted to bring them in the house. Let's hope that trend continues.

Happy Birthday Mom! Hope you had a great day! We love you!

Rice, Rice, Baby

Have you ever been this happy to eat plain white rice?

Today has been a VERY long day. Jonathan did not eat any solid food until 4 pm and that was the gourmet feast shown in these pictures - rice. (I had been forcing Pedialyte into his system with a syringe, a teaspoonful at a time.) He was so excited to see this little bowl of rice, I had to take a couple of pictures. And it made the incessant whining stop. And the best news is that the rice stayed in his body!

He had another little bowl of rice for dinner, a couple bites of banana and a couple spoonfuls of applesauce. And again, it has all stayed in his body. So far. The night is still young, but we are hopeful!

Calgon, Where are you?

Remember those old Calgon commercials? The stressed mom, the relaxing bubble bath. Whatever. Real life equals bodily functions spewing from children all over the carpet, themselves and you. And only the children get the bubble bath.

We're battling another bug around here. A week ago, a couple of moms mentioned to me this little stomach bug they had been battling. I was hoping against hope that my children wouldn't catch that bug, but they did. I'm starting to think that Andrew's body hears there is a new bug in the air and jumps up to catch it.

It all started a week ago. Andrew had an isolated incident of diarrhea. That was Tuesday. Thursday morning around 1 am he came in our room and threw up all over our floor. Then Thursday and Friday he seemed mostly fine. Saturday brought a little more diarrhea and a very fussy and needy Jonathan.

Sunday morning around 4 am, I heard Jonathan coughing and crying, so I checked on him. Puke everywhere and then diarrhea throughout the day. This has continued. Just when I think one of them is better, the other one starts up again. And the hardest part is that Jonathan wants to eat and as his mother, I want to feed him, but it NEVER ends well for either of us!

I just heard coughing and gagging coming from Jonathan's room, so that is a sign this post is done for now. We had a rough night again, and so I'm praying today will be easier, with less bodily fluids and happier children. Oh, and long naps, for all!

At least Andrew seems to be OK, with plenty of energy. If I could just bottle that energy and drink it or sell it!

Egg Hunt

This is what Jonathan was wearing also. Somehow we didn't get any pictures of him helping hunt Easter eggs. So just squint and pretend this is Jonathan, only shorter and with less hair.

Here are a couple of pictures from Easter Sunday. We spent the evening with my dad and because it rained all day, we had a little egg hunt in the living room. Andrew could have hid and hunted eggs for hours on end, but after about an hour, we had to put an end to the fun. My mom had to work Easter evening, so we visited her for a few minutes and stopped by to see my grandpa too.

Unfortunately, we do not have any cute pictures of the boys in their matching outfits. I had to work the nursery desk Sunday morning and left before they were dressed. Keith got them ready and brought them to church alone. And by the time we got home from church, everyone was tired and hungry and a little cranky. So sadly no pictures. Maybe next Sunday we can take a cute picture and pretend it was Easter morning...

Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes , peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. dried Italian herb seasoning

Preheat oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil coated with cooking spray. Toss potato strips with olive oil and spices. Spread the sweet potato strips out onto the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 20-30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes with spatula. Serve warm.

I was a bit skeptical when I saw sweet potatoes and kosher salt, but it is so yummy and so fast to make them this way. And I like to pretend that it's mostly healthy!

Easter presents!

A cool car that shoots bubbles out the back. A BIG hit with the boys!

a watering can

"Wanna see it closer?"

"What's in this box from Grammy and Grandpa?"

Andrew reading a new Easter book.

A new truck!

"Check out this cool grass stuff!"

We got some great Easter presents in the mail this past week from the Fleurys and from Grammy and Grandpa Ayotte! The boys loved everything and were so excited to open the boxes. Thanks for all the great stuff!

Dutch Kitchen

Sandra, Tiana, Jonathan and Tanisha

Dad, Sandra, Gina, Courtney, Dorothy, Al, and me

So, the morning after the pee-pee incident, we met the Nislys at the Dutch Kitchen for breakfast. Andrew had the camera and took some random pictures. This last picture of Jonathan is my favorite. It gives a little glimpse into his personality that is rarely caught on film!

potty training update...

Well, it would seem that my last post was a bit premature. The night I posted the potty training update, we were awakened at 4 am by Andrew, telling us that he had had pee-pee accident in his diaper. I sat right up because he wasn't wearing a diaper! and I knew there was a mess to clean up. We changed his sheets and his pjs and got him back to bed. Keith said it was all my fault because I posted a potty-training update. So I may not post anymore updates for a few years! HaHa

We got Andrew back to bed and then we couldn't get back to sleep. It would seem that all the commotion of changing sheets and clothes woke Jonathan, who then proceeded to serenade us for the next 30-45 minutes. "Mama. Dada. Uh-oh. Googoo. jibberish. Mama. Dada. Uh-oh. jibberish. and so on until he finally fell back asleep too.

Ahhh. Sleep. How I miss you!

Library Day and potty training update

We went to the library on Wednesday. We go about every two weeks and check out a huge number of new books. I LOVE library day because Andrew always sits so quietly looking through all the new books and then asks me to read them all. We have to set limits on how many we read on the first day. Andrew's reading one of the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems, our new favorite author. He also writes the Pigeon books, which we also love. Andrew loves them so much that he memorizes them after we read them one time. It's a little freaky to hear him reading to himself, but I love that he loves books!

On another note, potty training is going very WELL! About a month ago, I told Andrew that we were almost out of Pull-Ups and that I wasn't going to buy anymore because we had already spent half his college fund on them. He didn't really understand the economics of it, but it made me feel better. I also told him that we were going to start wearing underwear, only. So, we went shopping for new underwear. He was totally uninterested as I tried to have him help me pick out new undies. So, I picked what I thought would be acceptable, and we started wearing underwear exclusively. Some have been rejected from the Disney pack, such as certain Cars undies and Wall.E for some unknown reasons. He likes what he likes, and I'm not going to force the rejected undies if it causes accidents!


We have a little egg-timer that I would set to go off hourly as a reminder to try and go pee-pee. It started to work and after a week or so, I quit setting the timer and he started telling me when he had to go. And now he doesn't even tell me. I just hear him running and slamming the bathroom door and then locking it for "privacy." Like Jonathan and I might bust in on him. Whatever.

Poop was a little more difficult. He was still wearing pull-ups at night and so he would usually choose bedtime or early morning to do poopies. When I asked him why he wouldn't go in the toilet, he would answer, "Cause that's what boys do." How do you argue with that logic?


About a week or two ago, we stopped wearing Pull-Ups to bed because of Andrew's sensitive skin. He was starting to break out around the waist, where the Pull-Ups rubbed, so it was an easy excuse to stop wearing them. Plus he was always dry in the morning and I figured the worst that would happen is that I would do more laundry. Ha! Well, so far, no accidents at night and he now does poopies in the toilet! And he insists on wiping himself. This control-freak mama, does not handle that well, but I'm working on it and teaching him how to wipe properly. (Sorry if this blog is a little to graphic! But it's my life.)

Today we were at Dillons, and we had just paid for the groceries and were heading out to the car. We walked by the Restroom sign, which I think he can read, and he screams that he has to go pee-pee. So, I reluctantly parked my groceries outside the bathroom door, and hauled Jonathan into the bathroom. Andrew went pee-pee and when I tried to help pull his pants up, he announces that he had to do poopies. I didn't believe him. I thought he just wanted to hang out in the dirty public bathroom and watch me freak as my groceries were pilfered. But no, he really did have to go and my groceries were just fine. Progress!


Now, we just have to work on the back talk...

Happy Birthday, a little late...

Andrew helping Jonathan open his gift.

"How do I open this?"

"Cheese!"

"This is mine."

Sharing the blocks

These are the only two blocks that Jonathan was allowed to play with once Andrew got a hold of the blocks.

"Hey! Isn't that my gift?!"

Sondra and Chad sent Jonathan's birthday present (cute little wooden wagon with blocks. Gotta love IKEA!) home with Grandma and we finally got around to opening it. We had hid it and then forgot about it. *sigh* But it was worth the wait. The boys were so excited to open it. Notice I said the boys even though it was for Jonathan. We had to have a little talk about whose blocks they were. And while Andrew "gets it" he still has laid claim to the blocks and dictates which blocks Jonathan is allowed to play with. Thanks for the great blocks Sondra, Chad and Luke! We love them!

Brotherly Love

Last Sunday, Andrew asked me to take pictures of him holding Jonathan. This is NEVER requested, so of course I didn't say no! Jonathan tried to escape at first, but then gave in and let me take a couple of sweet pictures.

Some days I see great hope for how they will play together, you know, once Jonathan learns to follow orders. And other days, I fear that they will only interact by playing chase or throwing toys at each other. I guess it still constitutes playing, just not the kind I had in mind...

Chatty Cathy

Taking a brief talking break to listen.


Keith was on the cordless to help interpret.

Testing the stretchiness of the phone cord, and Jonathan following his cool big brother up the stairs.

A couple nights ago, Andrew decided he wanted to call Grammy. So, we let him because he rarely wants to talk on the phone to anyone. He was in a very chatty mood that night and talked to her for at least a half hour until we told him it was time for bed. He told her all about his day and went into great detail about everything that was going on around him and describing Jonathan's antics. He was so chatty. I have NO idea where he gets that from!