H Family Reunion

The last weekend in July we drove to Nebraska for the annual H family reunion.  It is one of the coolest places in the world for a little boy with all the tractors, trucks, buggies, 4 wheelers, and wagons.  Kamden was in heaven! 

The weekend started with dinner and playing at Great Grandma's Farm.  She still has all kinds of toys that I played with as a toddler and even some that my mom and aunts played with when they were kids, too. 

Love this shot of Kam that my cousin B took.  He looks like a total bad-ass :)

 

The next day, we played out at Aunt J & Uncle D's house.  It was insanely chilly for July.  Everyone had jackets on most of the day (except this pregnant girl!).  Uncle D built an amazing 3-story castle for his grandkids.  It was so fun!

This was the second year we stayed at a hunting lodge in town.  It is perfect for our family - we basically rent out the entire place for the weekend.  There are a number of bedrooms on one side of the property with a living space in the middle and an industrial kitchen and large eating area on the other end.  It is great to be able to all stay in the same place but still have plenty of space and separation for different sleeping/napping/late night schedules.

All the great grand-kids....

The infamous spoons tournament...

and the winner of the golden spoon trophy...

Previous reunions blogged in 2012 (KC),  2011 (Mahoney), and 2010 (Arapahoe)

Well, we tried.

Potty Training. 

Most people should feel free to skip this whole post.  I wanted it documented for my memories :)

Yes, Kamden has just turned 2 and it is on the earlier end of the potty training window.  A lot of people thought it was a great idea (my pediatrician was really encouraging it), many thought I was crazy but as with any big parenting topic... everyone seemed to want to voice their opinion. 

There are a few reasons I attempted it this early.  Obviously, it would be great to not have 2 kids in diapers.  He also REALLY fights diaper changes.  It takes a couple people or me and the TV to get the job done.  He hates diapers and poop (digs it out of the diaper) but doesn't want them changed.  Since I had a C-Section with Kam there is a decent chance that I will have another (although I haven't ruled out VBAC... another awesome topic everyone has an opinion about).  I picture myself trying to wrestle him to the floor post op just to change a diaper and just CRINGE. 

I did a bunch of research and tried method that involved, cold turkey, no diapers while awake.  He still takes about a 3 hour nap so I definitely didn't think he was ready to be diaper-free during a nap.  It started out amazingly.  For about a month we had been watching the Elmo Potty Time video and reading a couple of books.  He was extremely interested.  We tried using both underwear and going naked.  He did really well while naked.  He was making it to the potty chair most of the time.  By about 4.5 days into it, he used the chair 4 times (twice without me prompting him) and had 1 accident.  I consider that wildly successful. 

Then the weekend hit.  We were up at my parents house most of the weekend for a family reunion.  He was basically naked and playing outside for a couple of days with a ton of distractions.  He didn't go in the potty chair the whole time we were there.  Then he started downright refusing to use it.  I planned to give it a few more days once we were back in our environment.   He has been hostile toward the potty chair since then so I just put it away and decided we would re-visit in a few months.  Hopefully, round 2 will be more successful!

A couple pictures from the "adventure"...

Somehow washing hands turned into full-on playing in the sink.  I didn't care... he had used the potty!

Sidenote: who is jealous of that awesome wall paper?  This is our basement bathroom that was previously only used by Joe while working in his office.  Now the basement is basically just a large playroom and Joe's office is going upstairs.  I have a feeling I will be itching to get rid of this disaster soon :)

2nd Birthday - Airplane Party

I kept this party a bit more simple than the 1st Birthday.  I don't plan to make a big deal out of all his birthdays... plus I am 34 weeks pregnant!  The airplane theme was pretty fitting for this little guy.  He loves airplanes and anything transportation related.  His first (toddler style) sentence was "Airplane up high!"

I put together box lunches for everyone that were ready to go in advance.  It included a small JJ's sub, pasta salad, fruit, pretzels, and a cookie.  Very much like you might receive on an airplane... back when they gave lunches on an airplane :)

 Drinks were just lemonade and water in these adorable containers which are an affordable knock off of the containers I really covet.

I  ordered cupcakes instead of making somthing this year (ahhemmm... 34 weeks, people).  I did design and print the cute little toppers myself though.

 

I "decorated" (if you can even call it that) with some airline magazines, skymall, and pretzels/peanuts that Joe had collected the last few months.  I threw in a few balloons as well... which Kamden was beyond excited about.

Created a little game for some of the kids to play.  They threw little cheap-o foam airplanes to try to get through the holes.

 He loved the singing part.  We had to do it twice :)

Baggage Claim (aka goodie bags) for the kids included little airplane coloring books I printed myself, crayons, a few more of the foam airplanes, and peanuts/m&ms snacks.

I found some inspiration from online resources for the invite... I love how it turned out!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Kamden is officially a 2 year old!  Hopefully, we can hold of the terrible part of that a bit longer.  He is still a great kid.  Kamden love to be outside, go on walks, play at the park, and in the car.  He is a very picky eater but I am told this is normal.  He still attends a Montessori school 2 days a week.  The adjustment took a long time but he really loves it now.  He loves Sesame Street (a little talk of Elmo's World goes a long way for negotiating with a toddler).

We have our fair share of tantrums and have a fairly consistent disciplining technique down.  We really wanted to get this in place before his little brother arrives.  We are also starting to potty train next week.  I will give it a shot for a few days and if he flips out, we will hold off a while longer.  I definitely think it is worth a shot to not have 2 in diapers.  

A few days before his 2nd birthday, he started showing signs of hand, foot, and mouth disease.  It seems to be a pretty mild case.  He isn't eating much but nothing is new about that.  The pediatrician said he doesn't have to be isolated from kids if he doesn't have a fever but to be safe, we postponed the birthday party by a week.  To make up for the botched birthday plans, we improvised with a small party for the 3 of us.

The day started with a VooDoo Donut that Joe brought home from Portland the night before.  My very odd child doesn't like many new things.  This included the donut (I am considering genetic testing soon).  He licked off the chocolate of one bite, fed the rest to Duke and then didn't touch the other bites.  In order to claim him as my own, I will blame it on the sickness. 

 In the evening, we opened a few gifts.  His favorite was his own electric tooth brush.  He has been stealing mine for a while now.  It is way too expensive for him to play with so he needed his own.

He also got a remote control monster truck.  He goes back and forth between loving it and being terrified of it.  He will understand how great it is soon.

He did NOT like the candles....

The cake was pretty good though...

House Paint

Picking out paint colors for an entire house is pretty daunting.  It costs a lot to paint a house and you have to live with it for about 10+ years.  Our house is 16 years old and was really needing a new paint job.  Considering we also replaced the A/C and furnace this year, Joe said we are DONE with dumping money into this house (for now).  

Before (picture from the listing 5 years ago):

 After:

 

 Rear Before:

Rear After (with the added toddler toys!):

I am very happy with the color.  The main body is SW Anonymous, trim is Shoji White, and the door is Beeswax (yellow!).    My second choice color for the body was Gauntlet Grey.  My neighbor across the street painted her house this color just a few weeks before me.... close call :)

Oregon Coast Retreat

We recently met some friends/business partners on the beautiful Oregon coast for a little bit of work and play.  It was exactly where a mom in her 3rd trimester should be in July.  I don't think it ever reached 75 degrees the whole time we were there.  It was perfect :)

There were 8 adults and 6 boys (from almost 2 y.o. - 12 y.o.).  Everyone got along great and had a wonderful time.  We spent the days just relaxing at the house, flying kites, playing on the beach, and eating.  I can't believe how much food and how many dishes 14 people generate!

The house was AMAZING!

Kam was very disappointed that this one didn't fly...

 

 

Early morning crew, playing in PJs...

 Beach time!

Kamden posing in front of Haystack Rock

 Late night "work" session for the business partners

Unfortunately, Kamden did not take well to the time change.  He was up insanely early every day and didn't sleep well through the night.  He ended up spending his nights in bed with me which means I slept horribly as well.  Since we were sharing a house with 3 other families, I whisked him out in the morning so we had some quality time on the beach with no one around... while we waited for the local coffee shop to open.

And no matter where we are, playing in the car is still Kamden's favorite thing to do.  Joe captured this hilarious video...

A special thanks to J.E. for taking most of these photos!