Round Five

Potty Training, Round Five is complete!! I'm so proud of my little Bean. He picked it up very quickly. I would be lying if I said that I'm not relieved to be done with that. Potty training is not exactly my favorite part of motherhood. I was really dreading training Noah because he is a boy. It took me a year to train Joshua...partly because I think I started him too early, partly because I had no earthly idea what I was doing, and partly because Joshua is a very deliberate kind of a guy! Training the girls was an entirely different experience for me. As a matter of fact, they pretty much trained themselves by the time they turned 2.

Noah still wears a diaper or pull-up at night and during his nap, but I'm not the least bit worried about that. He wakes up dry from his nap 95% of the time, and he wakes up dry in the morning 75% of the time. I just haven't been able to motivate myself to go cold turkey and wash the bedsheets more frequently! I'm okay with that for now though. He's only 2 years and 3 months old. We'll work on naps and nighttime in another month or so.

Finally!

I have, at long last, found a whole wheat bread recipe that I like that works really well for me. I don't care for dense bread, and all of the other recipes I tried were coming out very heavy. This recipe for Honey Oatmeal Bread, however, is very light and tastes wonderful! I think that using a hand mixer to beat the first few ingredients may be the secret. Anyhow, if you have been looking for a good bread recipe, I highly recommend trying this one!

The Beach

Hannah...getting so big!

We went to the beach with some of my family last week. My brother, Brian and his wife invited us to join them at Holden Beach, NC. My parents were there as well and we all had a great time, though we missed my other brother and his family. It brought back memories of the good times we all had at the beach a few years ago.

Joseph was intrigued by the sand. It made me think of how much Hannah used to like sand. :)

Esther playing with cousin Andrew

Noah giving cousin Audrey some love

My crazy children running around in their bathing suits. It was in the 50's and very windy, and I still can't believe they were out there like that. My maternal instincts were telling me to make them put some warm clothes on, but they were having so much fun and didn't seem to mind, so I let them be.

Grandma was dressed more appropriately...kind of like an Eskimo! :)

Audrey is the smiley-est baby I've ever seen! All you have to do is look at here and she gives you a huge grin. :)

Posing with a soaking wet Papa!

Enjoying the waves

Aunt Alyssa, Andrew, and Audrey heading out for a walk

Abigail flying a kite with Uncle Brian

Grandpa and Grandma watching Uncle Brian in the kayak

The big boys got to have a nice long walk with Papa

Adam got all wet when he took the kayak out, and I didn't want to get too close to him. :)

Happy Birthday, Abigail!!

Abigail is 6 years old today! She is such a happy girl...always bouncing around singing, whistling, or talking. She is a huge help to me and I don't know what I would do without her! She can sweep as well as I can, and she can clean a bathroom single-handedly, change a diaper, do laundry, help with the cooking, and complete a myriad of other tasks. She is always begging me for a job, and she loves it when I ask her to help me. Abigail is reading wonderfully and she usually enjoys school. :) She recently lost her first tooth (which was also the first lost tooth in our household!). She is very proud of it now, but it didn't occur without weeping, wailing, and a whole lot of drama. Drama and Abigail go hand-in-hand. :) She has been spunky and on the move since day one, and she adds so much joy and happiness to our lives! Happy Birthday, Abigail!!!

The Zoo

Adam had a free day last week and we went to the zoo. Mondays are apparently a great day to go. There was not one school group there! It's really disappointing to drive into the parking lot and see a bunch of school buses, because the adult to child ratio is very low I feel like I spend the whole time counting heads to make sure all of my children are with me. It was very quiet, the weather was nice and warm, and we really enjoyed our visit!


This would make a great family photo, except that you can't see Joseph. He was asleep in the Ergo on my back, so I didn't wake him up for the picture.

There he is!

Big Brother and budding scientist. :)

Hannah...looking so grown up!



Joshua, Abigail and Esther climbed the rock wall. Abigail did wonderfully until she looked down. :) She didn't realize that she was up so high!


Esther climbed about 1/3 of the way up. She liked the pushing off and floating down more than the climbing!


Joshua climbed all the way to the top!

Baby Laughs

If this doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will! I can't think of many sounds that are better than the sound of a belly laugh from a baby. :)