A Summary of the Last Three Weeks...
During our vacation form the blogging world Addy made some serious potty training progress. It all started during the first week of September--that's when the something in her little mind clicked. We had been keeping a potty chart that was connected to rewards earned after so many times gone on the potty. Before that week, Addy was hot and cold about the chart. She knew what it took to earn the rewards and showed some interest in receiving the rewards, but had absolutely NO interest in using the potty full time. I started the week off by putting Addy in underwear while we stayed home. (I had done this before with little success.) On Monday she started going to the potty when she needed to go and started earning stickers for her chart and various prizes left and right. She was clearly excited about her accomplishments and kept it up with just a few accidents throughout the week. Needless to say, I was hesitant to venture too far away from the house that week in fear of breaking "the streak" and planned any outings around Addy's potty times. Since that first week she has done very well. Pottying foreign places is still an adventure, as Adalyn still isn't quite sure about the "normal" sized potties, but we are slowly getting her to accept that there are times when she must use them. She has a variety of character undies and enjoys being able to pick out a pair to wear each morning. We are still putting her in pull-ups when we go out and about. She is doing a great job and we are very proud of her!
Balloon Festival
The last weekend in August always marks the date for the Lincoln Balloon Festival. We have been going for several years and really enjoy the sights of the balloons taking off in the early evening and glowing at night. This year was no exception. There were over twenty hot air balloons participating this year and they were quite the sight! Addy always loves to see the balloons and this year we had a new addition to the family that enjoyed them as well. Although Carter wasn't as animated as Adalyn at the sight of the balloons, it was evident that he was noticing the balloons and enjoyed being outside. Our friend Kelleen and her daughters, Evelyn and Elizabeth also joined us at the festival. The three girls had a great time together and Addy talked about going to the festival with her friends for days and days. We can tell that Addy really loved the festival because she still insists on keeping the program with the pictures of all the balloons. She sits and looks at it from time to time and will ask anyone in earshot what their favorite balloon was. Addy's favorite was the one with the sunglasses:)
A New House
The biggest thing that has happened in the past few weeks is that we placed a bid on a house closer to Bloomington and much to our surprise, it was accepted! Derek and I have been talking about moving closer to town since I stopped teaching. We originally moved from Bloomington to our small town when I got my full time teaching job in Rochester because it cut my driving time from over an hour to about 45 minutes. Now, since I'm not teaching anymore we thought it would be great to move closer to Bloomington which would shorten Derek's commute, which is currently 30 minutes, and would put us closer to everything. It was one of those situations in which we hadn't planned to seriously consider moving until next spring or summer, but we started looking to see what types of areas we would be interested in looking and we found a house we couldn't pass up making an offer on. For many of you that know me, spontaneity isn't usually my thing. It took me three years to pick out furniture for our dining room. I usually over analyze huge purchases to death! However, this house has three of the BIG things we were looking for: a particular school district, no backyard neighbors, and a large backyard. We got the house for a very good price and are very excited (and just a little nervous) about moving. Our lives just got a whole lot busier as we have put our current house on the market and began the ominous task of packing. Adalyn is very excited about the idea of moving to a new house and asks daily if it is time to go to our new house yet. Although I am very excited about the move, I am also a little sad about leaving our first home where Derek and I started our married lives and where our babies were born. I know that this new house will be wonderful for our family and we will be so much happier living closer to town, but I will miss our house in our little town with no stoplights:) I'm sure much more will be posted about our upcoming move in the near future! In the meantime if you know anyone who would like to live in a small town in central Illinois--give me a shout:)
Our new back yard
Meet Me in St. Louis!
Over labor Day weekend we took a short trip to St. Louis. Derek and I packed up the cars and left Thursday evening. We took two cars because the kids and I were going to head to Indiana from St. Louis to visit family for the week following Labor Day and Derek had to come back home because he had to work and travel for business at the end of the week. We actually stayed in O'Fallon, Illinois and my parents met us at the hotel on Friday after they got off work.
On Friday Derek and I took the kids to the zoo. The weather was in the lower eighties and was beautiful. We had a ton of fun at the zoo and wore both kids out. Addy loved the elephants and got to touch a sting ray. We also rode the train and saw the sea lion show. Carter took everything in stride and seemed very happy to be outdoors in the beautiful weather. We stayed until well past nap time, which resulted in a very cranky Adalyn. We headed back to the hotel in the late afternoon and met Grandma and Grandpa for happy hour at the hotel. We stayed at a Drury Inn, which is a chain that I highly recommend. They have a happy hour in the evenings in which they have free drinks and food. It was a great perk for those evenings when you don't feel like packing the kids back up to go out to eat.
Carter loved taking in the sights at the zoo.
At the end of the day Addy was falling asleep on the Sit-N-Stand
On Saturday we headed back into St. Louis to eat at Hodak's restaurant. Derek saw Hodak's on the Food Network Channel a few years ago and has been wanting to go there ever since because they are famed to have the best fried chicken in St. Louis. Many of you know that Derek loves anything and everything fried. So we headed there to test out their chicken and I must say it was pretty tasty! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the experience, so I can't show you our places, but I assure you that they were cleared! After Hodak's and a stop at Ted Drew's for custard (another St. Louis favorite) we headed back to the hotel for naps. That afternoon Grandma and Grandpa stayed at the hotel with Addy and Carter while Derek and I took the metro into town to see the Reds vs. Cardinals game. We were also going to meet my best friend Sheila and Mikey, our team manager from Olney, at the game. The Reds are actually doing very well this year, which is quite a pleasant surprise, so I wanted to see them take on the Cards while we were in town. I even got Derek to wear a Reds shirt! We got quite a few comments from Cardinals fans throughout the day, but also befriended quite a few Reds fans who also made the trip. It was a lot of fun being the enemy, especially since the Reds were victorious 6-2!
Anytime you get these two together there's going to be trouble!
We found these awesome Reds fans with a Reds yard gnome and asked if we could take a picture with the little guy!
On Sunday all of us headed into St. Louis for some up close views of the Arch and to go to the Magic House. The line to go up in the Arch was super long, so we decided to save that for another time. Addy said the arch looked like a rainbow and enjoyed seeing it up close. Carter was a bit fussy and didn't really like the sunshine. The Magic House was a lot of fun. Addy enjoyed the giant legos, water table, and the nursery in which she dressed up as a doctor and cared for babies. Derek enjoyed watching Addy's and my hair stand straight up when we were touching the ball that creates static electricity. Derek was really looking forward to snapping pictures of the hair-raising experience! We left the Magic House about mid-afternoon when Addy started her meltdown from being tired and headed back toward the hotel so Derek could get his car and head back to our house and my parents and I could take both vehicles to southern Indiana.
Addy and her "rainbow"
A not so successful attempt at a family picture at the arch/
Derek really got a kick out of shooting this picture.
Playing with the giant legos
The kids and I visited Derek's mom in Evansville for the first part of the week. We took Addy to "Pump it Up" to play on the inflatables again. We also took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's and had a lot of fun hanging out and playing with Grandma Freihaut. I got to go to Eastland Mall by myself while Grandma watched the kids, which was great! It was a great visit and Addy always enjoys visiting her Grandma Freihaut.
On Thursday we headed to Ferdinand to visit my parents. We went to dinner with my parents and Ashley on Thursday and visited Great Grandma Heilers on Friday. On Saturday we went to my cousin Katie's wedding. I am so glad that the kids and I were able to make it to the wedding. It was great seeing all of our relatives on my Dad's side, as that isn't something we get to do enough. Addy had a blast dancing to the music and running around the reception hall. I'm not sure how many laps she did around that place, but it was exhausting just watching her and chasing after her. Even Carter enjoyed the music, lights, and seeing all the people! Katie and Adam had a beautiful wedding and we wish them lots of love and happiness as they begin their life together!
Carter and the beautiful bride--Katie
Addy and Grandpa dancing
Addy loved the sweets table. Maybe this was the reason Adalyn stayed up until past ten--thanks Katie:)
On Sunday the kids and I headed home after going to the church picnic in Ireland with my parents. The kids were worn out from the exciting week and slept most of the way home, which was great because I was a bit nervous about doing the drive with them all by myself. It was a wonderful week at home and I am so glad we got to see so many family and friends. I look forward to future extended visits!
OK...So that is the last few weeks in a nutshell. I will do my best to keep this blog updated during the next few months. But as you can see our lives are going to be pretty crazy in the next few months! I know, I know...I'm already making excuses:)
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