YAY... we finally got our Csection scheduled (or induced VBAC if I change my mind - probably not though).... and we will be welcoming our little Evelyn Christine sometime in the early morning of Monday August 3rd. We have it all worked out and Gma Chris is coming up to watch the boys during my stint in the hospital... and she's even staying for two full weeks to help out after we get home for a bit too which will be so nice as I am starting to think I have NO IDEA what I am getting myself into here. Reality has sunk in, and though I am so excited to have the chance to enjoy that newborn stage again (cuz last time was a bit of a fog for me), I am TERRIFIED of how I am going to do it all and still keep even the slightest trace of my sanity.
Well, the boys are now 20+ months, and will be 21 months by the time Evie arrives and are still amazing me with new things daily. They are both real troopers and getting so good at using plates and utensils while eating - just stabbing at things with their forks and doing pretty darn good at it. Spooning is a little more difficult but I don't know if that is cuz of lack of practice (not having a lot of good things they can spoon without making the house a complete mess), or cuz the infant spoons that they make these days are horrible. They really have no arc so you can't really get a good spoonful of anything. They do pretty good with yogurt, applesauce, and pudding etc.... but not so much with more solid things like corn or peas. Those remain finger foods for them. They also love to pass food and their sippys back and forth between each other while they are eating. Very often if one likes something that the other doesn't, they will try steal it from the other's tray.... or even on occasion they will pass off what they don't want to the other. We've taken them out to eat quite a few times lately and they've done pretty good - but lately they LOVE being loud wherever we are. Not in a bad or naughty way - just plain loud. We get a lot of comments from people out about how well behaved they are.... and I have to agree, they do pretty well in public. The boys both got MUCH NEEDED haircuts again too.... and they actually turned out to be VERY nice cuts for both of them - so we'll have to be sure to go back to that place again. And we have had SO many visitors lately too - has been great. A couple weekends ago my friend Heidi and her family (Chuck, James(3+), and Avery (1+)) stopped by on their way up to their cabin at Woman Lake. A week or so ago Gpa Dean and Gma Bonnie came up for the afternoon/night to visit and go out to dinner. And this weekend we had TONS of people. Friday afternoon Gpa Gary and Terri came up and we grilled brats for dinner - they were on their way back home to Duluth from a roadtrip they had taken to Ohio. They left after dinner and Steve Wadman came up as they were leaving for the night. Had a fun time with him (as always) .... for those of you that don't know, Steve is a mutual friend that set Chris and I up 5-6 years ago. We laughed so hard when MacKay and Oscar copied us and called Steve "Pinky", one of his many nicknames.... tho it was more like "Pin-TEE". Amazing they still don't know who I am (MacKay constantly points at himself and calls himself Mommy), but they totally got who Steve/Pinky was for the short visit he was here. :) Then Saturday morning as Steve was heading back home Gma Chris and Uncle Dennis came up to visit for the day. The boys both even said "Dennis" ... or a form of it and had fun playing with applications on Uncle Dennis' iPhone. After they left, the Hehir family (Jolene, John , Kelly and Brandon) stopped over to hang for a few hours and talk more about our ideas we have of possibly staying in this house and putting on an addition. Lastly, Gma Diane stopped by on her way back home on Sunday morning. Whew..... busy weekend, yet not chaotic like it might sound - was so great seeing everyone.
Just some details about each of the boys - as they are polar opposites and SO different as far as their personalities go and what they are into lately. MacKay has been a bit of a challenge as far as temper tantrums go. Lately he gets so frustrated when we discipline him or tell him "No" and can't seem to calm himself back down... will either hit, bite, throw things, mess things up... all with this angry little face on him. So we're trying to figure out how to deal with that. We try to ignore it if it isn't hurting anyone else... but I also don't like the fact that he cannot calm down from a tantrum even when we try to love him up. This one is going to take some time and attention I think. But other than that he is our little giggle bug who loves to entertain Oscar (and vice versa too) and is learning so much. He's like a little sponge. He has so many new words, and is communicating more with us... actually signs "eat" when he is hungry (usually right before a meal) and is following direction quite well too. His new thing is holding up one finger (pointer/index) when we ask him "MacKay, How old are you?"
Oscar still enjoys stealing things from MacKay as it seems he likes to copy MacKay a lot. Gma Chris calls them Pete and RePete. But he LOVES to instigate giggle fests while they are eating by making MacKay laugh at his antics, so he's not always the one doing the following. :) Oscar doesn't talk quite as much as MacKay does for the most part.... when we try to teach him new things (How old are you) he doesn't show as much interest as MacKay does. BUT, on a few occasions he has mimicked words of ours more quickly than MacKay has. We had a bit of "fun" (not sure if that is the right word) with Oscar lately too.... he decided to reach down the back of his diaper (something he does a lot lately), but this time found something in there and made quite a mess of himself. Luckily it was RIGHT before bath time, in fact MacKay was already in the sink soaking. So we stripped Oscar down and let him run around buck naked for about 4 minutes... and in that time he fully enjoyed finding out that he could make puddles on the floor with this amazing thing usually kept hidden in his diaper. He had the most inquisitive look on his face as he looked at his "creations" that he left in 2-3 different places in the kitchen.
Lastly I just wanted to share that I am SO proud of my boys. Here I worry about how things are going to go for different events/outings... and they just do so well and show me how stupid it is of me to worry like I do. We went to the Brainerd July 4th parade - which ended up being bout 1.5 hours long - and sat there the entire time like good little boys. MacKay sat with Daddy most of the time, but Oscar sat in his little lawn chair all by himself the entire time.... both just waving their little flags in the horrible heat and taking in all the different things going by. They just did so well - shame on me for thinking they would be a handful.
Well here are some of the new pictures. Enjoy. And hopefully next post will have information and some pictures of a new member of our clan..... so stay tuned.
The boys at the 4th of July parade..... (note: the sunglasses didn't stay on long, doesn't help that Oscar doesn't have enough of a nose/bridge to keep them up though) :)
Oscar and MacKay using their plates and utensils like champs (and MacKay sporting his version of a "smile")
Just some more fun swimming pictures. This last time MacKay was determined to use that little cup/cap to drink the entire pool dry... and Oscar just loved pouring water over his head.
Just some random pictures. The boys love sitting next to each other in the recliner we got from Great Gpa Skitch MacKay. And a couple pictures of Oscar - he discovered what "pockets" are and walked around with his hands tucked in there for the longest time.... AND, Daddy put these cute little work boots on Oscar for a couple hours. They were actually Daddy's and given to him by HIS Gpa Henry Doerr when he was about the same age as the boys. They fit Oscar perfectly (size 7s). He LOVED wearing them and stomping around.
Yummy Treats: The boys enjoying raspberries - which they love to stick their fingers into to get them to their mouths..... and MacKay enjoying a brownie.
MacKay and Oscar wearing their cousins' hooded sweatshirts (Kelly and Brandon). Oscar loved flailing the extra long arms around, while MacKay looked like E.T. walking (waddling) around, like he was afraid to try lift his arms.
Lastly, a picture of the boys with their Uncle Dennis, playing with his iPhone.
Like I said - hopefully next post will have some pictures of our newest member of the family... so stop by in a few weeks. Until then, take care.
