Update on Miss Lindsay Beans

Incase you're wondering how our niece Lindsay is fairing with her chemo... I snagged this picture off of Matt's blog. Apparently she has not yet lost her hair or her fiery disposition. Today was day 7 of 10 of her first round of chemo. She has a 21 day rest period, then on to round 2. By all accounts things seem to be going as well as can be expected.

To get the official update check out their caring bridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lindsaytempleton

Don't forget to leave a note, I know they have been reading the guest book.

Detectors

Last week we got new CO detectors for our house. Avery is terrified of detectors, any kind of detector.

We have smoke detectors in what seems like every room in our house. When the one in his room started beeping because it needed a new battery he demanded it be taken down immediately, otherwise he refused to go in his room, period.

So, when he realized that the new CO detector outside his room beeps like a smoke detector he made me take it down.

Last night Kevin was away and sometimes when he is gone I let Avery sleep with me upstairs. Just as we snuggled in our bed to read books he noticed the CO detector on the wall. After many tears, we decided to go back to his room to sleep, where there are no detectors.

When we got into his bed I tried to explain to Avery how the detectors work and how they can help us.

Mommy: Avery, detectors are our friends. They tell us when something is wrong and we need to get out of the house.

Avery: No there not, they are not are friends. They are very bad and they are very loud. When the start to beep I go like this (hands over ears).

Mommy: You know what, they are sort of like fire trucks. When we see a fire truck going down the street without its lights and sirens on we know everything is okay. But when we hear a fire truck's siren and see its lights flashing we know that something is wrong and someone needs help. If we don't hear the detectors then we know everything is okay. But if we hear them beeping then we know something is wrong and we have to get out of the house.

Avery: Yeah, when that starts beeping the fire truck will start is siren and then it will come to our house and the firemen will crash in the windows and starting spraying with their hoses, PPPPSSHHHH!!!! And Dot the fire dog and the firemen will come in the house to save us.

At that point I realized we have been reading way too many stories about fire trucks.

Correction to last post

Correction to my last post - Jake now has 2 teeth on the bottom. He is also crawling around like crazy. These two boys are keeping their Mommy very very busy!

more highlights from the State Fair

We went to the birthing barn at the fair and met lots of Mommy and baby animals.

Like this Mommy Cow

And her baby Harold who was born yesterday!

We met a mommy pig with 10 piglets!

And I even got to pet on of the baby pigs

A baby lamb
and some baby ducks

then I got to rid a litte tractor
And a BIG tractor!!!
I learned how to feed the chickens
and milk a cow

It was a busy day. I was so tired that I fell asleep in my ice cream cone on the way home!

I got a tooth!!

The Giant Slide

Last week the guide for the Minnesota State Fair came out in our Sunday paper with a picture of the infamous "Giant Slide." I showed it to Avery and proudly proclaimed that on Tuesday (Mommy day) we would be going to the state fair and we would be going down the giant slide.
Without ever mentioning it again, last night Avery woke up crying and when I went to his room to calm him down he said, "Mommy, I don't like that slide."

We made it to the fair today, for better or worse, and we found the Giant Slide almost immediately. I told Avery he should face his fears and we should go down the slide together. He reluctantly agreed and we paid our $4 and headed up what seemed like 500 steps to the top of the slide. He was totally scared out of his wits when we got up there, but somehow I managed to get him on my lap without a total freakout and we made our way down the slide. He wrenched his stomach and gritted his teeth the whole way down. At the bottom he jumped up and ran away as fast as he could. I ran after him and here's how our conversation went:

Mommy: "That was fun, wasn't it Avery?"

Avery: "No, that was scary!!"

Mommy: "But you were very brave, you went down the slide."

Avery: "No, I wasn't brave, I was really really scared! You were brave Mommy."

Thoughts and Prayers

For those of you who have not heard, our niece Lindsay was diagnosed with AML, Acute Meyloid Leukemia this past week. She started 6 months of chemotherapy yesterday at Brenner Children's Hospital at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC. Please keep Lindsay and her family in your thoughts and prayers over the next few months.

For updates on Lindsay's treatment visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lindsaytempleton

Why I love my little boys

I don't know what it is about little boys. They get the biggest kick out of the simplest things like squirt guns and whoopee cushions. They really make me laugh. Just when I think they can't get any funnier, they do.

This is a conversation I had in the car with my sister and her son Patrick and Avery on our last trip to Pennsylvania (Susie was driving through our old neighborhood to show the boys our childhood home):

Me: Look guys, that's where Aunt Susan and I lived when we were little.

Avery: But Mommy, your big now so you don't live in the forest anymore (there are a lot of big old trees in that neighborhood).

Avery again: Aunt Susan, you're big too.

Patrick: Yeah, and your butt is big and stinky too!

If you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream!

My sunshine

A visit it from BB and Papa

We had a super week with BB and Papa visiting. There was lots of bike riding and playing and all kinds of other fun. Thanks making the long trek north to come see us. The boys loved seeing you!

Photos by Avery

Here is a sampling of Avery's most recent work.

Sunflower (planted by Daddy and Avery)

Green on Green
(we forgot this in the grass and a squirrel got it, one of two peppers from our garden)

Dragon Train (with broccoli and cucumber)

Tree

A day a the beach

Last Sunday we spent the morning at a park near Lake Minnetonka with a man made, sandy bottom, chlorinated, swimming pond. Okay, not exactly like being at the ocean, but at least the kids got to splash around and play in the sand. In Jake's case, that would be eat the sand, so maybe its better we didn't make it to the real beach this summer.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone!! We celebrated this morning by attending a the 4th of July parade in Edina with our neighbors.

Avery decked out in his 4th of July garb

Mommy and Jake (self portrait)

Avery and his friend Reese meeting RT Rybeck, the mayor of Minneapolis

Avery waving to the fire trucks

Minneapolis police bag pipe band

cool army trucks

Funny marching bands

Some clowns

Things I love about Jake

Okay - its Wednesday afternoon before the 4th of July and I can't stand to work anymore. So I thought I would make a list of all of my favorite things about baby Jake. I'm always blogging about Avery because he is so good and bad and funny all at the same time, but Jake is pretty special in his own right - so here goes.

1. His eyes! My favorite thing, probably everyone's favorite thing ishis big bright eyes and long eyelashes. Everyone, especially the ladies, comment about his eyes. They are so big and shiny and his eyelashes are about a mile long, just like his dads'. We're not sure if they will be brown or hazel yet, there sort of some where in between.

2. His big belly laughs! He laughs a lot, whether its at his brother jumping on the couch or the rocket ship mobile over Avery's bed, or his dad tickling him, or just a silly toy. Its got to be the sweetest sound in the world, I wish I could bottle it and pull it out whenever I am feeling down.

3. The way he goes to sleep! Jake doesn't fuss about much, so its easy to tell when he is tired. He knows the bedtime routine and as soon as we go into his room I hand him is giraffe luvy and he wrestles it down, sticks his finger in his mouth and snuggles in to go to sleep.

4. The way he wakes up! Although its usually early in the morning, its such a treat to get him out of bed. He is always so excited to see you when you come to get him. He's got the biggest, gummmiest smile and he kicks his legs on the matress with delight.

5. Feeding him! This kid loves to eat, and he will eat just about anything. Its fun to try new foods with him. His favorite food of all time is bananas and often I give him piece of whole banana in one of those mesh holders. He sucks on it and bites it and after it slimes all over him and the high chair he likes to take the holder and bang it on the tray. He'll bang it over and over again just to hear himself make the sound. He's so impressed. We're trying some new finger foods too. But like Avery he still does not have any teeth in sight, so it could take a while.

Father's Day at the Minnesota Zoo

Here are some pics from the new Grizzly Bear exhibit, Russia's Grizzly Coast, at the Minnesota Zoo. There marketing pitch is "Get closer than nature intended." Judge for yourself from this pictures. For information on the new exhibit go to www.mnzoo.com

Drivin' in my car

5, 4, 3, 2, 1......Exstision!!!

"Extision!" That's Avery's way of says "ignition." And for me its not like, "we have lift off," its more like "we have potty training!" We have successfully completed a week in big boy pants and 4 consecutive poops on the potty. Seriously, this is so huge for us. I know my mom will kill me for writing about this ("Your Nana is turning over in her grave," she'll say), but I have to write about it, just for myself so in two years when I'm trying to get Jake to do this I can check myself and also for anyone else, any other type A personality, that is trying to potty train their kid. This is important.

Before I even start I want to note that I checked out EVERY book on potty training from Hennepin County library and tried EVERYTHING in these books. We literally have been trying for a year to potty train Avery. It's been more of a power struggle than anything else and caused nothing but frustration and angst between the three of us. All of the time I tried to tell myself that he would eventually get it, just like everything else with him. We just stress and stress and stress over when he is going to do things. When would he roll over? When would he start eating solids? When would he gain weight? When would he get a tooth? We waited for a whole year for him to get his first tooth and I remember Kevin saying to me, "Don't worry, did you ever know a kid who didn't get their teeth?"

Honestly, what did it for us is my stupid broken arm. After my bike accident I had so much trouble taking the boys out I resigned myself to staying home with them and just being with them. And all of this time, over the past month or so I just let Avery run around naked or with just his underpants on. One day we were making cookies and he was totally butt naked and I remember thinking, is this okay/sanitary/normal (or none of the above)? As it turns out, half the time he doesn't care about any of the stupid stuff that I make him go and do with me on my days off. I think he just likes being, being at home, being with me or with his dad or his little brother. I think he just needed to be, for a few days to figure it all out. I knew he could do it, he just needed the chance to work it out, on his own time and his own terms.

I've been watching Avery for the past few days, so proud, putting his poopies in the potty and then naming each one before flushing them down the toliet (Big Daddy poopy, Avery poopy, little baby Jake poopy), and I think, he is still just a little guy. This is a big deal for such a little guy. I think about him trying to stand at a potty in a public restroom, barely tall enough to reach his penis over the edge of the potty, all the while I am yelling at him to not touch the potty because its yucky and then potty starts flushing on its own, water spraying everywhere. It's scary for a little guy. I wouldn't want to do it either if I were a little guy like him. And then we would to get mad and frustrated with him when he would have an accident because he was too scared to pee in a public restroom. It's just so crazy!

We have been expecting so much of him. And I feel badly that we put so much pressure on him, on ourselves to make it happen. I'm so happy I don't have to buy diapers for him anymore and I'm so happy I don't have to pollute our land fills anymore. What I am most happy about is that Avery is so very proud of himself. I just hope that Kevin and I can learn and remember from this experience that we need to let our kids do things on their own time and their own terms. And that we should not feel pressured by what every stupid book or person or anything or anyone else that tells us what our kids should be doing and exactly when they should be doing it.

After all, did you ever know a kid that didn't get his teeth?

The newest addition to our family

My brother Pepper got an amazing father's day present - a new daughter! Teresa gave birth to Baby Mariela at 2:19 am on Sunday. She weighed 7lbs 15oz and measured 19.5" long. Look at Mateo, he's such a big boy, a very excited big brother now!! Click over to Mateo's blog for more pictures (soon hopefully)!

Congratulations Teresa, Pepper and Mateo!!

Happy Father's Day!

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