Fall Fun

We have had a little fall fun lately. 

 We went to Hall's Pumpkin Farm for the first of probably a dozen times we will go this year. 

 It is always a favorite and we mark our calendars every year by the corn crop and how it's growing. 

 We met the Barstads there on opening night and took part in all the fun. 

 We hayrided

   

Fed the animals

   

Played on the old farm equipment 

 

Posed with some pumpkins 

 

Posed with some wooden character cut-outs 

 

I think Kinley is pretending to be Avery's horse here 

 

 Got utterly lost in the corn maze 

 

and pretty much conquered it all.  

Then we went back to our house for chick-fil-a and Dylan got some good loving on. 

 

 We also went to the Calloway's Nursery family fun day and bought some pumpkins and took part in their festivities. 

 There was pumpkin decorating, popcorn, frozen custard, and planting for kids. 

The Nordells went too and it was an extra special treat when Kinley walked up and matched Mila and Ella without even knowing it, down to the bow and all. 

Dylan Lee - 1 Month

Dylan, you are one month old already! 

 I can't even believe it. 

 Time is going so quickly and I know this infancy stage lasts just the shortest time so even when I am tired or emotional or overwhelmed, I am just trying to treasure it and keep perspective and know that every challenge is due to the enormous blessing I have in my three beautiful children. 

You are getting more alert during the days, especially the mornings and I love seeing your big blue eyes and all the cute faces you make  

You love, love bathtime. You could be crying and tired and hungry and when you are stripped down to a diaper and hear the water running you calm down. You are so peaceful the whole time you are in the water. 

 

 You are starting to outgrow some newborn clothes already and can wear some 0-3 month stuff now

   

The best personalized onesie that Allison gave you #newbornproblems

Some stats: 

At birth you weighed 7 pounds 4 oz and they said 18 inches 

When we left the hospital and at your 3 day bilirubin and weight check, you were 6 pounds 13 oz 

At your 2 week appt you were 7 pounds 9 oz and 20 1/2 inches. I am pretty sure you didn't grow 2 1/2 inches in 2 weeks so I think you were a little scrunched up and underestimated on your birthday. 

And at 3 1/2 weeks I took you in for a weight check with Kinley when she had an ear infection and you weighed 8 pounds 9 oz. 

 So, you are growing well! 

 You are still eating every 3 hours or so...sometimes less during the day. I am ok with it because you were 2 weeks early so I am letting you kind of decide when you are hungry for a good 6 weeks or so. Then I might think about putting you on a schedule. 

 At night you usually eat around 9, 12 or 1, and 4ish. Then I get up at 6:30 to get Kinley ready for school and you usually want to eat again around 6:45 or 7 and are up for the day. 

 You cat nap throughout the day but at least take 2 good naps in your bassinet in our room. 

 You LOVE the baby bjorn and being upright and against my chest all day if possible. 

 

 You HATE the carseat currently. You pretty much start screaming after 5 seconds in it and don't stop until I either get you out or you pass out from crying exhaustion. It is heartbreaking and this is my only complaint so far. I am so, so hopeful you will get more comfortable and grow out of this soon. We are on the go and in the car way too much for you to hate it.

You are just the sweetest cuddle-bug and want to be with mom constantly.  And I am not complaining.  I will hold you as much as I can and as long as you will let me baby boy.  You are a treasure and an absolute joy.  

I love you.

September photo dump

Here are a few other things that happened in September - via my iphone 

 It was red, white & blue day at Kinley's school on Sept 11 and this girl represented.

   

Their teachers and principals tweet everyday and that day her the principal must have visited Kinley's class because he tweeted this picture. 

 

Kinley & Ty wanted to run in the sprinkler with their clothes on and it was still summer temps outside...so, why not!?

Dylan and I loved watching those crazies

Kinley & Ty still want to hold Dylan multiple times a day
I love mornings cuddling in bed with all my babies
or afternoon snacks on the couch with everybody

Kinley loves to just watch Dylan when I am busy.
 Here she is sining to him and rocking him.
 So sweet.
 
Ty loves being anywhere Kinley is.
 Here he just climbed next to her on the couch and got under the blanket she was using just to be close to her.
 
The Nordells came over for dinner one night after they got back from vacation and it was so fun hanging with them and getting some seashell loot they brought back for their friends For Ty's birthday Allison bought him a play shave kit and it has been a hit in the bathtub
Kinley went to a birthday party for her new bestie school friends in her class, Erika & Claire.
 They are twins and she talks about them everyday after school.
  
I picked Ty up from school one day and he was still napping and had to snap a pic.
 He looks giant now compared to Dylan.
 

Honey & Boss took Kinley & Ty to an SMU game and they looked super cute in their coordinating outfits and had a great time at the game 

September was a blur and I love looking back to see that we actually did other things besides just nurse and change baby Dylan.  I am also so excited for October because I love Fall and cooler weather and more football and pumpkin patches.  

Woohoo!

Potty training

Well, Ty is now officially full-on potty trained!

 I totally take ownership that it took until Ty was three years old to be fully potty trained and blame it all on my own laziness. 

 I just could not bring myself to put everything aside for multiple days and just focus on potty training.  Before Dylan was born we were in such a go-go-go rhythm and I knew it was going to come to an end and I just wanted to take full advantage.
 Ty has shown signs of being ready for several months. He has even gone to the bathroom on the potty lots of times before when he requested. But, I just never pulled the trigger.
 Some people might think I was crazy to wait until I had Dylan to potty train Ty when I had all summer to do it but I am so glad I did.
 Right now we are totally used to staying home all day so being home for a weekend was a breeze. I also had his teachers to help once he started school.
 We decided one Friday after he got home from school that we would put him right in big boy underwear from Friday afternoon and no more diapers again. We decided to stay home all weekend and Monday in hopes that by Tuesday when he went back to school again he would be fully potty trained.
 And I tell you the truth, that it took until noon on Saturday to potty train Ty and he never had an accident after that first day.
 My mom was a HUGE help in this.
 She went to the dollar store and filled up two huge bowls full of prizes for Ty to pick from after he had successful potty trips.
 There were pretend mice, spiders, matchbox cars, glow sticks, bouncy balls, frogs, lizards, ninja turtles, lollipops, silly string you name it.
 It was a kids dream.
 She even got gifts for Kinley too so she would help encourage Ty in potty training.

 We let him look through it all pretty detailed for a bit so he could get real excited about it and then put it on a shelf and told him that he could have them once he went potty. 
Then we pumped him full of fluid to get him used to the feeling of a full bladder.
 He could drinka anything he wanted...juice, water, milk, diet coke, lemonade.

 On friday, he was about 50% successful.
 Saturday morning, he had a couple of accidents and we were starting to feel a little defeated but by noon, something clicked and he just got it.
 He has been fully potty trained since then.
 We did pull-ups for naps for a few days and at night but everytime he wakes up, they are dry!
 It really was such a smooth and easy process and I really think being lazy and waiting so long worked out for me in the end this time!
A few pics from that weekend.
And please, feel free to take a look in the background of these pics.
This is real life people.
My house is a wreck, baby diapers, clothes and toys everywhere.
Someday when my house is empty of kids and the only people to mess up the house will be Ben and I, I will look back and be sad...right?

 Its cool to use your sisters old princess potty....
but, really he didnt like this little potty at all. He much prefers the little seat on the normal size toilet.
 
Showing off some of his prizes

Silly string battle!
 

 Now Ty is a full on big kid. No more crib, paci or diapers.
 Poor thing had to grow up quick once he was not the baby anymore.

We told Ty that after 7 days in big boy underwear he could pick anywhere he wanted to go. He went back and forth between chuck e cheese and the aquarium but in the end the aquarium won and we had our first family of 5 official outing to the sea life aquarium courtesy of Ty.