School Days

I truly can't believe Andrew has started school!! Every time I drop him off or pick him up I wonder what I'm doing and why he is leaving me to go to school. Not that I think we have made the wrong decision to send him to school--I'm just a selfish mom who wants her babies with her at all times.
On the positive side, I have been able to have more one-on0-one time with Jonathan which is really helping his learning. He is finally able to tell me colors (other than blue and orange) and his speech has really taken off. Jonathan has really taken to sitting and going through flash cards, reading books, and all the other stuff I did with Andrew to help teach him. Who knows, maybe I'll have another early reader...
Here are some recent pictures of the boys:

Andrew enjoying the outside.

Jonathan is a scooter loving kid. They love this scooter.

We went to LU alumni day. Nice helmets...

Hot and sweaty from LU alumni day.

Andrew loved riding in the bus by himself.

Andrew's Words...

Here is one of our recent conversations:

A: Hey Mommy, when I grow up Jonathan and I are going to move to Texas and live with Corban and Lydia.
Me: Oh you are? I will miss you guys.
A: But don't worry, it won't be for a couple of more months.

Potty Training

I decided at the first of the month that it was time for Jonathan to begin potty training. I told Chris that we would wait till Wednesday, knowing that the rest of my week was not crazy and I could focus on potty training with success. In my head I had visions of how it went with Andrew. With Andrew, we did the potty training in less than a day and it went amazingly smooth. He had a few accidents that day but once he woke up from his nap, it clicked in his head what he was suppose to do and he rarely had any accidents.

Fast forward to Wednesday, April 8th. Chris took Andrew to have a man day and it was just Jonathan and I all day. He woke up, I put on his big boy underwear (not pull-ups) and started pumping fluids in him as much as he would take it (and feeding him salty crackers to make him want more to drink). Then every 10 minutes I put him on the potty and he would sprinkle a little tinkle. That day he had quite a few accidents in-spite of all the potty trips. He had a hard time getting all the pee out when on the potty--except when having an accident and it all came out with no problem, amazingly enough.

We put him to bed that night (in pull-ups) and I began to wonder if he was too young. I began to doubt if the potty training in less than a day was really for him. Chris and I prayed for Jonathan and that we wouldn't get too discouraged by the days progress. After we prayed, I read Sarah P.'s blog about her experiences potty training Jackson got encouraged to stick with it. I agree with her, that if this is the way you want to potty train (and I highly recommend it) you will need to plan it when you have time to truly commit to no distractions for a few days.

We are two weeks out and there were good days, bad days, gross days, and truly victorious days. I'm so proud of him that he is getting it and he tells me when he has to go potty--except he always says "poo poo potty" no matter what he has to do.

On a side note...if you are looking to tone your thighs, gluts, and general leg area, I recommend the potty training workout. I'm looking forward to wearing shorts and telling people how I got such great legs this year!!! **results vary depending on quickness of your child catching on.**

Races and Drawings

So much as been going on and I need to be better about blogging it all. While I do have baby books for both of the boys, I still use this blog as a reference guide to when major events have happened in the boys lives. Plus, my mom keeps calling me to tell me I haven't updated the blog in a long time. Here are some pictures of the days:

Andrew entered his first car in the AWANA Grand Prix. His Lightening McQueen car won 2nd place. He was so excited. No matter what place his car finished, he would jump up and down and run to tell us where his placed.
As I was finishing the painting in the kitchen, I hear a screeching cry from Jonathan. I put my paintbrush down and go to check and see what Andrew was ripping from poor Jonathan's little hands. When I go into the room I see that Jonathan is in terrible pain and blood is puddling in his mouth. I take him to the doctor to get his mouth check out (which is okay) and find out he has a serious ear infection. Apparently, his balance was off in the room and that is how the mouth injury happened. Today, he woke up with a giant lip.
Someone gave us a giant roll of paper. It was so nice to unroll it and let them color on a much grander scale.
Jonathan really enjoys coloring. He tells me all the time that he wants to color in his own cute baby talk.
Andrew's self-portrait. The big blue patches aren't patches at all but his big blue eyes. He also drew his teeth. He likes to think he is wearing braces.
I told Andrew to draw a cow and then he drew his own farm.
Andrew's friend drew a hot air balloon and Andrew decided that he needed to label it. Just in case I would forget what it was.
Andrew's last picture was his home in his head. His home includes arms, hands, running legs, and hair.

Andrew Words

At dinner the other night, Chris and I were discussing what the doctor said at Jonathan's 2 year well visit. By the way, he is doing well. He is average weight and average height but he head is slightly big, but nowhere near the size of Andrew's noggin. I told Chris that he is officially no longer considered speech delayed. He is just fine and talks none stop. This is the rest of the conversation:
Me: He also said that we shouldn't be feeding him peanut butter and choking foods.
Chris: Really, no peanut butter? Why?
Me: I guess it has something to do with getting or developing peanut allergies.
Chris: Peanut allergies?
Andrew: Yeah, and then we would have to give him a Zyrtec everyday.

I think we might reconsider the amount of time our child is watching TV.

What Did We Do....

We just got back from Nicaragua on Saturday. It was an amazing trip and what everyone asks me is, "What did you do down there?"
We went down to Nicaragua with a ministry called, Because We Care Ministries, led by Donald and Pam Gillette. They have been doing this for 9 years and are loved in their town of Somotillo, and the surrounding villages. Their main goal is to met their physical needs and share the gospel and disciple the pastors of the villages. On this trip, Chris and Rob Stephens, taught at a pastor's conference and I did a make shift VBS. I didn't know until I was sitting in the chairs at the conference that I was going to be doing a VBS. It was a lot of fun. Here are some of the things we did as well:

Shared the gospel in the villages.

Make shift VBS during the pastor's conference.
Played with the kids in the villages.

Handed out medicine to the babies and the mommies.
Handed out rice and beans to the families.

Faces from Nicaragua

Here are some of the beautiful faces from Nicaragua. Donald G., the man in charge of Because We Care Ministries, tells us that that we help them take off their "Nica" look for just a moment. It is true. I loved to just takes pictures of their faces, besides being gorgeous, their eyes told so many stories. Plus, they loved to see their pictures on the digital camera.
Enjoying some sandia. The juice is running down his tummy.

I think she likes it.
This is Henry. His home life is a sad story so he likes to hang out at the Casa as much as possible. He understands lots of English but doesn't say much in English. He is super smart.
This was the last village we went to and by far the saddest. I truly can't explain why because my words fail me. I just knew that this village needed God and all His wisdom.
Her face was just so sweet I had to take a picture.
She and her sister (not pictured) had such a unique look. Simply gorgeous.

Random Pics

Life has been so crazy and then Chris and I just got back from a mission trip to Nicaragua. Here are a few things that have happened around the house.

Andrew and Jonathan helping me clean out the kitchen before the kitchen makeover.
Jonathan enjoying some zzzzzzzs on the way to Florida.
Andrew enjoying the trip with no zzzzzzzzzs. He's not big on sleeping in the car. He did on the way home because he was so tired.
One of the great parks withing walking distance to my parents house. Jonathan walked all the way there and pooped out on the way home. He slept really well during his nap.
"Where's brother?"

Preschool

Here are a few pics of the boys during preschool. This is before we started fixing our kitchen. I love these pictures because it shows how he is starting to work on school work by himself. Jonathan is just there to encourage him and distract him.
This is when he was really sick. Typically, he is trying to sit in Andrew's chair or play with his preschool blocks.

We are in FL

We made the 2 day trip to FL!! It has been nice for the boys to hang our with my parents. I have some photos but they are in my camera which is in the car and right now I'm too lazy to go and get them (maybe the heat is a little overwhelming right now). They will been seen soon.

Some of our activities:

Going to numerous parks.

Andrew and I racing up rock walls at the park (and me getting beat bad by him).

Making a gianormous meal for my Mom's friends. There are too many funny stories in that one day. I honestly don't know where to begin.

Watching Andrew beat Pa Pa at the game of Operation (Pa Pa may have given up some of his competitive nature to allow this).

Numerous baths (maybe crocs weren't the best choice).

Trips to all our favorite sites and food places.

All that in just a couple of days.
Meanwhile on the home front, one of our Christmas gifts from Chris' parents is upgrading our kitchen. It is really small and hard to work in and it will only get worse as the kids get older. It is an amazing gift from them. So Chris is at home making sure everything is going as it should. He'll send me pictures of the days work and I am amazed at home much they have done. I made sure to take lots of pictures of the before kitchen and I will show the after when it is complete. I can't wait.