cue the heavenly music!

caitlin put her "tinkles in the potty" today! TWICE! she was so proud of herself and loved her treats when she did it (3-4 mini m&m's, one pez, and a sticker). she is wearing pull-ups now and proudly announced she "had to go potty" then proceeded to disrobe from the waist down. it was really quite cute!

austin still has no desire to wear pull-ups or sit on the potty. he tells us, "don't like it" but begs for candy. it is sad to tell him he has to use the potty before he can get the treats, but it's our only hope! ;) the guy has quite a temper...

they have been loving going to the gym with mommy. they play while mommy excercises...today austin didn't even cry when i dropped him off. they love to hear all about the "exercises" and austin does a funny motion with his arms to simulate running. he is such a crack up sometimes.

that's all of the big news for now........hopefully we'll have more potty posts very soon!!!!

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day weekend. Saturday, I took the kids to the pool that is here in the subdivision. It is really pretty nice. We stayed at the kiddie pool which is 1 foot deep. Caitlin was really excited to go, while Austin strongly stated that he didn't want to go to the pool. He "didn't like it." Well, of course, after he was there for about a minute, he never wanted to leave. They are both looking forward to the next time we can go. I have a feeling we will be there a lot this summer!

On Sunday, the kids each gave me a painting that they had made, along with t-shirts they made from school. All day long they would say, "Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you." Pretty sweet words...I need to make them believe everyday is Father's Day, or at least string it out for a week or so. They also made me a Father's Day video that they will add to every year.

Austin and Caitlin's 3rd Birthday is just two days away now, and so hard to believe. I guess that you don't know how special it is to be a parent until you are one. So amazing to see them develop and do things. They are both amazing little people in their own rights. Very proud of both of them. Since it is only 9 days to the draft, and this weekend has the potential to be very busy for me, we are going to celebrate their birthday Thursday evening, but their party isn't going to be until the 28th. That is great for me, because I wouldn't want to miss it.

My own priceless works of art...ready for framing

I have the best kids...hands down!

Mother's Day 2008

well, it was a pretty awesome day for me as a mommy. it was the first mother's day that the kids actually told me "happy mother's day" and it was SO sweet! good thing i loved it because they told me about a million times that day (and continue to tell me!).

daddy, austin, and caitlin let me sleep in till about 9:00 and then all came in to the bedroom saying "happy mother's day...i love you!" talk about a great way to wake up! and it definitely sweetened the deal that ryan brought up a hot cup of coffee for me. :) they were very excited to show me my presents downstairs...boy, was i surprised! they each made a garden stepping stone for me with their handprints on them. daddy stepped WAAAAAY out of his comfort zone on that one and they turned out so great! I LOVE THEM! they are proudly displayed in our backyard "garden". the night they did the "art project" (as a & c will tell you) i got booted out of the house and i went to see a movie....in a real movie theater! i almost forgot what it was like! :) they also got me an espresso maker to satisfy my love of mochas, a new regular coffee maker that works like a dream, and a coffee grinder...austin loves it because it's noisy, caitlin loves it because i let her sniff the ground coffee when i'm done. they really went all out and spoiled me!

THEN, they made me cards and a cute little book at school earlier in the week. it's so awesome to get artwork that they made especially for me. definitely something i'll treasure forever.

Lawn Mowing...

Yesterday afternoon was a big day for Austin. He got to follow around Dad while mowing the lawn. He was using his toy lawn mower, while Daddy was using the "Big" lawn mower. Austin was very determined and didn't stop the whole time. I was only going to do the backyard, but the little guy was really mad when I stopped, so we did the front, too. The weed eater must not be quite powerful enough to satisfy him because he didn't like when we were all done and Daddy traded the lawn mower for that. It was very cute, and he was sweating like crazy when we were done. He was concentrating so hard! Caitlin wasn't too thrilled with the sound of the engine, but she sat on the patio and cheered her brother on. At one point, she yelled hi to him with a wave. Austin responded with a wave back. The whole scene was pretty neat, and satisfied one of Austin's earliest loves. The kid loves mowing the lawn. He pretends to do it inside and outside, and talks about it all the time. I don't think, however, that we are going to let him do too much with his other love at this time..."mumping bahbage" (dumping garbage).

We didn't get any video or pictures yesterday, but maybe this weekend when we mow again...

The Zoo...

On Wednesday we took advantage of a gorgeous spring day here in Indy and spent a few hours at the zoo. As always it was alot of fun. Austin and Caitlin love their animals. They remembered most of them from last year's several trips. This was the first time that they got a chance to see the dolphin show. They sat there very mesmerized, clapping for the dolphins when they did their tricks and Austin, of course, was very concerned about getting the water cleaned up when they splashed the crowd. They got a kick out of hearing the dolphins make their sounds, doing flips out in the water, and waving at them. Other hits of the day were riding the merry go round, "the man" feeding the penguins, the rhino, the elephants, and the zebras.

Yesterday (Friday), we went to Ft. Wayne to see our friends Carrie and Andy, who have twins (Ben and Kate) about a year younger than Austin and Caitlin. It was great to see them play together. They did very well for the most part. I tend to still think of Austin and Caitlin as pretty small, but when you put them next to kids a year younger, they are much bigger. Really amazing, and you understand how quickly they are growing up! I can live with them already about to turn 3, but not sure I want them to get much older or bigger. It is so much fun where they are now! It was a great few hours hanging out. We wish we could do it more often!

With it being so nice out this past week, Austin is doing his duty mowing the lawn (he hasn't lost the love of it over the winter), and is consumed by "mumping bahbage" (dumping garbage). Caitlin is basically just trying to learn everything. It is hard to single anything specific out, although she is breaking out as a performer. She will act out and sing entire episodes of "The Backyardigans." It is a cute show about 5 different characters whose families share a big backyard. They use their imaginations to act out all kind of different things, from being pirates, to clowns, to knights. I actually don't mind watching it out of all of them. Austin and Caitlin will act them out, and I think it has really encouraged them to use their imagination.


A few pictures from the past few days...

Helping Daddy plant a lilac bush...

Austin maintaining the lilac bush the next day. They will tell you we have to check it and water it every day!

Caitlin always ready to smile for the camera. She is sitting in the grass with "Hoopie." She has made sure to tell us he is "tinky" and needs a bath!

seen and heard...

austin requests his naps and bedtime daily...so sweet.

caitlin's favorite words..."wha choo doin?" and "can we...."

dancing and singing to the backyardigans theme song AND acting out almost an entire episode where caitlin plays the roles of "queen tasha" and "uniqua the knight" and austin gets to be the "moose of the mist". they have great imaginations!

using color wonder markers and paintbrushes to color the same picture over and over together.

playing on the swingset and in the sand table because we've FINALLY had some nice weather!

wearing their new bicycle helmets (dora for caitlin & thomas the tank engine for austin) to do EVERYTHING! safety first! :)

austin putting on his own pants and shirt! caitlin putting on her own shoes!

Boopsie (Austin's version of whoopsie)...

Sorry we haven't posted in some time. Kim hasn't felt great the past week or so, and I have been busy doing what I do most of the time...work! We had a great Easter, and we will post pictures soon. Caitlin loved getting all dressed up, while Austin wasn't so excited. He really wanted his vest "boff" and kept tugging on it all morning. They loved the fact that the Easter Bunny stopped by, and we really had our first experience of toddlers on a sugar high, and then coming down to the low...NOT FUN!!!

We had our friends Justin and Bethany over last weekend to watch some of the NCAA games, along with A&C's favorite, "Baby Kellen", their nearly 6 month old son. Kellen holds a dear place in the hearts of our kids. It is cute to hear them talk about him.

I hope that Kim will update this quickly...she is the one that has all the good stories on these two.

Hope everyone is well!!!