An update of Nate...

Nate is 21 months now, and he definitely has a few favorite things.
Not in any order...
- Coloring
- Matchbox Cars
- Legos
- New found love for Dora, Boots and Diego.

Nate continues to LOVE coloring! Sometimes when we work on a project downstairs, I cannot pry him away from the table room to do the next activity. He sits in there for what seems like forever just coloring away.

I love this picture because you can see how he ranges from small detailed scribbles to large scribbles that go all over the page. Most of the time, he will color a piece of paper until the whole thing is filled!




Check out this pic! He built this all on his own! :)



We are definitely learning that Nate likes things orderly. He is always so eager to help clean up, and seems to be very meticulous about certain things (I can't imagine where he gets it from). :) One thing he is very good about is eating. He will go through a few wipes at every meal because he doesn't like food on his mouth and hands. Luckily because of this, we were able to switch him to a big boy cup the day he turned 21 months. I read somewhere that sippy cups can delay speech even further, so I knew I wanted to make the change asap. He has done a fabulous job! It is so cute to see him drink from a big boy cup, and it is so nice not to have to put sippy cup lids together anymore! :) When we are out of the house, I will pack a cup that has a straw (supposedly these are better for the mouth, than sippy cups).

Nate's speech is getting much better! We are to the point now where we do not move on unless he attempts the word we are asking him to. Most of the time the word he says does not sound like it should, but there has still been a huge improvement. Occasionally he has surprised us and has said words that sounded near perfect, such as "guitar." Nate has only gone to speech twice now, and so he is still getting warmed up. According to Jay, during Nate's second speech session he was less shy, but also less cooperative. Regardless of the progression seen in session, I know it is working because we are seeing changes happening at home. We are definitely excited to see what the next few months will be like before he turns 2!!!

On a separate note...Today was Halloween and just before I went to get the boys costumes on, I asked Nate if he had to go potty. He nodded his head "yes" and went to the bathroom. After a few short minutes NATE WENT PEE ON THE POTTY for the first time!!!!!! YEAH!!!! :) The house was crazy and full of excitement for Nate!!! We are so proud him!

ET's Recent Preschool Work...

Here is a few (actually a lot of) pictures of ET's recent work...

First, this is the very first project ET sent home from school this year. I was absolutely shocked with how well he colored this. I actually asked him if the teacher helped. :)

ET is actually becoming quite an artist lately. Anytime he has a free moment he wants to go downstairs to make a picture. His favorite picture to make for me is princesses and hearts ("because mommy is a girl"). The princess is made with a Barbie stencil that is placed under the paper, and the crayon is rubbed on the top. (I found these at a garage sale a while back. It is something I played with as a little girl.) What a sweetie!



Recent Sunday School work...
He has been learning that God made all things.

Recent preschool work...
Each week they focus on a different letter, and learn one bible story. The projects range from crafts to worksheets.
One very exciting thing was that ET's class went on a field trip to the apple orchard in September (not pictured)! He brought home is own apple, and a small pumpkin. He had a lot of fun!




Recent daycare work...
Fourth of July decoration...

Helping hands...

During the month of August we learned about superheros! This was a super fun theme to work with! Here is ET's shield and superhero tool-belt.


Love this one! During the month of September our curriculum theme was "Our Amazing Bodies." I traced his head, and he had to fill in all the facial features while looking in the mirror. :)

ET has brown eyes...

A puppet made with items from the collage box. I thought the pants he cut out were pretty impressive.

This was a fun one! ET had to create a new person or creature by drawing one body part of each member of his family.

These are the journals he worked on during the summertime.

Here is one page from each of the journals.


Here is a textured apple book he made last month...





One very clever thing he did recently...
Two of his daycare friends brought in watches. Instead of complaining that he didn't have a watch, he decided to make his own out of paper! What a cutie!

I praised him so much for this, that he has continued to make more and more. Now I find paper watches all over the house. :)



Pictures of Nate's recent work coming soon!

Matt and Amanda's Wedding

On Saturday, October 1, Jay was in his friend's (Matt) wedding. We are not completely sure, but we think this may be the last wedding we will attend for a while. All of our friends are married now, and so we will definitely not be in a wedding party from here on out. I have been a bridesmaid three times, and Jay has been a groomsman a whopping 6 times, and an usher twice! That just says we have had a lot of fun over the years. This wedding was a lot of fun too. It was right here in CG, so we dropped the boys off at Gma and Gpa's and actually stayed out late (maybe a little too late) for a change. It was blast! We are happy for Matt and Amanda and wish this many happy years to come! :)

Here are some pics taken at the wedding...

The bride and groom, Matt and Amanda


Good friends, Steve and Andra.


I wanted a nice pic of Jay and I dressed up, and then someone came up behind us and gave Jay bunny ears! :(

One crazy night....

On the evening of Tuesday, September 27, the boys went to go get ready for bed. Shortly after getting Nate's jammies on, he decided to crawl up to his rocking chair and read books to himself. I thought it was the sweetest sight to see, so I went in to his bedroom to soak up the moment with him and take a few pictures. My intent was to post these pictures on this blog showing just how sweet our little boy is. Unfortunately, these pictures come with a slightly different than normal story...

After a few peaceful minutes, we started to hear growling noises coming from the other end of the house somewhere.

Now you might find that strange where you live, but in our home it is just an average evening. With Jay for a husband and father, the kids and I know all too well the jokes he can play on us. So Nate just kept on reading...

ET initially came running into Nate's room giggling and laughing like crazy. However, after a few minutes of Jay not revealing himself, ET started to worry a bit.

See I was unaware that Jay had actually turned off all the lights and gone downstairs to get something! Luckily, I was able to calm down ET and convince him that it was daddy, and that he was playing a joke on us.

Then the growling started to get louder and louder...

Even with ET showing an increased amount of suspense, Nate continued to read his books, showing no worries and absolutely no regard for what was about to happen...

I didn't tell you, but the "something" that Jay had gotten from downstairs was an old Halloween costume. The costume was of Sylvester the cat. It was so large that it covered him from head to toe. The head of this costume is about two feet wide, and the eyes are very hard to see out of. Jay growled for nearly five minutes before jumping out like a terrible mean gnashing monster. He ran into Nate's bedroom with full intent to SCARE ET and Nate. Mind you, the costume alone would have scared Nate enough, but the fact that Jay was acting like a mean old monster made things terribly worse.

So now, Jay was making LOUD monster noises, ET was laughing enourmously, Nate was SCREAMING with fear, and I was yelling at the top of lungs to "TAKE IT OFF!!!" Unfortunately, with all the noise and being that the costume was hard to see out of, Jay did not exactly listen right away. I scooped Nate up in my arms to help shield his sight.

Once the costume was removed, and I shared a few choice words for my darling husband, Jay quickly realized what he had just done. Let me tell you, I have never felt a child tremble with such fear. Nate literally was shaking from the inside out. Once he realized that daddy was not a terrible mean old monster, he sat on his lap and would not move for nearly a half hour. I was afraid he was not even going to be able to sleep that night.

Luckily, Nate did sleep, and has actually been just fine. We did our best to explain to him that the cat costume is just clothes. Since then he is actually okay with it, and no longer cries when ET puts it on for fun. Hindsight, the story is all very funny. Jay completely acknowledges the major brain fart he had, but he puts a positive spin on it by saying he has prepared Nate for Halloween. :)
I love my husband dearly. I love his humor - it is one major reason why I married him. He keeps me on my toes, and lightens the mood nearly all the time. There is nothing I would change about him. I am actually thankful he can make us laugh so much. However, I am also thankful I have very strong and resilient boys who can go with the flow.
After Nate had calmed down that night, ET BEGGED Jay to go in the basement with him and play "scary monster" again with the costume...and of course, he did. :)

ET's Savings...

ET has a Green Bay Packer wallet and one dollar that his Papa Jim gave him last Christmas. He takes care of these things very well. Today he found a quarter in the car. On the way home he said...

"Mommy, I have a dollar, a quarter and a wallet. Now I am almost a daddy! Well at least almost a 7-year-old, because 7-year-old's have money."

Our Trip the the Apple Orchard! (Saturday, September 24)

Not much to say here. Really the pictures say it all. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time as a family...apple donuts, wagon ride, look-out tower, corn maze, petting zoo, climbing the hay bales, rubber ducky water races, exploring on the playground, and of course...honey sticks! I love this time of year, and we love this tradition! :)




I love this photo! Just beautiful!



Brotherly love! :)



ET was really wishing he was a little bigger this year so he could get to the top.




Love those little fingers!

He is so handsome! I know I'm his mom, but seriously! :)

His cheeks are stuffed with donuts, but he couldn't wait any longer for his honey stick.

Another tradition for us at the apple orchard; the "How tall this Fall" sign!