Monthly Update - October 2013 Our little walker!!!

Addie's October Photo

Cooper's October Photo

Happy Halloween!!  This year we kept things pretty simple for Halloween and just went to one neighborhood.  Addie filled up her bucket and we didn't even stop at every house!  She had a blast and the weather held out nicely for us.  Cooper stayed in his stroller as he wasn't 100% confident on his feet yet and we didn't want our little dinosaur to get hurt walking up to houses.  The day after halloween, Addie's preschool had a party and a Trunk or Treat that Nana and Mommy went to help out with.

All about Addie

Potty Training:  I think we've finally got nighttime potty training at a point where we can get rid of our pull-up diapers.  By the end of October, Addie was completely done with pull-ups during naps and had only had about a handful of nighttime accidents.  90% of the time, her accidents stemmed from drinking lots right before bed.

Big Sis:  Addie is often reminding us what a good big sister she is going to be for Aribelle.  When she reads books or helps out with Cooper, she will mention that she's will do the same for Ari when she comes.

Patience:  Both of my kids were given their mommy's lack of patience, unfortunately.  Addie seems to be struggling with patience quite a bit around Cooper lately.  Instead of using her words, things evolve into screaming or whining.  Cooper likes to come up and destroy whatever puzzle or blocks she is working on and Addie will scream and push him away.  We are in the process of teaching her that sometimes we can't stop babies from wrecking our things and we remind her that our blocks and puzzles can be rebuilt.  At the same time, we are trying to teach our wrecking-ball of a son (LOL) that he can't destroy everything he comes into contact with.

Pink Eye:  Addie developed pink eye for the first time this month.  It was immediately upon returning form the pumpkin patch in Jefferson City so I'm not sure if that's where she picked it up or what.  Luckily, it was gone within about 3 days but she missed the whole week of school :(

All about Cooper

Walking WALKING WALKING!!!  It's so nice to finally see our little guy walking everywhere.  He walks without being prompted and seems to really enjoy his new freedom.  He's still a bit shaky on those legs but gets better with every day.  I can't say he's completely done with crawling, but he's about 50/50 right now between both.

Wiping Mouth:  Any time you give Cooper a rag or tissue, he will immediately bring it to his mouth and wipe.  He must have picked this up from us at the dinner table and it cracks us up every time!

Feeding Self:  We've invested in some new plateware for Coop so we can work on him feeding himself.  He's doing much better but we have a ways to go.  Instead of scooping a spoon/fork in his bowl, he will just dip and bring the utensil back to his mouth.  When it's oatmeal or mashed potatoes, he does really well, but anything else, he uses his hands.

Singing:  Cooper loves to sing the theme songs to various Disney and Nick Jr. theme songs on TV.  Any time one of them come on, he will stop what he's doing and try to sing along.

OCD:  We have ourselves a very OCD child.  He will line up cars, blocks, and just about anything else.  If we try to move one of the objects, he will flip his lid!!  The most frustrating is when he is lining up trucks/cars on the ottoman in the living room and one of the cars rolls out of place.... a very angry child appears quickly!!

All about Aribelle

Movement:  Addie loves feeling mommy's belly and it seems like daily she's asking if she can feel Ari kick.  I've put Cooper's hand on my belly but he doesn't seem to understand or notice any movement.

Checkups:  My checkup this month was pretty routine.  All looks well so far and baby is progressing nicely.  Weight gain seems pretty steady.  I'm currently at a 15lb weight gain.


More photos from October:

End of preschool day pic.

Carving pumpkins with Dad 

The best toy I ever found in the toy bin! :)

 Addie getting ready to root for the 

Cardinals in the World Series! 

At the Fischer Farms in Jefferson City 

Daddy and Cooper chillin 

Addie and Cooper's first Trick-Or-Treat

house of 2013.  Dick & Marilyn's place 

Our little Lion 

Addie's preschool for Trunk or Treat 

Daddy teaching the kids how to drive 

Our family pictures 

Monthly Update - September 2013 Silver Dollar City

Addie's September Photo

Cooper's September Photo

Silver Dollar City - We met up with Shane's family in Branson and hung out at Silver Dollar City.  Addie wanted to ride just about every ride she saw.  Even the big roller coasters, she would point to and ask if she could ride them!  We let her ride a few of the kids rides and play a few games.  One of the games Addie played was where you throw a large whiffle ball onto a flat surface covered with circles.  Each circle has a color around it, indicating the type of prize you will win.  Only TWO circles out of over 100 of them were for the BIG prize.  On the first throw, Addie made it in the BIG circle!!  We were shocked!  Even the game operator was a bit shocked!  LOL  She won a big Hot Pink Teddy bear.  While we were there, we rode the Train and I think that was probably the highlight of our day.  Both kids really seemed to enjoy being on it.

All about Addie

School -  Addie is learning a lot at school and is so excited about going now.  She no longer gets sad about being dropped off.  Even more, when she gets home, she seems eager to talk about her day and all of the neat things she has done.  Every day when she gets home, we take a quick picture of herself and whatever art/school work she has done for the day.  I don't know how long this will last, but it's fun to see the progression of what she has worked on so far.

"reading" - Addison loves story time.  We typically save it for right before bed but occasionally she likes to get her books out and read to us at other times.  At one point, she was in the bathroom reciting one of the books she's used to us reading at bedtime.  I looked in and she's sitting on the toilet without the book and "reading" it verbatim!  Addie is a very quick learner and it doesn't take much for her to catch on and start reading from memory.


All about Cooper

Walking Update - We've hit a few milestones this month.  On 9/2 he walked with mommy from one hallway to the next while only holding one hand.  On 9/14 he took his first steps without holding onto anything when daddy stood him on the kitchen floor.  On 9/22 he continuously walked between Mama and Nana without holding onto anything.  He's making huge progress on walking but still seems really reluctant to let go of walls, furniture, or our hands.

"Yeee-Haw" - We've been watching Toy Story in the car a lot so his newest phrase is Yee-Haw.  It sounds more like "AAHHHH-HAAA" when Cooper says it but just as cute! :)

Using Head - I think we've posted about this before, but Coop loves to use his head to knock into things while he's crawling.  If Addie is on the floor playing or even if she's just walking, he will crawl really fast over to her and barrel into her using his head.  Sometimes Addie will laugh and go with it and other times I think she gets really irritated.  If Cooper finds a ball, he will use his head to move it about the room.

All about baby #3

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!  We found out on 9/16 that we're having a girl!  Of course Addie was really excited when she came home from school and we told her.  Mommy bought two big balloons saying "it's a girl" and took pictures of the kids holding them.  Cooper had no idea what was going on but seemed to really enjoy having the balloons :)

Symptoms - I haven't had much in terms of symptoms.  Started feeling flutters around the middle of the month which grew stronger towards the end of the month.  Haven't had any overly noticeable nausea and most other symptoms have tapered off.... except for the weight gain though :) lol

More photos from September:

Letter A week.  They talked about

Johnny Appleseed.  

Cooper seems very interested in the TV... 

 

Letter A week.  More about Apples

Our BIG announcement.  It's a GIRL 

Cooper says "what???" 

He seems thrilled... 

My cross-dressing son. LOL 

At SDC with the grandparents 

Patiently waiting for the train 

One of many rides that Addie went on 

"C" is for Candle that Addie made at school

"Cowboy" day at school

She was one excited Cowgirl!

Do we have another bookworm in our midst?

He loves to hide under the giant teddy bears!

Also loves his sister's big recliner! 

Gymnast Addie on the balance beam 

Clinton Pork & Apple Fest. 

Addie riding a Pony 

Enjoying the sights at the Pork & Apple Fest 

Cutest face paintings ever! 

Visiting Grandpa R at the nursing home in Illinios 

Visiting Gma & Gpa K

Visiting Gma R

Monthly Update - August 2013 Family Reunion

Addie's August Photo

Cooper's August Photo

August was a pretty eventful month for us.  In the beginning of the month (8/3), we made a trip to Illinois for the Kuntz family reunion.  The following weekend (8/9), mommy and daddy went on a short trip to Las Vegas with some friends while Addie and Cooper stayed with Nana.  Towards the middle of the month, Robin and the kids came for the visit and we went to the state fair.


All about Addie

"We've never been there" - This is Addie's new saying.  She says it whether we are passing an interesting place on the road or if she sees an advertisement for a neat place (Chuck E. Cheese, etc.).

Kittens - As an attempt to give Addie a little bit of extra responsibility around the house, we decided to get her a few outdoor kittens.  We found two at the local shelter and adopted them.  They were around 5 weeks old.  Addie tossed up several names but ended up settling on Wall-E and Eva (from the movie Wall-E).  It was really sweet to see her interact with them.  The kittens have adapted pretty well to their surroundings, partly because Shane has built them a palace at the edge of the yard.  Addie goes out every day and checks on them.

All about Cooper

"O" face - I think it's quite possibly the cutest face I've ever seen a baby boy make.  Cooper will make an "O" face and then wait for anyone watching to do the same.  When he sees another person make the face, he laughs hysterically.  One day, mommy and Coop made several videos of us looking into our reflection and repeating the "O" face over and over.  A very very Kodak moment :)

Shoes on hands - I guess he thinks since he's not going to walk anytime soon, he will just use shoes on his hands instead.  It doesn't matter if they are his shoes or not, he will put them on his hands and crawl around the house.  The funniest is when he gets a hold of Addie's pink sparkly shoes.  Love seeing the girly side ;)

All about Baby #3:

Nausea -  From the middle of June until the end of July, I had been sick.... sick... SICK!  I really never would get a chance to throw up, but the nausea is overwhelming.  I tried the wrist band, ginger ale, I've tried vitamin B6, and several other remedies but really nothing worked.  Luckily, the beginning of August gave me a little bit of relief.  I can't say I was in the clear from nausea, but it seemed to taper off quite a bit.

"Showing" - I guess you could say I finally started really showing this month.  I would have to say I noticed it most while we were in vegas.  To "fit in" with the group, I wore tighter and more revealing clothes.  Needless to say, those clothes really showed off my "bump".

Other symptoms - I guess I see now why they say every pregnancy is different.  I had a little bit of nausea with Cooper but nothing like this.  I had bad skin with Addie and REALLY bad skin with this one.  My hair was never healthier than it was with the first two pregnancies and now it is BAD shape.

More photos from August:

Running around outside

Cooper in his walker 

He thinks he's going to run away 

Addie and our horse ACE 

At Grady's in Bloomington, IL 

Showing mommy some work from Preschool 

Riding the rides at Grady's Pizza 

Showing off her awesome bag for school 

Taking an active interest in books? 

Trying to help mommy put clothes away...

and then take them back out! 

Chocolate or poop? 

In deep thought 

Watching movies and eating puffcorn 

At the MO state fair 

"walking" with shoes on his hands 

Reading her ABC's 

Right after we brought the new kittens home 

Giggling at our "O" faces