Tha Rivah

We took a little late afternoon trip to the Rivanna River. There's a playground
where Owen enjoyed swinging.

He's 10 months old next week and his hair still sticks up in a mohawk. I love it!

Hazel got to swim a little while Eliza played in the water.

Hazel got a bath when we got home and Owen was sad that she was banished to the porch.

Why I'm not classifying Potty Training Day 1 as a Failure

I'm exhausted. Who knew potty training would be so tiring? As Steve said, we finally got to a point where Eliza is old enough that we don't have to watch her like a hawk, as we do with Mr. I Crawl Really Fast and Open and Pull Up on EVERYTHING...and today we didn't take our eyes off of her.

So even though she went through 4 pairs of Elmo and Hello Kitty underpants, I feel okay about the day. She peed in the potty 3 times and was *really* close 2 other times. I definitely didn't expect her to get the hang in one day. Heck, I don't even know if she'll get it in one week. I still reserve the right to bag it after a few days.

There was a strong leaning towards labeling the day a FAIL when she sat on the potty for 30 minutes before dinner without going, then ate her applesauce while I watched pee stream down from her booster seat. The redemption came when Steve got her out of the seat and was cleaning it up. She was standing on the door mat and said, "Daddy clean this", pointing to 2 drops on the mat. He asked if she was going, and when she said "Yes" he took her over to the potty. She was able to stop going and did the rest on the potty. Redemption in my book.

So, I call the day a success

*because of the huge smile when she did go in the potty.
*because she went three times in the potty.
*because she was dry a lot of the times when we asked her.
*because she was dry when I checked on her during non-nap and said she needed to go. (but when I carried her down to the potty, she went in the pull-up)
*because she REALLY wants the Pez candy from the Hello Kitty dispenser.
*because the girl will sit on the potty for 45 minutes!
*because we survived the day without giving up.

Now, Day 2 and church...

Eliza's Prayers

I posted before about Eliza praying at meals with us.

This past week, she has started praying spontaneously. The first time she was coloring on Jillian's birthday card and I heard her saying, "Dear God, thank you for Jillian's birthday."

This morning, she was trying to put Hazel's collar on and was repeatedly saying, "Dear God thank you for Hazel. Thank you that she plays."

What sweet moments.

A couple weeks worth of pictures

Owen likes books! Often, he's just using them as a drum,
but sometimes he looks at the pages too.

Eliza carries her stool around to wash her hands, help with cooking, and get into trouble.

Playing with Daddy's new Ipad!

Who knows?!

Hazel and Green Piggy taking a rest.

Owen is almost 9 months old! It's hard to believe.
Two of his favorite things are Hazel and remotes...

Owen needs his morning nap, so we almost always stick around the house until 10 or so. Now that it's nice, Eliza and I can play out side while he is sleeping.

Eliza can even turn sidewalk chalk into an action sport.

Hhhhmmmmm...what next?

She lined up the chalk and called it a fam-a-lee.

Then on to the bike.

Dinner and Bath

Sometimes dinner is just this good...

and then you need a bath.