A weekend of firsts

Whew! This weekend was busy! We had a weekend of firsts here in the Newell household. It snowed on Saturday night making it our first official snow (that stuck) in Kansas City. Let me tell you folks, it is sticking! It is now Monday night and the snow has not melted at all! It is freezing cold here....welcome to Kansas!

Since it snowed that meant our driveway needed to be shoveled. So off to Lowe's we went after church to buy a snow shovel. I kid you not, we did not own a snow shovel until Sunday morning. That is just not something you need in Atlanta. Subsequently, this was the first time Bill has ever shoveled snow...ever...in his entire life.

Lastly, William Walker started rice cereal on Sunday! We went to his 4 month appointment on Friday and he is a healthy growing boy and the pediatrician said we could go ahead and start solids. He is a whole 2 lbs heavier than Ridley was at this age and about an inch taller. This is surprising considering he started out 2 lbs smaller and an inch shorter than her! He has not been sleeping as well as I'd like (I can't remember the last time I got 8 solid hours of sleep!) so I'm hoping adding cereal into his regimen may help him sleep a little longer at night! He took to it pretty well, opening wide for the spoon and swallowing some of it. I have to admit, a large portion of it ended up on his bib and down the side of the bumbo seat, but he did great for his first time! My little man is growing up so fast! Here are some pictures documenting our weekend of firsts.

First time Ridley has washed dishes,

think I can make this a habit?

My little guy's first bite of cereal!

Swallow it down bud!

Dixie liked the snow shovel too!

I love the way the snow looks, just not how cold it is!

Ridley loved playing in the snow!

Ridley got to ride this fun train at Union Station!

Attempt at getting a picture of the kids in front of the Christmas tree. Oh well, I'll try again later!

Thanksgiving at the Lake

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed remembering everything you are thankful for this year. I have to say, we have been so blessed this year and have so much to be thankful for including a new house, a new job for Bill which he is liking much better, a new baby boy (the best gift of all), and a healthy, potty-trained 3 year old!

We spent this Thanksgiving at the Lake of the Ozarks with my Dad, aunts, uncles and cousins. Since my grandmother passed away this year, it was the first year there wasn't a big celebration at her house and we all thought it was appropriate to bring it to the Lake this year. My aunts and uncles are cleaning out my grandparents' house and brought all the dining room furniture down to the lake house. We enjoyed a delicious dinner sitting at the same dining room table they've been sitting around for the last 40-some years.

Ridley had a blast with her cousin Celia and Walker enjoyed all the attention he got from my cousins and aunts. I think someone was holding him almost the whole weekend! Here are some pictures although I wasn't very good about taking many.

Aunt Barb holding WW

Celia eating stuffing straight from the serving dish

The Medeiros family plus WW, they look good as a foursome!

Picture of the table

My mom made the kids' outfits, WW soaked his with drool

before I had a chance to get a picture of the two of them together!

The girls were running around with Grandmommy's silver on their heads!

The girls taking a much needed bath after dinner.

Celia (2) and Ridley (3).

Potty Victory

OK, I really don't like to air personal gross stories about potty training but this I just have to share. So potty training has been just about as horrible as I imagined it would be. We started training Ridley in June and we are still not 100% there. Seriously? I know this child is so bright, why in the world can she not figure out how to use the potty? I know it's not an intelligence thing, it's more of a control issue but it is SO FRUSTRATING!!! This has by far been my hardest parenting task and I'm already dreading training Walker! So anyway, she's had the pee thing down pretty good since July, only a few accidents here and there and even wakes up dry most mornings. However, doing the #2 has been a complete battle. I've heard this is common, but come on, it's been 5 months! We've promised the moon and more if she does it. We've threatened to take away every toy and privilege if she doesn't do it. We've enthusiastically praised her small efforts and semi-victories. But, alas, she still saves the #2 for the pull-up or if I'm really lucky right in her underpants, yay! Ever had a day where you felt like poop was all you dealt with all day? You haven't lived until you've cleaned your infant's poop, your 3 yr old's poop and the dog's poop all in one morning.

So finally about 2 weeks ago we made some progress! Bill has promised Ridley we can go for ice cream if she does her doody, pun intended, in the potty. Well, it was 8:45pm, she's been in and out of bed 3 times and finally we have a victory! I was so excited and proud. Bill insisted that we had to give her immediate gratification by taking her right then to get the ice cream even though it was nearly 9pm! So, we all piled in the van and headed up to our favorite fro yo joint. We've been frequenting this place more and more over the past two weeks, I think the kids that work in there think we're addicts to fro yo! Anyway, here are some pictures I took of the joyous event! Oh the things you get excited about once you become parents!

So excited we get to go out for ice cream, notice she's in her pajamas!

Yummy ice cream!

Daddy is so proud!

"Hey, where's my ice cream?"

Veggie Tales!

I love Veggie Tales, don't you? I love that it is a good wholesome show and I can feel good about letting my daughter watch it for hours and hours while I try to get something done around the house. So when I found out Veggie Tales Live! was coming to KC, I had to get her tickets! Bill took her by himself as a fun daddy/daughter date night. They ate dinner at Chick-fil-A and then headed to the show. While I was sad I missed the show and Ridley's reactions to it, I thought it was nice that they got some one-on-one time together. Bill said she loved it and recognized most of the songs. She was a little scared by the loud church group behind them that would stand up and scream every time they heard a song they knew. I think overall she had a great time though! My mom even made her a Veggie Tales top and scarf to wear to the show. We found this Veggie Tales fleece fabric at Hancock's and Ridley would NOT let go of it even though I tried to get her to trade it for a pretty Fancy Nancy pattern. She was determined to get the VT fabric. It is so obnoxious but it was perfect for her trip to see them! I sent Bill with the camera but he said they wouldn't allow pictures to be taken of the show so here is what we got, enjoy!

At the show

At home getting excited to see Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber!

A Pumpkin Pickin' We Will Go!

We visited 2 pumpkin patches this year to get our pumpkins. A couple weekends ago the 4 of us went down to Louisburg (about 30 min from our house) to see the cider mill and pick out a pumpkin. It was a fun event even though the day was pretty warm and apparently flip flops are not proper shoe attire for tromping around in a pumpkin patch. Ridley loved it, Walker, not so much. He was a little cranky but I think he was just hot, poor kid!

Then on Monday Ridley and I had some mommy/daughter time with my Building Better Moms group here (like MOPS) at a pumpkin farm not far from our house. It was much more entertaining with attractions such as live pigs, chickens, goats and llamas as well as a playground, sandbox and maze. We had a great morning seeing friends and picking out some more pumpkins to adorn our front porch.

My daughter had to be different and pick out a gourd instead of a pumpkin! Love her!

3 years and 2 months

Well, I was going to try to do this as two separate posts but it seems I have very little time with free hands to blog lately so I will combine them into one.
Ridley turned 3 last Saturday, I can hardly believe she is 3 already. It seems we've been building up to this all summer. Whenever we met someone new (which was often) they would ask how old she was and I would reply "almost three, her birthday is in October." It seemed so far off at the time, like I still had plenty of time with my 2 year old. Well, now she's 3, and it came quicker than I thought it would. Bill and I both think she is looking less babyish and more like a big girl. Looking back at her 2 year photos she seems to be losing her baby face and taking on more of a little girl look with longer hair. I didn't think the two's were too terrible, hopefully that doesn't mean the three's are going to be difficult. Potty training was the only event of the year in which I considered throwing myself off a steep cliff (just kidding!), other than that it was a great year! Look how much she's changed in 3 years!

Our newborn little girl

3rd Birthday!

My sweet little boy is now 2 months old, where is the time going? He is sleeping a little longer at night, 7-8 hours, and has been putting weight on like crazy! He is cooing, smiling and even giggling a little. My favorite thing is when he smiles and laughs in his sleep. I wonder what he's dreaming about?! It's hard to catch these moments on camera though, so in most of his pictures he looks very serious, which I don't think really portrays his personality. Here is a picture on his actual 2 month birthday, I waited till the end of the day when he was nice and crabby so this isn't showing his sunny personality!

and a picture of both my monkeys!

Labor Day Fun

We went to the Lake for Labor Day. It was Walker's first time there and he went on his first boat ride! It was also his introduction to many of my aunts, uncles and cousins. We were blessed with a GORGEOUS weekend so we enjoyed lots of time sitting on the dock, swimming and boating. I am really loving being so close to the Lake and closer to family now. It's made the transition so much easier. Ridley absolutely loves going down there and talks all the time about going to "Grandpa Steve's Wakehouse (Lakehouse)." Here are some pics of all the fun we had!

On the boat with Uncle Mike
Drinking mommy's Diet Coke, starting bad habits early!
Shipmates!

First boat ride!
Aunt Angela meets Walker!
Daddy Snuggle
Napping in the rafts on the dock
Cutie Pie cousin Madeline!
This is what Ridley dubbed "Surfboard Daddy!"