A Visit with Grandpa and Grandma Knowles

 

So we had the best time with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Jim last weekend down in Washington. Despite Kennon waking up with a fever Thursday AM and Maddox developing pink eye Friday AM we packed up Saturday AM to get a break from the sick germs at 5363 Judge. It was a much needed breath of fresh air. We started Saturday by going to Grandma Jean's school carnival.  We had gone last year but Maddox was really too young to participate in all the activities, but not this year.  She did a lot of the games ( bowling, dance, bean bag toss), got her face painted, and ran from classroom to classroom acting like she really belonged. We had a great time. She even went pee pee on the school kids' potty.   Kennon was happy to just hang out in the stroller and watch all the people go by.  Then Saturday afternoon Maddox got to make her first batch of pigs in a blanket with Grandpa Jim.  I can't say we eat too many of those here on Judge road and you could sure tell!! Maddox scarfed 3 down before I even knew she was eating them.  She loved them!! Grandpa Jim showed her just how to roll them up in the crescent roll dough. She had a great time ( and I think Grandpa Jim did too!!)  She loves to BAKE.  We had a yummy dinner of steaks, burgers, and hotdogs all cooked on the grill by Grandpa Jim, after the appetizer of pigs in a blanket. Saturday evening Grandma Jean brought out the best gift of all.....adirondack chairs for the kids.  Pink for Maddox and green for Kennon. They loved them.  Kennon literally sat in his for what seemed like forever.  We actually thought he was kinda stuck because your butt sort of sinks down into them but he was able to slide out himself, he was just happy to be sitting there.  Saturday AM we woke up early ( or rather didn't really sleep all night:).   Kennon, Eric and Grandpa Jim were up before the sunrise drinking coffee and playing while Maddox slept a bit more and I played catch up from a night of NO SLEEP compliments of Kennon.   Kennon finally FELL asleep at about 7.30A first on Grandma Jean ( I was still playing catch up at that point so I didn't get a picture ) and then on Grandpa Jim.  So the moral of the story is. Just let Kennon sleep on the grandparents next time we go to Washington and we'll forgot the pack-n-play!! Kennon slept until about 9.30  on Grandpa and then it was time to get ready for Grandpa Jim's retirement party. CONGRATULATIONS Grandpa Jim!!  We are so excited for you.  We loaded up and headed into Great Grandma Reta's house where we celebrated with family and capped off the meal with homemade sundaes complete with brownies, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce and sprinkles. Maddox was in heaven.  Kennon even got in on the ice cream action. The kids were literally spoiled all weekend with attention, gifts, and most importantly LOVE. We had such a great time and are looking forward to another weekend ( with slightly better weather). The Washington weather man apparently does not want Grandpa Jim and Maddox to go fishing. It was cold and rainy all weekend but one of these days we are going to get to do the outdoor stuff I want the kids to experience at Grandpa and Grandma Knowles' house.  Thanks for everything.  Oh BTW the pictures of Maddox and Hannah making homemade pizza are from last week. We had Jody, Charlie and Hannah down for dinner. Maddox and Hannah helped me make pizza. They had so much fun!!  I love some of their facial expressions. There was a lot of pizza makin' but a lot of topping eatin' as well. We had a great time.  We are sure going to miss the Stegemanns.

Swimming at Patty's

So last Saturday the kids and I packed up and headed to one of my co-worker's home while Eric saw a few clients. Patty lives in a beautiful home in Moline complete with an indoor pool and an elevator!!  We met 2 of my other co-workers and their kids and boy did we have a GRAND time.  What preschooler doesn't love to swim and ride in elevators!  Kennon was the youngest with the oldest being Ava who is about 5. Patty was gracious enough to hang onto Maddox while I managed Kennon in one of Patty's little baby floaties.  Kennon LOVED the water especially after we took him out of the floaty. He didn't mind the floaty and actually stayed in there for quite a while but then really went to town splashing after Patty took him out.  Maddox couldn't touch but was happy to splash around with a life jacket on. We definitely need to get her back into swim lessons. It has been almost 2 years since she was in lessons and it shows.  Patty's husband Scott was even kind enough to get in the pool too!  Always nice to have an extra set of hands and eyes when you are dealing with small kids in the water.  Patty and Scott have tons of pool toys including squirt guns, noodles, and balls and their pool even has a waterfall!!  It was super fun. After the swimming we had yummy snacks. Patty had made the kids fruit kabobs and had individual Sunny D juice bottles.  What a fun snack.  Kennon even got in on the action and enjoyed his puffs and zippy cup up at the bar with the big kids. I didn't get a lot of great pictures ( too many hands needed to man the kids in the water) but got a few to mark some memories. Maddox and Kennon both took MEGA naps when we got home.  Maddox slept until 4:30 after arriving home about 12:30 and Kennon slept until 5!! I almost had to wake him up to get going to church. Maddox woke up from her nap saying 'I wanna go back to the pool again'! And even now she will randomly ask to go to the pool again.  THANKS to Patty and Scott for hosting us all. We had a great time. Quick potty update-we have had a significant regression in the last 48 hours. For some weird reason Maddox is going in her undies.  Not even enough to go through to her pants but enough to get a NEW pair of undies.   In fact she is almost excited to get a new pair.  I am so devastated. It has literally been WEEKS since she had an accident.  I emailed our potty training lady to get her suggestions but in the meantime we have resurrected the potty charts on the bathroom door and are being very rewarding with mm's again. We had sort of let the charts go and were only given her mm's when she was dry in the AM. But, it is back to the more formal training again. I have no idea why she made this switch literally overnight. Interestingly she was completely dry at school yesterday. Hmmmmm. Friday night Eric and I had a date night while our great babysitter Jennifer watched the kids. Maddox loves Jennifer and we hope Kennon will grow up to love her too.  Maddox always ask for her to come back when she wakes up the next morning.  Work has been significantly slower which has allowed me to get back to the Y regularly during the week and plan date nights with Eric!! It is nice to finally schedule in some much needed adult and solo time. Just makes life more pleasant for us all, especially after a nice glass of wine :) The kids have been napping and sleeping fairly well although Kennon had some EARLY mornings the last week but he seems to be back on a better streak the last 2 nights. I shot the video of Kennon last night. He was so enamored with Eric stacking up the cups.  Super cute.  Maddox decided to share her sunglasses with Kennon on Monday while we were out getting some sunshine and burning off some energy.  I really have to get him a boy pair!! But, then again I'm not sure that would really help. She loves to put hers on him. I think there are going to be more and more pictures of Kennon dressed up in girly stuff. I can see it now....bows and lipstick!! We'll have to make sure he gets plenty of dirt, truck, and tractor time!! He loves to be up on his feet and almost tries to stand up from a crawling position. I think he'll be walking soon.  I found him today sitting right in front of the outlet I normally use for the vaccuum. He had managed to get the little safety plug in thing OUT and was waving it in front of himself like a toy. He gave me a big sneaky grin when I grabbed it from him and stuck it back in the outlet!!  Sure that won't be the last time that I find him near the outlet.  He is such a boy.  I am so surprised by the differences in Maddox and Kennon. Maddox never even hardly touched the outlets.  Maddox hates for her hands to be dirty and the teachers in Kennon's room say he goes over to the sensory table looking for things to get his hands dirty with!!  Really amazing.  We are so blessed to have been lucky enough to have a boy and a girl.  We realize it doesn't always happen that way!!  Take care for now!!

St. Louis

Hmmmm since I last posted a lot has happened at the Kies house. Most significantly we did some traveling which proved to be very pleasant despite the addition of a moving, active, AGGRESSIVE 10 month old. Last Friday we headed down to St. Louis for the much anticipated 1/2 marathon. We stopped half way at Wendys for dinner. Maddox has been doing soooo well with her pottying. NO accidents during the day for weeks! But, she has ( had) a fear of public toilets. I didn't get a picture but I"m sure it would have been priceless....seeing Maddox doing her business on her little potty right in the middle of the Wendy's parking lot. Little did I know that by the end of the weekend the FEAR would be gone. Saturday morning we met up with Aunt Diane, Uncle Brian and cousin Hannah. We had planned to go to the famous St. Louis zoo but the weather apparently did not get the memo so we headed to the mall instead. It was there that Maddox miraculously learned how to go to on the public potty. I finally learned Aunt Diane's trick!! She was secretively telling the potty to 'be quiet'. Who would have thought something that simple would calm Maddox's flush fears and allow her to do her business on the public potty. It has literally worked every since. Thank you Aunt Diane!!! We celebrated Uncle Brian's birthday Saturday night with a carb filled dinner and strawberry cupcakes with bright pink icing whisked up by Maddox and Aunt Diane. Maddox got to SIT on the counter AND help Aunt Diane break the eggs into the batter. What a special treat. Sunday morning Brian picked Eric and I up to head to the race while Hannah and Diane got the kids ready to go down and be spectators. I must admit I had some reservations with Diane attempting to get the kids dressed, fed, and loaded up in the car seats to head down to the big city but she did it with flying colors. Maddox and Kennon got to see us 'buzz' by them at mile 12 just before the finish. I use the word buzz in italics....because I wasn't really buzzing by that point. I didn't have the best run but finished nonetheless. Eric did super as did Brian for his first 1/2 marathon. Way to go boys!! I am hoping to redeem myself at the Distance Classic half marathon on Mother's Day in the Quad Cities. We packed up back at the hotel after the race, grabbed some Taco Bell ( nothing like a good burrito post 13 miles) and headed to Keokuk to do some visiting with Grandma Doris and the Kies clan. The kids were SO ready to get out of the car when we arrived Sunday afternoon. They got their energy out by crawling/running around Grandma Doris' house like crazy. We had a yummy dinner and then hit the hay. Monday morning we hopped in the car one last time and headed home. It was a great weekend and so nice to be away. Thanks to the Gillaspies and the Kies for the great food and hospitality. The kids did GREAT in the car. Kennon slept the majority of all the car rides and Maddox was entertained by the DVD player and various videos ( I think I can pretty much site 'Horton Hears a Who' from memory now). Unfortunately Kennon did not sleep much at all at night while we were gone. Maddox did fairly well sleeping, did not have any accidents, and woke up dry every morning. Both the kids were happy to be home and back in their own beds Monday evening. Kennon is getting really efficient at crawling and has been trying his hand at walking the last couple of days. His new best buddy is the beloved giraffe that you all are familiar with from Maddox. He is already able to grab onto the handles, much like Maddox did, and walk behind it. He is still a little unsteady and needs to be on the carpet but it is not going to be long before he is motorin'. I really think he'll be walking by his 1st birthday if not very soon. Maddox is NOT so keen on him using her favorite toy. Mind you, she hasn't touched the giraffe in the last 6 months but now that he is interested in it she is too! He is really into all of her stuff and actually thinks it is really funny when she tries to push him away and gain her stuff back. He is really aggressive and this crazy fun hour after dinner. He is so happy and just plays about with lots of smiles. I just love Kennon's smile in some of these pictures. He is a happy little boy and has the cutest darn expressions lately. Maddox is going through the terrible 2's and is not always the most pleasant child but when she is rested and happy she is really cute and does love her brother. She even shared her free HyVee cookie with him today, slightly prompted by me, but she does get a kick of feeding him little bits. Today I caught her giving him a HOP. They are these little rabbit shaped cookies and are MUCH bigger than anything he has had so far. He looked at me with wide eyes as it was too late to snag it back out of his mouth. I think he LOVED it and definintely would have devoursed the 3 others Maddox left on the carpet for him if I had left them. He is going to figure out real quick to keep his eye on her as she is going to be a great source of treats in the coming months! We plopped them in the bathtub tonight TOGETHER for the first time. They did pretty well and most of the water stayed IN the tub. I managed to get a few good shots. So I am just now posting this ( saturday afternoon) even though I started writing it on Wednesday night.  The picture of Eric, Marty, and Maddox is at Eric's office.  It is Maddox's first official 'financial planning' meeting. I'm sure they are discussing The Planning Center's awesome budgeting software/theory called First Step ( for those of you who are familiar with the tool!!) So cute! Honestly I'm not sure what they are discussing but I think the picture is adorable. I love how Eric and Marty got down on HER level. The aim to please  at The Planning Center :0