Back To the Beach

Last week we headed back to good old Ormand Beach FL.  While the accommodations leave much to be desired, you can't beat the proximity to the pool and ocean.  Nostalgia plays a definite roll as well.  Plus you can't beat the company.

It's always fun to be around family and this year was especially fun.  There was great weather and Hudson discovered a love of shuffle board.  He was swimming all over the place and even Finley was jumping off of the side of the pool and going underwater.  She kept us on our toes this year!

Potty Training The Fin

Hudson was super easy to potty train.  Since I had it so easy with him I was worried that Fin would be the thorn in my side.  I was right.

Day 1

I used the same method I used with Hudson which was "Potty Training In Less Than a Day".  That means we were camped out in the floor of the kitchen all morning which does not make for a happy pregnant mama.  My back was sore for two days.  So the thing is that she just doesn't give us much warning.  She would pee a little bit in her undies, say "pee pee!" and then pee some more in the potty.  How do you reward something that she really didn't do, right?  I about reached my breaking point when she dumped the contents of the pot of her potty in the floor of the bathroom. The afternoon was better.  She peed in the potty a lot and only had two accidents.  Bring on day two!

Day 2

It wasn't as bad as day one.  I can say that much.  We stayed in the kitchen cooking most of the morning and she went to the potty much more often than she had accidents.  The "accidents" she had were only a little bit of pee in her undies, then she would tell me she needed to use the potty and then she would pee in the potty.  So I really only count them as half accidents.   At nap time I put her diaper on and told her not to pee in it but it's there just in case she leeks.  I heard her crying and calling my name while I was laying Hudson down and came in to discover she had taken her diaper off, thrown it in the floor and peed in her crib.  At least she didn't pee in her diaper!

The real trouble began when Hubby came home.  He tends to let her wonder so she pooped in her pants.  Ugh.

Day 3

I was gone most of the morning so it was all on Hubs.  We reviewed the method and then I was out.  It seemed to be a lot of the same as day two with less frequent peeing and a few almost accidents.  I was impressed that after naps we went out to run errands and she held it in for about two hours.  Were on our way home and she said "pee pee" so Hub whipped the car over, we plopped her on the potty seat we now carry everywhere we go and she did her thing!  Way to go Fin!

The one bright spot in this mess?  Her big 'ol tushy hanging out of her big-girl undies.

Update:  She has been doing much better and usually goes a long time between having to use the potty.  She has mostly accident free days but does have the occasional slip-up.  Mostly with poop unfortunately.

The Zoo: Birthday Edition

On my birthday last week we went to the zoo with some friends.  Hudson's self proclaimed girlfriend to be exact.

Remember these pictures from when Hudson was little?  We did some updated pics three years later.

Miss Timid wouldn't sit on the statue but thought was was hilarious none the less.

When you can't get them to smile at the camera, might as well do silly faces.
Hudson said his favorite part was playing on the playground at the end.  Really???  Sure could have saved some money if I would have known that.

That evening we went out to eat to top off the big day.

Last Day of School (3 Day 3's)

So I'm a little behind on the blogging... like a year.  Better late than never.  Casey keeps bugging me to start back up and it does force me to take more pictures which I have been super bad about not doing.

And these are what most of our pictures of this one are coming out like these days.  That or he's not looking at the camera at all.

They are big on themes in the 3 year old classes at Hud's preschool (ie Red Day, Pajama Day, Character Day) so the last day of school was Beach Day.  The hat above didn't survive. 

Us parents brought a picnic lunch and picnic blankets (although this parent forgot her picnic blanket so we sat on the grass... pregnancy numero tres is sucking my brain cells away) so the kids could eat outside and play with some outdoor toys afterward.

With a "hoopa loop"

We have been very blessed to have wonderful teachers at Hud's school and we will miss his teachers this year.  Next year this trouble maker will be joining in the fun two days a week.

Hudson's 4 Year Birthday

I'm having to do a little back logging but I really hate missing out on documenting birthdays.  We really only do birthday parties about every other year so we didn't do a big thing this year.  Of course we didn't want to over look it so Fin and I took a cake to his class at school.

On his actual birthday we took him to the mall to make a Build-a-Bear.  He picked a rabbit and named him Billy.

 We took him to Chick-Fil-a afterward and later that evening gave him a bike.

We did a big family hibachi dinner with my family and Casey's family.

 The restaurant embarrassed him by singing to him and making him wear this:

4 Year Old Hudson Likes:

 trucks and tractors, digging in the dirt, hide-and-seek, riding the gator at 

lala and papa's,splash time in the bath with his sister, poop jokes, 

jake and the neverland pirates, chick-fil-a, bingo, riding the 

plasma car around the house, playing kitchen with finley, his train

table, "helping" cut grass

Star of the Week

This week Hudson was "Star of the Week" in his class.

That means he got to bring their class mascot, Franklin the Frog,  home to play with.   Oh how he loved Franklin.  He was super excited. 

We took pictures of what they did together and we wrote in Franklin's journal about all of their adventures.

Hudson got to fill the "star bag" with some of his favorite things (a truck, train and tractor) and share them with the class.

We aren't really sure what he did to get to be Star of the Week... we sure are proud though!

Baseball Times 1,000

We've been living at the baseball park lately.  I have a confession to make:  I don't really like baseball.  Blasphmy in the US of A, I know.  I find it boring.

We took Jessica and Adam to the Atlanta Braves.  Casey's company has season tickets so we got to eat at the club overlooking the outfield and then sit behind home plate.  This is the way to go.  I was actually into it.  I know, I was shocked too.

We got to see a Chipper homerun and the game went into extra innings.

We took Hudson to his first game.  The G-Braves.  He was impressed at first but I think his attention span is about as long as mine in regards to baseball.

Then we were invited by friends to go to a game.

I think we are done for the season.  I think.