Captain Underpants

Colton is doing awesome with Potty Training... this is the second day in a row with no accidents! He tells us if he has to go and then runs to the bathroom! So with things going so good I thought I would be brave and let him sleep in his big boy underwear tonight. He wakes up dry every morning anyways so why waste anymore time with Pull ups.... I will let you know tomorrow if that was a good idea or not!

Jam packed and full of fun!!

Well this last week has been jam packed as always. Last Wednesday night Frankie, Colton and I spent the night at Treasure Island Casino. Frankie got a coupon in the mail for a free room so we figured what the heck why not. They have a new bowling alley so we had to give that a try. Colton loved bowling, and he is pretty good! He even beat Frankie his very first game, of course he had bumpers which helped! We had so much fun, it was nice to just get out of the house for a night!

On Saturday we went to a Wonder Pet's Birthday Party! Colton's cousin Isaac turned two! Colton had so much fun playing with his cousins. I still can't believe that Isaac is two. Our boys are getting so big way to fast. It seems like we were both just pregnant and planning each others baby showers and here we are with two amazing little boys (well she has another one as well) it just reminds me to enjoy every minute of every day because they go by quickly.

Then on Sunday we spent the day enjoying this beautiful weather. We played outside on the swing set, in the sandbox and even went for bike ride. We also did some Spring cleaning inside and out. Colton loves to help clean... I am just hoping he likes it as much when he is older.

We also decided on Sunday that we are done with Diapers! Yup it sounded like a super idea at 10am... but at 1:30pm when I was changing Colton into his 5th pair of pants for the day I was ready to give up! I just figured that it wasn't gonna work, he didn't seem to care if he wet his pants and he was gonna be waering diapers until he got married. But we stuck it out and he is doing amazing now. Monday he only had one accident all day. We make him try ever hour. Tuesday he went to school in his big boy underwear and had 3 accidents. Tuesday night at home with us he had none! Wednesday at school he only had 1 accident and all night with us he had none (which I thought was great because he weren't at home). Today he woke up and told me had to go potty... he was doing the pee pee dance. And about a half hour later he said he had to go again (number 2 this time) so I think he is starting to realize when he gets the urge and he is telling us he has to go instead of us making him try every hour! We are just so proud of him. We are also so excited to not have to buy diapers anymore. He is still wearing a pull up to bed but as soon as we run out of those he is done with that too (and we only have about 15 left). The real challenge is when we are out and about... he does not like to use the big potty chair so we will have to work on that. For now we will take it one step at a time. This is just another reminder that he is not my baby anymore but he has become my little man!

My brother is home for Spring Break this week so we have been hanging out with him almost every night. Well last night was no exception. My mom realized she too had a free hotel stay at the Casino so back we went. My mom came and checked us in and went bowling with us and then she went back home because she had to work today. Colton, my brother and I stayed out there. We played in the arcade and won all kinds of fun prizes and candy. Colton and I were in bed by 10pm and Brad headed down to the casino to gamble. This morning we got up ordered room service for breakfast and then went swimming. Colton is one spoiled little kid that is for sure.

The rest of today will be spent doing laundry and watching College Basketball... Go Minnesota!! We are looking forward to this weekend. We are heading to Otter Tail, MN for our Annual Sand's Get Together. We all have hotel rooms at Thumper Pond Resort. I am sure we will spend many hours in the waterpark sooaking in some fun! We will also be playing Catch Phrase (which my team will win like always). Okay that gets my life caught up!

Life at the Zoo

Well we have been back from vacation for a week already.... and it has been a crazy week. On the ride home Colton kept asking for a Dolphin. So I thought we would go get him a fish and name it "Dolphin" and that would solve all problems. Well Frankie had other things in mind. I was thinking we could get a giant glass bowl and a gold fish and when it died in a couple months we would just move on with life. Well some how Frankie convinced me that a 20 Gallon tank full of Tropical fish would be more fun. So we know are the proud parents to 3 Tiger Barbs and 3 Silver Dollars. Actually we have already managed to send one of the Tiger Barbs to the bright light in the sky... but we have a 2 week guarantee on the fish so he will be getting replaced momentarily. So as if a giant lap dog and two foster cats weren't enough in our house we now have a fish tank. I wonder what other kinds of animals we could add to our zoo!
* UPDATE: Well we have replaced our dead Tiger Barb with one that actually swims and eats. And while we were at Pet Smart getting him replaced we picked up 5 more fish. We have added 2 sucker fish (to help keep the tank clean) and 3 Zebra Fish (I forgot their actual name) so our tank is complete at 11 fish!!

Lets see what else has happened. On Friday morning (at around 2am) Colton decided to get sick and decorated his bed with his stomach fluids. So after a half asleep pajama change and throwing blankets in the wash he crawled in bed with mom and dad to sleep until 5am when the decorating started again. I stayed home from work to be with him on Friday and by Friday evening he was doing great. It is amazing how quickly little kids recover from being sick.

Saturday and Sunday we went to watch Brad play his last two basketball games of the season. It was so much fun to watch him play. They won the first game but the second game did not have such a story book ending (they lost by about 30). By Sunday afternoon I had come to realize that Colton had shared his flu with me. I am glad that I have taught him to share so well. I am feeling better today but I will say I am really looking forward to Spring when we can open up the windows and hopefully rid this house of the sickness germs we have gathered over the winter. This was the 3rd time the flu hit our household!

So anyways, life is getting back to normal. We miss the ocean, the beach and the warm weather. Colton asks almost daily if we can go back and my answer is yup in 50 weeks. Yes the countdown to Feb 2010 has already started. Oh yeah, we received both of our orders of Girl Scout cookies this week... yup both orders. Frankie placed an order at work and I placed an order from the neighbor girl. We have 12 boxes of girl scout cookies in the cupboard which is totally uncalled for. I told Frankie we need to put some of them in the freezer so we don't eat them all in a week but that has yet to happen. Okay well it is time to watch Diego with Colton and then off to bed.

So many Memories!

We are having the best time down here in Dauphin Island. My mom and sister flew in last Friday and we have made the best of their short stay, they leave tomorrow morning. The temperatures have dropped off quite a bit in the last couple days but that has not stopped us from spending many hours on the beach and exploring the island. Frankie has still been doing some fishing but the fish I believe have realized that if there is a nice fat shrimp just floating all by itself that it is attached to a human on the other end. On Sunday Marissa, Colton and I went to Fort Gaines on the east end of the island. This place was awesome, we spent almost 2 hours exploring the fort. On Monday Frankie, my mom, Colton and I went to the Dauphin Island Sea lab to see all kinds of aquatic life. This place wasn't as cool as I was hoping but it was still fun. Monday afternoon Frankie and I went exploring while Colton took his nap. We were on a mission to find some Sand Dollars and after about a mile and half walk out to an island (which really is no longer an island because the water level is low on that end) we found what we were looking for. We found lots of broken pieces but we were not successful in finding a whole sand dollar. Oh well the hunt was still worth the long walk and sore feet! Today we spent the day playing games and of course did some playing on the beach. I dug a hole big enough for Colton to fit in and he thought it was the best thing ever, he playing in the hole for about 45 minutes! Frankie and Colton cleaned fish this afternoon and we had fish and shrimp for dinner. Tonight we are just gonna relax and hang out, I am sure play some more games (although I never lose so I am not sure they want to play with me anymore). We have to take my mom and sister to the airport in the morning and then I am sure Colton, Frankie, Yvonne and I will be spending some time on the beach! I have taken over 400 pictures on this trip, I know I always get a little carried away! I can't wait to get home and start working on my photobook for this vacation but I am afraid the book may be about 60 pages long! We are leaving Friday morning, and will be spending Friday night in a hotel in Cape Girardeau, MO and then hope to be home Saturday night. We are very sad to leave, but we are looking forward to sleeping in our own beds! Okay here are some pictures, I know you are probably sick of seeing them but pictures are always better than words in my world!

A long walk on the beach!

It is perfect here again today! 75 and Sunny! We went for a long walk on the beach this afternoon and we encountered lots of jelly fish! Last night was high tide and it was amazing how many jelly fish washed up on the shore. We had a great time exploring, playing in the sand and of course collecting seashells. Frankie is getting ready to make some fresh fish for dinner along with shrimp and scallops. He went fishing yesterday with an old family friend and they caught Sheephead (sounds disgusting but I sure it will be a great tasting fish). I can't get enough fresh fish. Tomorrow is supposed to be another great day, 77 for a high and lots of sun. Okay that is enough for now, enjoy the pics!That is our beach house in the background... love it!

Dauphin Island is Beautiful!

We finally made it here and the 21 hours in the car was totally worth it. The weather was perfect today. We spent many hours on the beach playing in the sand, collecting seashells and fishing. Colton is obsessed with finding seashells and they have to be perfect ones or he throws them back into the ocean. Okay I will update more another day but for now I have better things to do... like go out on the deck and watch the waves hit the shore!! I LOVE THIS PLACE!

Colton loved fishing with daddy!

Check out their first fish... Colton thought it was pretty cool!

Colton loved throwing sand with his cousin Isaac!

Me and my godson Jaxx, soaking up some sun and enjoying the waves!

Colton decided to make some Sand Angels!

Winter Fun!

The weather is finally nice again... into the 30's two days in a row!! So this morning we decided to head outside and enjoy winter a little bit. We played out in the yard for about an hour... throwing snowballs and going for snowmobile rides. And then we decided to head over to the park and do some skating. Colton got skates for Christmas but it has been so cold this last month that we hadn't gotten him out on the ice yet. Well today we did. He was very unsure at first but after about 20 minutes he was able to get around all on his own. He is still trying to walk on the ice instead of skate but hopefully after a few times out there he will really start to get it! We are gonna try to go back over to the park again this afternoon after nap time. It is hard to stay indoors when the weather is finally nice. Here are some pics and a couple videos, Enjoy!

Friday Night Fun!

Well Frankie had to work late tonight so it was just Colton and me! We made some hamburger helper for dinner ( we don't get to eat that stuff when Frankie is home.. I guess chefs don't think it is very yummy)! Then we watched some cartoons, drew some pictures (Colton loves to draw), we played with some cars (he always gets the fast one) and then it was time to get jammies on. Now we got his clothes off just fine and we got his diaper changed and then he decided it was time to burn some energy! He is too funny, he was bouncing around like a kid who had a bowl full of sugar for dinner. He is so much fun to watch and listen to... he has the best imagination and tells the best stories... but his signing I must say is the most entertaining. We have a kids sing along cd in the van and we always have to listen to it the minute we leave the driveway. And it is amazing how many songs he actually knows the words too already! We had such a fun night, I wish I never had to do anything but hang out with him. He is just so much fun and there truely is never a dull moment when Colton is awake! I love him so much!

Here is a video of him singing "No More Monkeys Jumping on Bed"