Firsts

Avery is growing up on me. She is finally potty trained! She has had a few accidents but has done surprisingly well. She has by far been my easiest, but I think we deserved it after the Caleb potty training nightmare. Yay! No diapers for a few months.

It hit me one day, as I was waiting for her to go potty, that she had that milestone before she had her first haircut. I know, I know, that is weird. Avery's hair took forever to come in, and when it did it was pretty curly so I didn't often notice the unevenness of it. I decided it was time.

Before:

I took her to a place close to us called Cookie Cutters. They get to choose what they sit in, she chose a pink car, and watch cartoons. What kid wouldn't like that? Although she doesn't look like she is having that much fun, it went well and she didn't really pay much attention.

Here is the end result. (Pay no attention to the messy mudroom) As I said, with it being curly you can't really tell. It feels softer though, and I am hoping that it will grow a bit faster now.

First haircut: check

Potty training: check (it is an ongoing process, but we have made big progress)

Baby #4

We must be crazy. Yes, this was planned.......

Baby #4 is on its way!

I am due on October 31st. Thats right, a Halloween baby. Fortunately, they always induce me a week early. The names so far.....Max (Cole's pick), Kai (Caleb's pick, who happens to be his friend at school), and Baby (Avery's choice). We shall see.

The Things They Say...

Mom: Caleb, put your shoes on, we need to go to the post office.

Caleb: Post Office?

Mom: Yes, we need to pick up a letter.

Caleb: An 'O'?

Mom: No, we need to pick up a l.e.t.t.e.r.

Caleb: An 'O'?

Mom: (Finally gets it) Hahaha

Cole was grounded from the tv for a few days for not hanging up his church clothes after multiple reminders.

Cole: (very dramatically) I don't know why I get treated this way!

Mom: What way is that?

Cole: Like ..... a skunk!

Avery: (patting my stomach) Your baby in there?

Mom: Yep.

Avery: (Puts her ear to my stomach) It won't talk to me! (So offended)

Homemade Valentine Decorating

I recently discovered the fun of Modge Podge. I know, a lot later than all you crafties. I get together once a month for craft day with my sis and sis-in-law, which was the perfect time to try out some ideas I wanted to use with Modge Podge. I just had to see what it was all about. I bought some wood letters at a store called Crafty Wood Cutouts, which happened to be a really great price. I also bought scrapbook paper and the Modge Podge there as well, its a great little store. Through some trial and error (on my part), we got the job done and I think it turned out pretty well.

We had left over scrapbook paper and I had picked up a couple of paint cards at Home Depot last weekend, so we decided to make a Valentine garland that my sister Becca had on Pinterest. (Thanks Becca) It turned out like this:

It was a fun craft day, relatively cheap, and spending time with some girls what just what I needed.

I had one more sheet of scrapbook paper that hadn't been used and I couldn't just throw it away. I had one more idea.... I picked up an unpainted picture frame at Hobby Lobby, which happened to be 50% off. (Oh yeah.) With a little more help from Modge Podge, I made this:

I had the perfect picture for the frame, it was taken two years ago, and very festive.

All-in-all, I think Modge Podge lived up to my expectations. It was pretty fun and easy to use. I have used up all of my crafty energy though, so Modge Podge is done for a while.

Oh, wait one more idea....

I found something on Pinterest that I wanted to alter a bit.

Found Here

I bet it smells wonderful, but I wanted to change mine up a bit. I had the perfect container that I bought at Pier 1 years ago. My version:

Perfect.

And that concludes my Valentine projects.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas from the Rearys!

This past year has been a little crazy for us. We sold our house the end of January and moved into a rental, which was smaller than the house we sold. We had most of our stuff stored in the garage and lived out of boxes. Fun. The good news is that we are finally in our new house. We were able to move in December 10th. We have been able to get most of our Christmas decorations up and quite a few of our boxes unpacked. We are finally home. We still need a few light fixtures, some doors fixed and shutters for our outside windows, but we are home. I can't get a picture of the outside until we have our shutters, its a big deal. So here is the inside.....

Not the best pictures, I will post more (that are in focus) without boxes hopefully.

Caleb is 4

For Caleb's birthweek back in November, (I know, I know....) he got to do several of his favorite things. Shane took Caleb to Cabela's the night before his birthday, which is his favorite place ever. I get asked every day if we can "see a moose". Caleb saw a moose calendar and just had to have it. Shane said he bounced through the store pointing at and announcing everything that he saw. Can you tell that he loves it?

On his birthday we took him to McDonalds for dinner and took his birthday cake (a road with cars) to Uncle Nick and Aunt Sharon's house. I have pictures, I just can't get them off my camera. Since I didn't put last years pictures on the blog, I am putting a video on this year.

(Note to self: don't sing Happy Birthday while holding the camera, it is BAD.)

Lastly on Saturday we took the kids swimming at the Legacy center, our city's indoor pool. Caleb's other favorite thing is swimming and he had lots of fun.

Caleb is a funny, sweet, happy, energetic, tough-as-nails four year old. He has been through a lot in his life, with all his surgeries, but he is doing great and we love him a lot.

Halloween 2011

We had a fun Halloween this year. It was the first time that we all went trick-or-treating as a family. Usually I stay home with a baby and pass out candy while Shane takes the older kids out. This year we left a bowl of candy on the porch, and amazingly we had some left when we got home. It was a good night and the kids had lots of fun.

Here is a picture from the community center, they have a halloween party every year with trick-or-treating, games and prizes.

The Zoo

We took a day off school last month to go to the zoo. We took Grandma Eilene, Aunt Leesa and Joshua and Aunt Sharon. It was perfect weather and not crowded. The kids had lots of fun. Here are some pictures:

We were able to get pretty close to the tigers.