Birthday Marathon

This week was Joe's 30th birthday and we had a full week of birthday activities! We started by going out with some friends (Abby and Ryan) last Friday. Abby and Joe's birthdays are a week (and a couple of years) apart so it was great to go out and celebrate. We went to dinner and then played laser tag afterwards. Joe didn't love the laser tag, but he was a good sport and gave it a try for me!Then on Sunday we had a family dinner at my parent's house. It was a feast of ham, potatoes and yummy homemade mac 'n cheese (that was the biggest hit) and topped off with Joe's choice of two different kinds of pie. The oh-so-attractive hat that he is wearing is the official Birthday hat at my parent's house and he was a good sport and wore it for the pictures! After he blew out the candles.......of course Sam had to have a turn......and Andrew... ...and then Ela!

Tuesday was his actual birthday. I made him an omelet for breakfast and had him open the present that I'd gotten him. He was actually surprised and very excited...SUCCESS!!!

Later that day we stopped by his work with balloons and donuts and disrupted the entire office, I'm sure!

I, of course, had to make fun of him turning 30 and brought some "age appropriate" gifts for him to open there. That night we went out to eat at Cia Mambo, a great Italian restaurant in Couer d Alene. Danny and Jessi came and babysat (thanks guys!) so we got to have a quiet and delicious dinner.

On Thursday Joe received this in the mail from his parents. They apologized over and over for it being late, but they live in Virginia and have literally been snowed in as of late, so he forgave them ;-). Now he just has to go and get it installed!

It was a fun week of celebrating and I think that Joe enjoyed it all. So, now my husband is officially old! Love you honey, Happy Birthday!

Just Cute

Abby and her new chair...which she loves!

Sam doing his best to get Abby to smile for a picture. He sure adores his baby sister!

And then there's Andrew...messy face and all!

Tales from the Potty

As I mentioned in my previous post, Andrew is doing GREAT with potty training...with one minor setback....he's terrified of any potties but ours at home. There's a valid reason for his fear, let me explain how that happened.

A few weeks ago we had to drop my dad off at the airport during the day. It was just me and the kids and my dad. When we got to the airport Andrew said he had to go potty. So my dad stayed with the other two in the van while I ran in with Andrew to go to the bathroom. We made it. He climbed on up and was halfway through peeing when the blasted toilet flushed. It was one of those automatic flushers and was SO LOUD! He was scared out of his mind, I think that he thought that the toilet was going to swallow him. So, he wouldn't finish going potty, he said he was done but I knew that he just wanted to get out of there. As soon as we got back on the road he started saying, "Mommy, the pee pee is coming!" over and over and over. But there was no way that I was stopping and dragging all three kids into some gas station bathroom so I told him he just had to hold it till we got home. About 20 minutes later I heard, "Oh no mommy, the pee pee came!" Great. He was so upset.

Ever since that experience he refuses to use other toilets and keeps talking about the scary potty. It's a real problem. Saturday we were at my mom's house for a couple hours in the morning while Joe was at work and guess what, as soon as we got there he had to go potty. After lots of unsuccessful attempts by me and my mom to get him to sit on the potty, it was starting to look like an accident was unavoidable. As a last resort, I asked Sam if he would go outside with us and show Andrew how to "water the grass". He did and Andrew followed his example. So there it was, like 40 degrees and my boys are in the backyard peeing. But there was no accident!

Hopefully, he'll overcome this fear soon, but until then he may be watering lots of grass along his way!