Babies, Babies, Everywhere!

The title would accurately describe the first half of our week at the beach. Due to the massive quantity of pictures as well as stories to share, I'm going to break the week-long recap into two posts.

After a crazy busy Monday, Eli and I picked up Aunt Kristi and headed down to St. George. We left a little later than expected, but had we left earlier, we wouldn't have been treated to this amazing sunset as we drove across the bridge.

It was so great to see my sisters Susanna and Theresa along with T's hubby Ricky and of course... baby Asher. They got in from Denver that afternoon and my parents picked them up from the airport and kept on going straight to the beach. L.A. and her two sweet girls, Mabry and Briley, had also come down that evening to spend a few days with our family. Mabry & Eli are buds, so Eli was thrilled to have a playmate for a few days.

Now, these two friends know how to push each others' buttons. I won't lie...L.A. and I spent quite a bit of our time refereeing the two toddlers. Fortunately, they got along more often than not.

Toddlers, Play-Doh, and the beach....a TRIFECTA!

Off on adventure up and over the dunes.

So proud of themselves for evading our eyes for a bit and then making it back. Just don't rat us out for "letting" them climb on the dunes...a big no-no due to beach erosion!

Not like you can tell from the pictures thus far, but there were other people there besides these two....see?

Isn't he just precious???
Eli adores Asher...and we're still perfecting the being gentle all the time part.

We really did have a lot of rugrats with Eli, Asher, Mabry, and Briley. Too cute!

Mabes lovin' on Asher.

Eli's turn to love on the babies.

L.A. seeing what it would be like with twins.

Don't you just want to eat him up?

Day 2 on the beach had the kids spending a lot of time in the water in their respective inner tubes. Eli fell in love with swimming in an inner tube. The water was very calm all week long which was perfect for the kiddos to swim in.

Snacks on the beach are the best! Some how they just taste so much better and are incredibly satisfying.

Check out this beach baby ready for action:

After two incredibly fun filled days, the Hanlon girls headed back to T-Town. We are so glad they got to come visit with us. Eli loved having Mabry around to fight with play with.

Mabry left with what looked like a black eye, but thank goodness it was just marker...and washable marker at that.

When Eli woke up from his nap, he was sad that Mabry had left...so we introduced him to a new game. UNO! He loved it! It is the perfect game for one mastering his colors and numbers. Identifying numbers is one of Eli's newest skills this month, and what a great game to reinforce it. Since he can't hold his cards yet, we play "face up."

He honestly wins more than loses...now, we do help him with the rules such as to what to do when he doesn't have a card that works. My favorite is when he tries to put down a card he knows doesn't match or more than one at a time, "I cheating," he says with a huge smile...knowing full well he's doing something wrong.

Chilling out with Uncle Ricky while waiting for dinner after another fun afternoon on the beach.

Check out his "shiner." He busted in the outside shower while rinsing off all the sand and salt.

This was the night for "Daddy's Famous Chicky Bone." We named it when we were little, if you couldn't guess. We are all suckers for Daddy's grilling, and his chicken is tops. Of course it is best paired with "Namom's Potato Salad." My grandmother's potato salad is truly potato salad perfection....I've never had a better one. The recipe was passed on to my mommy who has passed it down to us....only I finally wrote it down. I'm a girl who loves to follow a recipe!

The grilling team

Unwinding after dinner and a fantastic day. We had record low temperatures during the early part of the week, and in July, that means glorious weather. Did you see Eli's big boy underwear peeking out of his shorts above? And we were glad that our cousin, Jessica, stopped by a couple evenings for some Asher and Snyder family love! She even brought a right-tasty pear cobbler. Mmmmmm!

To top it off, we had yet another beautiful sunset. We were honestly blessed by one of these each and every night.

God is good...
...all the time!

Check back tomorrow (hopefully) for the second half of our week.

What a Weekend

I had many intentions of blogging late last week, but that, clearly, didn't happen. Oh well.

For those eager to know how Eli's been doing potty training: I'd say he's doing great!

Can you tell he's proud of his first completed chart?

After that first day, he's only had 3 accidents since. He is pretty much day trained at this point...he even did fine on his road trip this weekend (more on this later...) We have been braving public a lot with underwear, and only 1 of the accidents was while we were out and about. You better believe that we are thrilled and extremely proud of the little dude. (And I have to say that toddlers in boxer briefs is my new favorite thing! TOO CUTE!....no picture of it just yet...you'll have to stay tuned!)

Ever since Eli and I got back from our trip to Denver, we have been trying to come up with a fun weekend/day trip for the WHOLE family. I had been told about a park in Albany, Georgia called Chehaw that was a MUST if you have a child who loves trains. Eli loves a lot of things, and trains are indeed right on up there. The park includes a zoo, a playground, lots of trails, and a train ride around the park. It sure sounded like fun and we had an open day, so off we went to Albany. Of course, with a potty training toddler in the back, the 1 and a half hour car ride quickly turned into 2 hours with several stops for, "I have to go!" breaks. We tried the whole-- You're a boy. You can pee on the side of the road--thing with not a lot of success. Eli seems to get a little stage fright and was unsure how to pee standing up. After a couple of unsuccessful stops on the way there and back, he finally got the hang of it on the drive home. The backroads between here and there are not very populated and there are few places to stop. We learned our lesson....travel with potty!

So, we pull into the park and we are just too excited about the day ahead when we see the little sign posted in the window of the booth where you pay your entrance fee: TRAIN DOWN FOR REPAIRS. Are you kidding me? We drove all this way because of the train and you don't have a train!?! We tried desperately to hide our disappointment and to stay excited for Eli. Afterall, we had driven all this way, Eli was excited for the animals too, and we might as well check it all out.

We checked out the stinky farm animals first

Looks like Eli has the same "span" as a Peregrine Falcon!
See, he was still having fun. Mommy and Daddy just needed to get over the NO train factor.

After walking through the reptile house and seeing the farm animals, I was not feeling much better. We see this stuff at the Jr. Museum in Tallahassee...why did we drive all this way for NO TRAIN? Can you tell I was bitter? And then we walked out to see NO red wolf (we have those at the Jr. Museum, so nothing lost...) and on to the Alligator Outpost. We soon see a decent size alligator sunning itself as we walk out. Pretty cool. Then we spot a HUGE gator to our left, and as Eli and Daddy are walking out farther to find the other couple dozen gators, I pause to capture a few of these guys with my camera.

All of a sudden, SNAP! The big gator (we later learned is named, "Charlie") snapped his jaws shut and slapped his head against the water, making me jump. Nearly simultaneously the alligator hanging out directly below us underneath the boardwalk 1-2 feet over the water starts growling loudly enough to vibrate the boardwalk. We honestly thought there was a motorboat approaching it was so loud and low. "Charlie," the big one, starts growling back. OK, I pretty much wanted to pee my pants at this point. My toes are literally curled up on top of my shoes and I won't take another step further; in fact, I'm walking backwards away from the swamp. Amidst my whimpers, I beg Matt to bring Eli back and tell him we shouldn't be out here. And all of the other alligators are swimming (one even jumped) around while these two growled it out. I was freaking! And just as quickly as it began, all was calm again. My anxious heart and mind decided it was safe and that we should go out and see more.

And I'm so glad we did! As Matt said best, It made the entire trip worth it. There were about 26 alligators that we saw swimming around. Oh yeah, Eli loved it too. We could have stayed out there longer, but decided to head on in to see the rest of the zoo...though already quite satisfied with the trip.

It really was a great zoo. We saw all kinds of animals:

rhinos, zebras, ostriches, monkeys, cheetahs, tortoises, bears, and more.

Overall it was a small zoo, but very fun animals to see.

By this time, we were getting hungry, and we didn't plan ahead very well with a packed lunch. We honestly didn't know what the set up would be and if food was allowed (it was...). Oh well. Eli was losing interest and tiring out about the same time our hunger hit, so we hit the road. Glad we went, but we will definitely find out if the train is running the next time BEFORE we make the drive.

Sunday was also full of fun. Eli had been bugging asking Daddy about planting a garden the past week. Daddy told Eli that he would have to ask Mommy if it was ok. "Is it ok if we plant a garden, Mommy?" How can you say no to that perfect little question and his adorable little face? Of course! Off they went to pick out some summer fruits and veggies that will hopefully not shrivel up in Florida's late summer heat. Even if they do....they had fun getting dirty, digging, and planting together!

the proud gardners

And here is what they planted:

tomatoes, cucumbers, and 2 kinds of watermelon

Eli thinks we'll have things to eat today...time for a lesson on patience and growth. We also made attempts to keep the bunnies and deer out by putting a wire fence around it...we haven't had luck growing things in our yard before...flowers, veggies, herbs, even trees because all of our friendly neighborhood critters like to come and nibble them. That's ok...the boys had a really fun time making it, and I've always wanted a vegetable garden. Now I've got one!

As I'm typing, my family that lives in Denver is landing at the Tallahassee airport. My dad is picking them up and heading straight to St. George Island for the week. Eli and I are almost all packed and will pick up Aunt Kristi after she gets off of work and head down. The rest of the family, including Matt, will join us later in the week after putting some hours in at their jobs. (Love being a teacher in the summer!!!) We will all be together! Very exciting and rare these days. It is baby Asher's first trip to the beach (and his first trip on an airplane!) I'll not be blogging while we're gone...but I'm sure to have lots of pictures after a week filled with family and fun in the sun at heavenly St. George. Until then....
_

Charts, Books, and More

These sweet cheeks have been spending a lot of time on the potty the last couple of days.

I am sorry, but I have to brag about Eli's 100% dry day yesterday. Being only his second day, I was blown away by his progress. He adores adding stickers to his chart:

Nope, we aren't actually putting stickers into the categories. Eli likes trains and has train underwear (...he doesn't know Thomas specifically...) After Eli finishes, I hand over the stickers and he adds as many as he'd like to...wherever he wants. It makes him happy.

Last night, we wanted to celebrate Eli's dry day with ice cream and picking out new big boy underwear...boxer briefs! So, while in the back of Walmart near the toys, I hear a little voice say, "I gotta go!" I almost turned around and said, "Oh really?" as my mind kicked into gear...AHH! I grabbed him and nearly ran to the bathrooms all the way at the front of the store. Yeah, silly us....we took him out of the house without diapers on his second day of training...I know, I know! I truly expected to have pee all down the front of me by the time we got to the bathroom, but the boy held it. Wahoo! He had his first experience with a public potty and was successful. (As long as you forget about the repeated touching of the nasty public toilet. Eeeew!)

Today: Day 3....Eli is still doing great. Only one accident so far. I'm hoping that we didn't just have a lucky streak to start out and that he is actually ready for this. If not, I'm totally willing to back off and try again later. We honestly are so proud of him and how far he's come!

On another note, Eli and I love books! We both love to read, and we both love to use the library.

We have been faithful patrons since Eli was walking...around 10 or 11 months or so. Matt and I did the "good parent" thing and read to Eli daily starting at a very young age. It didn't take long before we got a bit tired of reading the same books over, and over, and OVER! Especially once Eli decided on favorites. To keep mixing it up and to keep us from going crazy reading the same books night after night and day after day, I decided to take Eli to the library to pick out new books. And this began our monthly visits to the library. Each time our books are due (every 3 weeks....) we head back and always make time to go in and pick out new ones...even renew a couple of the favorites of the batch. It is often hit and miss finding good reads, but we always come out with a few super picks. And with it being a challenge to find good ones, I thought I'd share our top picks from last month for all those parents looking for good reads.

This is a great book about garbage trucks and their job. Eli requested this one several days in a row. We have read other books by Kate and Jim McMullan and have enjoyed them all. Great illustrations and a fun opportunity to use great voices!

Eli knows this song from a CD that we checked out from the library a while back. He loves any book that has a song that goes along with it. Miss Mary Mack by Mary Ann Hoberman was no exception...and the story goes on much longer in the book than in the song. Very fun!

The first time we read this, I feared that Eli might get a little scared. And he was...but only for a brief moment. This story is a cute and witty tale about a mouse outsmarting all the animals out to get him in the forest. If your child is not too skittish, definitely check The Gruffalo out.

And this classic won Eli over very quickly. He walks around the house with a hat on his head saying, "Caps for Sale!" After our second read, Eli and I acted about the monkeys and the peddler's back and forth exchange. Eli ended up in giggles each time. Don't pass this one up for it's "old" appearance and copyright; it is worth it!

We currently have a new batch of books from the library at home. We are figuring out our favorites, and when we do, i'm sure I'll share! Let me know if you try any and like them...or if you have some titles to share. We love new, good books!!

50%

Did you know that the average age for boys to be potty trained is 38 months? The average age for girls is 36 months. That's right, it takes longer for boys to train than girls. No one seems to have an actual reason for this, though there are several hypotheses out there.

I had read that if you pick the right day, it only takes one day to potty train your child. The secret is in picking the right day. This method...over the few others I had read along with some other statistics about starting too early (and taking just as long....) ....sounded best to me. But with Eli starting preschool in the fall and being the youngest in the group, we decided to ramp up our efforts as to maybe, just maybe, have him at least "day trained" by the time school started.

This week, Eli picked out his potty and some stickers, and we got the charts ready and made sure our M&Ms were well stocked. Once the potty arrived, I let Eli play with it....and did he ever. I almost got nervous watching him toss the inner potty around, stick his head in it, etc, etc... What would happen when he actually started using it? The next day, he started sitting on it, but not using it.

And this morning, finally...after much running back and forth to the bathroom with false alarms, Eli went pee pee on the potty! I know, TMI for many of you out there. We celebrated with Mommy near tears, applause, cheers, high fives, stickers, a potty dance and potty song, and of course M&Ms. Over the course of the day, he was 50% successful (...I didn't even begin to think about nap or bedtime...) And each time, he went quickly to the bathroom as needed and went all by himself. I guess he figured out what it feels like and how to hold it. Now we just have to work on consistency.

We are extremely proud of this little dude!

Here's hoping tomorrow's percentage is equal to or better than today's. I have to say, I'm pleased with the results thus far. Keep your fingers crossed that a pattern of success has begun. Maybe we'll be out of diapers sooner than I thought!

A New Favorite

I put out an all call for recipes last month, and I got....drum roll, please....

ONE!

That's right, one recipe. I have sent an email out to the sender (Thanks, Donny!) asking if I could publish it because it is definitely up there on my list of favorites. I've already made it twice, and both times, those eating with us asked for the recipe as well. I'll post it for you guys as soon as he gives me the "green light." Definitely a new favorite around here.

But, I have another new favorite that I've also made twice since reading it: once for company and once for my sister's birthday dinner.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

1 12-ounce jar marinated artichokes, drained, coarsely chopped
1 cup grated Fontina cheese
1/2 cup (packed) drained, coarsely chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (Roasted red peppers, drained, would work here, too.)
2-3 tablespoon fresh basil
4 5-ounce skinless boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes to brown chicken in - or olive oil

Options: (I used spinach and a little bacon both times and it was awesome!)

Capers, drained
Spinach, chopped

Pancetta or bacon, crisped and cut/torn into pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Mix artichokes, cheese, tomatoes, and basil in medium bowl.
Using small sharp knife and working with 1 chicken breast at a time, cut 2-inch-long slit horizontally into 1 side of chicken breast. Move knife back and forth in slit to form pocket.
Fill chicken pockets with as much as you can fit in there. (**Note: The recipe calls for wayyyy more stuffing than will actually stuff the chicken breasts. The remainder filling mixture would be great for a frittata, pasta, etc. I made a frittata with it once and it was tasty! ).
Press edges to seal. (**Note 2: If bulging a lot, can close with a toothpick, which I have done both times.)
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add chicken; cook 3-5 minutes.
Turn chicken over; transfer skillet to oven. Bake until cooked through, about 12-15 minutes.
Let sit for 3-5 minutes before slicing.

I found the recipe here, and the author suggested risotto and asparagus as pairings for the dinner. I have done risotto both times, but green beans instead of asparagus one time. Both vegetables worked nicely.

ENJOY!

Our 4th

We had a fabulous 4th of July weekend...as long as you forget the fact that Matt ended up commuting back and forth between Tallahassee and the beach all weekend long. Poor guy, but you know it was important work stuff if he was willing to do all that driving.

Eli and I drove down Wednesday night with a few students from my middle school advisement group.

We had fun eating, playing games, staying up to the wee hours of the morning talking, and spending all day in the water Thursday. I kid you not, those kids only came out of the water to eat! They made the trek back to Tally later that day. (Thanks for helping chaperone and chauffeur, Mrs. Betsey!!)

Thursday, we were joined first by my sister and mom. Later that night, another sister, her boyfriend, and Matt arrived. And on the actual 4th, Eli's friend, Mallie and her parents came down for the day. It really was a wonderful weekend...so glad we all can come together at such a beautiful piece of "Heaven on Earth."

I cooked up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies -- patriotic style. And, yes, I did...I dug through a bag of M&Ms and pulled out only the red and blue ones. (Eli helped a bit...) Then I added white chocolate chips to complete the effect. They were delicious and didn't last long.

Gotta have watermelon, right?

We made lots of guac to munch on all weekend long. (As you can tell, our time together often revolves around FOOD!)

Eli tried out boogie boarding this weekend. He did well for the first two waves, but the third one tipped him over. The board landed on top of him, and in a matter of milliseconds, I was there pulling the board off of him to see him under the shallow water with his eyes wide open looking up as if to say, "What did you do to me?" I pulled him up, he coughed and choked....a bit shaken up. I told him to be brave and forced encouraged him ride one more wave to be sure he knew he could do it. He was scared, but did it and ended up with a smile on his face. So proud of himself that he'd done it again after being so scared. I was proud too.

As I've mentioned in other posts about the beach, Eli is all about big holes these days. They are the perfect way to enjoy the sand and surf all at once. I think we dug one each day....

Can you tell what he's driving? He's got quite the imagination these days.

These two played quite well together in the sand most of the day....and then later in the house while waiting for dinner....

...and then waiting for fireworks.

(They almost look related with their curls & fair skin)

As you can see....Eli was a bit scared of the loud fireworks. He spent most of the night watching them like this:

But then he got "brave," claiming he liked the loud ones the best.

Finally it was time for dessert and sparklers. A great combination and a great ending to a fabulous 4th.

This looked more "patriotic" with raspberries and blueberries and crumble before it was cooked, but it still tasted mmm, mmm, good.

And Eli quickly warmed up to sparklers...

...and even double fisted!

Hope you all had a fantastic 4th as well!