Family Reunion

Branden's Grandmother passed away a few weeks ago and although that's a sad reason to get together, Grandma's funeral amounted to a big family reunion. I finally got to meet all of Branden's cousins and his aunts and uncles. It was great to see his parents and sisters again. I haven't seen Wendi and Trina for two years! Nora found a couple of babies to play with and she surprised me by being actually quite gentle and careful around them. Except for when she tried to pull one of them up on her feet to get her to walk. Whoops!

Potty Rewards

At the end of Nora's potty chart was a Chuck E. Cheese Logo - her big prize for all her hard work. It was really packed and she got a cold the next day from all the germs but she loved it!

The Potty Training Princess!

For the past three weeks, Nora has been potty training. She picked up on it pretty quickly - probably because we tried it several months ago without success but she learned the concept. For the first two weeks we were averaging one to two accidents a day, but this past week she had three "no accident" days in a row! Way to go Nora! I know it's fairly common for kids to relapse once a new sibling comes along, so we'll just have to see what happens in November, but for now she is doing great!

Scrapbooking Ideas?

What are you doing to chronicle your children's lives past one year old? I wish they made baby-style memory books for the 2-5 year range. I want milestone lists and pre-made prompts to fill out, but I haven't found anything like that for older toddlers. I'm not really into full-on scrapbooking with all the cutouts and stickers - that just gets too pricey. Any ideas? I have heard about turning blogs into scrapbooks and I know there are some cute online photobooks, but nothing seems all inclusive. And when you have more than one kid do you make one photo book per year for each kid? Or just a family memory book for each one? I would love to hear what you are doing!

Robots from the Kitchen Cupboards are Invading!

While we were making dinner yesterday, Nora apparently wasn't getting enough attention. So after digging in the cupbarods, she emerged as this cute little robot.

Brooke & Co!

My college roommate and MTC companion Brooke and her family came to visit us for a day on their way to Hawaii. We were really happy to have them and I was really glad to meet her new baby Mason in person. He's a cutie.
Nora immediately took to him and wanted to show him and tell him all sorts of things. I hope she is just as excited for the arrival of baby Ike in a few months!Sometimes I think she gets it. Like the other day she was sitting on my lap and without any prompting she leaned into my belly and gave it a hug, saying "hi baby Ike." Then other times we ask her where baby Ike is and she says "in Mommy's tummy." But then she goes on to point to Daddy's or her tummy and say "baby." Hmmm. Anyway it was great to see Brooke and Justin and their adorable baby!

Three Pregos!

My sister Lindsay had a baby shower before she took off for Virginia. My aunt Wendy was there and is just a few weeks behind us in her pregnancy. My sister Briana is also with child :) and as my sister Stephanie just had a baby in May, Briana calculated that all of us sisters were pregnant together for four days! Wish I had a picture of that!