Never Could I Imagine...

I posted this on facebook this morning, I was still hysterically laughing about what had just happened & tonight I thought I should share it here as we'll.

Yep, Garren came to the kitchen where I had my back turned to him, he did his Stewie impersonation "mom, mum... MOM," & when I turned to him he held his hand up with a little surprise for me, his POOP!!! Thankfully is was a tidy firm poop & I found it quite amazing that I didn't even think twice about holding my hand out to take it from him. It is amazing what having children does to you. Things that you thought would make you ill no longer do & you would much rather have your kid spit his chewed up food in your hand rather than have to clean it up off the floor. Same goes for poop, lol

So, we are potty training Garren. He is the most ready & I thought it would be easier to keep track & train them one at a time rather than try to keep up with 3 pant-less 2 year olds. We are taking a casual approach to it, not making it a big deal, unless there is success of course! Garren let's us know when he needs to go. Going on the potty is still a bit of a challenge for him though. He prefers to have a diaper back on to go. He has gone in the potty a few times, a couple times when we have caught him mid-accident & twice when he just couldn't hold it any longer. He cries when he goes in the potty or anywhere else for that matter, he rarely has an accident though.

We are working on making him more comfortable with it. Just trying out the potty chair or toilet a few times a day, mostly when he expresses a need to go. While we are there, we read, work on lash cards, play with the potty watch or other small toys & even do puzzles on my iPhone. 

We have cheered for him & given rewards when he has gone even a little in the potty chair or toilet, it hasn't helped motivate him or make him feel better about going in the potty, we're not giving up though & will keep trying.

This afternoon he hung out on the potty chair for a good while, wearing my sunglasses & playing with his mega bloks. I thought we were going to have success but alas he lost interest & got up.

I wish I could have caught a photo of him sitting there but Kellan had my phone :(

I'm going to get a few more videos about using the potty & a couple of books too. I'm hoping if the boys see more than just me using the toilet they will be more comfortable with it.

Initial Evaluation

Someone from Early Intervention or Babies Can't Wait as they call it here came by Monday to do an initial evaluation on the boys for suspected speech delay. She actually evaluated them for all kinds of developmental delays. It was pretty much the same questionnaire we fill out at the doctors office though & the boys scored fine in "communication" & all other areas. Their "communication" skills aren't what we were concerned with it is their actual speech. We were given the option to keep an eye on them ourselves or have another evaluation with an actual speech therapist. We opted for an evaluation with a therapist, if for nothing else to ease our minds & she can give us tips on how to get them to start using words together.

I'm not super worried or overly concerned about this but feel its better to have them evaluated & know for sure before they get to school & have a problem. Actually in the time since the boys' 2 year check-up Garren has started stringing words & talking in sentences. It surprises me when he does it because he's saying so much at once. He has also turned into that little character Stewie saying "Mom... Mum... Mom mom!" It's great when he does it while I'm driving & he wants to hand me a piece of lint he found on his carseat, lol.

So Caden & Kellan are probably right behind Garren & by the time the therapist makes her appointment with us we won't really need her & she will laugh at us for even being concerned.

Life's A Beach!!!

You'll probably be tired of my beach posts by the end of the month, let alone by the end of summer. If it weren't for going to a new beach on Jekyll Island this weekend I wouldn't post about it but... it was a new beach :)

While the beach we have usually gone to is great, we decided to do a little exploring this weekend & try out another beach.

St Simon's Island Beach is where we usually go. It's a nice big beach with a snack bar, restrooms, dog wash (where we rinse the boys) & showers. There is a nice big parking lot & it is a fairly short distance from the parking lot to the beach. It is a busier beach though.

So from where we live we have a few options of islands & beaches on each of the islands. Jekyll Island is a little more obscure Than St Simon's. Last year we drove completely around the island looking for a "beach parking lot" & never found one. There are different parks all the way around that have access to the different beaches, but you wouldn't know unless you were told. So a few people have mentioned a couple of their favorite spots & we decided to check the one at the soccer complex out.

There is a long boardwalk form the parking lot to the beach with stairs at the end.

 Garren checking out the waves

 These boys love to play in the water!!!

 Kellan running to the water

Caden running in & out of the water

The tide was out & left this lovely little river of warm water for the boys to play in.

Caden & Kellan

Garren

Caden & Kellan

Kellan

Kellan & Caden

Kellan, Garren, Mama & Caden

I loved the different colored sand

Garren

Time to go...

Garren was not pleased to be leaving, lol...

It was another fun day on the beach with the boys. We did see a couple jelly fish on the shore so I left the boys in their water shoes just in case one got hung up in that little river left on the shore. Other than that, it was a very nice, very quiet beach. We weren't alone on the beach but there were not many people there.

An Unplanned New Addition

When Donna took over her station here last year there were about 9 feral cats that the employees were feeding. Shortly after that a couple of the cats had kittens & they were up to around 14 cats.

Donna is an animal lover! She loves all living creatures & has asking sense of caring for them. 

So fast forward to this spring, one of the cats that has been at the station the longest is once again pregnant. This cat, who they call "mama cat" has made her way into the office & had been spending her days lounging in a chair along side of the customer service agents. Because she was pregnant Donna had been going in on Saturdays & Sundays making sure she was fed. One weekend the cat was especially chatty & rubbing all over Donna's legs. That Monday she arrived at work & mama cat made her way into Donna's office & proceeded to have her kittens gift there. Donna didn't have anything but her jacket to put down for the cat, so needless o say she now needs a new jacket.

Donna kept t asking about which of the kittens she liked best & which one responded to her voice the most & I kept insisting that Haddie would most definitely disown us if we brought one more baby anything into the house. Finally one of the guys at work took mama cat & her kittens home to care for them until the kittens were weaned. Luckily he has found homes for just about all he kittens & a local cat rescue organization has agreed to spay mama cat for a small fee & re-release her to the FedEx people.

Whew! Dodged a bullet there, right!

Well Friday morning Donna gets to work & one of her employees tells her that there is a small kitten inside the warehouse, hiding behind some tires. Donna goes to check him out & he is TINY. His mama is no where to be found & he is starving!!! Of course Donna does what she can to soften some food & get him to eat. She gets up Saturday morning to go into work to feed the kitten again & I broke down & told her to just bring him home. I couldn't stand the thought of an abandoned kitten in a warehouse full of stinking diesel trucks & she was going to run back & forth to make sure he was fed anyways. I figured we would be able to find him a home & make sure he thrived in the meantime...

Well, I'm a sucker & one little visit with the tiny kitten melted my heart...

She/he started out in our bathroom, so she/he could get use to Donna & I first. She/he was pretty skittish & would hide when we walked in.

That night Haddie discover the kitten & hung out at the bathroom door that was blocked with a baby gate. It didn't take long for the kitty to make friends with her through the gate.

By the next day the kitten had ventured into our bedroom but was taking cover under our bed. She/he was easily coaxed out with a jingly ball.

Today, she/he has been visiting with Haddie & tonight she/he ventured out of our bedroom & has been chasing both pups around the house.

We are still shielding her/him from the boys although Garren has seen her/him & exclaims kitty cat along with signing it. I'm just not sure the boys are gentle enough for a tiny kitten & I really do not want them getting scratched by her/him.

So we are undecided if the kitten is a boy or a girl. Upon Donna's first observation she said girl but later on changed her mind & thought boy. Tonight she is thinking girl again, so who knows?!? We'll get "it" to the vet soon & know for sure, in the meantime we are calling her/him Murphy. the name will probably stick regardless of its gender :)