Addyson has been busy talking on the phone (she is such a girl - she pretends that everything is a phone and she cares more and more about her clothes, her hair, her nails, talking, and relationships. It's definitely fun to get to experience little boys and little girls all at the same time and really appreciate their differences!)
While I was making breakfast one morning, Braden pulled out a lot of the stuff in my pantry and lined them up just like this. It went all the way around the bar. He LOVES to organize and pick up and build and line up and pretend perfectly and play anything detailed - and we have been noticing lately just how good his fine motor skills are! I'm not sure what God has planned for this little boy but we are excited to see someday what all these detailed skills are going to be used for!! He can spot wildlife better than me, and sometimes he sees things no one else notices. And his favorite activity lately has been going along to load "hales". That's what he calls hay bales. He is SO into it. He gets really excited watching and is directing everyone exactly where to go and telling it how it is.
My parents came around the July 4th weekend and we celebrated my mom's birthday with some birthday pie!
We braved the heat for a few minutes to enjoy some fireworks on the 4th. It just wouldn't be the same without some poppers (Addyson especially loved stomping these). Braden's favorite was the colored smoke bombs and the tanks.
Ethel, our sheep, even managed to join us for a little bit. She is getting SO big. No more bottles - she's a big girl!!! But still tame and very much our pet. Helen, Otis, and Berniece are growing too!! And surviving the heat surprisingly well! It has been over 100 almost every day - too hot to even get the kids outside to play. It's in the 90's by the time they are up and going and until after bedtime. Yuck.
In July, we spent a long weekend with some friends in our community life group from church. We had 5 couples (1 couple wasn't able to make it) and NO kids. We headed to Branson and spent some time on Table Rock Lake and had a great time! The kids had fun back here with family and slept a ton! Hmmm. . .why doesn't that ever happen when they're home with me??? So I did a REALLY crummy job of taking pictures. But I did manage to get a couple . . .
Here's Ryan riding a horse at a restaraunt . . .
And the guys took a dip in Lake Taneycomo . . . the water is really cold - it comes off the bottom of Table Rock Lake. Brrr!!
On the way home we went through Joplin and checked out some of the tornado damage. We didn't want to gawk but it was so devastating to see it in person. I've never seen devastation like this - just totally flat for blocks. The pictures just don't do it justice.
If you want to see more pictures from our trip head over to:
and
Rachel and Amanda are much better about using their cameras!!! :)
We have spent time with other family too which has been nice and of course I have no pictures of that either!!
As I mentioned in a couple posts, we've been hard at work on adoption paperwork. We spent some time at the county detention center getting fingerprinted. Interesting fact - the officer who took our fingerprints said things have been unusually slow for arrests this summer; he said apparently it's too hot to commit crimes!!! Then we headed to the sherriff's office for more background checks and then a few other places for more signatures and notarizations, etc. We have the majority of the paperwork done for our dossier (the paperwork that actually goes to the country we're adopting from) and USCIS paperwork will be sent off as soon as our homestudy is finished being typed and proofread. So we are making good progress there!!
Almost 2 weeks ago Braden was pretty cranky and had a fever and all the symptoms of getting his two year molars. Then a few days later Addyson had a fever and said her mouth hurt. So I looked in to find awful sores all over her mouth and tongue. Headed to the pediatricians' office and noticed a rash on Braden's feet and legs. Turns out they both had hand, foot, and mouth. So we've been staying close to home. Addyson had it much, much worse. She had blisters in her mouth and all over her hands, arms, feet, and legs. I'll spare you the nasty pictures. The worst part by far was her mouth because she wanted to eat absolutely nothing - no candy, no drinks. So we forced fluids down her for several days to avoid dehydration and a trip to the hospital! She is starting to feel better now, but still has sores that look yucky. What a nasty virus to get!! We're thankful she's feeling better; she was not her spunky self for a whole week :( I sure missed her smiles and giggles and am glad they are making a comeback, along with the ornery sparkle she has in here bright eyes!!
So since we were stuck at home, I decided to give potty training a try. Braden had been showing signs he might be ready so on Sunday we pulled out the big boy undies and gave it a shot!
Aren't those the cutest little bottoms you've ever seen? Addyson was still not feeling well and she's not ready anyway for potty training, but she was feeling pretty left out. So she's wearing her big girl panties over her diaper. She still thinks she's pretty big stuff!
Braden has been doing really well - just a couple potty accidents so far. Whenever I take him to the potty he will go - so we're just on a schedule. I'm not sure how to get to the point where he tells me when he needs to go. But for now I'm pretty excited that he's doing this well! He's even done several outdoor potties with daddy!!! We also don't have the # 2 thing figured out yet - but if I watch carefully I can catch him and get him to the potty chair. So we just need to master the part where he lets me know when he needs to go. He wears diapers for naptime but so far those have been dry. And then for nighttime. So we've been spending a lot of time in just his shirt and undies! Which he is totally fine with by the way. Such a boy!!!
I think that pretty much gets us caught up! We're trying to find things to do inside to keep busy! Hope that you are staying cool also!! I am so thankful for air conditioning!!! I can't imagine trying to keep these kids cool without it!
