Month in Review: June

I'm continuing to play catch-up with my blog, so here are the goings-on from June.

I'll start with one of the funniest stories of the month. The week before Fathers Day the kids and I went to Target to do some shopping and to pick up some Fathers Day cards. Owen was very excited to get to push Kate in the shopping cart. Everything was going well until I stopped to pick out cards. I turned my back to Owen and Kate and heard an ear piercing scream from Owen. I turned around to find my 3 year old hanging by his ears between the shopping cart seat and the handle. I'm not kidding folks! He had wedged his head into the space pictured below to "see Baby Kate better". He must have stood on his toes because he was actually hanging. It was both terrifying and hilarious all at the same time. I was able to wiggle his head out but his poor little ears stayed red for an hour or so afterward.

If you know Owen at all you know that he's a bit dramatic. :) He screamed and cried even after I rescued him, through the checkout and all the way home. He actually said "I can't use my head ever again!". I was so glad that he was okay. For a moment I was afraid that I'd have to ask for help and possibly have to dismantle the cart to get him out. Needless to say the Fathers Day cards went out late to our dads, but they were very understanding.




It's so fun to watch my kids love each other and become each other's best friend. On this occasion they were especially loving and I was so glad I had the camera on my phone to capture it. Of all things it was while we were at the grocery store. I have to be candid and say that this precious moment didn't last for long before the whining and fussing began.

Another sweet moment at home while sharing Kate's mini chair and watching tv.

Just because I love her little spaghetti stained face!

Our sweet Baby Kate started walking this month at 16 months old. She walked independently from mommy to daddy on Fathers Day weekend. We've been anticipating this moment for so long and we were so excited to get to witness it together. Within a few weeks she was walking more than she was crawling. More pics and video to come.

Kate tasted her first popsicle this month. Needless to say she's now a big fan! This picture captured her pure joy for the tasty treat. I'm so glad I thought to take a picture. Owen's a fan too if you can't tell!

Summer days call for lots of outdoor water play. The playground hasn't been used as much as we'd like, but it's just been too hot. So the inflatable pool, sprinkler, and slip n slide have provided much entertainment.

With the warmer temps we've been staying inside more in the evenings. On this night Tyson was teaching the kids to play cards.

It's O-R-E-O time!

Trip to the aquarium.

Owen attended Circus Camp at Holland Hall this month. It was essentially a one week orientation for the 3 year old preschool class that he'll attend in the fall to get acquainted with their classroom and their teacher. He loved it and was excited to show off his art projects each day.

On the last day of camp the kids were invited to dress in clown attire and be part of a parade for the parents. We were asked to keep the costumes simple and not to paint their faces. So I asked Tyson to be creative and pick out his outfit. This is what he came up with! Hey, he worked with what we had!

I was a little embarrassed when we arrived to the school and saw that most of the other kids looked a lot more like clowns than Owen did! The other parents either didn't read the letter or chose to ignore the part that stated to keep the costume simple and to not paint their faces. They wore full clown costumes, wigs and face paint. Poor Owen looked like his parents were too tight to cough up money for a clown costume, which was exactly the case! He didn't seem to notice or care, so I told myself to get over it and cheer on my little mismatched clown boy at the parade!

First day of Circus Camp

His teacher leading the parade. Owen was in the very back with his buddy Cole.



More Drillers baseball game pics. Owen is starting to lose interest in the baseball game and instead likes to play on my phone. Kate still enjoys watching for the mascot Hornsby and clapping when the crowd cheers for the team.

Owen took swim lessons this month and did very well. He learned how to hold his breath, swim with his face in the water, float on his back and jump off the diving board. He really enjoyed the lessons. We plan to put him in another session in late summer/early fall as a refresher.

Jumping off the diving board

Swimming to his instructor

Practicing his "rocket arms"

Lining up with his class to walk to the diving board

Hugging her baby while watching O at swim lessons

Earlier I posted about my dad's 60th birthday surprise party and my sister Megan's baby shower. Both were held on the same day since we were all going to be in Healdton for the baby shower. It was crazy busy, but well worth it. Dad was surprised and blessed by the turnout of friends and family. Megan and James were excited to have so many family members present for their shower. There are lots of pics from Dad's party, so if you missed the earlier post check it out here: http://tysonandkennasfamily.blogspot.com/2010/06/baby-shower-and-birthday-party.html.

Here are some pics from Megan's baby shower. I still can't believe that my baby sister is about to have a baby of her own! Love you Meg!

The clothesline of clothes was my gift to my nephew and also served as decoration.

The happy parents-to-be

James, Meg, my Nanny, and her sisters (our great-aunts), Irene and Betty

Nanny with Meg, Shelley and her great-grandsons in-utero

Love this pic of my Nanny's hand on Meg's belly.

My nephews in-utero

Aren't they two of the cutest pregnant women you've ever seen?

A custom painting for Jackson's nursery by Uncle Trav (my brother). He has painted custom paintings for Kate and Owen's nurseries as well.

This month we made the difficult decision to take away Kate's bottle. She was down to one bottle at bedtime and we were so enjoying the night time ritual of giving her a bottle while rocking and singing to her. It was especially hard on us since we aren't planning to have any more kids. When we took Owen's bottle away he was 15 months old. At his 12 month check-up his pediatrician said that we needed to have him off of it by his 15 month check-up. We weaned him just before his appointment. We were such rule followers!

At Kate's 12 month check-up the nurse didn't ask if she was still having a bottle, so I didn't volunteer that information! Kate loved her bottle but she drank from a sippy cup during the day so we didn't think it would be a problem to let her have that one bottle at bedtime. The truth is that we loved her bottle too! Tyson started encouraging me to wean her from the bottle and within a week or so it was done. She had a hard time falling asleep the first night, but after that she didn't seem to miss it. I'm so glad that she won't be scarred for life for having a bottle at 16 months old! Of course we had to document the event with some pics in spite of how exhausted I look and that my camera was on the wrong setting!