Potty!!

We decided to bring the little potty out the other day since we had started getting Samantha used to the potty pretty early and it paid off.  You can see from the above video, he is VERY excited about it.  

And to our surprise, he is actually going pee pee in the potty whenever we give him the option.  He even did a #2, although for some reason he stood up midway and it landed on the floor.......

Here he is this morning going "pee pee".  It also helps that he has a big sister.  Whenever she goes, he wants to try too. 

Here is little Sammy at 17 months (which looks EXACTLY like Thatcher).  Samantha was officially out of diapers shortly after she turned two.  I've heard boys are harder to train, but we are going to keep encouraging Thatcher to use the potty when he wakes up, before nap, after nap and before bed.  We haven't even had to reward him with any treats yet.  I know that will come later, but for now, he is quite content with us just clapping for him. 

Such a big boy!

Miramar Beach

Little Fairies

My friend Marina is one of the most talented photographers I know.  She has a fantastic camera that takes the most perfect pictures, but it is more than that, she knows how to use it.  She captures lighting just perfectly and her photos are so artistic.  If you haven't already checked out her food blog, Yummy Mummy, you must!

Look at these gorgeous pictures she captured of the kids last week at our Mommy Happy Hour ;)

 

Broken Arm

Off to the doctor we went last Monday morning to check on Samantha's arm.  I really didn't think it was broken, but it started to look a little swollen and she was favoring her right hand.  I thought maybe it was just a bad bruise or she sprained it.  The doctor questioned why I didn't bring her in sooner (um hello CPS screening!) and then she basically said it most likely is broken and sent us on our way to get an X-ray.  I still couldn't believe it may be broken.  I mean, she did fall hard, she did cry hard, but she was pretty much fine all weekend.  I thought broken arms were supposed to really, REALLY hurt!

Excited for her X-ray. 

Even more excited about the stickers she got.

Thatcher was happy about the stickers too.

 I actually wish he would have left these on his mouth a little bit longer.  An almost 18 month old in a doctor's office waiting room has to be one of the most exhausting (and aggravating) things to deal with.  I actually had our babysitter Amber scheduled this day to watch him but ended up canceling her because the first doctor's appointment took so long. In retrospect, I should have had her come pick him up. These stickers only occupied him for about 30 seconds.  The rest of the time he was destroying the waiting room.  As soon as I would clean up one mess he made, he would be on to the next. Tissue boxes were completely emptied, magazines were torn, the wastebasket was dumped out,  he was squeaking and squealing, VERY loudly.  I tried to pretend he wasn't mine but he kept yelling at me, "MA MA, MA MA, MA MEEEEE, MA MEEEEEEE!"

Here is the break.  It is actually a minor hairline fracture which helped to justify my hesitancy to take her to the doctor for 48 hours.  It is that tiny little bump you see in the left picture in the lower forearm bone. 

Little stinker at doctor's office #3 for the day......

 Samantha was beyond thrilled that she was getting a cast. 

 Such a brave girl. 

Her new purple accessory for 3 weeks!

As of today, we are over a week in and the novelty of the cast has worn off a little bit.  She has asked several times for me to take it off so she can color or complains that it is too heavy or too sweaty on her arm.   We've also had to turn down a couple of swim dates.  But over and above all that, she is doing a really good job at keeping it clean and dry.  She even spent the day at the beach with a bag on it.  I know that wasn't easy for her but she was a real trooper.

Sunday

Last Sunday afternoon we headed over to one of our favorite restaurants, Brophy's.

 

 The kids got right down to business with eating everything in site.

and fighting over who could eat more bread and butter

 Thatcher had HAD it with me taking pictures of him

  but I can't help it because I love this face!

and this one too!

We weren't ready to call it a day yet so we headed over to Stearn's Wharf for some wine tasting at the Deep Sea Tasting Room.

 While we tasted the wine, the kids had ice cream from downstairs at The Great Pacific Ice Cream Company.

 The place had beautiful views but unfortunately we did not think the wine was very good.

Next time we will just ice cream taste ;)

And see that little girl struggling, using her right hand to eat.....first clue we had an issue with that arm....

A Visit from Grandma and Poppy

We had a relaxing visit with my parents last Saturday. 

Walking home from breakfast at IHOP!

Thatcher is quite smitten with Grandma and Poppy

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Santa Barbara

The boys read the paper

And then later we headed to Butterfly Beach to walk off our breakfast

You have to walk really fast to work off a breakfast from IHOP....

Thatcher showed us how he can balance a large rock on his head - show off!

And Samantha won the award for fastest runner

and then she started climbing....

and posing.....

and posing some more....

and somewhere in between that last picture and this picture, she broke her arm.....(more on that later...)

As you can see, Thatcher was ready for a nap.  So we headed back to the house for some rest and then off to dinner at Los Gallos and then a trip to State St. for some Yogurtland.  All the while, Sam had a broken arm and we didn't know it.... whoops.....