Berries and Baby-wearing

Last week after nap time I took Ethan and Zach strawberry picking.  We went to Gro-Moore Farms in Rush and it was just beautiful. The clouds were puffy, the sky was a beautiful blue, and all around us was the sweet smell of June strawberries.

Ethan did a great job picking out the strawberries. He was careful to pick the berries from the stem without ripping the berry away from the leaves.

I was a little concerned with how Zach would do strawberry picking.  He is truly the most easy-going baby, so I figured I would throw him in the Tula and he would be fine. 

What I failed to consider was (1) that strawberry picking requires kneeling and bending, which is difficult when you are carrying an extra 20 pounds on your back and (2) even the most easy-going baby would object to constantly being leaned forward while mama is picking strawberries.

We only lasted about 20 minutes, but that was fine by me. Our strawberry picking adventure was short-lived, yet successful. We had fun, got to spend some time outside, and came home with a delicious treat.

Introducing...

Our family has undergone a big transformation since last summer...

We welcomed Zachary Jamison Hysell to our family. 

He is the calmest, easiest baby, who just goes with the flow.  

He reminds us everyday how important it is to slow down and take life as it comes.

He perfectly completes our family. 

Here comes the airplane!

One of the things that kept me busy this summer, besides taking care of Ethan, doing grad school work, keeping the house semi-clean, and napping, was planning for the new baby.  Even though we are expecting another boy, there was still a lot to do.  I definitely wanted to purge our baby gear and only keep what I knew we would use, and that required a bit of reorganizing in our garage, basement and in the nursery.  I also knew I wanted to redo the nursery for the new baby.  Even though the nursery was perfectly fine to use, I wanted to update it so that it didn't scream BABY room and felt more like a room that would still be nice for a bigger kid, since this baby will stay in this room forever.  The challenge for me was to not spend too much money redoing the room, since there was already a room perfectly fine to use and because I'm taking an extended (and unpaid leave) from school to be home with the baby.  Basically, a new room isn't exactly in the budget.  My plan to accomplish this was to sell any baby items we didn't need or would use, and then use that money for the baby room.

I did a lot of sewing to make this room happen within the budget.  I found shower curtains at Target for $15 a panel that I lined with blackout fabric from Joann Fabrics, shortened, and added back tabs to make curtains. This easily saved me at least $100 if I were to buy blackout curtains myself.  I also sewed the bunting that is hanging on the wall, and made a crib skirt that is pretty hard to see.  Sewing these items saved me another $40, approximately.

Another way I saved some money was on the gallery wall over the crib.  I bought some cheap frames from Michael's and just used my own computer to replicate the artwork I wanted.  I printed the files in color on nice paper at Staples and I think it turned out pretty nice.  On the left is the phonetic alphabet pilots use and the numbers on the right are the GPS coordinates to our house.  Once the baby arrives and we do some new family pictures there will be photos in the other three empty frames.

Between selling a bunch of baby stuff, clipping coupons from Pottery Barn Kids, expanding my sewing skills, following Pinterest DIYs, and reusing some of what I already had, I'm happy to say the new airplane themed nursery looks great.  Just in time, too, because this little guy is due to come out any day now.

Red Wings Game

A few weeks ago we took Ethan to Frontier Field for a Red Wings baseball game.  It was not his first time going, we went last year, but he wasn't really that into it.

This year, Ethan was really into the game.  He was enthralled by Spikes, the mascot for the Rochester Red Wings and had to give him a high five.  He was also so excited that he saw not one, not two, but three different trains during the game over the right field fence.  He was excited over the popcorn we bought, the ice cream that came in a little hat, the fact his grandparents and cousin Adam were there with him, doing the wave, and he loved the playhouse Uncle Scott and Aunt Andrea took him to play in when he needed to get up and stretch his legs.  The best part for Ethan were the fireworks, though.  He saw fireworks the first time on the Fourth of July, but he saw them from across the lake from a pretty far distance.  The fireworks at the Red Wings games are shot off from the field and are pretty loud and close - I wasn't sure how Ethan would do.  Fortunately, he loved them!!!!

Did I mention he was into the game?  Maybe next year.

Threenagers

I'm not going to lie - being the parent of a three-year old, or as I've come to learn - a threenager - is really really hard.  I was warned about the terrible twos, which quite honestly, weren't really terrible. But a three-year old?  Whoa.  I'll admit - being 8 months pregnant does not help my patience or sanity.  My fuse is very short right now which is not a good thing when I'm home with Ethan by myself for 9 hours a day.  It has led to some epic meltdowns - by epic I mean resulting in a combination of some or all of the following toddler behaviors: crocodile tears, whining, screaming, kicking, hitting, pushing, spitting, scratching, biting, and throwing things. In no particular order, here are a rundown of the top five major meltdowns of summer 2015.

#5 - I'm hungry!!!  I decided to take Ethan to The Sandbox to play for the morning.  I brought his lunch so he could eat it there, play a little longer, and then come home and nap.  He played, he ate his lunch, he played some more, we came home.  And then, the epic tantrum ensued because he needed/wanted to eat another lunch.  My dilemma? Was it truly hunger or nap-time stalling tactics? Still not sure.  Tantrum traits - tears, whining, screaming, kicking, hitting, scratching

#4 - I want to do it!!!  Dinner was in the works - Ben was grilling Italian sausage, I was cooking the peppers and onions on the stove.  Ethan loves to help, in fact, it's one of the ways I can redirect him out of almost any less than desirable behavior.  However, he wanted to help by stirring the peppers and onions, which were burning hot, sizzling and spitting hot oil.  I said no.  Epic meltdown ensued. Tantrum traits - whining and screaming.  PS - Did I mention he was only wearing his underwear?  So imagine - hot sizzling oil near an almost naked toddler. Yikes.

#3 - Is it awake time now? One day, Ethan decided not to nap.  He was definitely tired, but just couldn't settle his body or mind to actually sleep.  This resulted in lots of nap-time avoidance behavior: jumping on the bed, jumping off the bed, asking me for something (water, a snack, etc.), needing to show me something (see, Mommy, I have a tiny little scratch on my elbow), singing, emptying shelves of all the toys and books, etc.  After an hour of his stalling tactics he came downstairs and said, "Is it awake time now?" How can it be awake time when he hasn't even gone to sleep yet?!  This was a special meltdown, because the initial epic meltdown was the Mommy Meltdown.  It was one of those days where I really needed Ethan to nap. I was so worn out physically and mentally that I needed time to take a break and recharge for the rest of the day.  So, the mommy meltdown was characterized by crying, whining, and screaming. Eventually, I relented and let Ethan just lay in my bed with me and watch a movie while I rested. Unfortunately, the lack of a nap caught up to him around 5pm when he began exhibiting the following tantrum traits: hitting, kicking, spittingn(that's really fun!), and finally, crying crocodile tears because he was soooooo tired.  Movie rest time just did not cut it.  It took some cuddles from mama, but he fell asleep at 5:30 and slept through the night.

#2 - Can I watch my iPad?  It's difficult to pinpoint one specific meltdown related to the iPad, because there are so many.  They pretty much go like this...Ethan wakes up at 6am and so I let him use the ipad for about an hour while I wake up and get ready for the day.  Inevitably, at some other point during the day, Ethan will ask if he can watch his iPad, to which my response is, "No, honey. You can watch it tomorrow morning." Tantrum traits: scowling, yelling, hitting, throwing the iPad (that's my FAAAAVORITE thing, when Ethan throws the iPad), etc.

#1 - I want a drink of water!!!  This takes the cake for the most epic meltdown of the summer.  I took Ethan to the playground and came prepared with a snack and a bottle of water.  Ethan decided he wanted to trek to the water fountain up the hill, which this preggo mama was not going to do. That's what I brought the water bottle for!  Ethan proceeded to run up the hill, so I proceeded to walk to the car, thinking he would follow me.  My plan worked and he did follow me to the car, but not without the typical tantrum traits of screaming, crying, yelling, and the new creative tantrum trait -throwing rocks.  Due to the public nature of this event, this was one of the worst.

BONUS Epic Meltdown - The Target Tantrum - I forgot about this one (how is that possible?), but it's a doozy.  Ethan wouldn't stay next to me while we were at Target.  I gave him warnings but he just couldn't follow the rules, so I picked him up attempted to put him in the cart.  He started kicking and screaming, yelling, "Help me! Help me!" as if I were trying to abduct him from the store.  He was wriggling so much I couldn't put him in the cart so I put him under my arm and carried my flailing child out of the store as he screamed the whole way to the car.  Fortunately, I got a lot of compassionate looks from other Target shoppers No one called CPS, thank goodness.  Tantrum traits - screaming, kicking, crying, flailing.

Ethan being three has definitely been challenging, but being three has also been the most fun stage. He says the funniest, most random things.  But when out of the blue he says to me, "Mommy, I love you," I almost forget how hard raising a threenager can be.  Almost.

Surviving Summer at the Spencerport Splash Pad

I know it might not be popular to say this as a Rochesterian, but I actually don't mind the winters. The cold doesn't bother me (isn't the issue with the cold just a matter of being properly attired?).  I embrace outdoor activities in the winter; I love to ski and don't even mind shoveling the driveway. Part of the reason I embrace the winter is that I don't actually like summer that much.  I loathe the heat and humidity.  And, being almost 34 weeks pregnant, I really really loathe the heat and humidity.  Like, really.  A lot.  Of course, like anyone I love the perfect 72 degree days with no humidity, but that is just not the reality of Rochester summers.  So, this week has been particularly challenging for me.  Ethan NEEDS to go outside and run off his energy, but I can barely stand being in the heat, let alone breathe.  Fortunately, my sister had the great idea of checking out the Splash Pad at Pineway Ponds Park in Spencerport this week and it was the best idea ever.  Even though it was somewhat of a long drive for us, it was well worth it.  There were several different structures to run through - a rainbow, flower, a few spraying statues, and some water jets that spray water to the sky. Ethan and Adam were mostly focused on the dolphin statue that sprayed water out of it's mouth.  I appreciated that there was a bunch of shade around the splash pad with plenty of places to sit down, so we were able to enjoy watching the kids play without getting burned in 88 degree weather.  Chasing the kids through the splash pad every so often helped cool us down, too.  There are bathrooms nearby, and a pretty cool playground right next to the splash pad.  Ethan had so much fun running around and getting wet.  The next best thing besides him having a blast was that he took a great nap, (3 hours!!!!) so I had a chance to take a quick snooze myself.  I can definitely see us visiting the splash pad a few more times this summer.

Cousinbrothers

Ethan is so lucky to have a cousin pretty close in age to him, so a lot of our summer adventures include my sister, Andrea, and her son, Adam, my nephew.  Adam is only 14 months younger than Ethan and now they are at the perfect ages where they can really have fun together.  We try to get together at least once a week, if not more (it's fun for the boys and for us, too - there's only so much toddler conversation a mom can take!).  So far this summer the boys have done quite a bit together:

They've been to the zoo.  As you can see, Ethan likes to take charge.

They've fed the fish at Powder Mills Park.  Yes, that's right, there's fish food in that red solo cup.

They've gone to Lollypop Farm.  Here they are speaking to the ducks.

They've also been to the Sandbox, had a sleepover, gone to the beach to play in the sand, and played at the new Egypt Park playground.  I have no pictures of these activities because as you can see, when these two kiddos get together, it's pretty difficult to take a good picture.  Wait, who am I kidding - they're the cutest toddlers I know!