October 30, 2006 - A Nice Day, to enjoy the outdoors...will we get any more?

October 23, 2006 - Class Field Trip to Nelson's Farm Market in Grant

Getting his pumpkin to make into a Jack O'Lantern - they got to take the biggest one Papa could carry all part of the cost of the field trip.
Picking apples.....Some Apple Cider.....

October 23, 2006 You can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!

Just had to share this, because I thought it was so cute. The other day, Gabrielle was running around the house with Allison on her heals. All the while she just kept yelling..."you can't catch
me I'm the gingerbread man!"

October 20, 2006 - In the words of Dora the Explorer -
"We did it, We did it, We did it, Hooray!"

Well, we are calling Gabrielle officially potty trained, and so....last week Friday she got to go with us to Target to pick out her long awaited Dora Doll. (She got big sister Dora which comes with two babies, food and a bottle, so she can take care of them). She has only had 2 accidents in her pants over the past week and just seems to have figured out this whole potty training thing like an old pro!

Nicholas' Preschool Pictures Arrived Yesterday!

October 2006 - Fire Safety Month

Watch the videoFire Safety Month 2006

We went to a couple of fire safety events this year.

First, we attended for the first time an annual Fire Truck Parade in Eggleston Township which is over by our church. The parade itself was short, so we saw it at the beginning of the parade route and then moved to a different location at the end of the route to see it again. After the parade, all of the trucks were on display at the fire station for the kids to explore and climb on.

Then, on Saturday they had an annual fire safety event in for the townships of Chester, Moorland and Ravenna at the Ravenna High School. We were really excited because they were going to have a visit from AeroMed. However, when AeroMed was 3 minutes away it got called away to a bad accident in Conklin. Right after that, one of the fire trucks and one of the ambulances had to leave for the same call. We weren't able to stay and see if AeroMed got to come later because it was too COLD!!!! We did however, get to take Nicholas and Gabrielle into the fire safety house where they were taught to spot fire hazards in the house, and then they filled the bedroom with smoke and we had to crawl out the window and down the ladder to a waiting firefighter, and meet each other at a designated meeting spot where they could then practice calling 911.

October 14, 2006 - A walk in the woods

Watch the video

There is a very nice park about 15 minutes from our house that we like to go to periodically throughout the spring and summer. It has a great playground, and it's on a lake with a swimming area so we occasionally take the kids swimming there also (the water is usually nice and warm because it is a small lake). Nicholas loves to walk in the woods and this park also has walking trails. He is constantly asking to walk on the trail, and we usually tell him we can't because it isn't stroller friendly and therefore, difficult to traverse with Allison being so young. So, with this being one of the few nice days we may have left Paul took Nicholas out for a father /son adventure on the walking trails while I took the girls on a shopping trip. Nicholas thoroughly enjoyed himself and even found himself a walking stick.

October 14, 2006 - Winter Coats, YUCK!!

Nicholas and Gabrielle both fit into there coats from last year, but Allison needed a new one. Good thing I went shopping for one this morning, because she needed it. It's nasty out there.

October 13, 2006 - Potty Training Round #2 (child #2)

Well, it took us a year to get Nicholas potty trained from start to finish, so we with another child on the way we decided that if we didn't get Gabrielle interested in the potty soon, that we would have 3 kids in diapers after the new baby is born. Not a good scenario when it comes to the pocket book. We braced ourselves for a long haul and started to prepare Gabrielle to begin.

We took her to the store and let her pick out her very own potty seat as she seemed to have no interest in what we already had. She picked out a pink and purple princess potty, then she got to pick out new underwear (My Little Pony), and pick out her treats. So, Monday morning we started. It was a rough start with wet pants everywhere, but we vowed not to go back to the pull-ups she's been wearing. Ended up making a quick run Monday morning to the 2nd hand store to pick up some extra pairs of sweat pants as she was running out of clothes quickly, having no comprehension of what was going on.

Day #1 - we did happen to catch a break several times and she actually pee'd during a time we had just decided she needed to sit there a while.

Day #2 - total disaster, 5 wet pants before lunch time and then she just didn't go all afternoon, however, in preparation for running an errand she did sit there right after dinner and she happened to go.

Day #3 - what a turn around, we started the day with a wet pants, but then mid morning in the middle of the basement she told Paul she had to go and took off upstairs. This was the start of a good thing. She began telling us she had to go, and we weren't forcing her to sit there. She started staying dry even with a pull-up on when we were shopping and then going on the potty when we got home.

Day #4 - Only one accident all day.

Day #5 - Only one accident all day.


We are now well into Day #6 and we haven't had an accident yet. Could it possibly be that we will have an easy potty training experience this time around? I hope so, and we will start praying already that round #3 and eventually round #4 go just as smoothly.

YEAH GABRIELLE, YOU ARE MAKING US PROUD!!

October 8, 2006 - Apparently, Allison thinks the kitchen drawer makes a good seat.

100706 - Pumpkin Patch 2006

Watch the videoOctober 7, 2006 Van Wesep Pumpkin Patch Trip 2006 Each year we head out to the pumpkin patch with our neighborhood friends. We have 9 kids under the age of 6 (with 2 more on the way). Unfortunately, 3 (and one on the way) of our friends will be moving down to Kalamazoo the beginning of November, so it was fun to watch the kids have so much fun together at least one more time. It is so neat to see the kids interact with each other in an environment where they are not usually together. It is also fun to see how much a difference in understanding of what is going on there is from year to year. Nicholas was totally into the apple picking, and then he had to make sure Allison got a pumpkin. Of course, the rest of the time he walked around eating a Honey Crisp apple that was almost as big as him.

October 4, 2006 - Can you tell this girl loves her pasta!


And then she even loads the dishwasher when she is done.

October 2, 2006 - Movin' on up!

Over the past few days, Allison has made it her new goal to get herself up into Nicholas and Gabrielle's booster seats at the table and sit there like a queen on her throne. So, at lunch time today I decided maybe Allison was ready to leave the high chair and move up to the table. I cleaned up our 3rd booster seat and it was if she knew exactly what I was doing. As I attached it to the chair, she was practically climbing in at the same time. She's movin' on up in the world with a new place at the table next to her big sister.

September 29, 2006 - Family Train Time

I know you've probably heard of Family Game Time, but tonight was Family Train Time. Since the minute I picked Nicholas up from preschool this morning he was talking about building a new Geo Trax. He loves to build track, tear it down and build it again. He is constantly trying to figure out how to get the switches laid out correctly so the train doesn't get "caught in a loop". So....tonight Papa and Nicholas headed upstairs to build a new track. Upon completion, out came the trains and the remote controls. One for Papa, one for Nicholas and one for Gabrielle-so far Allison just tries to sit on the track and grab the trains. It was so fun to watch them play together, and to see the wheels spinning in Nicholas' head as he made sure that they stopped at the right time to let the other train go by, otherwise there would be a head on collision. I'm sure with another boy on the way, we have many years ahead of Family Train Time and track building and rebuilding.

September 29, 2006 - Computer Time

Now that the weather is getting cooler, outside time is getting less and less accessible. During the fall and winter months the kids are allowed to trade some of their TV time for computer time. Nicholas has been quite good at the computer games since last year, partly because he uses computers at preschool too. However, today Gabrielle decided to give it a try playing Care Bears. She is going to take a little longer to get the hang of working with the mouse, but hey, she's not even 3 yet. Of course, Allison had to get in on the action too and was often caught giggling at the action.

The Profile
September 20, 2006 - Big Day for Baby # 4 - The Ultrasound
Today was one of the big days in the life a pregnancy. The ultrasound. We are officially half way through the traditional "40 week" pregnancy. Yeah! Paul and I were thrilled with the ultrasound technician, she was very thorough, easy to talk to and always showed us what she was looking at. Of our previous experiences this was definately the best one, and it lasted about 30 minutes. The doctor stated that it was a "picture perfect ultrasound". They were able to get all the photos they needed and everything looked PERFECT. The baby is in the 93rd percentile at this point, so we may have a big baby ahead. Here are some of the pictures:
2 feet
Face

In case, you didn't notice on the last picture, we did something we have never done before and actually requested to be told what the baby's gender is. We are having a BOY! Everyone in the household is thrilled. We will now have 2 of each, and Nicholas is super excited to share his room with a baby brother. He doesn't quite understand however, that the baby won't be able to sleep on the bottom bunk right away.

September 18, 2006 - Priceless!

Another Kodak moment with no camera in sight! When Allison wakes up in the morning it is quite common for Nicholas and Gabrielle to run and talk to her while she is still in her crib. This morning was no different. When I came upstairs, I got Allison out of her crib and, now that she can do the stairs, I just put her down on the floor. The next thing you know Gabrielle reached out her hand and Allison put hers inside. They walked hand in hand to the top landing of the stairs and then Gabrielle got down on her tummy to show Allison that she needed to go downstairs backward.

My second priceless moment occurred last night when I found Gabrielle reading a word book to Allison. They were sitting side by side in my rocking chair and Gabrielle was pointing to all of the pictures and telling Allison what they were. It was so cute, but by the time I got the camera they were done.

September 15, 2006 - Climbing down the stairs!

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September 15, 2006
A big owie!

Shortly, after Paul returned from dropping Nicholas off at preschool on Friday the phone rang. It was the preschool! My thoughts jumped to: Did he wet his pants? Did he poop his pants? Is he having a melt down?

I'm glad it was none of those things, but didn't like what it was either. Nicholas got hurt! They just wanted to let us know
that a wooden puzzle had fallen on his head and he had quite
a gash there. They were able to get it to stop bleeding, but he
had received quite an egg. Nicholas said he was fine, so it
seemed there was no need to come and get him, but they
wanted us to know before we arrived to pick him up.

September 15, 2006 - A Haircut for Gabrielle

Gabrielle didn't like the "booster" seat thing one bit, we tried the snacks that worked for cousin Joshua but to no prevail...but once she got to sit on mama's lap AND got her fruit snacks we were ready to roll.

Much cleaner looking, most people won't notice the haircut but it is so nice to get rid of all of the spit ends and even up the layers that are naturally there from all the new hair growth they get at this age.