September update!

I am just now getting back into the swing of things following Hurricane Ike! We made it through fine. We had no power or phones for five days, but we survived. The beautiful weather that followed the storm was actually a real blessing. We thoroughly enjoyed all the outside play time and quiet afternoons. You tend to forget the real pleasure that is laying on the couch with the windows open, breezes blowing freely through your house, smells of grass in your nose and distant sounds of people playing outside (sorry for the flashback to creative writing!) It was great family time.

Olly used the down week to learn to crawl. He loves it! He has become an expert in short time. Fritz started gymnastics classes in the beginning of September and is having tons of fun. I wouldn't call him the next Paul Hamm, but he sure is having fun.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Here is a crazy picture of Hurricane Ike blowing in:

TOILETS SHOULD COME WITH A WARNING SIGN!

I have a word of warning for all mothers with little boys who are toilet training. Have your son be aware of his tools when closing the toilet lid!!!

A few months ago when Fritz was just a rookie pottier he finished peeing and then grabbed the seat and lid to plunk them down without fully exiting the unloading zone. OUCH! He about died. He freaked out forever. My poor baby was what my heart was thinking, but my mouth could not stop laughing. Daddy was in the shower so he missed the bulk of the accident, but afterwards explained to Fritz that he had to be careful with his "man jewels".

The funny part of the story is that to this day every time Fritz shuts the lid of the toilet he says, "gotta watch out for my man jewels!"

Silly Fritz

This video cracks me up. It is a little dark, but you get the idea. Fritz's cousin, Brice, was visiting a few weeks ago, and this is a video of them watching a favorite TV show. Fritz is so overcome with excitement all he can do is dance! Who taught him the funky chicken???

Too much to recall!

I don't know when I ever had time to blog before. I feel like life is flying by madly and I am just barely staying on the road! Our daily routine seems to fill each day with no rest time for Mommy...and I only have two kids. I don't know how Tiff and Tracy do it!!!

Fritzy turned 3 on August 11. He had a Thomas the Train themed birthday party at our house. He thouroughly enjoyed being surrounded by Thomas and his friends.

Thomas the Train cake

The big 3-year-old!

Opening presents

The morning of his actual birthday


Still pooped the day after the party!

Nana got to come spend a few weeks with us during July and August. It was so nice to see someone from my family! It is really hard with everyone living so far away. The boys both really enjoyed their Nana being here.

Nana and Fritz

Nana teaching Olly yoga!

Fritz is growing so much. His new favorite thing is the ABC's. He reads everything. He loves to spell out everything he sees (print on t-shirts, signs on the road, labels on food, etc.)

Olly is really starting to make his way around the room! He isn't crawling yet, but he manages to scoot on his bottom, twist on his stomach and roll to get where he wants to go. He are some cute pictures of Fritz and Olly.

So Many Changes

Let us first take a minute to mourn the loss of Fritz's beautiful blond locks...The poor child was sweating profusely every time he stepped outside. It was like he had a helmet on at the playground. So we said adios to the lucious locks and hello to the faux hawk!

Let me say that with the new hair cut also came a new attitude. He loves his new hairdo and it shows in a recent wild streak that has come out of him. He is a little less cuddly and a little more naughty over the past week. He seems to be getting more daring, more hard of hearing and less compliant as he nears his third birthday!

Another new achievement for Mr. Fritzer is that he is potty training!!! He does really well at home and stays dry about 75% of the time while we are out. He did go potty at Wal-Mart for the first time last week (pee and poop), but I still have to constantly take him and ask him if he has to potty. He must be sick of hearing me talk about it.

We were rewarding him with new Thomas the Tank Engine trains for all of his various milestones with pottying, but we quickly realized at $10 per engine we would be going broke before the month was out. Luckily he is pretty content with Skittles and the occasional ice cream cone as a reward. He does come up to us all the time and asks the whereabouts of a train that he knows he doesn't have. When we say that we don't have that train he says, "Oh...he at store!" He thinks he's clever. And he is...I would love to buy him all the trains he wants. Below Fritz displays some of his most prized engines:

Sir Handel

Skarloey

Gordon

Another change...Mark is the proud new owner of a motorcycle!!! He is very thrilled about that. Here are a couple new pictures of Mark, his brother Andy and their cousin Jeff during the inaugural ride for their new motorcyle gang...

Finally, we spent a fun weekend with family at the lake house for the 4th. Lots of tubing, eating and more eating. Here are a few highlights...
Sleeping Jelly!

The Sister in Laws

Doing a little bird watching

Cooling off in the Texas heat

Arlington Trip

We ventured out on the open road with Olly for the first time. He actually did amazing. We drove to our family's lake house near Waco on Friday morning and Olly slept the whole way (4 hours). The lake house was nice, but not as much fun as it is when it is filled with our family! We walked down to the cliffs to look at the beautiful sunset and I had to face one of my ultimate fears. I have horrible visions of Fritz running off the cliff every time we are at the lake house. I held his hand so tight and would not let him leave my side. At one point Mark held him while they walked a little closer to the edge to see the water. I literaly had to turn away. I thought my heart would jump out of my chest. Needless to say we didn't stay down there long. I guess I am a worry wart! We didn't bring Olly's pac n' play because he was going to use Jenni's in Arlington. So Olly slept in a blanket lined dresser drawer that I set on the bed with me (thanks for the tip Aunty Tiffy!) It felt like baby Jesus in a manger!

Saturday morning we drove over to Arlington for Mark's brother's annual crawfish boil. Again, Olly slept the whole way (2 hours). Fritz had so much fun playing with his cousin Brice all weekend. However, he mostly didn't leave Brice's train table for 48 hours. This was no shocker if you know Fritz. It was good to be with John, Jenni and Brice. We wish we lived closer to them!

Here are some pictures from the trip!

Olly and Daddy chillin at the lake!

Brice and Fritz playing on the slip n' slide!

He has got a great pouty lip!

Here is Jelly's first date! This is Tori (9 months). He can't resist a cherry bikini! She spit up on his head during the date. She was embaressed, but he got over it quickly. The jury is still out on whether there will be a second date!

A few more handsome shots of Olly "jelly bean" Houston!