Foote Family Thanksgiving

I've had these pictured uploaded for a long time but haven't gotten around to writing the narrative to go with them. So, although nearly a month later, here's our Thanksgiving story. We made the drive out to NE this year and got together with Josh's family. I was a bit worried about the drive because our goal was to make the 14 hour drive in one day. We did it. The way to NE took about 19 hours because we stopped at a Chuck E Cheese for some out-of-the-car fun. Our trip home was about about 21 hours. I think the boys had a harder time sitting that time and Kieran got sick twice. Fortunately, the first was in the car and the second at the rest stop where we were cleaning up the car. He was a happy camper through the whole thing, so we don't think he was really sick. Maybe just car sick?? Who knows.

The time in NE was nice. We had a great time with all 10 other cousins and got a few fun photos as a result. Here's one of our only a family-of-four photos. As well as a picture that quite accurately represents the chaos that comes from 21 one people being together for a meal:)



Ayden and Kieran are enjoying playing together more every day. Kieran has learned to push trucks and so often joins in when Ayden is playing. Here they are in an inflatable tent we have.


Kieran is what my dad likes to call the "consummate consumer." He LOVES to eat and does it with great gusto, often out eating Ayden. He'll eat anything from shrimp and crab cakes to pretzels and carrots. Loves it all and it's fun to see him shovel it in:)


Ayden is developping quite the immagination and often transforms our car into a motorcycle, dump truck, or helicopter. Here he is in a motorcycle, I believe, along with his motorcyle helmet, aka construction hat. It is on backwards; the part over his mouth is supposed to be the size adjuster that goes in back. However, Ayden knows that all helmets have visors and this was the best he could come up with in creating one for himself. He'll often wear this the black strap is over his eyes. He can't see, but he also won't turn the hat around because it's his motorcycle helmet! If we're not driving some exotic vehicle, we're turning into Bob the Builder characters. Throughout the day Ayden assigns us new personalities, whether they be Scoop, Bob, Wendy, Dizzy, and occasionally we through Winnie the Pooh characters into the mix! Quite fun!

Halloween Fun

This year Ayden was to be a fireman for Halloween. We had borrowed a fireman's coat and hat to be worn with our fireman hose and boots. Ayden was very excited about Halloween, especially the trick-or-treating, because, unlike last year, he understood what would be happening. He eagerly anticipated his candy stash. Like last year, however, he opted out of the costume . The fireman outfit, although something he was very interested in, ended up draped across a chair or left in the car during our various parties.


We had a Halloween party at a friend's house. Here are the kids painting their pumpkins. Everyone came in costumes (or, as in Ayden's case, with costumes in hand), but by this point they had been shed.


Ayden also had a Halloween party at his Gymboree class. Here he is enjoying his pumpkin cookie. Notice the red behind him--that's his costume!


Here's Ayden playing on the equipment as his party. He loves jumping, and it's fun to see how his jumping has really developed. When we first started these classes, he would more step off the platform rather than jump. Now, however, he's much more airborn as he flies off.


A high point of Gymboree classes is the closing song. It's the same song every class with a dance "routine." The kids get to pick dancing partners (aka stuffed animals). Here Ayden is at the end of his party with his favorite partners--the two cows. He rushes to pick them every time and watch out kids if you're in his way!


Needless to say, Kieran wasn't as active in the Halloween scene. He wore a celebratory pumpkin shirt, but, other than, he was a rapt observer. Here's a picture of him at a local library's Discovery Zone. It's a great kids' area with lots of fun activity centers. Kieran here is enjoying the lego table.


Ayden continues to strive for potty training proficiency. He does well with the potty part. The other, well, not so much. So, this last week we've spent hours (yes, hours) reading, watching shows on the laptop, talking, etc. He's made progress and is now the proud owner of two new Bob the Builder toys: Dizzy and Roley. These round out his already begun collection. In the days to come he hopes to also have Muck as well as a spider man watch.

Happy Birthday, Ayden!

Friday was Ayden's 3rd birthday, and we had a great time spending the weekend celebrating. What a joy he is!! Friday we woke up to cupcakes and presents. I think Ayden thought that was the end of his big day, because, when wished a Happy Birthday at 9:00 am, he declared, "It's not my birthday anymore." We tried telling him throughout the day that it still was, but it wasn't until late afternoon, maybe when having pizza with Grandma and Grandpa (another present was involved) that he ascribed to the "birthday all day" theory:)

Saturday was the party, and it was fun. We had beautiful weather, so we were able to have it outside. Nearly all of Ayden's very dear friends could make it, and they enjoyed croquet, bowling, and a guitar pinata. Our theme was "Things Ayden likes," so we had a fire truck cake (joint effort by Josh and me) as well as a dump truck cake with "dirt" brownies/pudding and gummy worms, a guitar pinata, sesame street plates/napkins, and ball-themed invitations. Ayden had a blast and was a wonderful host. By the end of the night he was happily exhausted.

So, now we enter the wonderful world of a three-year-old. One event, yet to experience but much anticipated, is enjoying the Eagle's Nest at our groccery store, Giant Eagle. Giant Eagle offers free childcare in a very appealing playroom equipped with toys, video games, etc. Unfortunately, you must be three to enjoy it. So, Ayden has been very excited to go to the groccery store's "playground." Also, now that he's three, he gets to change classes at our Gymboree play and music program. His new class is called school skills, a pre-pre-school of sorts. It's a drop-off class, and I think he'll enjoy learning letters and other skills in a more structured setting.

Kieran is out-right crawling now, having fully rejected the army crawl. He's a happy camper, except when he's supposed to be sleeping, like right now. If I thought it might jar some ideas in terms of getting us through the night or a nap, I would literally bang my head against a wall. However, knowing that won't be helpful, I'll settle for the metaphorical "I'm banging my head against the wall" in frustration. He loves to be a part of things, and, unfortunately, bed time does involve a degree of separation. That aside, the little guy is developing quite the personality, and we love the big smile that's (usually!) on his face.

Enjoy the birthday pics!

Brothers

We've entered a wonderful new phase in our family. Kieran has reached a new level of mobility, expressiveness, and interest in interacting with people. It's been particularly fun to see him adore Ayden, and Ayden, likewise, adore him. Kieran loves his folks, to be sure, but when he sees Ayden, his eyes light up and he looks at him with wonderful expectation, "What glorious plans do you have for us now?" Earlier this afternoon, they were both in the living room "driving" cars on some of Ayden's tracks. It was glorious to hear Kieran squeeling with delight and Ayden respond in laughter.

Ayden, likewise, adores his little brother. He makes sure Kieran gets his share of graham crackers, that his Gymbo teacher blows bubbles in Kieran's direction, and that Kieran is properly smothered with hugs.

They both LOVE to wrestle. Our bed is the most popular spot, and when I get home after Josh and the boys have been home alone, our bed is always mussed and the pillows askew due to the throwing of bodies and wrestling. Ayden regularly requests that Josh give him a ride on his back and then run through the house. He also likes to be thrown on the bed. When Kieran sees them on the bed, he bursts into a huge grin, lunges from my arms, and joins in the fight. It's really fun.

Friends and Fun

Ayden has a video that centers on firemen and all their job entails. He loves it and spends time fighting fires around our house. Here he is in his fireman helmet, boots, and "pants" (he pulled them up like they do on the video, so even though they're shorts--they're fireman pants).

Josh's mom recently made a short visit, and we had a nice time spending the day with her. She was able to come see Ayden's Gymbo class, which, as you may remember from earlier posts, is a big event in our family. Barb brought with her shirts for Ayden and Kieran, so here they are sporting their matching race car shirts. Ayden likes it when he and Kieran are dressed at least similarly, so this was fun for him.






We do a good bit of groccery shopping at Giant Eagle. Ayden loves this store because they have a kid cookie club. So, every time we go, he gets a cookie. Hence, he calls it the cookie store. Another exciting facet of this store is their carts. Their car carts are in high demand, so, when we go, we scope out the outside cart corrals and then head in to see if we can find one. Sometimes we get one, sometimes we don't. Here's a picture of the first time Kieran joined Ayden in the cart. Kieran, as you can tell, took to it immediately.








This past week we had a number of fun outings with friends. Here's a picture of Ayden and Kieran with Brooklyn. They're taking a break from running around the water spraygrounds. It was a fun break from the very hot weather we've had lately. We went last year, too. It was something to see how Ayden's changed since then. Last year he cautiously enjoyed running through the various sprinklers. This year, he plowed through them all without thinking twice about it.


We also went to the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center with Bella, her mom, and brother Silas. Ohio has a terrific metropark system with beautiful trails, nature centers, and activities for families. At this particular center, we saw a lot of animals found in Ohio's wild. It was fun and we ended the trip with a picnic at Huntington Beach.

Month in pictures

So, my posts got published out of order. The written narrative is below, but here's a pictorial overview of our activities this past month. We've had some fun adventures and enjoy seeing the boys have fun!!

Vacations, Trips, and More

I clearly remember the day of our last post, for it was a hard day and a turning point in our family's life. To refresh, Ayden was having trouble (to put it mildly) adjusting to wearing underwear. We have now moved on and have a (nearly) completely potty-trained little boy. We continue to have a few kinks to work through but Ayden is doing very well and we're all breathing a huge sigh of relief.

In June, Josh took a week off and we explored more aspects of Ohio. We went to a farm and Ayden got his first pony ride. Since Josh had a Sunday off, we went to another Friends church in Willoughby Hills and then disc-golfed in the afternoon. Josh LOVES disc golfing, but this experience affirmed that he loves his family even more. There are no courses closer than forty-five minutes away from us, so this was something Josh was really looking forward to. Ayden, also, looked forward to golfing with daddy, which slowed the game's pace considerably, but made it a very sweet father-son activity. At one point, Josh's disc ended in the brush, and Ayden, thinking that's where they were supposed to go, threw his deep into the brush. When Josh went to get a stick to help pull it out, Ayden then found a stick and adopted that as a permanent part of the game!


Ayden disc golfing for the first time.

The following week Josh and Carrie headed off to IL and WI to visit a few churches in the area. The trip's purpose was to observe other worship arts teams, watch them conduct rehearsals, plan services, etc. Carrie went since she's considering a career in the Worship Arts field, and Josh went to "job shadow" at churches that represent "the next step." Ayden, Kieran and I stayed with my folks during that time, which was a wonderful. We swam in the backyard, went to Cleveland's West Side Market, and enjoyed much time with the grandparents.

Fourth of July was a fun day. We headed off to a parade with my family, Carrie's boyfriend Abe, and some friends from church. After a cookout that afternoon, we went to Liberty fest where Ayden got to ride on a number of rides, including bumper cars with Josh.

Life's holidays and vacations are now done for a while, except for a two day trip Josh has next week for a pastors' conference. Our house is needing some rearranging now as Kieran is mobile. We have some time as he's scooting and it's still laborious, but he's becoming more adept all the time. He's loving solids and has gobbled avocado like a mad-man and also enjoys sweet potatos, beans, applesauce, and bananas. I've recently acquired a Palm Centro phone and am just loving it. Smart phones are definitely wonderful things and I love having organization, communication, and fun wrapped up in one little device. Very cool:)

The next milestone

In the last few weeks, we have fully embraced potty training. This has been no small feat, however, for, along the way we have learned several new things about Ayden. (Or, perhaps more accurately, several things have been confirmed.) After spending hours in the bathroom over the course of a Saturday and Sunday, Ayden went full throttle on the whole "going in the potty thing." His diapers were consistently dry, not only during the day but after virtually every nap and every morning. Awesome!!! I had always suspected that once he got the mechanics, he would do very well. So, assuming Ayden would be ready to get out of diapers (aren't all kids dying to get out of them? Everything I read said offer underwear and "big boy" pull-ups as incentives, right?), we suggested he move out of diapers. Not so our Ayden!! "I don't want to wear pull-ups, I don't want to wear underwear" he has chanted to me on a number of occaisions. And, yes, I did the whole let's-go-to-Target- and-pick-out-whatever-underwear-you-want routine. We have spider man, the incredible hulk (or giant hulk, as Ayden calls him), Cars, Elmo... We've got them all. At first, I thought he was emotionally attached to diapers, because Ayden doesn't like change. I think that was a bit of it. But, I've also learned that Ayden is afraid to "fail." Let me assure you, we have not scolded or done anything psychologically damaging in the whole arena of accidents. But, for example, we were headed to the mall yesterday, and he was literally in tears because he was afraid of "potty coming out." Another time, I went to sit him on the counter so I could put his shoes on and he didn't want to sit there in case "potty come out." One afternoon, he was all set to play outside in his new sandbox, but he was so worried about "potty coming out" (are you noticing a recurring phrase), that he sat on his potty chair instead. Slowly, he's logging success and staying dry, but he's still worried about it all. We're using this as an opportunity to teach him that set backs are okay and he does have some measure of control in this situation. Poor guy....poor mother:) It's exhausting for both of us. We could keep diapers for a while, but my gut says that we'd only prolong this same situation. So, knowing that, we're gently (!) trying to move him forward. Kieran is a ready and willing support groupie as he often keeps him company in the bathroom.

Ayden is still an avid mower, and if Josh or one or our neighbors is mowing, he gets out his mower, puts on his hat and mowing shoes (yes, he has special shoes) and joins them.

In the Kieran world, he's chowing down on cereal and anxious to begin more solids. His sleeping has improved at night, but he's begun protesting naps lately. He's a social guy and hates to be left out of anything. He never lays still but is always rolling, getting stuck, rolling the other way, getting stuck, rolling again, stuck on an arm...you get the picture. The other night I tried the whole "stand by him but don't touch him trick" to help him get to sleeep. I got exhausted just watching him move. Some of the things he does I've seen on ab workouts!!

Yes, our family is moving through new stages now and while it thrills me, it also exhausts me. We're good, though, as the weather brings new fun: our pool, sandbox, and puddles!

May at a glimpse

This past month has held much for the Foote household. I have a slide show that covers it in pics and I'll give a few of the highlights here. In early May, NASA, about ten minutes from our house, had an open house. So, we loaded up the kids and went. We parked at the I-X center and rode a bus to the NASA grounds, a highlight in Ayden's book. There was a wealth of exhibits and hands-on things to see and explore. Ayden got to sit in a cockpit, which he loved as it included many buttons he could push and explore. We saw the gravity testing station, the wind tunnels, the sound absorbtion station, and much more.

The sound absorbtion building (clearly not it's technical name, but that escapes me for the moment), holds a special place in our hearts. While in this very quiet "building"/station, due to all the sound absorbing blocks, Ayden announces, "I'm poopy!" and begins walking rather awkwardly and bowleggedly. I look at him and wonder, is a puddle forming? He takes a few steps and a few drops follow him. Yes, we had neglected our child enough that his diaper was beyond the absorption point. We left our "mark" in that station, went outside and had to change him in the grass. (There were no public restrooms, only porta-potties.) It was a comical/tragic moment in our family's outing.

Along with Mother's Day, this month also held my mom's and dad's birthdays, which happen to be four days apart. Ayden enjoyed the birthday traditions immensly: blowing out the fire, singing, presents, cake, etc. My dad is out of town this week, and so he was gone for my mom's birthday, on Sunday. I offered to drive down and get Carrie at OSU so she could come home for the weekend and celebrate my mom's birthday with us. So, Ayden, Kieran and I left Sat. and picked her up. Sunday, we had the birthday party, which was wonderful. Then, Monday, my mom, Ayden, Kieran, Carrie, and I loaded into our taurus to take Carrie back. It was a fun trip, filled with many "challenges." On the way there, we stopped at, what I like to call, the most dysfunctional McDonalds ever. We tried one of their new hand-dipped ice cream cones, handed to me with chocolate dripping all over and down the cone. The brusque man who dipped it for me offered a gruff, "sorry" to make me feel better about handing this mess of a cone to my son. Then, Kieran blew threw his diaper, onesie, and onto his car seat, and this was only forty-five minutes into the trip! Although the drive home was also challenging, the day was nice overall. We got to have lunch with some of Carrie's roommates and meet her boyfriend Abe who was a hit with Ayden.

Kieran is make wild progress in the movement department. He rolls from front to back, back to front, lifts his butt inches off the ground, and protests if he's left in a room by himself. He's a social fellow and loves his brother dearly. He follows Ayden with his eyes whenever they're in the same room, and it's fun to see them enjoy each other so much.

Enjoy the rest of the highlights in the slideshow!

Our Boys

Ayden LOVES mowing the lawn. When Josh (or a neighbor) mows, he glues himself to windows and watches their every move. Lately, he's been using his Scoop toy (from Bob the Builder) and pretending it's a lawn mower. This past week, however, we went to my folks just as my dad was doing some mowing. Ayden was thrilled and went out to watch. He even got to help push the mower. Well, Ayden wanted to mow himself, so he went in, got his Thomas the Train suitcase, took it out, and pretended that was a mower. He followed in my dad's tracks and mowed the yard. Well, that was hint enough for us, and we went out and bought him a toy lawn mower. He loves it and now also dons headphones since he saw our neighbor wearing some protective ear wear while doing some heavy duty yard work.





On the Kieran front, we made huge progress today. I had to work this evening, and, typically, that means a difficult haul for Josh. While he gladly stays with the boys, Kieran poses a huge challenge because he is extremely anti-bottle. Well, today, Kieran took his bottle!! Hooray!

Kieran is starting to exhibit quite the personality. He rolls over in a hearbeat, gets very upset when he's sick of being on his stomach, does not sleep well from 12 (am!)-6, loves to be given a blanket for comfort, loves sticking his tongue out, drools a ton (like his brother did), and really loves his big brother. Here's a video example of typical Ayden/Kieran interaction.

During this clip, Ayden is singing over and over "I'm banging the drums."



No children fell off the couch during this video clip. It did end happily for all :)

Gatlinburg

We’ve spent this past week in Gatlinburg, TN at a pastors' conference. It was a terrific time away, and there was plenty of time for sight-seeing and enjoying the mountain scenery.

Our trip started Sunday evening around 8 pm. We headed out with the intention of having two happily sleeping children from Cleveland to Cincinnati. Not so. Kieran slept, but Ayden only did part of the time. Around 11 pm we drove past OSU where Carrie is going to school. So, on an impulse, and since Ayden was awake, we stopped to see her and have bubble tea, a popular Asian beverage. It was a terrifically fun memory, and it put us at our Cincinnati hotel around 2 that morning!

Gatlinburg held many wonderful adventures. One morning we went mini golfing on a black lit course. This was Ayden’s first time mini golfing and he enjoyed it. Typically, he would simply carry the ball up to the hole, place it down, and hit it in. A very expeditious way to play, if you ask me. We also rode the trolley, enjoyed a breathtaking scenic drive, and tried to experience Gatlinburg’s rib and wing fest. This last activity was not such a success. Rib fest was Thurs. evening, and twelve dollars bought you a ticket, entitling you to all-you- can-eat ribs from the various booths at the festivals. Since Josh loves both ribs and wings, he was quite excited to attend. So, we went to the fest anticipating much good food and fun times. Not to be so! There were far too many people crammed onto one of Gatlinburg’s very narrow streets. The lines were not well-delineated, so it was very hard to tell where lines began and ended. It was also extremely hot since we were crammed so close to all the grills where they were cooking the meat. None of this, though, was the clincher. What clinched us leaving before getting our ribs were the characters walking around. You know, the mascot pig and fireman who wander around to entertain the kids. Well, not ours. Ayden took one look at them, shrieked, burst into tears, and declared that he wanted to go home. We tried to calm him down, but the wary eyes that kept scanning the crowd for these evil creatures, plus all the other negative aspects, made us cut our losses, declare this not a child-friendly event, and sent us to TGI Fridays for a much more pleasant meal!

These pictures document many of the trip's highlights.


Ayden and Josh enjoying the hotel arcade.


Kieran decided to go anti-pack-n-play this trip and only slept in his car seat or with us. Attempts to put him in the pack-n-play were met with loud protests.


Playing in the inflatable fort.


Kieran ready for his first dip in the pool.


Kieran zonked in the stroller.

Enjoying the trolley ride.

View from the scenic drive.

Too many for a title

Wow! I didn't realize it had been almost a month since I last blogged. So, we'll highlight three-ish things from our lives. In order of oldest to newest, here goes:

Blown out window
About 8 months ago my parents started going to our church. It's great having them here and Ayden enjoys seeing his grandparents at least on Sunday mornings. Well, one Sunday, my dad had to be at all three services, so my mom came over to hang out at our house. As she was coming in the house and beginning to close the door (it had not closed yet), the back window blew out and shattered glass all over. Nice. Broken window beginning of March. So, we frantically cleaned up and cardboarded the back window until it could be fixed later that afternoon. Tools were needed to do a thorough cleaning as glass pieces were left in the door and had to be extracted. Enter our two-year-old Bob the Builder. He was in heaven! My mom wore gloves to protect her hands, and Ayden eagerly donned his own as he "helped" her out.



Snowed-in
A few weeks ago we had a major snowfall, about 18 inches in our area over the span of 48 hours. The snow started on Friday evening and continued through late Saturday night. Because it was so heavy, church was cancelled on Sunday. What luck! This was the same weekend as daylight savings, so Josh and his praise team, who ordinarily have to be at church at 7:15, were thrilled to not have to get up so very early.

We have a long driveway, and unfortunately, do not have a snow blower. Josh usually goes out and shovels tracks for our cars and paths for us. The snow was so heavy, though, that our neighbor, bless him, took pity on us and snow blowed some of our drive for us. Sunday morning we woke up and I looked into our back yard, and Don, a church trustee, was snowblowing a path from the church through our backyard. For those of you who don't know, we rent from the church, and our property, which is an acre and a half, is directly behind the church. Consequently, Josh walks to work through our backyard. 18 inches, however, is a bit much to walk through for work. Don completely surprised us by blowing a path for him.



Easter colds
This week Ayden came down with a killer cold. His eyes have been sunken and red, he had a temp of 101, and he wouldn't eat anything. Naturally, that means we've been housebound for several days! Yuck!! Anyway, Josh and I have been amazed and the way he (Ayden) freely douses us with his germs. We tried to get him to cover his mouth when he coughed, but he just told us, "No, it's fricky" (fricky=tricky). Okay....so we would put our hands up to cover his mouth. Ayden wasn't always into that as he would sometimes lower our hands.. No protection allowed, I guess. Two nights ago it was the worst, and Ayden had an awful time sleeping. Josh and I would take turns going in to lay with Ayden throughout the night. We scrunched into his bed, often having little room to lie since he insisted on laying in the middle despite the fact that two people were now in the bed. When he'd have to cough, he'd turn towards us hack all over us and then settle back in. Seriously, we feel awaful for the poor guy but find some grotesque humor in how freely he shares his germs.

Josh is hoping he doesn't get the cold as this is a big weekend for those in the Worship Arts field. Yesterday we had our Maundy Thurs. service. For those unfamiliar with Maundy Thurs., as we were until coming here, it's a celebration of the last supper. Josh was in charge of the service and did a beautiful job. He introduced several new things, including a footwashing ceremony as part of the service. It was beautiful. Well, that's us in a nut shell. Happy Easter to all!