Huge Update

So, I realize I haven't posted for real in like a month now. That is just crazy. I'm sorry everyone! I will try to be better at this (again!) In the last month a lot has happened:
We went to the fair, Graycen turned 2, we had a visit from ma, Parker turned 3 months, Graycen started potty training, Graycen attended her first Mary Kay party, we went to the apple orchard.. see a lot of stuff happened!
Since I have already started this post I am going to write everything out and then I will create another post with the millions and millions of pictures.

August 30 - Graycen and Parker's first trip to the MN State Fair
David happened to have a half day at work. He got home at like 12:30 and we decided just right then and there that we were going to the fair. We found a parking spot (which was a good close one!) got everyone unpacked and headed in. We no more than left the gates when David got a call from Dino. They were on their way to the fair and wanted to know what we were up to. Since we were already there he asked if they could meet up with us. Sure! So, we ate some stuff, walked around and just had a good time. I had been waiting for the fair since I was pregnant with Parker so I could eat all of this nummy stuff and since I am on Weight Watchers, i chose not to indulge in everything I had wanted. I ate corn on the cob, a couple of fries and too many of Sweet Martha's cookies. Graycen had her first roasted corn on the cob as well as her first Sweet Martha's cookies - oh no, she's hooked! Graycen fell asleep right before we left and slept until we got home. She was a mess and definitely needed a bath when we got home. My feet were also disgusting. I couldn't believe it. Parker slept the entire time we were there. Go figure.

September 5 - Graycen turned 2 years old!
Graycen woke up in a good mood this day. It's like she just knew it was something special. We didn't do anything, really. I had the boys to watch and we celebrated her birthday with them with mini, pink, sprinkled cupcakes at lunch. After the boys left her aunties and nana stopped by to deliver some birthday gifts. She had a blast and was a riot - dancing for everyone! Later on we played some Guitar Hero III (Graycen absolutely LOVES GH) ate some pizza and bread sticks, which David picked up from Little Caesar's and just had a good family night with the birthday girl. We put her to bed and reflected on the last two years. Always a way to make me cry!

September 9 - Graycen attended her first Mary Kay party and was a total diva!
So, I had a Mary Kay party. Graycen was home and awake while this was going on. Being the total girl that she is, she wanted in on this makeup thing. So Natalie made up a little makeup tray for her and let her go to town. I didn't mind! Graycen put lipstick, liner, eyeshadow, blush and lotions all over her face. She definitely looked like she was ready to go to war with her war paint. It was so cute!

September 13 - Ma came down to visit and celebrate Graycen's birthday
Ma was unable to come down the weekend of Graycen's birthday to celebrate it with her so she came down the following weekend. Ma did the traditional grand kid birthday day - took her shopping! Graycen got her winter coat, some footie pajamas, socks and a new pair of shoes.Oh and of course, it wouldn't be a birthday without a toy too. She bought her a bag of Mega Blocks (which Graycen just loves!) We were sad to see her go - as usual - and always wish she could stay longer.


September 17 - Graycen started potty training - successfully!
For some reason today was the day that the whole potty thing really struck Graycen as something she wanted to be involved in. We have been trying the potty thing but haven't been pushing it. Lately we kind of pushed it to the side since it seemed like she really wasn't too interested. Well, today was different. She decided at one point she wanted to go potty while I was going. I said OK and let her hop up on the big potty (she LOVED this!) she went and was super excited. She jumped down and yelled, "I did it! It's awesome!" we high-fived and she ran out to tell David. He got excited and came in to look. She repeated the above again. It was too cute. All day long, about every 5-10 minutes she said she had to go potty so we decided to bring her potty chair out of the bathroom and let her run around sans undies all day to see how it went. Much to our surprise, she came to me telling me she needed to potty but kept pointing to the big potty. I took her in and she pooped. First day really on the potty and she pooped. Of course, I had to get a picture of it. She was so proud and so were we!
Since that day she has been doing GREAT with potty training. She doesn't wear a diaper during the day and uses the potty all day long (the big and little - whichever she feels like at the time) She only wears a diaper to bed and nap time which the past few days she has been waking up dry!! YAY!! We were out for about 5 hours this weekend and had her in a pull-up. She kept it dry the entire time- telling us when she needed to potty. As a reward/motivational tool we let her pick out big girl undies on Saturday. She picked a pack of Dora and a pack of Ariel. She loves them and is so excited to wear them! This is going great *knock on wood*


September 20 - Our trip to Emma Krumbee's Apple Farm
We had anther family day and went out to Emma Krumbee's in Belle Plaine. Let me just say, I feel like we wasted our time and money. We drove for an hour to get to a place that wasn't worth the $5/adult we had to pay to get in. Basically we spent $20.95 on a half peck of Honeycrisp apples. Yay!
There was a hay pile that you could jump in, on and off of. Graycen enjoyed that part! They had scare crows which people made all around. We looked at them but Graycen didn't really care about them. They had, what they would like to call a petting zoo. It wasn't. It was a fenced in area which contained some miniature horses, donkeys and goats. All of the animals were in the shade next to the barn and really only came up to the fence if you had some feed. We made our way back to the car and that was about it. Boring, right? Next time (which will be later this season) we are going to try out Afton. We'll see how that goes!

September 22 - Parker turned 3 months old!
Where has the time gone? Parker is already 3 months old. He smiles like crazy, has GREAT head control, sits in the Bumbo chair, chats with you like he's never going to talk again, sleeps through the night, naps so well and well, he's just a great baby! He's continuing to be huge! He is rapidly growing out of the 6-9 month clothes that we have already. It's just nuts! He watches Graycen with so much intensity. It's adorable to watch him stare at her. Graycen is doing so much better with him than she had been. She doesn't hit him anymore, thankfully! when he cries she gets concerned. It's cute.