Time flies when you're having fun!

I knew it had been awhile since my last post, but I didn't think it had been THIS long!  So sorry for the absence, even though I'm sure no one really noticed!  So I guess I need to catch everyone up to speed....I'll start back in September.

Labor day weekend the kids and I went home to Streator.  My sister had a birthday party for Aiden and Logan on Saturday afternoon, then we headed up to the annual Cruise Night on Main St.  Max was not a fan of the loud cars, but really liked the flame throwers.  Needless to say someone had to carry him the entire time!  Since it was only me, my mom and dad, that left someone to push Finley in the stroller and lets just say dad didn't do either!

On Sunday we went to the Labor day parade.  We had heard that the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile was to make an appearance at Cruise Night the night before, however, it turned out that the Weinermobile was at the end of the parade!  Quite the site to see!

We went back to mom's house and later got a phone call that the Weinermobile was sitting out at the K of C's.  So my sister and I threw the boys into the cars (Finley was asleep), and headed out.  We pulled up and there was not even a crowd!  We walked right up, got to go inside, walk around, got a few whistles, keychains, coupons and lots of pictures!  So fun :)

Max, Logan and Aiden with the Weinermobile.

Inside the Weinermobile.

Fast forward a bit and we ended September with a lot of nice weather days playing outside, Finley started eating more solid and finger foods, she also started pushing up on her arms, and sitting up by herself!

October began with Max's birthday!  Three years old...my baby is now a big boy.  I truly got a bit emotional this birthday.  He really isn't a baby and more grown up.  As each year passes, I don't know how I am going to handle it....I already get teary eyed thinking about him going off to school for the first time without me :(

This year his birthday theme was Thomas the Train and friends.  Here are a few pics of birthday celebrations!

Opening his birthday package from Nana.  Sissy is watching so patiently! 

Left is Max only a few days old.  Remember he was 6 weeks early!  And Right was the morning of his birthday!  How crazy the picture shows his features much as they are today!

His present from mommy and daddy, a Thomas tent!  He was so excited!

Two more of his favorite gifts from his party-a giant huskie pillow pet from Mimi and his remote control Thomas from the Coltman's.

We have started a tradition of going to the Stade's pumpkin patch the weekend of Max's birthday.  This year was extra special since it was also Finley's first trip!  Of course, Finley had to have a special pumpkin outfit with matching hair accessory.  Max was a little more adventurous than our past trips, but still wouldn't ride the ponies and practically had to be forced to ride the barrel train.

I had more pictures, but they were on my other camera.  It was quite cold that day, however I don't think Max would ever say he was cold!  We also enjoyed the petting zoo, the barrel train ride, the slides, climbing in a converted tractor and getting some fresh kettle corn!  I hope to continue this tradition for years to come.
The rest of October included a day of playing in the leaves,  my birthday and Halloween.  Just like the previous years, I was determined to make both of the kids costumes.  When we first started talking about what Max wanted to be, he would say Stuffy from Doc McStuffins.  I knew that would be a hard task, but was up for the challenge.  So it was only fitting then that Finley would be Lambie from the show.  Well after a few weeks had passed, Max changed his mind that he wanted to be Jake the Neverland pirate.  I was kind of relieved, because I knew this was going to be much easier!  I still decided to keep Finley's costume a lamb.  I always end up working til the last minute and this year was no exception, however, I was really pleased with the costumes and everyone loved them!  

I didn't get a picture of Finley on my phone on Halloween, but this was when we tried the costume on.  She wore white fleece pants and a cream colored onesie under this.  

Max's shirt said, "Will trade sister for candy!"

By the end of the month, Finley was much more mobile and army crawling around.  We also were able to start putting her hair up in a little pony on top of her head.  

November started out with some piggy tails!  Mommy was so excited!

And on the 11th we had our first snow!  Max jumped right out of the car, grabbed the shovel in the garage and started shoveling!  We got him some snow boots so when the real snow falls he will be ready to go!

Finishing out the month....here are some pictures from the end of November, including Thanksgiving!

eating tortellini, carrots and bananas.

wearing tights and a dress....just because!

My little turkey and his hat we made!

Thanksgiving at Grammies house

Our Christmas tree was put up before we went to Nana's house for Thanksgiving.  This is the earliest it has been up that I remember.  I think this year Max is going to really get into the "magic" of Christmas and I know Finley is going to be getting into everything!  Christmas will be a blast!

Our elf, James, appeared on December 1st.  This year Max was able to name him himself.  I am only guessing that the name James came from the engine on Thomas named James. 

Well that get's us up to speed!  Hopefully I can keep up from here and not get three months behind again!  If you made it this far.....well I hope you don't wish you had that time back :)  

Potty training and teething....piece of cake!

In the last two weeks since I have posted, there have been lots of happenings going on in the Ersler house!

To start, about two weeks before I went back to school, Max decided he was ready to start potty training and wearing big boy underwear!  I had wanted to do this all summer, but he never seemed interested.  So of course, I got nervous and was worried that this was such bad timing with him going back to Mimi's house (our sitter) and how me going back to work was going to affect any progress we would make in the next two weeks.  Well little did I know he was going to surprise us all!

We started on a Friday and by Monday Max was telling me every time he had to go pee on the potty!  Going #2 was still a work in progress, but I never expected it to be as easy as it was.  The first three days were a little brutal.  Accidents and just struggling to get him to sit and try to go after naps was not fun.  Day four you could tell it had just "clicked" with him.  I was so relieved!  We made a big deal out of every time he went and his reward for going was mini M&M's.  We tried a sticker chart and he didn't really care much for the stickers.  M&M's work like a charm!

After finally seeing that there was no turning back, I went ahead and ordered him some new big boy underwear with all of his favorite characters: Mickey, Jake, and Toy Story.  He already had Thomas ones from Nana that he got for his second birthday.  We surprised Max with the underwear one night after Daddy got home from work.  Here are some pictures during our potty training adventure.

Typical boy...mowing the grass in his underwear and fireman boots!

This day we told Max if he did #2 on the potty he would get a sucker!

So upon my return to work, Max has continued to do well with the potty, even at Mimi's house!  He is, I think, 4 for 4 going #2 at her house and is getting better at doing it at home.  We are still working on getting him to pull down/up his own shorts and underwear but I can imagine that is a work in progress with most kids this age.  Max even told Daddy at Target the other night that he had to go pee!  Daddy had to pick Max up and run all the way across the store to get to the potty in time!  Don't worry, they made it and Max did what he was suppose to do!  

The next exciting milestone that has hit our house is that Finley has her first tooth!  I had no idea, other than some drooling and that she is always putting things in her mouth, but what baby doesn't do that!?!?  So I picked her up from Mimi's house last week and she told me how Finley was really fussy and that she felt her gums and low and behold felt a tooth!  I had literally just felt her gums the night before because I knew that any day now she would be getting some teeth, and I felt nothing!  I have only been able to get a very quick glimpse of it, so I don't have any pictures of her tooth.  

Next week Finley turns the big six months old and we will start some new foods!  I just made up a batch of sweet potatoes tonight.  Those will be her first taste of "real" food.  I can't wait to see her reaction!

Here are some recent pictures of my "pretty girl" as we call her!

She is going to be crawling before we know it!  She is already rolling from front to back and back to front with no problems!  She can push her arms straight up while on her belly and will move all around the floor already.  Max isn't going to know what to do once sister is crawling and getting into all of his things!

Until next time.....

What did you say!?!?!

Max has developed quite the sense of humor in his (almost) 3 years of life and yes, I will credit Bill's genes for that trait! But lately, he has been saying the most random, funniest things and at the times when you would least expect it!  I have been trying to remember them or note them in my phone so I had a list when I was ready to write this entry.  I am sure there are some that I am missing, but I figured I had enough to start.  This post has been in the works for awhile now.  I just needed some time to collect my "material."  So here it goes.

Top 10 funniest things Max has said recently: (in no particular order)

1.  We are all about teaching manners.  The usual, please, thank you, and you're welcome.  But it caught me off guard one day as I said, "thank you" to Max for something his response was, "anytime!"

2.  We are in the process of potty training Max.  Currently we have a pvc pipe fort built in the sunroom.  The frame just has a sheet draped over top to form the tent, so you can still see legs and feet of little people inside it.  I looked out and saw that Max was in the tent.  Knowing he likes to hide when he is going #2, I said, "Max are you pooping in the tent?"  He replied, "Mom, this is not a poop tent!"

3.  Max likes to help daddy pick up the dog poop in the yard.  Max's job is to tell Bill where it is in the yard.  He is very good at remembering to tell Bill when he gets home from work that it needs picked up, too!  This particular night I was observing from inside.  Max would tell Bill where the poop was.  Bill would pick it up and then Max was already on his way to the next pile. Upon arrival, he would yell, "Dad, over here, chop, chop!"

4.  Laying in bed one night after just reading Max a book.  We are saying our good-nights, talking about our day and Max says, "Mommy, you're a genius!"

5.  Max LOVES to be outside.  The kid would eat, sleep and do it all outside if you would let him.  So usually in the morning when he first goes out everything is still wet from dew or rain.  This particular morning I don't remember if it had rained but there was a lot of water on all of the outdoor toys, specifically the picnic table.  Ace was outside with us and he loves water.  Being a dog and all, you wouldn't expect anything less of him than to start drinking the water off the picnic table.  I was actually on the phone with my mom while this one happened so I wasn't paying 100% attention and I look over and see Max standing on the seat of the table, bent over and licking the water off the table just like Ace!  I actually made him stay for a picture.  I admit, I was laughing at this one for awhile!

6.  This one isn't quite as funny, but there are just some responses you don't expect to get from a three year old!  I had told Max to put his milk away in the refrigerator.  Usually, I would just get an "ok" or he would just walk over and do it.  This time I received the response, "of course!"

7.  I don't recall when or where this next one happen.  The only thing I remember is that we were outside and Max had pointed something out to me.  Max-"Mommy, look at (can't remember)" Me-(don't remember my response) Max-"That's amazin'"  And he said it just like that!

8.  My sister recently visited us for an afternoon and before she left she treated us to some Baskin Robbins ice cream.  Max doesn't usually eat many sweets.  The occasional cookie, sucker, etc... but he has yet to eat his own birthday cake/cupcakes, or has never shown interest in ice cream.  Well, Emily insisted that I just get him a small kids dish of ice cream and some sprinkles.  THIS was not the funny part, however, the funny part is that my child INSISTED on wearing his snow pants to get ice cream!  We tried everything to get him to not wear them.  He is so strong willed and determined that we just had to let him do it!  We got some pretty weird looks, but he actually took two bites of ice cream before he said he was done!  

 9.  Just this morning I decided to treat Max to some Dunkin Donuts Munchkins.  Being it is my last week of summer vacation home with him and Finley, I thought it was a nice treat that we don't often have.  I actually don't even think we have ever had the Munchkins with him around before.  Again, he is not really a sweets type which is so odd to me, but hey, it just leaves more for me!  I really didn't expect him to eat any.  It took him awhile but he warmed up and wanted to try a chocolate one.  He picked it out, put it on his plate and then took a bite.  He was chewing it up and said, "Mmmm, donut-y!"  Mind you, I don't even think he has had a donut before!  Then he followed that up with an, "Mmmm, chocolate-y!"  

10.  This one just happened tonight at dinner.  I was sitting at the table feeding Finley.  Bill was making Max's mac and cheese on the other side of the counter and Max was waiting in his seat.  I was just complaining about how I was so tired and there was so much that still needed to be done tonight.  It was already 7:30 and none of us had eaten yet, blah, blah, blah.  When Max interrupts us with a, "Guys, first things first!"  Bill could hardly stop from laughing.  I looked at Bill like "what did he just say?" and then back at Max and laughed myself.  Max then realized that it was funny and decided he would give a big belly laugh and even cover his mouth while laughing hysterically!

I hope you enjoyed my Top 10 list and maybe even laughed a little!  This kid is quite the comedian, much like his father.  I am sure that if I keep collecting the funny things that he says I would someday soon be able to write a book!  He definitely keeps us on our toes and laughing, that's for sure!

Where did the time go!?!?!

Today this sweet little thing is FIVE months old!!!!!!!

She is developing quite the personality, too!  She is always happy, unless she is tired or hungry or gassy!  So most of the time you find her laughing, smiling and talking.  She can roll over from her back to her tummy.  She only stays there a short while before she lets you know that she has had enough.  She hasn't figured out how to roll back to her back yet!  Her brother adores her, as you can see here.

He was telling her goodnight and giving her a kiss on her forehead.  He is always so happy to see her when she wakes up from naps.  He will say, "Mom, who is that in your hands?"  Lately, Finley has started to cry when I leave the room, so I have Max sit and sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to her.  He now does it when she starts crying anytime, even if I am there.  It's so cute!  

Finley has also started to eat cereal.

She loves it!

Last week at the park, Finley went in the swing for the first time!

You can't tell by the look on her face, but she did enjoy herself!  

And finally, she is starting to hold herself up in the sitting position for just a few seconds.  Long enough to get a picture or two and then she will topple over.

I did not get a chance to take her five month sticker pictures today, but when I do, I will make sure to post one of them.  Or heck, better yet, I will post all five months of them so you can see them compared to each other!  

Well, I can't believe that in just a few, short, seven months she will be ONE already!  If you saw my post on Facebook, I wasn't kidding when I said her party is already planned!  The theme is picked out, I have a vision in my head of what she will wear including the hair piece I will make, and all the rest of the details will follow!  But until then, I am going to enjoy these months, soaking up every ounce of her cuteness and the new things she does everyday.  Soon she will be walking and talking.  Then I will REALLY wonder where the time went.