milestones

it is kind of hard to believe, but we have made it past one of the most dreaded and difficult milestones with jay this week.  as most people know, he is/was the most pickiest eater.  he didn't really eat any food that we ate.  when we went anywhere, we would have to bring his food with us.  the bag got pretty full on the weekends when we wanted to go anywhere.  we even stopped the baby food at two years just because i got tired of buying it.  a normal day would consist of 

breakfast:  oatmeal 

snack:  kix, raisons, fruit loops or something we brought from the house to school

lunch:  applesauce and more kix

snack:  poptart, mandarin oranges, or something else we brought from the house

dinner:  more fruit loops

no meat was in his diet at all.  garrett convinced jay that on easter, the easter bunny would bring him a present and take his "baby food" away.  in turn, jay would have to eat big boy food.  it has not been too bad except that jay takes forever to eat dinner or any other meal.  he tries to make excuses like he has to go potty in the middle or he is still chewing a piece after of about 3 or 4 minutes.  as of this week, he has added about 20 foods to his diet, including meat.  there has been some threatening that the easter bunny would come back and take his gift, but jay will quickly eat something to keep it.

another milestone that jay has reached is being potty trained.  he wears big boy underwear all the time now (even at night!!).  this isn't to say that he doesn't have an occasional accident here and there.  for the most part, he tells us when he has to poop and if you just take him to the potty every 1 to 2 hours or so to pee, he will be fine and dry.  if he gets too busy or excited about doing something, jay won't tell you he has to go.  i dread going to school to see the bag of clothes tied to his bookbag every so often.  the worst are the accidents that he has pooped in and i have to clean them out.  i guess it just goes with the territory of potty training.  i'd rather do that then keep spending money on diapers and pull ups all the time.

last week i was out for spring break and kept jay out on that thursday.  we had a little fun of our own at the house.

playing with blocks

playing with tools

dying some easter eggs

the saturday of easter weekend, we went up to my grandmother's house to visit.  here's my favorite picture of jay playing with a car he got.

so nana doesn't know about jay riding on the back of noah's tricycle.

for some reason they had to put on their swimsuits from grammy.

easter sunday we got dressed and went to church.  here is my attempt at getting a picture, but he was too wiggly.

finally after church, jay opened his present from the easter bunny.  bye bye baby food, hello big boy food.

opening easter baskets from aunt kim and uncle chip as well as from grandma and grandpa on easter.

grandma and grandpa planned an easter egg hunt.  there was money involved.  jay loves money and even tells cashiers he needs money to put in his piggy bank.

last week jay made some binocular's at school in mrs. mary's class to look at the birds.  you never knew two toilet paper rolls stuck together and a string to put around his neck would make him so happy.  

today we went out to the park for a baby shower for nicolette and jeremy davis.  they flew in from florida this weekend.  jay enjoyed the slide until he peed in his pants and we had to change his shorts.  sorry for anyone else that goes on that playground.

here's the happy couple opening some presents.  they are expecting a boy in August.

now stay tuned in because in two weeks we find out what our little bundle of joy is.  will it be a girl?? or a boy??  who knows.  i'm 16 weeks right now, not wearing maternity clothes and not really showing.  i guess one day i'll pop out.

and 2 1/2 months later...

i know it has been a while and we have some catching up to do.  it's been hectic around here as well as pretty busy.  through the month of february, garrett finished up the basketball season with his boys and even had them over for a sleepover in march.  surprisingly, nothing was tore up and i don't think they moved from their positions in the floor of playing video games.  fortunately, jay and i were able to stay at my parents' house for the night.  the boys had the house to themselves; 6 boys and garrett with lots of food and video games.

the weekend of the superbowl, garrett and i found out we were pregnant with baby #2 (or #4 however you want to look at it).  we didn't say anything until the end of march, but everything looks healthy so far.  we are looking for a fall baby that is due october 13th.  i'm not looking forward to writing all the lesson plans though while i'm out.  that's the only bad part about my job, i can't just leave for sick leave, i have to really be prepared.  right now i'm currently 15 weeks along, no maternity clothes needed right now and hardly showing.  is this right about now?  i can't remember from jay.  i go for another doctor's appointment next friday and then we go on may 13th for an ultrasound.  hopefully we will be able to tell what we are having by then.  if you ask jay if he wants a baby brother or sister, he'll say sister.  so i guess we will be to wait and see. not only are we expecting, but garrett's brother chip and his wife kim are expecting as well in september. this should make it very interesting in the olin household come fall.

through the month of march, garrett also lost his grandma olin.  she had been sick for a while and lost the battle.  although it was a sad time, it was a burden lifted off of his parents.  they were going down there every other weekend to care for her.  now there are still some loose ends to tie up with assets and everything, but hopefully that will go smoothly.

garrett and i have both been pretty busy at work.  garrett's also starting to study for his exams he has to take to be a certified architect.  wish him luck!!  i think he said that there are 9 exams in all.  not fun!!

garrett turned 29 on april 5th and was treated to going to the Master's in augusta, georgia on his birthday.  my dad had gotten the tickets and took jeremy, garrett, and chip.  i think overall, they had a great time.  unfortunately, they didn't get to see too many golfers since it had rained the night before and they didn't want to come out for the practice round.

this past weekend, we had a sunday school easter egg hunt and picnic with almost everyone in our class. it was suppose to be at my parents' house, but with all the torrential rain that we've gotten in the past few weeks, we were unable to have it there.  it was just too wet even though it did end up being a beautiful afternoon.  fortunately, the church gym was open to house everyone.  there were kids galore with tons of balls and toys.  it ended up really fun and i think everyone had a blast.  there was no hiding eggs, but just eggs scattered everywhere on the floor.  but when you are two or three, you really don't care about finding hidden eggs, but finding what is inside those eggs.  jay loves candy and would eat it all day long if you let him.  here's some pictures from the event:

 if you look closely, you can see kids playing in the background

 jay gathering his eggs

 jay spent most of his time trying to figure out how to ride the scooter

 jay having fun with gavin and some of his friends

 and yes jay is pushing noah on a bike

little olivia puttering along with her basket

this week has been too short.  it is already thursday and my spring break is almost over.  i spent monday and tuesday cleaning the house and making meals for the families who have had babies recently.  yesterday, i picked jay up from school early and went to garrett's office to each lunch.  today, i ran some errands and kept jay home.  he's been a bit of a wild child today though.  it took  1 1/2 hours and some harsh convincing to finally fall asleep in bed for his nap.  who knows what we have in store this weekend, but we will soon see.