officially unpotty trained

Remember this?  That was then.

This is now.

Yes, that's a pull-up that he's wearing.  He wears one 24/7.  I'm sad to say, we've definitely NOT kept up our end of the potty training process.  Possibly due to the amount of traveling we did last fall, but in the end that is just another excuse.

The good news:  He is still young (regarding potty training); he still goes in the potty whenever we take him; he, occasionally, asks to go potty.

So, this story will be continued...

Friends

Spent the evening with our Friends (this post is from last weekend).  Olivia took the picture of Tiff and I.  Later the kiddos snuggled up in bed to watch a short video before bed.  Taylor and Mason went to other separate rooms...but Olivia and Aubrey stayed together  Twenty minutes later, there were two sleeping beauties.  This was Olivia's first time falling asleep with a friend in bed with her!  

Upgraded!

Generally when I talk about getting "upgraded" it is in reference to a business flight but not this time!  The trusty TSX was put out to pasture today after almost 8 years of loyal service.  Thanks for all the miles TSX, we will miss you!

Enough of that, please welcome the newest addition to the Hertel house, a 2012 VW GTI!  I had originally had ideas of buying something considerably more ridiculous but I kind of fell in love in the car show and couldn't turn back.  It's fun, sporty, has door locks that work and bluetooth phone!  Welcome to the 2010s me!

The arrival and first family trip (around cul de sac)

You'll surely be seeing the car in future posts so just thought she could use a proper introduction.  Welcome home GTI!

Olivia approves, her quote after our first real drive - "I like daddy's car, it's fun and fast!"

Also I thought it was pretty funny that after going to car shows for about 20 years... I finally actually used one to buy a car!  Unfortunately we don't have pictures but as Andrea and Olivia were taking pictures of the VW Bug they noticed Mason and I checking out the GTI.  She said "this looks like a good car for you?" and I said "I actually like it a lot?!"  The rest is history!

OUCH!!!

(if you want to see, click the image to enlarge)

The result of a sweet little boy tripping over a toy and landing face first into his play table :(  Dentist checked it out this morning and we are supposed to follow-up next week.   Right now, it appears the tooth is not broken; however, it is pushed down and back.  She expects that it will turn a different color and probably fall out.  The gum is split all the way up :(   For the next week he will continue with advil and soft foods.

OUCH!!!

Impromptu

I snapped this picture, just briefly, while we were all standing and chatting.  The kids were all over the place and screaming.  And it was perfect.  Both sets of friends just happened to stop by to drop off things.  Next thing you know it's an impromptu gathering.  Can you tell our weather is incredible?!?

The Car Show

Oh how the Hertel family loves the car show.  This is the fourth year we've gone in Houston (we missed last year because Olivia was still recovering from her T&A).

This was our very first stop.  I'm pretty confident that Tim will own this car one day ;)

Everyone had a wonderful time.  The kids jumped in and out of at least 50 cars and, in true Tim fashion, tried out every seat...just to have that first person experience.  Mason looooved driving every car and Olivia liked putting on the seat-belt like a big girl in every backseat.  And Tim...well, he may have found his new car?!?! (information coming on that and it's not the pretty car above, but it's white and small) 

2.5 hours later after only being in the car for 5 minutes, these were our car show fanatics.  

And because I love reflecting on where we've been and how far we've come...some flashbacks :)

Olivia in the VW Bug (convertible) 

 Olivia chillin' in the stroller

Mason in a truck

(2009) (2010) (2011) 

Foto Friday

Yup...actually took pinterest one step further...

These are "binoculars" made from paper towel rolls. 

Sweet James

This is Laura and her sweet little James.  We used to teach together here in Texas and she has since moved to Baton Rouge, but comes back to visit family and we always try to get together.  

:)

Rosey

This is our new robot.

Her name is Rosey. She's pretty awesome.

The kids keep track if it's their turn to push "clean".

Jerry doesn't mind her (he strongly dislikes our regular vacuum cleaner).  

(sidenote:  When we got our lovely new floors, we knew Jerry's hair was going to show a lot more.  Rosey has been in the plans ever since and was definitely needed.  Rosey is a Roomba.  We had a Neato first and I really liked it...but after the second one broke, we went with the Roomba...haven't regretted it once.)

Playing

Oh they do know how to play nicely together and they know how to resolve problems (listen to Mason cry out for Mommy and Olivia says she stopped...good girl!)

Awesomeness

Missing these sweeties....

A Bouquet

(her) How many legs does Ursula have?

(me) Ursula is an octopus right? Do you remember how many legs an octopus has?

(her) 8! Okay thanks mom.

(her) How much hair does Ursula have?

(me) Oh I don't know about that one...

(her) Like do you think she has a bouquet of hair?

Writing Her Name

The "A" used to be upside down and, if she hurries, sometimes the "V" is upside down.  If she doesn't have enough room, the leftover letters are put back at the beginning.  BUT 75% of the time, this is how her name looks when she writes it (the "I" is lower case).  

:):):):)

His Book

He really, I mean really, LOVES trains, planes, trucks, helicopters, cars...vehicles that move. There needs to be another blog post dedicated to this...  

He asked to sleep with his book and this is how I found him.

Foto Friday - Birthday Edition

Happy 30th Birthday Chris!!

Had a lovely evening out with great friends.  

A "Bubblely" Bath

4 Year Old Well-Check

 Sitting so sweetly.  Notice her hands, I find her like that a lot.

Big 4 year old check-up.  She got her blood pressure taken (they start doing this at 4), they take her temperature under her tongue, she passed both her vision and hearing test, of course we measured both her weight and height.  

The digits:

height: 3'4.5" (63%)
weight: 40 lb (81%)

Love our dr, as she doted on Olivia for a solid 30 minutes.  Just listening to her talk, asking her questions, being a friend.  The dr and I talked about her breathing (she thinks Olivia has childhood asthma and will grow out of it...good!) and recommends that we continue with Qvar once a day for the foreseeable future.  We also discussed eating/drinking habits.  Olivia eats a lot and drinks a lot.  This is good...we need to make sure that we are offering Olivia plenty of healthy choices and proper portions of carbohydrates.   Uuumm wait...I think we all need to remember that!  Also discussed her Molluscum Contagiosum (yes, you read that correctly, it can last 4 years).  She's has it since the winter of 2011.  It started just as three little bumps on her arm.  I never even addressed it to the dr because they weren't bothering her or spreading.  Then it spread and it's irritating her underarm.  So dr put some medication on it to help her body recognize the virus and fight it.

And then came the crummy part.  4 years old means, 4 vaccinations :(  4 year olds KNOW what the special case the nurse is carrying.  4 year olds KNOW the pain that is going to come with the shots :(  Pretty much a crummy situation.  And she handled it exactly how I predicted.  It wasn't fun or pretty.  

However, this is what she looked like 20 minutes later.  

Still working on her "happy smile".  

Obviously, haven't perfected it, as now she wants to squint her eyes.  

Oh wait...she's 4.

Monkey

Every single night, we put Monkey in bed.  

Every single morning, this is where we find Monkey.

Buddies

Biking

So there's a new biker in town!!!  Recently we've been working a little on speed management....you'll see why.

Olivia is also doing excellent riding her bike.  She only needs help with starting and is really close to doing it herself.

Very proud parents!

Wiv

It's his sister.

He's just started calling her by name (FINALLY).  It's Liv, but he doesn't quite have the /l/ sound.  

The other day at the apple store, they were both playing ipads and I noticed Mason getting up and moving his chair and ipad around.  He gets close to her and says, "Sit next to Wiv" and smiles at her.

Foto Friday

(from yesterday) 

We skipped naps yesterday and while we were at gymnastics, this little guy just couldn't hang.  It's been awhile since he's fallen asleep in my arms...

 I loved every minute.

Gymnastics

She loves her Coach!

Practicing her full turn.  

The trampoline is her favorite.  One sequence they practice is "seat, doggie, seat"

Blog Friends & Chocolate

Heads up Friends - if you click on my sidebar to access another blog, you might want to save it.  In a week, I'm going to remove those links.

And for some reason, I chose to eat all of this tonight!??!  

Rainy Weather

And rainy day boots!

The "Kid" Table

Recently when dining out with friends, we've implemented the "kid" table. 

Lovely.

A Sunday Swim

It was 58 degrees out.  

The hot tub was heated to 91 ;)  

Texans Playoffs

Go Texans!

Then & Now

YES!  It's finally happened.  

2012 was the year of HAIR for Olivia :)

Jan 2012

Jan 2013

those curls!

A Tea Party

This girl is loving her "chicken" (kitchen) and having tea parties.  We've spent countless hours creating and serving.  

loving this.

Victory!

This video was from the other day when we set up Mason's bed,

love his determination!

2013

Hello New Year!  It's gonna be a good one.

My resolutions haven't always been kept, and although it's kind-of uncool to make them these days, here they are:

***Read.  Read fiction, non-fiction, children's books, self-help, textbooks, etc.

***Sort through my pictures

***Tim and Andrea 10 year trip (pretty confident this is happening...whoop whoop)

***Complete one race

***Will (this was one from last year!)

***Spend time with kids individually
UPDATE: (i wasn't going to post these..but oh well, here they are)
***Decorate First Floor!
***Bite my tongue less (yes, there is a time and place to hold back words, but I also feel that sometimes saying something would be better for everyone)
***Use the phone less, workout more, eat healthier, etc....