Team blue, here we come!!!!

Exciting news, it turns out this new little nugget is a boy! It will be fun to have one of each and see how different / similar they are going to be! Maelin most likely will be in a creative or theatrical field, so maybe this little boy will be less drama and a bit more athletic. She's been asking for a boy since we told her she was getting a baby. When we delivered the news to her she shrieked and then took the ultrasound pictures to show Begley, explaining to him that this is her baby brother. It's pretty cute how excited she is, but I'm not sure she is fully understanding that he is going to be permanent and not just a toy she can stop playing with when she's sick of it.

Potty Training - Failed

Potty Training Failed for the Following Reasons:

• peed in the yard b/c that is what begley does  
• peed on the couch twice after using the toilet
• peed in the middle of a restaurant, left a puddle on the floor (SUPER EMBARRASSING)
• peed in her stroller
• peed on the living floor
• peed on Brett (kind of funny)

In summary, since she is not understanding she is different than the dog, thinks peeing on the couch is hilarious, and is not embarrassed about peeing in public; I am going to guess she is not fully ready for underwear. Back to diapers for now. 

Aside from cleaning up pee, Maelin and I hit up Disney on Ice. We needed something to do on a very rainy day and ended up getting tickets an hour before the show. She  had a blast and it kept her entertained for a couple hours. 

Cannot contain her excitement before the show

Getting ready for the show

Dancing with Minnie

Potty Training Days 2 and 3..

Day 2:

An OK day......three peed on outfits when I picked her up from school....she drank a lot because it was 100 degrees outside...I am going to cut the girl some slack

Day two in undies, here we go!!!!'

Day 3:

Lots of improvement. Only one accident, whoo hoo! Next, I think we need to work on Maelin delivering effective 'thumbs up'.....

'Thumbs up for potty training!!!! Doing great on day number 3 of underpants at school!!!'

'Im in my same clothes Mom and Dad! I'm doing a great job potty training! '

'Look Mom and Dad! STILL Same Clothes! :)

Potty Training - Day 1

Day 1 of potty training, the teachers at school kept us updated throughout the day.....

'Here we go!!! Go Maelin!!!!!'

'I've been dry and in the same underpants all morning!!!!!!!!!! Way to go girl!!!!!!!!!!!!'

And then we get home, shoot........ peed on the sidewalk!

It's trial and error now, hopefully tomorrow goes just as well and eventually Brett and I have the same luck her teachers are having.

Summer of fun coming to an end.......

Its hard to believe summer is already coming to end. Our summer fun has been slightly modified since we have a two year old we are responsible for, there were fewer summer concerts, street fests and happy hours - all replaced with more kid friendly activities. We kicked off the summer by renting a house in Michigan with my sisters and their families. The kids love it, as do the adults, the weekend is filled with cookouts, swimming, and drinking (what more could you ask for). We also spent lots of time in the city, exploring the zoos, parks, and pools. There were also birthday parties, fireworks, dinner with friends and a few late nights for Brett and not so many for me - sober sally.

Kicking off summer with a project of power washing

school morning

MI pool fun

MI kayak adventure

First corn shucking experience

Exploring Chicago

Millenium park water fun

too much fun

new toy

putting the new toy to good use

kiddie sangria

4th of july

boat show

pool day

zoo dolphin show, cooling off

cake pop

newly discovered parade wave

Now that fall is fast approaching we need to get to work on the house. Maelin is getting a new room and the nursery may have to be updated, depending on if this new little one is a boy or  girl. I am pretty certain its a boy, Brett is thinking girl, our battle will soon be ending in a few weeks. Regardless, Brett has a lot of projects ahead of him, it's a shame preggers people can't paint, heehe.

The Hood Experiment Part III

Welcome back to our blog. We started in October 2010 with Part I - Pre-baby, then March 2011 began Part II - Baby, and now Part III....which we are thrilled to announce we are welcoming a fourth pair of shoes to our household in early February 2014! There will be a lot of exciting changes happening over the next several months, and Maelin has just begun her prep work.

Happy Second Birthday!

Maelin turned 2 last weekend and we've had a couple fun weekends of celebrations.  We weren't really sure what to buy a two year old, especially since she isn't super interested in anything in particular (if I had my way I would have gotten her a new spring wardrobe but probably not so fun for her).  So, last weekend on her actual birthday we thought it would be fun to take her to the Disney store and let her pick out her own toys.  She is not "in the know" about Disney and all the characters, but just about lost in when we walked through the door of the store.  Her first stop was the display with all the Mickey and Minnie Mouse stuffed dolls, where she paused and said "WOOOOWWW". After she found her mouse she scanned the store for anything else that might be fun - we netted out with a Mickey doll, princess set and a book. I'm not sure where all the princesses have ended up but the mouse has now been added to the crew that she sleeps with at night.
 

 Mouse times 2 (we only purchased 1)

 Princess Set

 B-Day Cake

 This weekend our families all came to visit for her birthday and we had a fun joint birthday dinner with Charlie.  The kids had fun together and the adults were able to enjoy some vino and good italian food.

Birthday Cousins

 B-day cake 2

Aside from birthday celebrations we've had a few lazy weekend days in between cleaning up the snow that seems to still be never ending.  Maelin also learned the word "damnit" today after the badgers lost against Ohio State.....I blame the badgers and not Brett :) 

 Lazy day in Begley's dog bed - it's a good thing he shares

Helping us shovel

Peace!