Potty Week and more

I would have to say that Potty Week in the Shelton house was a smashing success. Greyson is well on his way to being the big boy that we knew he was. He's averaging about 1 accident a day which is great for just over a week going sans pull-up. We used a lot of rewards, songs, dances, and the like to get the ball rolling, and it seems to be going great. I've resorted to keeping a potty in the car which we use quite often while out on the road. He LOVES to sit in the back of the SUV and go while we're in parking lots. It seems to be his favorite spot to perform. He's doing much better in public places, and he's almost able to go without messing up his clothing at all :-). YAY! I like to look at each success as one less dirty diaper that I have to change, and that's what keeps me strong. It would be SUPER easy to just jump in a pull up and not have to ask him CONSTANTLY if he needs to go. I know it will get easier with a little bit more time. Even with Potty Week in full swing, we did venture out for some outings to enjoy the gorgeous Spring weather here in Dallas.

We went to a fun park over by Grandma & Grandpa's house. Hannah's new favorite thing to do is run with a push toy all over the park.
Greyson loves to run as always, and this hill proved to be a great nap maker...I LOVE hills officially. He kept running up and down this hill over and over again until he passed out for almost 4 hours...YIPPEE!
With the fab Spring weather, I felt the need (ahem...and Hannah) to try on some of her MANY bathing suits. We won't say that I've gone overboard, because that's just not possible, but the girl does have like 6 swimsuits already. I don't even feel done shopping for those yet....this could be a problem. We're going to swim like EVERY DAY I swear :-). She loved striking cute poses for me and showing off her new duds.
Doing some big girl walking...
Now this is a funny one....most little girls like to stop, admire, and smell the roses. Hannah, on the other hand, likes to throw them on the floor and stomp on them. This really does speak volumes about her personality. She is just a little hurricane of energy, and she loves to rough house and play hard. I LOVE IT!
This is one of her other ensembles that she'll be sporting poolside this summer. Pretty cute!
Tammy and I took the boys and Hannah to the mall to meet the Easter Bunny last weekend since it was unseasonably FREEZING that day. We didn't have a lot of expectations, and they blew them all away. They LOVED that Easter Bunny! He would do these dances with a carrot, and the boys thought he was AWESOME :-). We let them ride the train out at Collin Creek as a treat for being such good little boys, and they were super excited.

Waiting with anticipation to hand over their tickets...
Sunday we woke up with a few inches of snow on the ground....in mid March. I swear that I have seen more snow in the last few months than I have seen in my entire life living in Texas. It's CRAZY. Greyson was peeking out his window first thing, and he wanted nothing more than to make snow angels. Here he is doing that...
He also wanted to make snowballs and throw them at the mailbox...I taught him that. I could live to regret teaching him that, but it was the only thing I could think of that I wouldn't mind him hitting.
Enjoying the snow...
The day after it snowed it was about 65 again. That's Texas for you. We took a trip to the Arboretum to bask in the sunshine and Dallas Blooms event.

Greyson LOVED going to the "flower park"

So my Mom got Hannah a cute sun hat and flower headband to wear for Spring pics, etc. Greyson decided that the hat suited him much better, and he confiscated it immediately.
We got Hannah to wear the flower headband just long enough to take this pic, and that was it. She just isn't into accessories....they make much better toys and snack items :-).
You just can't set up pictures like this...he was, of course, still wearing the pink hat when he fell to the ground. This was him being goofy before trying to get up, and it is my FAV pic from the day. SO goofy!
He flat out refused to take it off....he had a great time looking at all of the flowers, collecting rocks, picking up sticks, etc.
We were finally able to get the hat away long enough to get some pics without it
Hannah did NOT like having grass clippings on her feet. She had to sit down and pick them off before attempting to walk again. It was funny watching her work at this.
The day was complete once we got the kids pinwheels to enjoy...Greyson is still sleeping with his.
Exploring...
On our way home....
We are SO looking forward to this weekend. Greyson has his big kickoff parade/celebration for Blast Ball season Friday evening, and his first game is Saturday morning. GO Longhorns!

Fun-filled Weekend

This was such a fun weekend...we made some great memories, and we started some new activities that we are really excited about. Greyson played in his 2nd soccer game, and he did a great job! Soccer is proving to be a little challenging to get Greyson involved in once the game starts. He continues to tell us "I want to watch....I don't want to play." There's a LOT to keep up with, and there are also a lot of distractions around the field. For some reason the YMCA thought it made sense to put a big playground about 30 yards from the field. It's COMPLETELY tempting, and James and I have to work really hard to get him to NOT play on it during the game. He is the youngest kid on the team so he has the shortest attention span it seems...he's really into the game for about 5-8 minutes, and then he's pretty much done. It's totally worth it just to see him play the first little part or just to put on the adorable uniform. He looks SO cute, and you can tell he feels really big putting in on.
Here is in action...

Taking a little break with Cody and Hannah in their new camp chairs from Grandma and Pa-Pa. He probably liked this better than playing the game :-).
He was a little sad and decided he may need a little nap so Cody was trying to encourage him. It was SUPER cute!
Getting some game tips from Coach Jason with his teammate Jackson
And because there is just not enough to do in our lives, I have signed us up for Blast Ball too! Silly me thought that they would overlap a few weeks so no big deal...of course that is not the case. We had to rush to our 1st practice directly from a soccer game where Greyson was not the most willing participant. James and I were prepared for a TOTAL meltdown upon arrival. We decided not to tell him anything and just see what happened when we got there. The result was MAGICAL! He LOVED it, and we are SO excited that he really is connecting with a sport. Soccer is fun, but this was just so easy for him to play. He jumped right in, and he hasn't stopped since.

Look at that face!
His 1st hit at his 1st time at bat!
That evening Tammy, Toby, Cody, and Kim came over for dinner. Greyson and Cody were ALL over the bats and balls. They played Blast Ball and some special game of "croquet." It was too funny...they always have a great time together.
Sunday we had the opportunity to spend a Day with Thomas...Greyson is OBSESSED with him so we were really excited. It was a little challenging as Hannah was really fussy that day, but overall it went great.

Here we are on our way in...Greyson had to pick out his shirt, and he HAD to wear Thomas of course.
He ran right to this banner when we walked in...he LOVED it!
Of course he found this sand box next, and it was difficult to pull away from that for the rest of the time there. If there is dirt within a 10 mile radius, I swear this kid will find it and play in it. He's such a boy :-).
We did eventually make it on the train with just a couple of meltdowns. Hannah loved the songs they kept playing, and she was putting on a little show.
Greyson was THRILLED to meet the "ducker" aka Conductor.
We played in the backyard all afternoon to take advantage of the GORGEOUS weather. Greyson has the most complex little play ideas...he had this whole pulley system set up when I peaked in on what he was doing. Notice the boots...they are still difficult to get off. He wants to wear them EVERYDAY...it's a battle that we often choose not to fight :-).

I was enjoying a book on the patio when Greyson ran over and said he wanted to join me. He jumped in my lap, quickly lost the boots, and said that he was ready to relax. He kept saying, "I love my little toes!" It was one of those moments you want to record so you can replay it over and over again...SO precious!

We got to go over to the Finch's house for dinner that night, and we had a BLAST! Mark (James' best friend) was celebrating his birthday, and we enjoyed steaks and potatoes with the whole fam. It was so much fun watching Greyson play with Liam, and Hannah play with Scarlett. I ALWAYS love seeing little Eli...Greyson calls him Liam's baby Eli whenever he talks about him.

We kicked off Potty Week this morning with a bang. I took Greyson to the potty every 20 minutes which pretty much meant we were in there ALL day, but it went GREAT! Greyson only had 1 accident, and he had 24 successful potty trips. He even told me that he didn't want to put on pull ups at nap time and bed time although I convinced him otherwise with the promise that he could put his "Big Boys" back on as soon as he woke up in the morning. Let's hope tomorrow goes as well as today...we're so proud of him.

Let the Games Begin

It has officially begun...the practices, the games, the uniforms, all of it! I am SO incredibly excited that Greyson is starting what will hopefully be a new fun chapter in his life....sports! I can't wait to cheer him on as he runs around trying to hit a ball or just picks daisies (as he seems to be into that right now). We decided to sign him up for soccer first as they offer a program for his age over in Plano. He got to pick out his soccer shoes and everything...he did tell me while shopping for the shoes that he didn't want to play soccer. He said, "I wanna play football, Mommy! Hut! Hut!" It was pretty cute, and he even went over and put on a helmet that he pulled off the shelves. I had to let him know that he doesn't get to play that for a few more years :-).

With sports starting for Greyson, that definitely leads into a need for a cheerleader! Hannah got all suited up for her big debut, and she is super happy to cheer for her big brother!














Hannah is also insisting upon feeding herself these days so here are some outtakes of her 1st attempt. Let's just say we reserve this for dinner time so bath time follows soon after.

Here is Greyson at his 1st soccer practice...he really LOVED kicking the ball and racing his teammates. It's hard to get the concept of "no hands" across to him, but he is starting to get it.
His favorite part is definitely "racing" so I caught a video of him freaking out during one such event.

The weather has been GORGEOUS lately so we have been spending as much time as possible outdoors. Greyson throws together fashionable ensembles to go out to the backyard...notice how he paired a lovely flannel Thomas pajama shirt with those striking warm up pants and amazing boots.

Hannah is getting bigger everyday, and she is continuing to practice getting on and off of every riding toy in the house. It's hilarious to watch her try it over and over again...she's just so proud of herself and so are we.Here is Greyson at his 1st soccer game...he plays for ORANGE CRUSH, and they played against the Pink Panthers. Let's just say that we got SCHOOLED! Those girls really had their stuff together...they actually all lined up, kicked the ball, chased the ball, took it from our team, and continually scored goals. We were lucky if we could even get 4 players to agree to go on the field (out of 8 people on the team). Sometimes there were only 2 players from our team on the field, because our players wanted to stay with their Mommies. It was comical....Greyson didn't want to take the ball from other people. He kept telling me that he wanted his ball on the field. We'll see how the season progresses...we'll be cheering him on every step of the way.

Here he is with his jersey on for the 1st time...we got it right before the game. He wasn't too sure about the rest of the uniform at first.

He warmed up to it with a little Oreo cookie bribe from his Mommy....they are the way to get things done.
The coaches stayed on the field for the game to help point the kids in the right direction. He LOVED running after the other kids, and I'm sure that he'll work up to running after the ball really soon :-). They don't really tell you who the winners and losers are, but I think we were close to a tie. Luckily we have 2 players who really like to play, and they made all of the goals.

I decided to turn Hannah's car seat around the other day...this may seem like a small thing to most, but it's a pretty big deal. I was going to wait for a while longer, but she was really hating getting in the thing lately. It's like a whole new world has opened up for her. She likes to sing and dance to the music...she's loving entertaining us!She's been letting go and walking like crazy. She's still not using it as her main mode of transportation, but she's really close.

I feel like I can't get them to sit together for a second so I try to catch these rare moments when they happen. They're both constantly on the move.We had a little birthday dinner for Trevor on Monday at his house. Greyson and Cody were playing together, and we're not sure exactly what happened but Greyson ended up with his 1st black eye. It looks worse now than it did at first...guess I better get another picture :-).

Hannah is mimicking everything she hears, and she's decided that she likes to say daddy! It's her first big girl word...her favorite words up to this point have been uh-oh, baba, etc.

She's just so HAPPY in her new big girl seat, and she feels like she needs to tell me every time we get in the car. She squeals with delight and flashes my favorite big girl smile!
As many of you know...I like to stay super busy! I think I may have pushed things a little too far, but oh well....hopefully we'll have fun in the process. I signed Greyson up for Blast Ball which is kind of like a miniature version of Tee Ball. I thought that it would over lap for maybe 2 or 3 weeks with soccer so it wouldn't be a big deal, but I was wrong. Soccer ended up starting late, and practices for Blast Ball are starting early. Now we have 2 practices and soon 2 games a week. We tried to pull out of Blast Ball, but we would have been leaving a team without a player and Shelton's are not quitters. We're going for it so here goes nothing! Greyson will be playing for the Longhorns, and Hannah will of course be needing an additional cheerleading outfit. The games start March 27th, and our first practice in Saturday.

Next week is Spring Break so Greyson does not have any MDO. We have decided to stay home and dedicate the week to potty training. I am posting it here so that I will feel more accountable to follow through. I really feel like Greyson is ready, but I have been reluctant (and maybe a little lazy) with following through. It takes a lot of time and a lot of patience so this is our perfect opportunity. Wish us luck!