Potty training, day one

Dan decided to take the plunge and begin potty training this morning. The first day went so-so... Caleb had some accidents and some successes. Here he is modeling his new duds.

Career day

Today was career day at preschool. We've known this was coming for a while and Lillian has mentioned wanting to dress as a ballerina, a bookstore owner, and a nurse. She finally settled on a nurse and looked awfully cute all dressed up!
When she got to school she discovered that her best friend from school was dressed as a doctor!

Potty training and Rapunzel

Caleb has been using the toilet for a while now but we have not yet taken the plunge with all-out potty training. Tonight I brought the kids to the store and we bought Caleb some Thomas & Friends big boy underwear. We ran into Rapunzel along the way!

Go HOPE (again)!

After a busy week and our relaxing day yesterday I still have one more class session today. To offset my being gone once again for several hours we went out for breakfast at Russ'. Since the Flying Dutchmen will be playing for the MIAA championship later today we also had to wear our Hope gear!

Lillian's first snow day!

This week has been incredibly busy for our family. I spent all afternoon and evening at parent-teacher conferences on Monday and Wednesday and had a class all afternoon and evening on Tuesday and Thursday. Knowing Friday would be a day off made the other four busy days a bit more bearable. The icing on the cake was that Lillian had her first snow day today and could stay home with us all day long! We felt the need to celebrate! We had pumpkin muffins for breakfast, followed by lots of playtime.
Later on I had my 35-week appointment while the kids napped. Baby boy is looking good!
The snow that fell was so thick and wet that it made great packing snow. We finally made a respectable snowman!Afterward we warmed up with some roasted marshmallows in the fireplace. It was a great, memorable day!

Creative play

Caleb and Lillian like to play creatively...

Lillian's first time bowling

Today the children's ministry at our church had a bowling trip. We dropped Lillian off at Hudsonville Lanes and she got to go bowling for the first time with her friends. She had a great time!While Lillian was bowling, Dan and I took Caleb out to lunch and to play at the mall. He made sure Thomas got some lunch too!

Valentine's Day

I couldn't be home with the kiddos during the day to celebrate Valentine's Day, so I set out a special breakfast surprise. Okay, so it's not healthy, but I knew the kids would be excited!
Lillian is the star helper at preschool today, which means Dan got to join her for the morning. They had a lot of fun!
When I got home from school we let the kids open their card and some small presents. They were thrilled with their books and light up ducks!
Later in the evening we all had festive heart-shaped pink waffles for dinner and read their new books before bedtime.

Froggie hat

We got the kids new hats for Christmas and Caleb has not been very fond of his most days. For the last couple of days, however, he has not wanted to take his frog hat off! He kept it on the entire time at church this morning and most of the day since then!

Go HOPE!

The Hope men's basketball team is having an amazing season and is currently ranked number one in the nation for division 3! We went to Russ' today in our Hope garb to help "cheer them on."I wish Caleb's face was more clear in this shot - it cracks me up!

Favorite pastime

Once again, this is our kids favorite thing to do at church. Well, second to eating doughnuts.

Feeding the ducks

This morning I took the kids out to the Carter's Outlet to get some good clearance deals. They were well-behaved at the store so we visited the ducks afterward. It was chilly but the kids had a blast!It was a bit windy...

32-week ultrasound

I've been measuring ahead of schedule so my doctor ordered a 32-week ultrasound of our little guy. Thankfully everything is looking great and according to all the measurements of the ultrasound he is measuring just 10 days ahead, which is nothing to be concerned about. We brought the kids along and made a special afternoon of the appointment. We also got some great pictures of the little one, who the ultrasound tech says already has hair!