Omi must be funny!

My mom visited this afternoon for a while, and she sure made Max laugh!  I love this sound! 

Will He Ever Get It?

Okay, so we just started potty training this week, and we have had relative success so far.  But really...how many times will Cole pee all over our floor before he gets it?   He's been wearing underwear at home and we visit the toilet every 45 minutes or so.  Sometimes with a popsicle, a cookie, a good book, or some tractors and cars.  Sometimes just having a funny conversation keeps him there for a few minutes.   Sometimes he just sits there and nothing happens. Sometimes he does his business quickly.   Sometimes he sits there for 15 minutes, nothing happens, he gets up and pees all over the bathroom floor.  Yikes!  I know this is normal...but it's taking me way out of my comfort zone of control!   The thing that gets me the most is how he can just pee in his underwear and not be phased by it.   Really!   Cole and I are both learning, and I am doing way more laundry.  It's new territory for us...that's for sure! 

Wild Man Cole

Cole LOVES to ride his Hot Wheel even though his feet don't quite reach the pedals yet!  Today when Chris came home from work for lunch Cole showed him his latest trick...making the turn to go all the way down the street.   Up until today he only made it into our neighbor's yard.  

Lately at the Franks

Lately we've been busy!  First things first.  Cole pooped on the potty yesterday!  Yahoo!  Take a moment of silence.

We've also been outside a lot now that the weather is nice.  My mom and dad visited on Saturday and Chris and my dad built our storage shed.  Now we have a place to store things like a lawn mower, stroller, etc. since we don't have a garage.  They also did some major power washing on our back porch and driveway.   They wore ponchos and it was fun to watch.  What an amazing invention.   You don't realize how much dirt sits around until you power wash it away.  Wow!  Saturday afternoon Chris and Cole built an area to compost.   We've never had a yard before, so all of these things are exciting!  And last but not least, Max is learning to sit in his Bumbo seat and play with a couple toys.  Fun! 

Baking Day...and the Earthquake

I spent yesterday baking away for a wedding shower one of my mom's friends is having tonight.  It was so much fun!  I baked Minnesota Cocoa Brownies (thanks Linda Schwartz!), Brown Sugar Cookies, Brown Butter Blondies, and Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate chip cookies.   I made little favor bags for the shower, too.   If you are having a party and you need a baker, call me! 

And yes, we were awakened this morning at 5:45 a.m. because the earthquake was shaking our bed!  Chris halfway woke up, said "earthquake," and went back to sleep.  He's from CA.  Earthquakes are more normal there.  I, on the other hand, have never experienced awakening by shaking, so I couldn't go back to sleep.   Chris halfway woke up again a few seconds later and told me that if it happens again, we need to get the boys and stand under a doorframe.  Then, seconds later, Chris is dead asleep leaving me to anticipate the next shake.  None came, thankfully, and the boys slept through it all!  

Daddy Time

A couple nights ago Chris introduced Max to dancing on the kitchen counter AND he took Cole shopping in one of our IKEA bags.   What fun!  Chris is becoming the P.O.C. (Parent Of Choice) around our house.  Yay for Daddy! 

Morning Conversation

Scene:  7:30 a.m. in our kitchen...Chris is getting ready to leave, Max is hanging out in his rocker, and Cole is marching around the kitchen providing commentary on the morning. 

Anne: Cole, I'm making eggs for breakfast.

Cole: Mommy, I don't want eggs. 

Anne: You don't have to eat them, then, Cole. 

Cole: Mommy, make the eggs on the grill!  (Sidenote: We grilled out for dinner last night.)

Anne: Cole, I'm not sure I know how to do that. 

Cole (as if it was no big deal): Daddy will teach you. 

Maybe Chris can try that on the weekend?  Stay tuned. 

Flat Stanley Visits

Flat Stanley arrived in our mailbox just a few days ago from Southern California. His owner, Evan Woyshner, sent him to us to experience the springtime in the Midwest.  Lucky Stanley!  So today Cole took Stanley on an adventure around our neighborhood, and I wanted to share with you a few of the highlights. 

Max and Stanley hung out on the comfy green chair in the boys' room.  Max had a great time! 

Cole and Stanley enjoyed a popsicle on our front porch bench...one of Cole's favorite springtime activities.  Stanley insisted on wearing his Indiana Basketball jersey, too.  This Midwest spring air really has infected him!  He is so sad that DJ White graduated and Eric Gordon has decided to go to the NBA, but still I think he will remain loyal to the Hoosiers.

Stanley also learned to climb trees this afternoon.  His favorite was the Dogwood tree in our front yard.   The buds have yet to open, but we're hoping they do before Stanley jumps back in his envelope and goes back to SoCal later this week. 

Wii Training Session

John Deere

Cole received a John Deere wagon for his birthday, and today we took it for a spin.  Max just watched from the front porch.  He'll be big enough soon!   Cole loves to wear his John Deere hat, too, and he recently told me that his favorite tree in our back yard is named John Deere.   It's things like this that I never in my wildest dreams imagined before we had Cole.  Now it's just ordinary.  Interesting how life changes!

Max's Favorite Game

Birthday Balloons

Thanks Jane & Kim for the wonderful birthday balloons for Cole!  He is in heaven!

In other news...Max slept from 9:15 p.m. or so until 7:00 a.m.  and we're down to 5 feedings a day.  Success!

Victory Day

I have deemed today Victory Day!  It's only 3 p.m., but enough victories have occurred already today that if the rest of the day is junk we still win.  I took Cole to the doctor for his 2 year checkup this morning.  Up until today, our adventures at the doctor have been complete day-ruining disasters.  Cole runs away from me and the nurses have to chase him around the office while I take care of Max...you can imagine the craziness.   Today, though, Cole was nothing short of perfect!  He stood on the scale patiently, he did not run away at all, he ate his snack nicely, he said hi to the doctor when he walked in, let the doctor check him out, and the best part is when the nurse had to draw blood from his finger for an iron test, he didn't cry but said, "There's blood in that tube, Mommy."  He loved the red band-aid she gave him afterwards.  Woah. What a victory!  Then we get home and are playing in Cole's room with Lego blocks.  I have been noticing lately that Max loves to use his legs to push up. He kicks the toys on the play gym instead of reaching for them, and he can support himself with his legs if we hold his hands.  Crazy for a young baby, right? I thought so until he did it.  So I decided today to put Max in the Johnny Jumper in Cole's bedroom doorway.  He loved it!  He watched Cole and I make block towers and "blow them down" just the wolf does in the 3 Little Pigs story.   Cole is really into that book right now.   We read the version called The True Story of the Three Little Pigs where the wolf claims to be framed because all he wanted from the pigs was a cup of sugar for his dear old granny's birthday cake.  Cole loves it!  The next victory is that I'm trying to stretch Max's feedings to 3.5 hours instead of 3 hours between feedings.   Yesterday was rocky, but today Max has been great!  Less spit up and great naps!  So after the blocks we took a walk around our neighborhood to enjoy the sun.  I put Max in the baby bjorn facing out so he could watch the world and he loved that, too!  I put his little sun hat on and we took to the streets!  We watched the bulldozers and dump trucks that are doing construction on the street next to ours.  What great free entertainment for Cole.  So then we come home and it's time for lunch.  I put Max down for his 2nd nap of the day and he sleeps soundly for almost 2 hours, and in meantime Cole and I had a great lunch, Skyped with Chris's parents in CA, made milkshakes, and read a bunch of books together.  Cole took his nap at 2, and Max woke up a few minutes after that for his next feeding, right on time!  And lastly, my grandma called me today to tell me she's sending me a Gardening in Indiana book because I call her so much with flower questions. We haven't lived in this house in the spring yet, so all kinds of interesting things are beginning to come up that I am so intrigued by and she's an expert gardener so I call her all the time.  I think my neighbors have a peony bush...my favorite!  

I normally never write such long posts, but today was definitely blogworthy!  Thanks for sharing in my victory day!    

My Favorite Things

• Cole and Max
  
• texting
  
• Downy Lavender & Vanilla fabric softener 
  
• microfiber kitchen mitt & rags
  
• Homepedics sound machine
  
• Oreos & chocolate Teddy Grahams
  
• iPhoto editing features
  
• Marc Broussard's music
  
• homemade pancakes (with 2 Tbsp. of Sprite for extra fluffiness!) 
  
• Febreeze candles
  
• pears & cantaloupe
  
• Medela steam cleaning bags
  
• flossing my teeth

Max is almost 3 months old...isn't he cute?  I love his little hoodie sweater.  He slept through the night last night for the first time, too.  Yes!