Weekend with Conrad!

This last weekend Lori, Thaddeus' mom, let Gunnar and Bennett stay with her and Ted, while Thaddeus and I had some time alone with Conrad!!

We started out our weekend by having a lunch date at Taco John's (Con's choice!) just mommy and Conrad! He loves their potato ole's!!

Then, with a full belly, he took a great nap while I vegged on the sofa!

The majority of our weekend was spent at Rhythm Church finishing the bathroom remodel project for service sunday night. Conrad helped take all of the cardboard to our van... and then later he helped put it on the burn pile!

Saturday morning was spent in our pajamas playing with Geo Trax. We have a huge set, but Bennett tears everything apart and the boys usually end up fighting so we don't play with them often... Conrad loved having all the Geo Trax to himself!

Saturday night we went to Kohl's (I had some Kohl's cash I needed to spend!) and got Conrad a new toy!

I had a great weekend with Conrad all to myself! (Thaddeus was at the church most of the weekend) It was nice to only have 1 kid for a couple days and be able to give him all my attention!! Thanks Ted & Lori!!

Bennett is 15 months old!!

Bennett turned 15 months old ten days ago, on friday the 13th!! So I'm a little behind, but I wanted to update everyone on her stats and how things with her eyes are going!

Stat wise, she weighs 20lbs (20th%) and is 30inches tall (45th%). Everyday she learns something new... she is the silliest little girl I know!

A few words she can now say:

Bennett

mommy

daddy

hi... bye

hi dad

cake

juice

night night

i did it

banana

eye

head

Bennett loves her blankies and bear... so much so, that nobody can hold them but her! She also loves her Mommy a bit aggressively at times... she screams if the boys sit on my lap and if I give Thaddeus a hug she tries to pull his arms off of me! Like most little girls she has a bit of an attitude and has already figured out that if she screams/yells when the boys take toys from her they'll get in trouble! But, mostly Bennett is just so silly... she likes to blow bubble with her mouth or make all kinds of silly sounds. In the last week she has really found her nose, actually her nostrils, and she enjoys walking around the house with her finger up her nose! (It's pretty darn cute, but something we are working on stopping!)

Last week Bennett had another eye appointment in Iowa City. This time my mother-in-law came with me, and I was so glad to have a little extra help!! We were able to schedule Bennett's surgery for October 12th!! Her eye is so close to be the same vision as the other, that they let us schedule!! I am so excited to have a date and be able to plan a bit! We still need to patch until the surgery date, but only 2-4hrs a day. She has a pre-op appointment 2 weeks before the surgery where they make sure her vision is still were they want it, so please be praying that the patching continues to work and we can go ahead with the surgery!

It was great to talk with her doctor and ask questions about the surgery and things we should expect afterwards. There is a 30-40% chance she will need further surgery to fully correct (or at least mostly correct) her eyes.

Bennett is growing up so quickly!! We love life with our cute pigtailed girl!!

Boys will be boys?

Lately, Gunnar has been going through a phase of disobedience... basically he gets in trouble all the time, and I am pretty annoyed with him often! Here are the 2 big things he has done lately:

2 weeks ago he threw a toy at a window on our porch and broke it... I was having a play date and all the kids were playing on the porch when it happened, but none of them came and told us it happened... one boy even cut his finger on the window! To top it all off, Gunnar lied about breaking the window and told us a different boy had done it.

Then this weekend while I was at a girls game night, Gunnar drew all over our leather couch with an ink pen! Talk about doing something bad... and the worst part is that he's old enough to know better!

So we are at this new point in disciplining where we are taking things away. For breaking the window we took juice away for a week and for drawing on the couch we took his bear/blanket and juice away for the week.

I am open to suggestions on how to deal with this phase Gunnar is going through. I get the fact that he's a crazy boy and that is how boys are, but this lying thing is something that we really need to kick in the butt!! So, any advice would be great!!

A few months later... Spongebob!

Back in May Gunnar turned 4, and I made him a Spongebob Squarepants birthday cake using fondant! Here are some pictures and instructions if you are feeling creative and want to try making a cake with fondant!

The first step is to bake the cake and cut the shape that you need... for spobgebob I used a 9X13 pan and then cut it down to size. Before cutting, I placed the cake in the freezer after it cooled to make it easier to cut. Then you frost the cake so the fondant has something to stick to. Then you are ready to start placing your fondant on the cake... the picture below shows spongebobs brown squarepants.

In order to place the fondant on the cake you have to roll it out to the size and thickness you desire. (also if using white fondant you must dye it your desired color. For this cake I used store bought already colored fondant... it is more expensive but saved me a ton of time!)

Pictured below is my yellow fondant rolled out... you can use a regular rolling pin or a special fondant rolling pin, but either way, you need lots of powdered sugar to keep it from sticking to surfaces.

Spongebob's arms and legs are shaped from fondant and stuck to the cake using water.

Just a few more touches before he's ready!

I used round fondant tools to make the bubbles on spongebob's body.

The hands were pretty tricky! They turned out okay and I loved that he was holding the candles!

And here is the birthday boy enjoying his cake... he loved it and that made the 4 hours of work so worth it!

Praying for Ames

So Much To Do!

Last week Bennett had an eye appointment in Iowa City, so the kids and I went down and spent the night with Thaddeus' parents. We always have a great time at Ted and Lori's house, and there is always so much to do!

Our evening was filled with races on the driveway...

Running up and down the sidewalks...

Taking care of the flowers with Grandma Lori...

Smelling all of the flowers...

Playing in the pool...

And watching Fifi try to get the pet toads!

Never a dull or boring moment when we're with the grandparents!

Potty Training Advice... Please!!

It's potty training time in the Seydel house... or at least I would like it to be! Conrad turns 3 in October and we have attempted to start potty training with him 2 times now. The first time was at the beginning of the summer and the second was in July when the boys were staying with Thaddeus' parents (So thankful that Lori gave it a try!) Basically, he knows when he has to go #2 and will tell us... He is always asking to wear underwear and be a big boy! But when we put underwear on him and fill him with fluids and sit him on the potty nothing happens... so we let him get up and then he goes in his underwear and doesn't tell anybody he went. So there is an obvious red flag... he doesn't mind sitting in his pee/poop.

Like I said before, Con turns 3 in October and I have him signed up for pre-school... but he can't go unless he is potty trained (or at least in the process), so this is why I'm starting to get a little antsy about it all!

He is so strong willed!! If something is not his idea then he won't do it! So, I need help!! Any advice on some strategies for getting Conrad excited about using the toilet/preschool/being a big boy?? I have tried a few things... offering treats like McDonalds or a new toy or candy... and also trying to explain that he can't go to preschool unless he uses the toilet (he is so excited about preschool, but me telling him he can't go doesn't really work for him.)

Gunnar was so easy to potty train, and he wasn't even 2 1/2 when we did it! I made a sticker chart (which he loved!) and that was it... it took 2 days and barely any accidents. Gunnar's personality is so different than Conrad's... Gunnar is a pleaser and Conrad is just plain strong willed!

So, please comment or write me on Facebook if my comment section isn't working... At some point in August Thaddeus' Mom will be taking Gunnar and Bennett for a weekend so I will have time to devote soley to potty training... but I just don't know where to start!