Weekend Catchup!

Wow! The last few days have just flown by! I have so much less me time (not that I had a lot to begin with though) now that we are doing this toilet training. When we are home, I am with Koen to keep him from having an accident. Anyways, I've been dying to get up some pictures and update you on what's been going on at the Melder house!

Thursday:

Such a fun night with our dear friends in our small group. We finished our most recent study the previous week, so we just had a night of hanging out and fun. We all brought dishes for the meal (and it was so healthy and delicious!) and then one couple brought milkshakes for dessert. Check out the picture, it's no joke! They are chocolatiers. Talk about meant to be! They brought in real milkshake machines, their delicious ice cream from the store, whole milk, the syrups and etc. they needed for the add-ins. They made one called "birthday cake" and one called "coffee toffee"...yum! Thanks Small Group for a great night!

Friday:

Doug had the day off and spent all of it doing the backyard project. I was so impressed. He's been so determined to get this done and he has made it look so, so good. Here are a few pictures from the progress on Friday. Koen was very into helping Daddy, but is definitely a little bit of a clutz and kept tripping over everything. Hilarious! Doug is so patient with him sometimes and he did such a great job not losing it amidst all his hard work. Koen loves to be working alongside Daddy.

Aunt Jen came over for a few hours to help with Tavin so Koen and I could have some us time and I could just focus on him and the toilet training and not have to bore Tavin with more hours spent on my lap in the bathroom reading book (or listening to the annoying silly Veggie Tales songs that Koen likes to listen to over and over again when he is "trying").

Friday night we went to a party at our friend's house (actually again, mostly small group, we can't get enough of each other!). We took the boys for the first part, then came home, laid them down, let in the sitter to just sit and watch TV and listen to the monitors and went back out to have some adult time. Doug and I love entertaining, but it's nice to just be the attenders sometimes. Thanks Edwards and Buchanans, we had a blast! And it was so nice to have the boys there in the beginning socializing with our friends. Koen can be such a little adult in those situations. He just sat around the outdoor coffeetable, eating salsa and chips, veggies and hummus and the chicken sausage I brought him. Our friends are so sweet with our kids too, to let them hang out with them and include them (well, Koen at this point) in conversations, etc. It was a nice family time.

Saturday:

Mommy gets to go away for a day! Tavin and I headed to the DC area (VA suburban sprawl) for a dear friend's baby shower. My friend Kelly and I drove down together, which was so fun in and of itself just to have car time together catching up for hours (and the two of us...we can talk!). Tavin did great on the road down napping on and off and relatively pleasant when awake. It was very special to be at the shower for Sarah and it was great to see Jenny and Corrie there too. It was definitely a reunion for all of us and we all have such a great time together despite the fact this happens once year or less usually! One of my favorite parts of the day though was going to back to Sarah and Rich's house after the shower and hanging out with Scott and Jenny and their kids, Corrie, Kelly, and Sarah and Rich. Their home is so comfortable. None of us wanted to leave. Kelly and I did pull ourselves away after Tavin's 7pm feeding and "put him to bed" in his carseat for the ride home. I got in about midnight, so needless to say, I'm going to be tired today!

Speaking of being tired today, yesterday Douglas and Koen stayed at the house and Doug practically finished the major stuff in the backyard! The patio is completely done, the pathway is done, he edged a new garden bed with bricks, planted two trees, built me a bench (out of that slate fireplace mantle he had found buried). These are the pictures that he texted me last night of the yard. I couldn't take any this morning because it's raining. I am so impressed at all he accomplished while taking care of Koen. And it looks so good!
Today:

The boys slept in. Tavin woke up around 7:20am and Koen is still in bed and quietly talking (exhausted from outdoor day with Daddy including that he never settled for his nap and went to bed past 8pm). It is the Pittsburgh Marathon today (go Aunt Abbie in the half and Aunt Megan in the relay!). Unfortunately, it is rainy. We were going to walk to Northway Oakland for the block party they are hosting for families watching the race, but that can't happen anymore. We will try to make it to the 5pm service tonight instead. Other than that, the only other thing on the agenda is to get Koen toilet trained! And then of course, I on my own time have about 25 things I would like to accomplish. I'm not getting my hopes up. =)