Luke got his first haircut today. Though I wanted it to be as memorable as Joshua's first cut, it wasn't:(. Because his hair took forever to come in, and it came in wavy, we were able to wait this long before his first cut and I think that made me less sentimental about the whole thing.  Easter was coming and I wanted him to have his hair nice and trimmed for the occasion:).

We went to Sun Island in Zeeland and the whole cut lasted about a whole 10 minutes. Luke was HORRIBLE!!! I was going to attempt pictures, but I was so busy pinning the little man down that I didn't have any time to take pics. I even tried to put Mickey on the iPhone and he was still horrible. Though it proved to be a bit traumatic in his little life, the sucker made it all worth it:)! The haircut turned out great and I am very thankful that his hair is curly and will allow us a bit more time between cuts when we have to do it again!

Big Boy Bed

Because I was pregnant with Luke, we kind of "had" to transition Joshua into a toddler bed at a young age, around 17 months. Luke is almost 22 months and we both thought he was getting a little too big for the crib. We wanted to be in a new house before we made that transition, but seeing that that could be forever away, Brad decided to take matters into his own hands, with the "help" of two adorable boys, and make the transition.

We decided the best option would be to convert the crib into a toddler bed.  We never did this with Joshua as we needed to use the crib for Luke. It worked out quite well and seems to be a good option until we move into a new house. 

The first night went great and he went right to sleep! When we checked on him later, he was in the middle of the floor. I am sure it will take a while for him to get the hang of it, but he really seems to be doing well with it. He is so proud of his new bed and grins from ear to ear whenever we talk about it. It's been a few days since we transitioned him (March 17) and he has been doing well with the exception of nap time today (see other post:)). 

What we found when we checked on him

Where am I?

Back to sleep

While They Were (supposed to be) Sleeping

Today was not the best day in the Kuipers's household.  On a scale of 1 to 10, my parenting skills and patience was at most a 3.  I know everyone has these kinds of days and the best part of the day is always when the kiddos are sleeping sound in their beds. It is reassuring to know that each day is a new gift and we get to start over every morning. I told Brad that these days are the days we will talk and laugh about someday while we are sitting at a nursing home together reminiscing. There is definitely never a dull moment!

Here's to a good night sleep and a new beginning:)! Oh and a few pics to sum up the day!

All Through the Night....

Ok, so the boys are at Ms. Arlys's house and I am supposed to be taking advantage of the time alone and working on my school work.  However, I have little motivation to do that and thought I would take a quick minute to update my blog.  Forewarning, this post is very boring to anyone but me...oh and maybe the grandmas:).

Anyway, Joshua started wearing underpants to bed on Sunday, March 4.  He has been doing awesome and has only had two accidents!  He is so proud of himself and loves telling people that he is wearing underpants to bed!  He says it while hopping around and pointing. He is such a boy!

So, there you have it.  Told you it was boring.  I just wanted to make sure I had the date down for my records.  This is the only place that I know I will not lose:).

Pics to follow of this crazy record high weather and the activities that go along with it!

Naples and Disney

"Helping" pack for the trip

We spent this past week in Naples and Orlando, Florida. Our great friends, the Potters, opened Julie's parent's condo to us and invited us to stay with them for part of their vacation. They were wonderful hosts and we had so much fun!

After a flight delay of about an hour and a half, we finally arrived at the condo around 1:00am on Monday morning. The boys didn't fall asleep until the car ride which was around 11:45 pm!

The first morning was a bit chilly, for Florida, so the guys decided that it was a perfect morning for golf. After taking the kids for a walk around the country club, we met up with the guys and stayed close to the condo and hung out at the "little pool" in the afternoon. After much needed naps, we got ready and headed to downtown Naples for dinner on the town. We attempted to do some shopping after dinner, but after a late night the night before, the boys were having a meltdown and it was time to get ice cream at Kilwin's and head back to the condo for bed!

Very happy about the Kilwin's:)


With two cars full of stuff and excited kiddos, we headed to Naples Beach on Tuesday. Joshua and Luke instantly ran to the shore and stayed busy playing with the shells/sand for the first hour or so that we were there! The water was a bit cold, so we didn't head too far into it. Brad played with Joshua in the water for awhile and they found a living starfish and crab.  Joshua was quite intrigued by the ocean. We walked the pier and watched the fishermen for awhile. The trip to the beach was complete with a stop for ice cream, a temper tantrum from Luke (because I took his ice cream cone for a second to take the napkin off the bottom of the cone), and a ticked off little boy who lost his ice cream cone to the seagull(because he was mad and dropped his cone).  It was a hilarious site for sure!

After a much needed afternoon nap (for all), Julie made us a yummy dinner of shish kabobs and grilled it poolside for us.  It was such a fun way to spend the evening with the kids!

We decided to spend our last day in Naples at the "big pool" at the country club.  The weather was extra hot and beautiful that day!  The kids had a blast at the pool. Joshua loved playing on the surf board, and Luke loved sitting on the stairs and playing with all the toys. We also got awesome food, poolside, from Martin (a wonderful waiter at the club). After spending some time packing and napping, we got ready and headed to Marco Island for supper.  We ate at a yummy pizza place called Joey's. The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with the adults only and packing.

We got up extra early on Thursday morning to make our way to Disney World.  We took a back way of getting there and didn't get there until about noon. As soon as we drove into the park, the boys faces were priceless.  They were both so excited about seeing Mickey everywhere.  Joshua would tell us all about the different Mickeys he saw and Luke would just point and babble with the biggest grin in the world! The park was extremely busy (because kids were on "Winter break" - which we didn't realize was going on) but we still had a lot of fun. 

After waiting in a 30 minute line, the boys met Mickey! Joshua was grinning from ear to ear and gave both Mickey and Minnie huge hugs.  Luke was a little timid at first, but warmed up to them as we were about to leave.  Joshua told us that "meeting Mickey" was his favorite thing from all of Florida. 

We also saw parades and shows, rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear and the carousel. We would have loved to have done more, but the heat, long lines, and tired boys had us headed back to the hotel at around 8:00.

We got up early the next morning to get on the plane. Everything went smoothly and we arrived in Chicago around noon and were home by 3:30!  Traveling with two kiddos, three and under, had its challenges, but overall it went better than could have been expected for sure!

Not even going to try and catch up:)....

It's been FOREVER since I last blogged. I don't really miss it, but I definitely miss the memories that I saved on here. So, I am going to attempt to blog, on occasion, again.

The weather has been crazy nice around here lately. It's been one of the mildest Winters that I can remember. We have spent many days outside and the boys are loving it! The other day, Brad worked late and the boys were getting stir crazy, so we went outside for awhile. Joshua insisted on riding his scooter in the 40 degree weather! Crazy kids!

Sweet boy, gum in mouth which is the usual lately!

Rockin' the froggy boots!

Trying this again....

Seeing that I am now unemployed (insert sad and happy face, depending on the day:)), I am finding I have a bit more time to work on extra things such as my blog. I really missed not having everything documented somewhere and realized how helpful the blog was in doing just that. So....I am going to try and start on this thing again!

There is NO way I can catch up on all the posts/activities we've done over the past months, so I am going to start with the most recent accomplishment, Joshua's potty-training!

On Monday, July 18, I decided it was time for Joshua to be potty trained. He is quite big for his age and it was getting a bit ridiculous changing such a big boy. I decided to stay home for 2 days straight and work solely on potty training.

The first day, Monday, he went through 9 underpants by noon! I was about to throw in the towel, but realized figured I would give it until Tuesday night until I gave up. After his nap, he turned a corner and started telling me when he had to go potty. My mom came to watch the kids in the evening, and he was perfect all night! Tuesday he continued to do well and only had one accident all day! He went to Ms. Arlys's house on Wednesday and did great there, too! He has had a couple of accidents yesterday and today (mostly while playing), but overall he is doing great and I think we are definitely over the diaper stage for this 2 1/2 year old! That means it's almost time for another baby....almost...not really:)!