This just in....

Xander rolled over from his back to his tummy. Another great first for my little guy!!!!!

4 months old

Yep, our little guy turned 4 months old Wednesday. He is growing up so fast, he is learning all sorts of new things and getting bigger every day. He has just found his feet and got his knees under him today while on his tummy. He is really good at rolling side to side on his back, but hasn't made the full flip over yet. He is getting good at grabbing things, like soda cups, thanks to Uncle Mike. He is really interested in watching us eat too and generally follows the path of my fork from plate to my mouth. He is sleeping better at night, but has been having problems with naps. He is teething really bad right now and I think he is in the middle of a growth spurt as well. Poor little guy gets pretty cranky sometimes.

Uncle Mike was here for a visit too and as always Aisling had a blast playing with him. We went to Disneyland too and she even rode on Dumbo with him. She even went on the roller coaster in Toon Town again and loved it this time. She had been asking all day to go on it and had a blast. Xander really seems to like his Uncle too, so it is official that Uncle Mike is a hit with the Kesinger kids. They all play hard and Ais was exhausted by the end of his visit, but she was looking for him the whole day after he went home. So cute.

As for me, I am officially no longer employed. I had my exit interview at Disney on Friday. It is kind of weird even though I am so happy to stay home. Heck I haven't been unemployed since I was about 17 years old. But what better job for me than to spend my time as a Mom. Even though my hair is falling out from being pregnant, Aisling has been really challenging lately and Xander has been extra fussy, I wouldn't want to be anything else than Mommy.

What is this thing for???

Aisling is making sure Xander is enjoying his new toy. Well, actually she is playing with every piece of equipment on the darn thing. She loves all the baby toys that are sprouting up around the house. Xander loves his exersacuser too, but he gets a little frustrated because he can't quite get most the toys into his mouth yet.

Brother and sis just hanging out and being cute. So far they still really like each other.

Ais pretends to be Nadia on the uneven bars. Ais went to a birthday party for Tristan last weekend. I never did get a picture of the birthday boy with Ais. Turns out toddlers enjoying a birthday party at the little gym are hard to catch.

Uncle Mike and Ais on Dumbo. She was so excited to go to Disneyland with her Uncle, and Grandma and Grandpa.

Uncle Mike shows Xander how to use a cup. Luckily it was empty, but Xander was able to pick it up by himself and even got the straw into his mouth at one point. I have video which I will load up soon too. It was pretty amazing.

Uncle Mike and Ais enjoying the zoo.

Disney again, Xander Sits up

So we just barely get our heads around Xander rolling over and then he goes ahead and sits up. Of course, I propped him up and he was only upright for a couple of seconds and then tumbled over, but it was still a first. My little baby is growing up so fast.

We had a fun day at Disneyland on Sunday with guest star Becca. We had a nice visit with Becca who is doing amazing even though she is due the beginning of November. Heck I was ready to keel over at that stage of my pregnancy. We had lunch, went on a few rides, Xander slept or nursed through most of the fun, but he did get to enjoy the Tiki Room. It was fun even though Ais was a but cranky, I think a result of her only taking 1 nap in nearly a week and a half.

Becca, Brian, Xander and Ais on Main street.

Becca putting Xander to sleep.

Xander in his Bumbo.

"Hey, I can still fit in my Bumbo".... Ais loves all the baby toys around the house. She figures why should Baby Xander have all the fun.

Xander rolled over

He did it. He rolled over from his tummy to his back. He has been rolling from side to side on his back for a few weeks now, but he finally made a whole rotation albeit from tummy to back. Yay!!!!

Xander working on his side to side rolls and hand coordination with his new favorite toy. He likes to gnaw on anything that comes near his mouth.

You want me to do what, roll over?

Aisling giving Xander a bottle, why Mommy is enjoying a trip to the market without little ones.

As if Xander not sleeping good at night isn't enough, here is Miss Ais, after nap time. She has only taken one nap this week. Why don't my children like to sleep. It is all I want to do.....

Regression X2

Well, sleeping through the night was fun and so was having a potty trained child. However, it seems that my two little cherubs have other ideas. Xander is back to waking up 3-4 times a night. I think it may be teething, developmental or the fact that he rotates in his crib counter-clockwise and tends to wake up annoyed when he end up lengthwise across the crib. Luckily, for the most part, when I straighten him out and after a little fussing he goes back to sleep, but I am still exhausted as of late. So a call to the sleep consultant has us trying out a new schedule which will hopefully return our blissful nights of slumber.

And as for regresser offender #2, Ais has not done anything in the potty since Tuesday. Ugh!!! She'll sit there and play for a while, but won't do any business. Hopefully, she will get back to using the potty one of these days, at least before she graduates from college.

Potty Time

So Ais has taken the first steps into the big world of bathroom hygiene. We officially started potty training her on Saturday. We went all out and tried the 3 day potty training method which basically has you get rid of all the diapers and go straight to underwear. It was a pretty long, hard, and messy three days. It started off ok on Saturday, Sunday was really good and she even did a poo-poo in the potty, but as of last night Ais was screaming and running anywhere but to the potty when she had to go. Ais and I were so frustrated I decided to put her into Pull-Ups and meet somewhere in the middle. This morning she woke up and has used the potty all day today and only had one accident during nap time. It is amazing, it just clicked and she knows what to do and where to go. She also knows she gets and M&M when the deed is done, so I think that has helped as well. So for the most part Ais is potty trained or at least mostly potty trained. I don't have any pics of this momentous achievement, but then do you really want to see one anyway????

As for Xander, he has been a trooper through this whole thing too. Thank goodness he has recently gotten better at holding toys and getting them into his mouth at least for a few moments. So he doesn't mind being put down in the bouncer for a few minutes while I help his big sis.

Catalina trip

This week I took the kids to Catalina for a little end of Summer fun with Aunt Joan, Grandma Kettle (or Grandma Peddle, as Aisling calls her), and of course Sam the dog. Brian couldn't make it because he had to stay behind for training on a new project at work, so I decided take them on my own. We had a really great and exhausting time. Aisling was so excited to go on a boat and could hardly stand the wait to board. She wanted to walk around the entire trip which was really a challenge. Luckily Grandma Kettle and Aunt Joan were along for the trip there to help out. Ais and Aunt Joan bought some M&M's which seemed to help pass the time.

We finally made it there and we all packed into a cab to take us to the house Aunt Joan had rented. It was a nice little place with a patio that Aisling just loved to run around. She was obsessed with Sam too and ran after him and held his leash and tried to keep him awake anytime the poor thing tried to settle down. Ais would just dance around the house and patio because she was so excited and happy. We had pizza for dinner and hit the hay early. The night was pretty rough, Aisling slept great in a big queen sized bed, but I ended up on the floor with Xander as the bed was too soft for it to be safe for him and he wouldn't sleep in his baby travel bed. I managed to eek out 2 maybe 3 hours of sleep at night and decided that we head home early on Wednesday instead of trying to survive another night.

Wednesday was really fun. We all went down to the boardwalk for pancakes. Aisling had chocolate chip of course and we all had a nice breakfast. Then it was off to the beach. Aisling who loved the sand and water last summer was terrified of it this summer. Guess she only likes the warm bahama water instead of the chilly Pacific Ocean. But after a few minutes she was content to play in the sand with a shovel and bucket that Aunt Joan picked up for her. Her favorite thing to do was to throw the sand in the air. She was covered in it. I am still finding it everywhere. She also liked the Ducks, well they were pigeons really, but Ais was certain they were Ducks. And of course there was a trip to the shell store to buy AIs her first Shells from Catalina, a tradition that was established when I was a little kid and Aunt Joan and Grandma would take Becca and I to Catalina. She loved them and wanted to eat them for lunch. After several attempts to explain to her that they were not food she agreed to just look at them.

So after a fun day and a nice visit with Grandma, Sam, Aunt Joan and a couple of Aunt Joan's friends we headed back to the boat. Aunt Joan's friend set us up with preboarding and some help to load my little crew onto the boat and off home we sailed. I was pretty nervous to brave the trip back entirely on my own, but the kids were great. Xander slept the whole boat ride and Ais watched her Mickey Cartoons on the Ipod and ate Goldfish crackers. It was a nice trip home, we even saw a dolphin. She was pretty upset when we got to the mainland and there was no sign of Sam. Ais fell asleep in the car on the way home at 5:30pm and didn't wake up until the next morning. I have never seen her so tired before. And of course Xander was perfect and quite the little charmer as he laughed with Aunt Joan and slept and cuddle with Grandma. He really is such a good baby. We had a good time and I am still a bit tired, and it may have been a bit harder and more challenging than I had anticipated, but I am glad I did it and thanks to Aunt Joan and Grandma for their help. It was fun and a great memory I will always cherish.

Our crew waiting for the boat to Catalina. Aisling, Grandma Kettle, Aunt Joan and of course Sam.

Grandma and Aisling waiting for pancakes. They were so good and so messy....

Aisling, Xander and Mommy enjoying the beach in Catalina.

Aunt Joan and Ais on the beach.

Aisling flinging her sand with her new shovel.

Grandma Summer Days

It has been an awesome summer and now it is time for our teacher Grandma's to go back to work. It has been a great treat to get to spend so much time with both of them and they have been an amazing help with the kids. So thank you to both Grammy's, I will miss the fun days and will look forward to next summer.