Happenings ons lately....

FUN TIMES IN MAY

We have had so many things going on this past month and I don't have all of the pictures for it yet, but in my lack of time I am just going to say a brief description of the picture and call it good ;-)

Mothers day Nate and Gabe woke up early (or let me sleep in) and they made the most delicious french toast I think I have ever had!

WHERE IS GABE?

Gabe has a new game he likes to play. Whenever I do the laundry he likes to lay on the floor and I dump all of the clothes on top of him! He LOVES IT!

here he is!

Another thing he likes to do is take his little squirt gun and run around the house chasing us! We get soaked!

FUN TIME WITH FRIENDS

We are starting the "good-bye" stage. It is so sad to say good-bye to all of our good friends! I am hoping that it is just a "see you soon!" instead of a "good-bye!"

This makes me happy to see Gabe being so sweet to babies. He is trying to give her the binkey! I know he will be a great big brother!

This next series of pictures I think is so funny! It was kind of windy and Bryan (janel's husband) was taking pictures of us, and for the life of us we couldn't get everyone to look and smile at the camera!

This one is hilarious!

Yep, windy...

This one we were at least looking at the camera....

I am going to miss these girls! Maria, janel, me, and then venna. We have been friends for the past 5 years and I am hoping that we can remain friends forever!

THE BOYS

THE REASON FOR NOT BLOGGING LATELY.....

Nate and I have been really crazy lately. 4 years ago Nate started his own business called Mangia Technologies and it has been such a fun time seeing his vision come to reality, with the help of a lot of friends! But now that chapter in our life has come to an end. It was a really good run and we are sad to see it go, but when one door closes another door opens.

I am so proud of Nate! He was working on a project and an old friend came up to him and told him that he wanted Nate to apply for this job and thought he was the perfect fit. Intrigued, Nate decided "well, it wouldn't hurt". Well, it turns out that he got it!!!! Are you ready to hear what job it is?

WORKING WITH THE NFL AS 'MANAGER OF SALES AND SPONSORSHIPS!'

So, as quick and crazy as this is, we are moving to......

The city that never sleeps! NEW YORK!

Although his job will be in new york, I was thinking we might live in the suburbs and actually live here...

Connecticut. Isn't it beautiful!

That way we aren't too far from the city but I will have a little more room for my little kiddos to run around. Also, nate's parent and sister live in connecticut so we will be close to them, which will be nice for when the baby is born.

So, don't hate me for not blogging, we have had a lot going on lately! We would LOVE visitors so come to new york!

The High's And Low's

We were out in Connecticut last weekend for our MIRACLE nephew Charlie's baby blessing (pictures to follow soon!). While we were out there Gabe was playing with his two cousins Abby and Molly whom he ADORES! Abby is 6 and molly is 3. Gabe couldn't be in better company then he is with these two cousins. I am finally at the point where I don't have to watch him all the time and he can just go and play with them on the swing set outside or in the toy room and he is perfectly content not having me there with him. (finally!)

So, a little background to this story. I have been introducing gabe to the toilet for the past two months casually here and there to get him interested in potty training. We have had some success where he would see Nate or I head to the bathroom and he would come running ahead of us and take the toilet first.

So as we were out in connecticut I was trying to have gabe see that Molly was going on the potty and that she was a big girl doing it all by herself. He started to get the idea of it when one night he didn't want to get in the tub and I couldn't figure out why, until he started to pee all over the floor, that he wanted me to put him on the potty! (language is still an issue in our house with him!)

After we flew home I just decided while his mind was fresh with Molly and Abby, I thought I would start cold turkey and put him in big boy underwear then set a timer for every 15-20 min.

The first day was AMAZING! No accidents, no complaints, only enthusiasm and joy. It was going so well!!!! YIPEE! I couldn't believe it! But then he woke up the next day grumpy......and all went down hill from there. He screamed when we mentioned the potty, he had 3 accidents in his pants that morning and 2 more that afternoon. We had to do all that we could to get him to sit on the potty but he didn't want to go. I know this isn't how we should do it and we were trying desperately to make it fun and exciting for him and not complaining when he peed his pants, but when I am 20 weeks pregnant, patience is something that comes in a limited supply!

So after 3 days of begging and pleeding......we decided to put the diapers back on and see if we can still ask him to go potty on the toilet, but not make it as overwhelming as we did before. It seems to work, he is still going 3-5 times a day on the toilet so we are progressing. Just not in the method I thought!

But it truly helps when I do this:

Gabe can't be "one-upped" by woody! So he always gets on the potty after I give woody all of my praise and adoration for going potty! Hey you do what you have to do right!

So for you mom's out there. Do you have any tidbits on what I can do to help gabe get potty trained? I have 4 months until this baby comes so I wanted to give him a good head start on this so he doesn't regress! Any input would be great!

EASTER

I am a little bit behind on pictures so this week I am going to try to update some fun times we have had this past month! I will start with Easter.

I was a little unsure how gabe would like dying easter eggs but he loved it! Well, he loved sticking his hands in the dye and turning the egg around and around! Thank goodness for plastic table cloths!

As you can see we have already dyed a few eggs at this point and gabe was still going!

Look at those hands! I think more got on him then the eggs!

Easter morning we were able to go up to my in-law's cabin to spend time with them while they were in town. This isn't the best picture of gabe but he had so much fun trying to find the eggs! We mostly have video of easter morning so I might add a fun clip later on this week, but he mostly just picked an egg, sat down to eat it, and then went to find another one. But he was starting to get the concept so that was great!

K stay tuned for some more fun times in the Checketts House hold! Sorry I have been a slacker!

IS HAVING A.......

I completely forgot to post on my blog what I am having! I put it on facebook.....

So, without further adu I am having a.....

girl, no boy, no girl, no boy......

A BOY!

So Gabe will have a little friend to play with!

MODIFICATION

I have been informed that in my last blog post everyone thought that the "person with the most talent" I was referring too was Paul. NOPE! It was PIA! I think I even mentioned in my post that I was watching it on my DVR so I was a week late in watching it and completely forgot that people in the "world" have already seen this next weeks results! OOPS! So I just wanted to make it clear that I was referring to PIA ;-)

OF COURSE!

So, when I lived in Florida I was introduced to American Idol. I instantly fell in love with the show because I love music and I love seeing america showcase their talent! (and I secretly wanted to be on the show....as do so many other americans!) So I have been a religious watcher of that show....until 2 years ago. I stopped, COLD TURKEY. I just didn't feel the vibe of it anymore and so I stopped.

Well, my sister in law and mother in law said that the new judges this year were great and it was really fun to watch...so I have been. It actually hasn't been too bad and I have enjoyed it.

UNTIL LAST WEEK!

Seriously, the only good singer in the competition was eliminated! I am sure people disagree with me, and I would love to hear if you are watching this show and who you do like....but honestly

I am trying to watch it again since I have been recording it and I can't!

Tell me who you like so maybe I can become a fan because as of now I don't like anyone!

Is there some fun shows out there that you guys like to watch because I don't have any! (besides modern family ;-)