Our Little Farmer

This is why papa has a hard time getting much done around our house when the boys are around. Bryce always talks him into a tractor ride or golfcart ride. This time, Bryce got to steer all by himself and they even went down the road. He was in heaven!

When Bryce went to Ag Day in Billtown he loved the obstacle course that they had there, and he wanted daddy to make him one at home. I think daddy did a great job!

A Little Bryce Update

If you don't want to read about poop, you might want to skip this post. It's amazing since becoming parents, how much Shane and I talk about poop in our daily lives. If you follow my blog you know that we have had problems with Bryce and his bowel movements since he was 6 months old. His body would literally hold his poop in and he would become stiff and cry in pain. This has been an ongoing problem in which we have tried several things to prevent this. We had tried caro syrup, benefiber, a variety of prescription medications, miralax, essential oils, massage, an insane number of enemas, and we have even had him x-rayed a few times to make sure something wasn't wrong inside of him. We have been keeping a daily stool log on our fridge for a year. We even go to a specialist once a month in Peoria. His belly has always been very bloated because of backed up bowel and gas. He has been peeing on the potty since he turned 3, but he refused to poop in the potty till about a month ago. He would only poop in his underwear or sometimes his diaper at night. This has been stressful and very messy to say the least. I know there are some kids out there who are potty trained overnight when they are 15 months old, well good for them. Bryce is definitely not like that. It has made me feel like a bad mommy and has prevented him from spending the night at grandparents houses in fear of him making a mess. It's one thing if I have to clean it up, but it's no fun for someone else. It has also been stressful taking him places and one of the reasons he didn't start preschool this past August. I was beginning to think he will never poop on the potty. Well, all our fears and stresses were finally put aside when he started pooping on the potty about 3 weeks ago. We told him that he couldn't help papa with harvest until he did it. I know this sounds mean, but we have tried everything we could think of with this kid. And this is what finally clicked. He has started doing it on his own, and has even done it in a variety of public places as well. He does it like he has been doing it for years, thank the Lord! Anyway, sorry about the long post and rambling, but someday I will look back on this post and laugh at everything we went though with this one, I hope!

This was taken at his last doctor visit when he got to tell the doctor that he is finally pooping on the potty! He was so excited! Look at that smile! He got a few extra suckers this time!

Girls Night

I was lucky enough this past week to enjoy some girl time, which doesn't happen nearly enough. On Thursday night I went to a Dixie Chicks concert with Jenn, Kim, and Amanda. 16 years ago, the four of us went to see them and we were able to get tickets again this time. We had so much fun together! And then on Friday night I met Kim and Brooke at Brooke's apartment to have a craft night. The three of us get together every few months and have a blast together. How lucky I am to have such great girls in my life!

Another Tractor Show

This past Saturday, the boys and I went to another tractor show outside of Geneseo while daddy met one of his friends from Gardner to play golf. It was a gorgeous day and the boys had a great time of course. They both fell asleep on the way home shortly after leaving. We got home, picked up daddy, and headed to Grandpa Bill and Grammie Gale's house for a weiner roast that night. Another fun filled family day! Once again, I only have a few pictures from my phone.

                                  Watching the parade

Bryce thought it was pretty cool to watch the old combines pick corn without a cab

Ag Day

We headed home from Burlington to make it back for Ag Day in Billtown. We convinced the Johnson family to come to this as well as mamaw and papa. Grandma D and Grandpa Carl even came over to join in the fun! This is a great event that we have gone to three years in a row. The boys have so much and there is so much for the kids to do! Their favorites this year included the combine bouncy house and the chore obstacle course. Neither one of them wanted to leave and they both fell asleep in the car within a few minutes.

 Jake and Blaine going through the obstacle course

They had five different places they had to go to complete their chores. They had to water the ducks, dig up potatoes, pick pumpkins, collect chicken eggs, and feed the goats. At the end they got to ring the bell! Both boys did this activity at least twice! When Bryce got to the potatoes he had to get his work gloves out! He is such a little farmer!

                                                             Ringing the bell

Grandma Joyce's 80th Birthday!

On September 10th, we traveled to Burlington Iowa to help Grandma Joyce (Grammie Gale's mom) celebrate her 80th birthday. We started with an open house at her church, checked into our hotel room at Fun City, went swimming at the pool, ate pizza with the whole crew, and ended the night playing a lot of arcade games. The boys loved spending the night at the hotel and we got to eat breakfast with everyone before we headed to Billtown for Ag Day. We had a great day of family fun! I brought the camera but didn't take any pictures on it. I only had a few pictures on my phone.

Old Threshers Reunion

This past Saturday we traveled to Mount Pleasant Iowa for the Old Threshers Reunion. The boys insisted on wearing their bibs and they fit right in. Bill and Gale were camping along with lots of other Tucker relatives so we got to spend the day with family. The weather was perfect and the boys had a great time. We got to see so many cool tractors and steam engines. They especially liked playing in the sand with all the farm toys and digging in the corn. They also had so much fun just hanging out at the campground playing with their cousins.

The boys were pretty excited to see that Grandpa Bill was wearing his bibs too!

 Bryce got to make his very own rope with daddy while mommy and Blaine were taking a nap in the camper