Target Toy Sale

The big summer toy sale started today at the Targets in Knoxville. I've been impatiently waiting for the big 75% off markdown. Even though I was pretty sure today would be the day, I've been going to Target every morning this week to make sure they didn't decide to start the sale early (which apparently did happen at one of the Targets yesterday on the other side of town). Since we didn't have much going on today, I ended up going to 3 local Targets to find everything I got (I'm crazy, I know).

It was a lot harder having both kids this time. When I went to the winter sale in January with only Carter, I thought it was hard stuffing all the toys into my cart. It's a lot harder with one in a carseat and a much more mobile and restless Carter. And then there were times when both kids were screaming. But we managed and it was worth it for the great deals I got.

Most of what I got was 75% off. There were a couple of things only at 50% off, but they were things I really wanted so I was okay with paying a little more. This weekend Brian and I need to go through everything I bought and make sure we want to keep all of it (because I spent way more than I had planned on).

So, I spent a total of $186.93 (plus tax) for toys that cost $640.47 full price (which is 71% off).

Here's what I got ...

Playmobil Adventure Playset Whale & Fisherman - $2.54 (75% off)


Circo 30 Piece Track Pack - $3.98 (75% off) [Bought 3]
Circo Train Repair Shop - $4.98 (75% off)
Circo Train Frieght Depot - $4.98 (75% off)


Circo 100 Piece Block Set - $3.74 (75% off)


Lego Duplo Big Farm - $29.98 (50% off) [My Big Splurge]


Fisher-Price Computer Cool School Computer - $13.74 (75% off)
Fisher-Price Computer Cool School Wonder Pets Game - $4.97 (75% off)
Fisher-Price Computer Cool School Super Why Game - $4.97 (75% off)


Sort It Out - $5.74 (75% off)
Cirkis - $3.74 (75% off)
Jenga Max - $4.74 (75% off)
Pictureka! Kubes Game - $3.74 (75% off)
Monopoly - $3.48 (75% off)


Tonka Chuck, My Talking Truck - $7.24 (75% off)


Fisher-Price Sesame Street School Bus - $4.98 (75% off)


Fisher-Price Elmo's Tickle Hands - $7.48 (75% off)


Infantino My First Puzzles - $2.48 (75% off)


Play-doh Fun Factory Spin 'n Store - $1.98 (75% off)


Cars Load & Launch Lightyear Launchers - $2.48 (75% off) [Bought 2]
Road Rippers Skidders - $2.74 (75% off)


Fisher-Price Musical Learning Pig - $3.74 (75% off)


Circo Castle Bucket w/ Shovel & Watering Can - $0.98 (75% off)
Circo Sand Wagon w/ Tools - $2.87 (75% off)
Circo Shovel Critter - $1.04 (75% off)


Little Kids No-Spill Big Bubble Bucket - $2.48 (75% off)
X Kites Toy Story Kite - $1.51 (75% off)
Banzai Aqua Jump Water Slide - $6.07 (75% off)


Mr. Potato Head Silly Suitcase - $8.98 (50% off)


Thomas Starter Pack - $3.74 (75% off)
Thomas' Wild Ride - $10.48 (50% off)
Bridge Expansion Pack - $4.98 (50% off)
Switch Track Pack - $2.48 (75% off)
Byron Train - $1.22 (75% off)
Kelly Train - $1.22 (75% off)


Though I'll probably keep most of this stuff for the boys for birthdays and Christmas, I will be giving a few things to other kids as birthday presents.

One Month Old

Already! Wow!

Playdate

I took both kids to Baby Bookworms at the library today. Rylan was semi-awake during the storytime, but it was loud enough in the room that he was content (this kid sleeps so much better and chills out so much more when there is chaos!). Unfortunately it was the bad librarian that did the class today so it wasn't really worth our time. However, Carter did get into it some during the second half of the class. He started jumping around and clapping after each song. He must be in withdrawl from going to these sorts of things and will take whatever he can get!

Amy and Caitlyn met us at the library. The kids sat so well together before the class started ...


If you look closely, you can see a huge bruise on Carter's forehead. A little bit before we left the house, Rylan was fussy so I put on some music so Carter could dance while I rocked Rylan. Carter got a little too crazy, tripped on his own feet, and smacked the doorway into the dining room with his forehead as he fell. His head bounced off the wall. Carter has been really clumsy lately and his poor head has been taking quite a beating!

After Baby Bookworms, Amy and Caitlyn came over to play. We had lunch and then let the kids play in the driveway. It was overcast for a little bit with a breeze so it wasn't too bad out there at first. It did eventually get sunny and hot.

I let Carter have some of my water (he got to keep it after this because of the way he drinks out of bottles) ...


Rylan doing his thing with a fan blowing on him to keep him cool ...


Splashing in the pool ...


Carter being silly ...

Carter did not behave himself very well today. He did not want to share his toys at all and there was a lot of screaming. I had to cut off the last part of the above video because Carter hit Caitlyn with one of the train cars he was using to pour the water on his head! I'm not sure what was up with him today. Hopefully he's better the next time we play with Caitlyn because we are planning on having lots more playdates soon (Amy is having a baby in a few weeks and our kids' ages match up really well!).

Kisses

Carter Update

Carter's vocabulary is finally expanding. Brian and I may be the only ones that understand most of what he's saying, but I'm just happy he's using more words. Of course I can't think of many of the new words Carter has now that I'm writing about them. He says please, thank you, welcome, go, up, shoe, cheese, baby, ball, bug (which is actually just "beeee"), "choo-choo" for train, and his "sit" sounds like it has an "h" in it.

Carter's great at saying daddy, doggie, and baby but refuses to call me anything. He'll point at each of them and say their names, but he'll just point at me and say nothing. Carter used to say "mama", but has completely dropped it. Oh, well!

Carter also says "uh-oh" A LOT right now. When we have the TV on, he'll say it all the time about things that happen. He uses it correctly, only saying it when someone falls or drops something, etc.

Carter is starting to understand colors. He definitely knows blue. I'll point at something that is blue and ask him what color it is, and he'll say "blue". However, when I point to something that is a different color after that, he'll also say it's blue. But when he was coloring yesterday, I asked him a few times to pick out the blue crayon, and he did every time. We worked on red also and he had it down with the crayons but I think he's forgotten it today.

Carter is still not really eating what we eat for lunch and dinner. He does share our breakfast food though. He's starting to eat some pasta, which is good because we've been eating a lot of that lately with our limited time in the evenings. We try to give him at least a little of our food and then give him yogurt, fruit, cheese, etc. He probably eats healthier by eating this stuff instead of what we eat!

Carter is still doing great with Rylan. He is jealous that he can't be held or picked up all the time but we're all surviving those tantrums. But he really seems to love Rylan. Carter gives him kisses all the time. When Rylan is crying, Carter says "uh-oh" and wants to check on him. He tries to pat Rylan's belly to make it all better when he's crying. Carter wants to hold Rylan a lot too. Carter will sit on the floor and pat his lap to tell me he wants to hold Rylan.

Carter has been doing well sleeping through Rylan's noise at night. We are generally able to catch Rylan when his grunting is getting louder before he starts really crying so that probably helps. Sometimes Carter will wake up and stir when it's getting a little noisy, but he's so far always gone back to sleep on his own. I'm curious to see how it'll be when Rylan is in the nursery which is next to Carter's room (but separated by the shared bathroom).

Rylan Update

Rylan is getting so big! He's been in size 1 diapers for a few days now (and should have been in them sooner except I wanted to use up the newborn diapers we had already bought).


He's also growing out of his newborn clothes - most of them are too small. Even his 3 month sized onesies are getting too short. I got on the scale with and without him on Sunday and he was up to 11.8 lbs (this is usually pretty accurate for us).

[Notice the tongue sticking out in this photo!]


Rylan is obviously eating great. He still generally wants to eat every 2 hours. Maybe once a day he'll go 3 hours between feedings. Nights aren't much better. If we're lucky, he'll go 3 hours between feedings once and then 2 hours the rest of the night. Rylan typically doesn't sleep solid between feedings. He's usually stirring and making a lot of noise (moaning and grunting, but not crying) for awhile before a feeding which keeps me up. Generally it doesn't take him too long to settle after feedings (he can take 30 minutes, but generally it's less).


Rylan is still liking to be swaddled at night. I'm getting better at getting the aden + anais blankets tight, though not great. Rylan almost always has at least one arm out when he wakes me up. Sometimes he has both arms and his feet out. I think I do a pretty good job of swaddling him - I think he just likes to wiggle a lot and is strong!


Rylan doesn't have the same degree of reflux that Carter had. I haven't had to put a bib on him all day to prevent him from numerous outfit changes like I had to with Carter. There are outfit changes, but they don't happen everyday. We have some bad nights when it seems like Rylan looses a good portion of each feeding and I can't find a dry spot to put him in the playyard, but other nights he doesn't seem to throw up at all. I think he's much more like a normal baby (or just slightly worse).


Rylan hates his carseat but loves the car (as long as it's moving). He starts crying almost as soon as I put him in the carseat. As long as we've traveled in the car, he will usually be okay in his carseat when it's in his stroller or in a cart, as long as they are moving too.


Rylan has been a trooper though when I drag him all over so that Carter can still have some fun. It's been a lot easier to get him to settle down when we're out than when we're at home which has made going out a lot easier than I had expected.


Overall, Rylan is a great baby. He's not easy, but he's definitely easier than Carter was!

Hi and Bye

Carter has been saying hi and bye for a couple of months now. I've been meaning to catch him saying both on video because he sounds so sweet when saying them, and I finally captured him this week.

And Carter started saying "hey" this week instead of "hi". We're going to have to be more conscious of what we are saying if we don't want him to pick this up!

Slip 'n Slide

One of the toys I did find at Target this week already marked 75% off was a slip 'n slide. I was going to save it for next year, but it's so hot here and the only way to play outside is if we play with water. So we decided to get it out this morning.

I have never used a slip 'n slide before. I was excited to try it out but I never got going on it because I was being too cautious of my c-section incision. Maybe in a few weeks I'll be ready to jump on it.

Here's what Carter did the first time he tried it out ...

Brian tried to get him started ...

They eventually got pretty good ...

Going Bald

Rylan is losing the dark hair he was born with. He has a receding hairline. The top of his head now only has short blond hair but you really can't see that hair very well. You really just notice that he doesn't have any of the dark hair there.

I tried to get a picture of his hair this afternoon but didn't get any really good pictures. This is the best I could do ...




We went out to dinner for the first time with both boys tonight. It was nothing special, just to Lenny's, which is a sandwich place similar to Jersey Mike's. Rylan fell asleep in his carseat while we were waiting on our food and as long as I kept rocking the carseat, he stayed quiet. So dinner out ended up being as easy as it was before Rylan was born. Carter is generally good when we go out to eat, and he was great tonight.

Splash Pad & Inflatables

We've had another fun couple of days away from the house.

Yesterday we met up with Sarah and Mary Grace at the splash pad. Sarah's friend Melora drove up from Chattanooga for the day with her daughter Shelby and met us there. It was a little more crowded yesterday and I had some trouble keeping track of Carter when he was running all over. I'd look down to make sure Rylan was okay and not see Carter anywhere when I looked up. He eventually slowed down and I didn't have as much trouble.

We got there before Sarah and Melora and while I was getting us all set up, a sheriff's helicopter landed in the park. All the boys at the splash pad completely forgot about the water and were mesmerized by the helicopter (including mine!).


Carter loved the splash pad again and ran through everything!



Filling up buckets with water is so much fun!


We stayed a little over an hour. Rylan got fussy after about 30 minutes and I had to hold him. Before that I was able to run around with Carter some and check on Rylan every few minutes.

Sarah got this picture of Carter and me before Rylan woke up ...


After the splash pad we all headed over to Sarah's house for lunch and some more playtime. I'm still figuring out how to nurse, change diapers, feed Carter lunch, eat myself, hold Rylan when he's fussing, play with Carter, and not let Carter cause too much trouble. So far I've been managing to not get too frazzled!

However, this is what happens when we play with girls and I'm paying more attention to Rylan than to Carter ...




Carter had a lot of fun playing with Mary Grace's dress up stuff!

We tried to get a picture of all 4 kids and this is the best we could do ...


Today we made plans to go to Pump It Up (a warehouse with inflatables) with Sarah and Mary Grace and then head over to their house again for lunch and play time outside.

Target is starting their summer toy clearance and Sarah and I have been trying to stop by most days to catch the day they mark all the sale stuff to 75% off. All the good stuff is gone within a few hours so if you miss the day they do the markdowns, you're out of luck.

I rushed us out of the house early so we could run into Target quickly before meeting up with Sarah to see if the sale had started. My plan was to then nurse Rylan in the car in the parking lot while feeding Carter a snack and then head over to Pump It Up. After running into Target and seeing the sale hadn't started yet, I got to feeding everyone. Then I looked at the clock and realized I was running an hour early! I am apparently more sleep deprived than I realized!

After going back into Target to kill some time (always easy to do in Target) and nursing Rylan again so he wouldn't get fussy at the inflatables place, we were off.

Carter was so excited as soon as we walked into the inflatables area. He wasn't quite sure what to do, but did climb up on this giant thing right away and start bouncing around ...


This place had 4 inflatables. One was just a bouncing house, one was just a slide, and the other two were more of an obstacle course with a slide at the end. Carter was just a bit too small to do anything except for the bounce house on his own. Luckily Rylan slept most of the time that we were there so I could go with Carter and help him up the climbing sections and just check on Rylan every few minutes.

Going down the slide at the end of one of the obstacle course inflatables ...


In the bounce house ...


Notice the tongue always sticking out ...



Carter was super brave at first and wanted to try everything. But after having tried everything once, he was over it for a little bit. I think he was tired. I've forced him to only have an afternoon nap for three days straight and I think he was just worn out.

Eventually though Carter became obsessed with the giant slide. He needed help getting up the ladder steps though so Sarah or I had to take him up every time. Here are Mary Grace and Carter going down the slide together ...


We stayed about an hour and everyone (including Sarah and me, but maybe not Rylan) were exhausted. I think Mary Grace and Carter had a blast though!


After Pump It Up, we all went to Sarah's house. We had lunch and then played outside for a couple of hours until a storm came in. Rylan slept for most of our time out there in his bouncer with the fan blowing on him (it was HOT!) so Sarah and I got to relax a little bit.

Mary Grace and Carter had fun burning off their remaining energy. Carter spent a lot of the afternoon on his absolute favorite toy at Sarah's house ...


I'm not sure why he is so obsessed with this thing, but he pulls it out right away and goes back to it every 10 minutes or so.

We've had so much fun hanging out with Sarah and Mary Grace this week. It's made the first week on my own with the two boys so much easier! We're so sad that they are moving up to Lexington and this was our last week to hang out. We're going to miss you guys so much!