Early Birthday Present

Today the boys got an early birthday present from "Grammy" (my mom). Since their birthday is in August it really takes away most of the summer for them to play with any outdoor toys they might get for their birthday. At first my mom planned to get a swing set for the boys, but while we were in FL they just were not very interested in Piper's and since our yard is small to begin with we decided against the swing set. We came up with another idea of something the boys would get a good amount of use of and my mom agreed so that is what they got today. The boys got big boy bikes! My plan to was to get two of the same bike so there would be no fighting over who got to ride which bike each time, but as we all know plans never work out when toddlers are involved. They immediately picked two different bikes so we ended up with a green dinosaur bike (Zak) and a blue bike (Ryder).

This afternoon we took the boys outside to see what they thought about their present. They loved them. Zak surprised us because he was actually able to pedal himself a good amount, but would get stuck periodically and had issues once he discovered pedaling backwards made the brakes work. Ryder enjoyed sitting on the bike and watch Zak go around him. He also liked being pushed around, but was not able to pedal himself really. We knew that they are not 100% ready for bikes, but learning how to ride a bike requires having a bike.

Of course I have a few more pictures to share with everyone tonight as well. I love taking pictures and having two toddlers, 2 dogs and a cat there is always something to photograph!

Here is VZ. She is such a sweet girl and fits in so well with everyone at the house. I have talked about her before and posted pictures of her as well. Today I found out some really good news about her mommy, Marie. Marie is a white girl I had born in my house and showed as a kitten and young adult. When I got pregnant with the boys it was obvious I would not be able to show or breed cats for a long time so I found homes for my current cats. Marie was (and is) a very special girl to me and I knew she would produce awesome kittens so I wanted her to have the chance to do so. So she went to live with Stella (RP Cathouse Maine Coons) and has been given the opportunity to really show her stuff. She has now produced 3 kittens who have been shown and granded as an adult which is a big deal for a female. I just found out today about the third one which is the big news I am talking about. The goal now is to get two more of her kittens to grand which would win the title of DM for Marie. This is such a big deal to Stella and I so I am so excited to see it happen. Stella has just recently bred Marie again so we are hoping it will happen in the near future! I have told Rose and Stella that I want to help grand those last two kittens and I have to be at the show when the 5th one grands! I am so lucky that Stella let VZ come live with us because she is one of Marie's kittens who has received the title of granding...

Potty training has been a big topic in our household recently. Today Zak wore Pull-Ups and no diapers which is a good step for him. He peed on the potty a few times today also which is good. The really big news for today is that Ryder stood and watched Zak on the potty and then asked if he could pee in the potty. So he sat down and peed for the first time on the potty! He didn't want to sit down anymore today, but this is progress.