Anna started potty training today!  Well, I shouldn’t say that.  I should say that Anna is finally finishing potty training.  Good Lord, we started before Jack was born and hallelujah we are nearly done.  Today was monumental.  For the past few weeks Anna has been using the potty a LOT at school.   Her caregivers were, I think, ready for us to take the plunge.  We were going to try last weekend, but we had too much to do around the house and around town- too many activities, etc.  So today we took the plunge and I am so happy we waited until today.  It was the perfect day for it.  When Anna woke up we slapped some panties on her and then flashed one two three coveted things in her face:  jelly beans, a balloon, and new shows to watch on the DVD player.  She was hooked on the whole “potty party” idea and we just went with it.  First I timed her and made her go, and then as it became clear that she didn’t need to go as often as I thought, I started increasing the space between visits to the potty.  If I told her it was time and she resisted, I told her that she could wait a few minutes, but the next time I asked she had no choice.

After naps we headed over to Michael’s parents’ house to watch the Superbowl (hooray for the Saints!) and took back up materials.  We didn’t need any.  What was most encouraging, though, was that at one point I told her she needed to try using the potty because she had sucked down a lot of juice.  At first she said, no, but then as I turned and walked away she said, “No, I want to go” and she peed a LOT.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same?  Who knows.  I hope so- I’m so proud of her.

Now if we could just get her to stay in bed after we turn out the lights…. Hmmm…..

The start to 2010, in my book, is not great.  I mean, come on- earthquake in Haiti?  Yeesh.  How’s that for a starter?  Another tough one for my family is that my Grandma, who is in the throes of Alzheimer’s, has been placed in a facility and that is taking its toll on my family- makes me want to go home.  I’ve heard of too many deaths, as well- friends and relatives of those we love.  And a good friend moved away recently, reminding me to treasure friendships of all kindsSo poo on you, January 2010.  Good riddance.

On the home front, things are busy.  That must be why I haven’t posted much.   This weekend is a long weekend for me, so Michael and I are taking advantage and FINISHING THE &)(*%!  PAINTING!!!!  We are so excited.  Actually, I can say that I am done with painting except for touch-ups.  Praise the LORD in heaven above, I have done a lot of painting in this house.  I’m so excited, as well, because having the office painted means we can finish the flooring.  Finishing the flooring means we can UNPACK the boxes and perhaps hang a few pictures around the house.  What a novel idea.

Michael has also worked so hard on this house.  We are both ready to enjoy it.  There’s still a lot to be done, and it will be years before we feel this house has reached its fullest potential, but to have it just up to par with new paint will be such a blessing.  The list seems never ending, though.  We still have light fixtures to change, a garage to sift through, baseboards to install (I never used to notice baseboards- now I look at them everywhere and appreciate them)- like I said, never ending.  But having a house that accommodates our family and then some- totally worth it.  We are so very lucky.

The kids are doing well- Anna is getting a bit precocious in a few areas and we are on the verge of potty training.  She’s started asking to go at school after naps, and as soon as she asks on her own before naps then we are going to go for it.  She is resistant at home, though- I know this is going to be one of the first times that I don’t really feel like I know what I’m doing as a parent.  Should be interesting.

Jack is almost one.  I can’t believe it.  He’s such a sweet boy.  He’s cuddly, funny and amazing.  His eyes are full of joy and light.  I find myself wondering if there’s a fuse that’s going to expire because I was really given such a sweet deal with him.  He can’t possibly be this good all the time- as soon as he’s walking I’m sure I’ll have some new opinions.  But for now, he’s my angel.

Toodles!

Just a quick post to let you all know that my friend Amber takes the most amazing photos- she took the photos in my first header and the ones you see above.  She is wonderful with babies and kids, and she’s so easy to be with- working with her is really like playing.  All of my San Diego friends should check her out for your family photos.  And if you’re looking at this post via Facebook you should go see my blog “for reals” at somethingforsanity.wordpress.com so you can see what in the world I’m talking about. 

Amber can be found at lifeartphotography.com.

It was time.  It was way, way past time.  Anna needed a haircut in October, I’d say- perhaps even sooner than that.  But it just hadn’t been done yet.  I think part of me truly didn’t have time to think about my 2-year-old’s hair, and another part of me didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that Anna is old enough for a haircut.  Oh well.

A good friend of mine came over last week and her daughter’s hair was so cute- so I asked.  Then it was like a virus- I had to get it done.  So on Monday I called and made an appointment and off we went.  Anna did great- as soon as she was offered a lollipop to hold we were good to go. Today she was still talking about it after I picked her up from school.

Below are some pics from the monumental occasion.

This is the “before’.  Can you say bird’s nest?

Jack suggested we let him attend for stylistic direction.  Isn’t he just adorable? 

Anna chose the dirt bike seat over the airplane seat.  Go figure.

Michael was able to come down and have lunch with us after “the ‘do.”  I love it when he can be at “firsts.”

And….the final product!  She looks adorable and I wish I had done it sooner.   I still can’t believe she’s old enough to have her hair cut, but it sure is nice to have her hair out of her eyes. 

I’m currently sitting on the airplane as I type this. I’M sure I’ll come back and edit later- just like the thought that I can blog on a plane- crazy.  Anna is sitting next to me watching Diego on my iPod. We are truly in a high-tech world.

As 2010 approaches I think back to the beginning of 2009. We’ve done a lot this year:  Jack’s birth in March, getting used to being a family of 4 instead of 3, going back to work  (if even part-time)-a huge adjustment, but something we needed to do. And moving into our house was so many things- tons of work, lots of decisions, but ultimately it will be an amazing place for us.

I’m rather stumped with resolutions this time around. With so many things to do with the house I feel like setting a list of resolutions is just added pressure. I have been thinking about things I need to do more of or better. I need to take better care of my poor dog, Sophie.  She has seriously taken a hit in the attention department for the last 2.5 years.  Poor thing.   I also need to get some exercise in, but my quandary is that when I’m giving something attention that is not geared towards getting this house fixed up, I feel guilt.  Yet there’s guilt when I don’t take care of me, too, so therein lies the rub, it seems.  So in this arena, the “one must exercise to be whole” venue, I am going to be extra kind to myself and say that I will make an effort, but until my house is a sane place to live, I will only do that- make an effort.  The commitment may come after we have the final room painted, the flooring done, and the baseboards in.  Yikes. 2011?

I am hopeful that 2010 brings more calm for us.  We had lots of anticipation, lots of stress, and lots of unrest this year.  We’ve moved twice since Anna was born in 2007.  When I think about NOT having to move this year, I breathe a sigh of relief.

Jack was our biggest blessing and gift, and he adds so much to our family.  Anna continues to brighten our days with her sweet little voice and her big heart.  We are, at the end of the day, and at the end of this year, a happy, blessed, and whole family.  For that I am truly thankful, and I can’t wait to see what 2010 has in store for us.

This is going to be a long post.  Lots to fit in before 2010.  I’m planning on printing my blog, so I really want to get all 2009 posts done in 2009.  We’ll see if that really happens since we’re traveling on the 31st. Hmmm…  But I digress…

Some of you may remember me talking about our Christmas two years ago.   It was fun and awful at the same time.  Fun because it was Anna’s first Christmas, and awful because everyone except the Chiles family got sick.  As in “get to know your toilet” sick.  Literally everyone else got it.  I’m not sure why we were so lucky.  Fast forward two years (we alternate Christmases- one year in SD, one year in KC), and we were hopeful that we would not repeat the Christmas of ‘07.

The week started out great.  On Tuesday we took the kids over to my sister’s house to play with Anna and Jack’s cousin Paul.  They had a blast- they shared toys nicely (really- it was weird), and we took a walk with “nature bags” (a.k.a. Ziploc bags).  Anna and Paul held hands nearly the entire walk.  It was adorable.  They lunched and watched some shows together- it was entirely adorable.

On Christmas Eve we had Jack’s aforementioned run-in with the base-board, but other than that it was great.   On Christmas morning we opened gifts and had a blast.  Until….  Stephanie called to say that Paul was throwing up.  Yay.  We were so bummed.  We promptly rescheduled our Christmas together for Sunday and crossed our fingers that Paul would a) get well and b) be the only one sick.

Below:  Anna “helping” with the stockings on Christmas Eve; Jack cuddling with Grandma and Grandpa before bedtime; Opening gifts on Christmas morning and Anna watching the Three Little Pigs (Disney) with her own set of pigs (& wolf, of course).  [Sidebar:  I completely forgot about this video, but downloaded it from iTunes after buying the set for a Christmas gift for Anna & Jack to share.  It's hilarious.  I thought Anna would be scared of the wolf, but she thinks he's hilarious.]

Saturday we had 2 parties to attend.  And did I mention that it’s been snowing since Christmas Eve?  It’s AWESOME.  So beautiful- and we’re getting a real winter fix.  Below:  Lea Ann and me capturing the moment before heading out to a party, and me and my Dad.

Jack was so cute in his Christmas outfit.  I have to say that he is quite handsome, even with a band-aid on his forehead.  I’m biased, I know, but dang, he is CUTE. 

On Sunday we were hopeful that the Whites would join us.  Paul was fine all day on Saturday, but they stayed in as a precautionary measure.  Just as they were getting things ready to go…. Paul threw up again.  Argh!  So we had Christmas #2 without them.

Below:  Anna showing off her new ballet shoes and her “tutu suit”.  I think this tutu suit is going to be too small soon- she’s getting so tall!  Thank goodness we have her Tutu Monkey at home!

Monday was awesome- we left the kids with Grandpa and Grandma, and Michael and I headed out to celebrate our belated 4th Anniversary.  Things were too crazy with our move in October to find the time to do something worth remembering, and it was my year to plan our celebration, so I decided this trip would be a great opportunity.  We stayed on the Country Club Plaza at the Hotel Intercontinental, and had dinner at an old KC standard, the Plaza III.  We even watched a movie in our hotel room- such rebels, we are.

When we came home we decided it was our last chance to let Anna play in the snow, so Michael and Anna suited up and headed out to the front yard for some fun.  Our neighbors brought out a great sled that she could ride in, so Michael pulled her over and over.  She came in with rosy red cheeks and tried her first hot chocolate.  Here’s where I question her DNA a bit- she didn’t like it!  She did like the marshmallows, though.  The picture in the bottom right of this collage (below) is Anna showing her Grandpa her new Tag Junior.  This is a really cool toy- she’s gone through every book and has only had it for a day!  We opened it late.

As I type this we are anxiously awaiting the end of nap time so we can head over to the White’s.  Paul is feeling better, has been fever-free for 24+ hours and is eating like a champ, so we are hoping the coast is clear.  Please LORD let everyone stay healthy!  We’ll be so bummed, though, if Anna and Paul only get to play together once.

I hope to post again once tomorrow before we leave for SD on Thursday.  We’ll see if that happens…  Stay warm, everyone!

I know, I know- I’m a blogging fool.  It’s because we’re on VACATION and I brought my laptop.  I have time to do this since there’s no housework- my mother keeps an immaculate house, which is to my benefit here. 

So this morning we’re setting up this gargantuan tree that my dad brought home.  It’s approximately 9 feet tall.  Anyway, Anna, Jack and I were watching from the steps to keep out of the way- it was cold out, raining, and Dad and Michael had to bring it in from outside.  The kids were doing great- Anna was excited about the tree, Jack was practicing crawling, and being generally cute.

Of course, Anna was slowly creeping towards the bottom of the steps to be closer to the action, so near the time of this fun escapade, we were right on the top step.  I never noticed in all my years of living in this house that the base boards at the top of this set of stairs are square.  Very square.  When did I notice this fact, you ask?  When Jack’s arm slipped out from underneath him and his forehead was impaled by the square baseboard.  I thought, upon his falling, that he’d have a mark.  He had a mark all right.  More like a puncture wound.  Just thinking of it turns my stomach.  When I turned him to me to comfort him he had a huge bead of blood dripping down his forehead.  Of course, he was crying, too.  I rushed to get something to put pressure on his head, and then took him up to his bedroom, laid him down on the changing table and proceeded to nearly pass out on top of him.  Michael took over and I had to put my head between my legs.  This makes me laugh just typing it, but for reals- I nearly passed out!  Passed. OUT.

Jack calmed down rather quickly, really, but his forehead was still bleeding.  Michael’s guess was that he wouldn’t need stitches, but we wanted to have it looked at.  I was seriously so queasy that I didn’t go to urgent care- I sent my Mom in my place.  (I think she was happy to go- which was fine with me.  Happy in an awesome grandma way, too- not happy because Jack was hurt.)   Upon their return we learned that Michael was correct- no stitches, but lots of ointment and cleaning.

Here’s our little guy after the fact:

Now, aside from being happy that the whole ordeal is over and done with, I’m just laughing at myself.  I knew that there would come a time that I’d have to suck it up and realize that having a boy is different from having girls.  When I sat back and thought about it, I realized that Anna has had maybe one scratch worth putting a band-aid on.  That’s it.  Jack is 9 months old and has already impaled his forehead with a stationary object.  And what did I do?  Nearly passed out.  Great.

I joked with Michael that now our roles are defined.  I must ride all roller coaster rides from here til eternity, and he must do all bloody ER runs, as I will not be able to drive due to light-headed-ness. That or I’m going to be dialing 911 a bit more often than I’d like.

Sorry, Jack.  I wish I could have kept my blood circulating enough to be with you through it all.  But I’d like to be with you and conscious through it all.  I love you!  Merry Christmas, my band-aid boy!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas where we are, but first I want to post a few pics from the beginning of December so we can remember how much fun we had.  Seriously- we had a lot of fun this month!

Firstly, just before Thanksgiving I made the mistake of showing Anna an invitation to a friend’s princess tea party for her 3rd birthday.  The invitation itself was adorable, so I knew the party would be a wonderful time.  Boy was I right!  Charlotte had a beautiful party for us- we were to dress up in our best princess attire.  I slapped a dress on Anna and away we went, just the two of us.  It was nice to take one child somewhere- I forgot how nice that is.  I was able to enjoy Anna, and actually got to talk to some friends I hadn’t seen in a while, and enjoy myself.  I think Anna had fun, too.  Here she is swinging, after having her face painted by Cinderella.  She also got to make the necklace she’s wearing, among many other cool things to do at this shindig.  Danielle,  you put on a wonderful party!  (And thanks for this great picture, Janis!)

Another picture from another party:  Chloe’s big #2!  Chloe’s mom & dad know how to throw a party for kids AND adults.

French Gourmet omelet bar.  Need I say more?

Below:  a picture of Anna helping me make Christmas cookies.  Topless, of course.  Don’t we all make cookies topless?

Just a cute picture of Jack.  He’s our smiler.

Below:  Anna after we decorated our tree.  Since we’re in KC this year for Christmas I decided we needed a small tree so we could get in the holiday spirit but not have a huge mess when we returned.   The only reasonably-priced tree left at Target?  A fiber-optic tree.  Anna loves it.  And thank goodness for cheap Ikea ornaments- she is totally into ornaments!

Anna at the end of her Christmas show at school.  It was adorable, but it was also late- she was pretty done.  Soon after this photo we went home because a certain someone was a little bit tired.

Up next, our pics from our time here in KC!

I can’t believe this is one of my last posts of 2009.  I feel like it’s slipping through my fingers!

I’m trying to catch up on what’s been going on this year before this year is over!  Ack!

The weeks leading up to our departure for KC have been busy.  Only now that I’m relaxing here in KC with my family and can do NOTHING but spend time with the kids, Michael and my family, am I seeing how incredibly consuming the house has been in many different ways.  It’s nice to be away from it for a while.

One thing I’ve been trying to finish up is the things I wanted to sew for Anna’s room.  Let’s be clear from the start:   I am not a sewer.  I have friends who sew.  My mother sews.  I can fix things with a sewing machine, but a seamstress I am not.  I did take home ec.  in middle school.  I think I made a shirt, or something like one.  I think I’d like sewing lessons after this because while I think these will do for a 2-year-old’s room, they are far from perfect.  But I also think they are darn cute, so I’m posting this anyway.

I posted earlier about Anna’s bed.  That was fun- I love painting.  The sewing was…torture.  I learned a lot, but still…torture.  Perhaps because I was working with such large things- maybe I’d like sewing small things.

Anyhoo- my friend Kari knew I was looking around for ideas, so she sent me this link.  It looked easy, and honestly, it wasn’t difficult- I just can’t make a “truly square” square or rectangle.  Oh well.

Since Anna has a captain’s bed, I had a bed skirt that I didn’t need.  I knew it would help tie everything together, so off I went to Home Fabrics.  I purchased a ridiculous amount of white muslin to make everything.  I still have a ton- once I’ve gotten over my sewing hangover perhaps I can make some pillows with the remaining muslin and a few scraps of the bedskirt.

Here are my results:

I hate sliding closet doors.  Really, really hate them.  We’re eventually going to put in tiebacks for these closet curtains.  When I put them in Anna watched and upon completion she exclaimed squealed, “Mommy, so pretty!” 

Anna’s captain’s bed has a cubby hole.  The door for it was pretty sad- the hinge was falling off and it just looked clunky.  So I ripped it off and sewed this up to make it cute.  Right now there’s nothing in there- it’s actually pretty big, so I’m not sure what to store inside, but at least it’s cute…  And what did I use to hang it, you ask?  Hot glue.  That’s right, hot glue, folks.  High end, we are…not.

Lastly, we have the window coverings.  I think they look cute.  Not as cute as the original post Kari sent, but still cute.  They definitely hide the blackout shades nicely.  The window on the right is so big- 2 feet tall by 46 inches long.  It was hard to make that shade for some reason.  And it doesn’t hang flat even though I sewed in an extra supporting loop in the center.  Oh well- still cute enough for Anna!

I’m so happy to be done with this part.  Now I feel I can move on to the details- wall hangings, etc.  There’s one area left that I haven’t shown in photos- Anna’s bookshelf is a mess, but it’s actually going to go live in the playroom once we finish the office.   Everything is such a work in progress.  But it’s fun to make everything the way we want to- it’s really a great house and we’re going to make it our home little by little.

p.s.  Thanks,  Jane, for letting me use your sewing machine forever!  I think I’ll be asking for one for my birthday- they truly are a handy thing to have around.  I also hemmed a pair of jeans, fixed a few holes in pockets, and other quick fixes that I would normally do by hand.

I should have done this post a few weeks ago, but here I am.  Oh well.  At least I’m posting it before 2010, right?

Thanksgiving was just a bummer part of the season for our family.  But before we even reached Thanksgiving things were keeping us on our toes.  Jack woke up on Saturday, November 14th with a bit of a cold.  By Sunday morning he just didn’t feel good at all, so I sent Michael to church with Anna, and I stayed home with him.  Later that day we heard “the cough.”  We remembered it from Anna’s croup experience- that barky, heinous sounding cough that makes you look at each other and think, “Oh crap.  That sounds WEIRD.”   But, he only coughed the one time.  He was otherwise his cheerful self, so we put him to bed.  Around 4:00 in the morning on the 16th I woke to hearing him do something, but couldn’t tell what.  I went into his room to find him crying, but I could barely hear him.  We decided to do the whole “steam and cold air” thing.  So Michael flipped on the shower in our bathroom and in we went, waiting to sweat our brains out.  After a few minutes, though, I realized that I wasn’t even remotely hot.  We realized that our hot water wasn’t working.  Great.

We called Michael’s parents and told them I was coming over.  We tried the hot steam/cool air trick over there.  It helped a little, but not a lot.  I returned home where it didn’t take long for us to decide that we needed to take him to the ER.  We called Michael’s parents (poor people- they aren’t trained to wake for early morning stuff- they retired that hat when Michael was little) and Chuck came over to get Anna up and take her to school.

We opted to go to Rady’s Children’s Hosptial off the 805.  There was no one in the ER waiting room, so they took us right in and started working on Jack.  They had this amazing aspirator that came out of the wall and sucked everything out of his nose- I’d like to add THAT to my Kaboodle list!  Jack hated it, but once they cleared his nose he could breathe through it.   Then they started him on a breathing treatment.  Last thing was a steroid treatment.  Then we waited for him to calm down.  They told us they were waiting for 2 things:  For his strider breathing to go away at rest, and for him to stop retracting.  Both things were freaky.  Strider breathing is when they have a high-pitched wheezing sound when they breathe- several octaves above normal.  Retracting is when they are having such a hard time breathing that they start using their stomach muscles.  Their little sternums go nearly all the way to their spines, which looks very scary- they are working very hard to breathe.

We waited for an hour or so for the steroids to kick in and the breathing treatment to do its work as well.  Jack seemed much better, and slept on us for most of that period.  The doctor came by and checked on him at about 8:30 and said she’d get the discharge papers ready, and that’s when Jack started to retract at rest.  The nurse called the doctor back, and she said, “Sorry, you’re not going home just yet.”  We were then transferred to Grossmont Hospital which, unbeknownst to me, is a “sister hospital” to Rady’s.  Upon arrival we met with their pediatric doctor and found out we’d probably stay the night.   They really didn’t need to do anything but observe Jack just in case he didn’t get better.  We went home the following morning and we were SO HAPPY to go home.

It was interesting, thinking back in hindsight, to think about how many times they asked us the same questions.  I realized after the fact that they were probably following protocol of some sort to ensure that we weren’t neglecting Jack.  We were really taken by surprise with how quickly he progressed into croup, and they seemed surprised as well.

This experience gave me so much insight to what it is even kind of like for parents who have chronically ill children.  I can’t imagine spending any amount of time in the hospital with a child- there is no rest for them or the parent.  They are constantly poked, prodded, and they never get to sleep.  Nurses come in and claim that they will try not to wake them, only to noisily lower the crib rail or forget to speak in a quiet tone.  It was frustrating and exhausting.  I’m so glad that it was a one-time deal.

Below are some pictures from Jack’s visit.  Everyone loved him because he was usually a pretty happy boy for being in the hospital.  I’m so glad it’s over and just a thing for our blog!

Jack trying out the hospital high chair.

Lookin’ cute in his hospital bed.

The world’s WORST glider ever.  E. Ver.  I mean, look at it- it doesn’t even LOOK comfortable, does it?

Someone could make some serious cash inventing a new hospital crib.  They are noisy, adults bang their heads on them, and nurses claim they can “quietly” raise and lower the sides- not possible.  Poor kid hardly got any sleep while we were there.

For more info on croup, click here.

We love you, Jack, and we’re so happy you’re healthy again!