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July?

July 21st, 2008

Well I realized that I haven’t posted in quite awhile.. these last few weeks since Cate’s birthday has just been packed full of stuff. Chris has been working alot on various projects he’s had going on at work..the girls have needed pretty constant entertainment and now I’m sick with a cold or flu and I’ve not been this sick in years. Just when I thought I was starting to feel better, now I feel worse. I’m just not able to get the rest I need. Heaven help us if Chris gets sick too. So far, Cate has gotten a mild cold (just a runny nose, no cough or anything) and Grace hasn’t seemed to get it at all. So crossing out fingers that we’ll get out of this without them getting anything worse.

A couple weeks ago the girls went to stay with Chris’ mom in Reno for a whole weekend! From Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. We met her halfway between here and Reno and did the kid swap. They had such a good time with her and when we called Grace was even too busy to talk to us! Both girls were super glad to see us on Sunday though!

Summer has been weird here. Every morning is chilly and overcast.. and then by noon or 1 the clouds have burned off and it’s breezy and cool. We have the occasional very hot day (for here anyway) but mostly it’s been very mild. However, it’s not really pool weather. So we don’t get to spend too much time swimming. Our pool here in our complex is pretty cold. And I’m a wimp. So I don’t chance it. We haven’t even been to the beach yet! One of these weekends we’ll make it there though. As soon as we don’t have a birthday party or work or something and when it’s not overcast and yucky. Chris is feeling a bit worn out so he’s going to take a couple days off during the week in a couple weeks and we’ll probably head to Monterey or some beach somewhere..

In August my mom is flying here, and then driving with the girls and I back to Wyoming so we can visit my family there. I have been wanting to go, but the girls are too big a challenge to drive alone somewhere right now. So after our visit, she will drive back with us and spend a day or two here. Then fly home. I can’t wait! We haven’t seen my family since Christmas. My mom we have seen more since then, which has been great.. but it will be good to see my niece and nephew and everyone else. The girls will have fun playing with their cousins. One thing I kind of like about being there is that it’s generally just hanging out. No new plans everyday. No driving all over the place (which, as much as I love visiting Arizona I hate all the driving I have to do there, just to visit friends and things.. )..just spending time with my family.

I’m sure Chris is looking forward to the quiet time too.. I think by the time I get back I’ll be looking forward to a break myself.. perhaps a birthday present to myself.. hehe. So that is us caught up. As soon as I’m feeling better I’ll post again.

Yes!

July 2nd, 2008

Houston we have pee.. yeah I know. Gross! But when it’s your 3-year old and when that pee goes into the potty, that is a pretty good day. For the first time ever, Grace went potty ON the potty and not in a diaper. And she’s been wearing underwear for a few hours today with no accidents. I know we have a long way to go.. but where we are today is a long way from where we were even last week, when she was still claiming to “not be ready’. Hehe. Yeah! Good for you, Grace! Mommy is so proud!

Happy Birthday Catie..

June 30th, 2008

Okay, I’m testing out this post.. I have to have Chris come back and post the video darn it. I tried it but it didn’t work for me.. sigh. Check back throughout the day and see if it’s up!

Update: Here it is!


Happy Birthday Cate..

June 30th, 2008

A year ago today.. right about now, I was having breakfast with Chris, Grace and my mom. The last pregnant meal. The last meal where Grace was my only baby.. then we drove to the hospital and I came out of it two days later with Cate. And our lives have been crazy ever since. A hectic crazy.. a crazy crazy, but a very good crazy.

So, as will probably become a tradition I do have a slideshow to share… but I want to get a good picture of her with her cake and Grace tonight after dinner.. so it will probably be up tomorrow. But lots of cuteness, I promise.

Today, I will enjoy my 1 year old and my 3 year old. Somehow that just doesn’t seem possible.

I love you, Catie… Happy Birthday

Wii Fit Update

June 26th, 2008

So we’ve had our Wii Fit for about a month. We’re lucky ones, I have friends still looking for theirs!

Anyway, So “Fit” wise I’m definitely getting more fit. I can jog in place for 30 mins without stopping now.. Keeping my heartrate in the 130’s (it’s hard to do much more than that when you’re doing it ‘in place’).. I haven’t taken my ’show’ on the road yet (or to a treadmill near me) but I’m hoping to try that out soon. I can also do all the yoga poses and most of the strength training ones.. and I’m getting pretty darn good at the boxing too. I’ve lost a few pounds, but I have to admit that I’ve been having a hard time getting my diet under control. So thank goodness for the exercising at least. Grace likes to jog in place with me! It’s pretty funny.. maybe soon we’ll go jogging together.

Anyway, so my official stance on the Wii Fit, after a month of playing.. is that it’s a pretty awesome concept and I’m still using it several times a week. I’m definitely getting stronger and I think I have the Wii Fit to thank for that!

By the way, anyone who is interested.. My Wii Fit Age has gone from 39 to 23… not bad!

180 Degrees

June 24th, 2008

Parenting with your first child is 90% guesswork and 10% ‘etc’.. advice, experience, reading, experts, whatever.. Maybe I’m wrong but that is how it feels. Guessing. All the time.. Looking at Chris.. shrugging my shoulders as if to say “Well, what do we do now?” She runs the show.. that’s the way it goes. Now, Cate.. will have the benefit of experience. Eh.. okay, more like 60% experience, 20% guesswork and 20% “having learned from our mistakes with Grace”.. For example. Cate already loves more foods than Grace. She eats things with gusto that Grace won’t even touch. Because we learned that we were way too timid with trying new things with Grace when first feeding her solids. Too nervous of her choking to give her soft table foods when she was a year old. With Cate we’re too short on time to make three meals. So we make one meal, modified for Grace..chopped for Cate. Cate eats it. Grace doesn’t.

Anyway, in the past 2 months, since Grace turned 3.. we’ve come to terms with the fact that we don’t know anything about toddlers. And we’re now willing to try harder to get through this time with her with our sanities intact even if our dignities aren’t. After all, even when I “try” to dress up.. I still just look like an aging college student. I struggled with fashion even before having kids. Now, forget about it. Half the time I end up walking around with strange stains on my clothes.
Anyway, in the past month I’ve glanced through 3 books on parenting. A Supernanny book (love her!), Childwise, and a self-esteem book. I’ve taken some of the things that I felt best reflected us, and our children and our needs. We knew we needed to make some changes.. so slowly over the past couple weeks.. we have. We discussed our feelings with each other and tried to pinpoint the largest issues we had where she was concerned. We both agreed on one thing. The problem? Not her. Us. 100%. We understood that to put any blame on her was ridiculous. She’s 3. She’s not the enemy no matter how much it may seem so during the many stand-offs we have with her. And granted, sometimes it feels like an old west street.. us at one end, her at another, hands on her waist.. staring each other down.

But we knew at the end of each tough day that we were the ones we should have been screaming at. We need to do a parenting about-face.
So.. here are some of the changes we’ve made.

We’ve stopped spending so much time on our computers, reading, etc while the girls are awake. If we have household chores we include her as much as we can. I’ve been so surprised how much she enjoys helping with the dishes, with cooking, setting the table for dinner, cleaning around the house. We still have trouble getting her to clean up her toys.. but the girl loves to help daddy set the table for dinner. So instead of spending so much time on our computers and all that.. we play with Grace and Cate. We put together puzzles and make up games.. Yesterday we played with stickers. It was a team effort. I picked the stickers out of the book and handed them to Cate. Cate handed them to Grace. Grace stuck them on the paper. It’s amazing how much less of a fight we have with her on a daily basis when she’s not having to fight for our attention.

Positive reinforcement. We’ve used this in the past some. Never enough to make a difference. And therefore we came to the conclusion that it just didn’t work. So we decided to really shower her with positive reinforcement. Not that she gets away with everything. Not that we sit there smiling as she does a tasmanian-devil run around the room or praise her for throwing things or hitting Cate or anything like that. But when she does things that are great like helping out with things and being nice to Cate and all that.. we really go all out to let her know. When we’ve had a good day we really get into it. We also do more random things like hugs, smiles, winks, hair tousles, pats on the back. “No reason” type things. I get the biggest smiles when I just catch her eye in the rearview mirror in the car and wink at her or reach behind me to give her a small tickle.
We switched up our time-out methods. No more 1-2-3 you’re out. Now it’s 1 warning, then on the next offense you’re out. We’re still working on this because I find myself falling back on counting. We also had to change location. Before she wouldn’t sit in one place for timeouts. SO we would put her in her room. Then she started tearing up her room, so she had to start sitting in the “naughty chair”. But she still has issues with staying seated. “Well, just re-start the timer” you say.. okay sure.. she thinks thats a pretty fun game. So we’re working on that. Anyway, we realized with the 1-2-3 thing that she was always stretching it out as long as she could.. so we knew it was time to change.
We’ve started using one of those Responsibility charts. Eh. You know people have such mixed feelings on those. But we felt Grace really needed some incentive for things like learning to dress herself and cleaning up her toys. Something to really help her feel proud of herself.. in addition to us telling her we’re proud. So yesterday we set it up. It’s pretty basic since it’s one that I bought. I wanted to make one myself.. but in the past two weeks I’ve had no time so when I saw one at Target yesterday I grabbed it up. Anyway, the general idea is that she can earn “magnets” for things. The set comes with so many areas that she can earn magnets in. Things like cleaning up toys, sharing, brushing teeth, etc.. even some blank magnets that you can fill in your own ideas. Our own system is that she has to earn 8 magnets (in any area, though at our discretion we can alter that. For example, today I let her earn 1 magnet for saying she was sorry for something.. even though she had to say she was sorry several times.. but I let her earn 2 magnets for cleaning up her toys before nap time and before bedtime).

Okay, so once she’s earned 8 magnets, she gets to pick a prize out of her “treasure box”. This is things likes small toys from the dollar store.. alone time with mommy and daddy, an extra book read at bedtime, etc.

She also gets a larger magnet lining the top of the chart. Once she has 7 of those magnets, she’ll get to choose an envelope from another box. This will include prizes like “choose a restaurant for dinner”, “movie with mommy or daddy”, “trip to aquarium”, “trip to beach”, “picnic in the park”, “date with mommy”, “alone time with mommy and daddy”, “pick a toy” (dollar limit imposed), etc.

She’s pretty excited about this, although at this point she only knows that she gets to pick from the treasure box after 8 magnets. So she’s been very enthusiastic about cleaning up and helping around the house. I’m hoping to make some headway with her sharing toys with Cate and pushing Cate when she gets too close to her toys. But, baby steps.

In any case, I have to say (and I know Chris would agree) that while we’re still facing some frustrations.. we’ve had a couple of the best weeks we’ve had in a long time with the girls. And our main goal here is to help her develop a strong self-esteem. At least, we want to do whatever we can to help her along on that.

grace.jpg

She earned her first ‘prize’ today. She chose a Cinderella figurine and I gave her a ribbon to celebrate. By the way, I don’t know if i mentioned it but the poor girl has a little tooth blemish. She was kicked on a slide about a month ago.. At first it appeared to be just a fat lip, but as the week went on, her tooth started looking grey. So we took her to the dentist and the poor thing is going to have this until it falls out when her adult teeth are ready to come in. It’s one of her upper-front ones. I’m extremely upset, because of course… we’re already facing issues with thumb-sucking and these fluoride spots.. But Chris says not to worry so much.. he says he had a grey tooth growing up too.. ugh. Also, please ignore the fact that she needs a haircut. She refuses to let us cut her hair. So, thats fine. It’s her hair.

And unfriendly ode..

June 18th, 2008

To the JERK to TOOK my phone.. who does that? I know I know.. I’m the one that dropped it in the first place.. but I was trying on clothes. I thought I’d remember to pick it up. And I was only gone for about 3 minutes.. of course, how would I know how long I was gone since you took my FREAKING phone. However, it was just long enough to walk over to look at some running bras and back..

So thanks. And good luck using it now that I’ve turned off the service. It’s not even that great a phone. I’m really especially glad now that I cracked the front display this morning.

I suppose I should also thank you since that means I’ll most likely be able to get one of the new iPhones when they come out. But seriously? Who steals a phone?

Updates..

June 16th, 2008

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated anything spectacular. We’ve been so busy that it’s been hard to make myself sit down and write anything. So I’ll catch you up now.

The biggest news? CATE is walking. Yes, turn our world upside down.. one more time. 3 weeks shy of 1 year old.. It was pretty exciting too since she hasn’t done it much since. She’s decided crawling is a much more efficient way to get anywhere.

Last week my mom was in South Lake Tahoe for a composite drawing course she’s been taking for work. She is a 911 dispatcher and she’s actually helped to catch a suspect based on one of her drawings!! Anyway, since she was just a couple hours away, I decided to take the girls and crash with her at her hotel for a few days. We had a great time sight-seeing and spending time with Grandma. Grace loves loves her grandparents and is not shy at all. Cate took a little while to warm up, but she did before too long. That is actually where Cate took her first steps. First for grandma, then for mommy, Grace and grandma.

We came home on Wednesday just in time for Graces’ last day of school on Thursday. I was pretty upset because this is truly her last day at this school. We just can’t afford the tuition for the next level program ($700 a month!). So even though we adore the teachers and just love the program and school and the kids are wonderful.. we just can’t do it. So it was a pretty emotional day for mommy. I would post pics but well, I don’t think it’s right to post pics of anyone else’s kids without permission.. But it was a fun day for her!

The next day, Friday… we went swimming for the first time in the pool here on our complex. It was cold, but Grace is such a little fish! She wears a float vest and arm floats and is just so good at kicking and getting around. She’ll probably do some private lessons this summer.. Since most of the places here just do group lessons when they’re much younger.

That night we got back into the car and drove to Reno. Chris’ mom is working there this summer, so we went to see her. We got there very very late and went straight to the hotel. We could have stayed with Chris’ mom but that would have been pretty tight. Plus, then we couldn’t have left the girls for some grandma time and had the whole entire night to ourselves on Saturday! It was awesome!! The girls had a great time with grandma and even got to go out for breakfast on Sunday. Chris and I got to go have dinner by ourselves, we slept in on Sunday and went for breakfast before going back to spend some more time with his mom that afternoon. Then it was back into the car for the drive home. It really should just be about a 4.5 hour drive but with the two kids and diaper changes and snack stops it was about 6 hours. But worth it for Chris and I to be able to spend some time to ourselves.. without having to pay a babysitter, that is. It doesn’t hurt that our Prius got about 48mpg on the drive either.

His mom has also volunteered to meet us halfway and take the girls for a whole weekend! Grace is very excited about that and I have to say, that Chris and I are pretty excited about the prospect as well. Sometimes it’s just so good for our relationship to be able to spend time with just each other. Time that isn’t at the end of the day and we’re both exhausted that is.

Otherwise, nothing too new.. we’re just trying to figure out what to do this summer.. we’re doing some new things with Grace and I’ll be updating that stuff soon. It’s still in the discussion phases so when I actually start to carry out some of our plans I’ll update.

New pics over at Flickr, just click one of the pics on the left and then the “photostream” link. Enjoy!

50 Odd Things About Me

June 7th, 2008

50 ODD Things about you! If you read this, FILL IT OUT! Learn 50 things about your friends and family, and let them learn 50 things about you!

1. Do you like blue cheese? Absolutely NOT
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? Never done any illegal drugs
3. Do you own a gun? Nope.
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I like their Lemon Berry Slush.. but we don’t have them here in Silicon Valley (unless you know something I don’t.. and in that case, quit holding out!)
5. Do you get nervous before doctor’s appointments? Not really
6. What do you think of hotdogs? Mmm.. yes please.. but only good quality ones.. and I don’t care for them grilled
7. Favorite Christmas movie? How the Grinch Stole Christmas
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? milk
9. Can you do pushups? Only with my knees down
10. Age? 29
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? wedding rings
12. Favorite hobby? Reading
13. Favorite Actor? hmm.. thats a tough one because I have lots. Consistently though, I like John Cusack.
14. Do you have A.D.D.? No
15. What’s one trait you hate about yourself? My inability to stick with a routine (like exercise)
16. Middle name? Jean
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. I wish Cate would stop screeching. I wish Cate would stop putting things in her mouth. I hope Grace takes a good nap, and won’t be as cranky when she wakes up.
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday/today: Bbq sauce, milk and cheese
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? water, dr pepper and milk
20. Current worries? How long Grace will be in this destructive phase and getting through this last few months in a cramped apartment
21. Current hate right now? The cost of everything, groceries, gas, etc.
22. Favorite place to be? Anywhere with a good book, or playing with my kids when they are in good moods
23. How did you bring in the New Year? At a hotel, driving home from my parents for Christmas.
24. Where would you like to go? Europe, or some tropical beach place
25. Name three people who will complete this? no clue
26. Do you own slippers? flip flops are my slippers
27. What shirt are you wearing? Chris’ Mickey Mouse tshirt
28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No, too hot
29. Can you whistle? yes, but not well
30. Favorite color? I fluctuate, but I love blue
31. Would you be a pirate? That depends..is Johnny Depp my captain?
32. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don’t sing in the shower
33. Favorite girl’s name? Grace and Catherine! lol
34. Favorite boy’s name? Charlie (though I know that can be a boys or girls name).
35. What is in your pocket? I don’t have any pockets right now but when I do you can bet there is a tube of chapstick.
36. Last thing that made you laugh? Something Cate did..she’s always making me laugh right now
37. Best bed sheets as a child? I don’t even remember…weird question!
38. Worst injury you’ve ever had?hmm.. I cut my forehead on a sharp edge and had to get stitches.
39. Do you love where you live? I love living in this area, but don’t like the apartment we’re living in at the moment
40. How many TVs do you have in your house? 1
41. Who is your loudest friend? I don’t really have any loud friends
42. How many dogs do you have? none
43. Does someone have a crush on you? My children.. I’m their favorite person..and my hubby of course
44. What is your favorite book(S)? I’m a book slut. So I can’t answer this.
45. Where were you born? Tulsa, Ok
46. What is your favorite candy? gummy anything
47. Favorite Sports Team? I don’t have one
48. What song(s) do you want played at your funeral? What kind of question is that?????
49. What were you doing at 12 A.M.? sleeping
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? ugh. Wait.. yes, Chris is getting up with the kids. (then I rolled over and went back to sleep)

A better way to eat peas?

June 3rd, 2008

My 3 year old tonight stuck a pea up her nose. I’m blogging about this because yet again, someday when she is grown and has troublemakers of her own, I want her to know where THEY get it from. She stuck the pea up there and then laughed, told me she did it..and then proceeded to follow it with a finger. Then cried when she realized it was up there.. pretty far. Luckily closing the opposite nostril and getting her to blow her nose shot it out onto the floor (gee, were you eating? Sorry about that).

Hopefully she won’t be trying to eat them that way again..