So the next new big thing going on in our house has to do with our wonderful (sarcastically said) back door. This door has been a pain in our behinds since the second or third year we lived here, and unfortunately the fun didn't stop then. Something is either wrong with the door or whoever installed it did a crappy job. The jury is still up in the air about which one is the culprit but we'll find out in a month. That's when my dad will be down and each year he comes we always find him a wonderful project for him to do. He's a go, go, go man and every time he's been down here without a project he seems to find one, so I try and be proactive and give him one. One year he helped with odd end jobs, one year he power washed the house, one year he (and my father-in-law) rebuilt my front porch/stoop, another year he helped us putting up new lights on the outside of the house, and yet another year he helped us run networking cables under the house so that Matt can have the living room computer and family computer connected. So he's helped us with lots of fun household projects, and we're extremely grateful!
This year he is helping us install our new back door. Right now we have a unit that has one stationary panel and the other side works like a normal door (not sure the technical name). The problems we've had all deal with water. Somehow water is getting in and slowly rotting parts of the door. It's all part of the alluring mystery we're hoping to solve when we remove the door.
We attempted to fix it way back when and had a guy come and put a new threshold in and a new rubber sweeper on the bottom of the door. Then my dad (oh, I forgot about this project) put a sliding screen door on to help keep the rain away. I also re-caulked the door to help as well. They were all just band-aids because the rot continued. Now it has gotten to where the door is just a lost cause. So when we were planning his annual trip this year, I marked this as our project.
We went shopping to look at different door styles. I wasn't sure what type I wanted but I new that I didn't want a sliding door. That is what Matt was thinking. The problem with them is the door opening is so small and this is our primary door we use virtually every time we leave or enter the house. Sliders can be heavy and the thought of trying to slide it with my arms filled with stuff and baby just didn't work for me. He agreed once he realized that they just don't open wide enough. The reason we need the door to be "wide" is that our front door is to cramped for getting big things in and out. It's fine if that big item is going upstairs, but if you're trying to get a fridge or washing machine in this house, there is no way you'd be able to use the front door. I also wasn't sure I wanted the same style we have now- I think that's because I associate this door with all the annoying things we've put up with. So then I was up in arms as to what we should get.
My in-laws were here not too long ago and we were talking about it with them. They are also looking to replace a patio door in there house. I think they were the first to plant the idea in my head about a door with sidelights. So when we went looking I saw the door or my dreams (lol) and it happened to be a door with sidelights, but not just any sidelights, venting sidelights. They have screens and open so I can have them open and enjoy the beautiful cross breeze on cool days. Also with this door we should be able to put a screen door on it as well. My dad thinks that will help if the problems were having now do stem from the lack of overhang from the roof. Either way, I'm hoping that this new door helps elevate some, if not all, of our back door problems.
So the door is ordered and my dad and step-mom are headed down in a month. I hope that this project goes smoothly and this door lasts longer than ten years. I'm super excited and can't wait!
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
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Thursday, March 29, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
A few things here and there...
I wish, as always, that I had more time/motivation to do more posts. Things just seem to be happening in super speed here. Well except the days that I can't get myself to do but the bare minimum and I pray for this first trimester yuck to be gone! I have very little interest in eating but if I don't the whole world stops until I consume something. I still have days like today that are way better and I feel functional. The catch twenty-two to that is I start to get nervous something is wrong, but God doesn't let those thoughts fill my head too long because before I know it I feel like pooh on a stick again. Then I wish I hadn't wasted that precious time being nervous. It's all a big viscous cycle. I'm trying to brake it today by just getting stuff done!
I know that this whole slowing down during pregnancy is purposeful though. Last time I didn't get it, but this time I do! I feel like it prepares you for when the baby gets here and that sweet bundle of joy consumes your every waking and sleeping moment. This yuck and lack of energy is just a sneak peak the real thing.
Lauren has been blowing my mind lately. She is just a little girl now. She can follow simple directions and is so frappin' cute when she walks around babbling to herself or saying "Ball" over and over. She loves being outside. Last weekend we had friends in from out of town and she was outside playing with their boys all day Saturday and I'm pretty sure she was in heaven. She enjoyed the pals to "play" with and I'm sure she was just at awe with all the things they could do. She's a little sponge and enjoys being a helper. I completely take advantage of this. Hey if she wants to help vacuum and dust who am I to say no?! In fact, the floors got so bad around here she was asking me to vacuum... oops.
What's sad is that her 16 month "birthday" came and went without me even realizing it. Yikes- my sweet baby is getting bigger and I'm so slow these days I'm forgetting to celebrate it (we don't really celebrate it with any party or hoopla). I'm telling you this pregnancy stuff really does start preparing you for when the baby gets here.
We call the baby "Blueberry" and I'll tell Lauren to say hi to Blueberry and she points to my belly- which by the way I'm convinced is already started to grow...holy fastness here people! Last time I couldn't wait to get into the maternity clothes because I was so excited to be prego and couldn't wait for the baby bump, and don't get me wrong I'm excited this time too, but this time I remember that once you start wearing those clothes you don't go back for a LONG time. This time around I'm enjoying my normal clothes for as long as I can.
Well Noah is starting to wake up and I should go get him. Hopefully it won't be too long before I fill you in on all the other things going on around here.
"Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." 1 Peter 2:2
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Excited! Elated! Overjoyed!
I'm not sure how many more synonymy I can come up with for how I feel, but I'll spare you and tell you why...I'm pregnant with a sweet little "Blueberry!"
We found out on Valentine's Day and I've been bursting to write about it on here. Today we went and had the first ultrasound and saw a strong heartbeat and that little Blueberry was already kicking and moving all over the place. I don't think I've allowed myself to get too excited but I'm getting there. After two miscarriages you tend to be more on the cautious side. But this one's a sticker and we feel blessed.
What I can say is that this little one is making me sick, sick, and more sick. My poor husband commented this weekend that he feels like a single parent, and I rebutted with- I feel like an absentee mom. With Lauren I just had trouble in the morning and learned that if I ate first thing it helped. Then I was pretty good all day- tired but functional. Then when I got home at night I was a dead dog, going to sleep by seven most nights. With this one- I'm just getting by, barely, all day long. In fact, some days I can't get myself off the couch long enough to eat, only to head right back there. Oh and eating. I don't want to eat- no sir! I have very little appetite but struggle because if I don't eat I'm worse off. The only food I've found to settle me is beef and peanut butter. If I eat mass amount of beef I can function pretty normally throughout my day. Have I mentioned that I'm not a big beef fan?!? I usually only plan a meal or two at most a week with beef. And then it's usually ground beef for tacos or Shepard's Pie. Occasionally I make us some burgers. But the other day I went to the grocery store a spent seventy dollars on beef products for our house. It's kinda sick. Tonight- pulled beef, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. I've never in my life had pulled beef- but I think it will not taste that much different than pulled pork- or so I hope.
We've already started the name game. Me coming up with names and Matt not liking them. We've got the boy's name all set since we still like what we had picked for Lauren (before we knew she was going to be a sweet little girl). The only switch is that this baby is do near Matt's dad's birthday (I hope I did the 's right?- sorry I suck at grammar). So if I happen to give birth on his birthday we are going to use his dad's first name for the middle name, if not then his middle name will be after my dad. The girl name- ha- is up for debate. Although the middle name has been decided. It will "Jean" after Matt's mom's middle name, my mom's middle name, and my middle name. That part was easy. Now if we can decided on a girl name- or not depending on how long the debate goes we might not need one...lol...oh lordy.
We're just overjoyed with the thought of growing our family. What a blessing God has given us as we thank him for Blueberry daily. I know that Lauren is just as excited about Blueberry now that she has "pictures." When I showed them to her I also went upstairs and got out the little album we have of her ultrasound pictures. She really didn't care to much about the ones of her, but she kept pointing to and looking at the new ones that I added today to that special album. I called it her Blueberry book- she even took it in the car on our trip to the grocery store. She's already holding her brother/sister close. Another blessing.
Well I'm sure there will be more as we are just at the beginning of this very long and wonderful journey. But for now I need to go lay on the couch and pray Matt get's home soon so I can be "off duty."
"He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor" Proverbs 21:21
We found out on Valentine's Day and I've been bursting to write about it on here. Today we went and had the first ultrasound and saw a strong heartbeat and that little Blueberry was already kicking and moving all over the place. I don't think I've allowed myself to get too excited but I'm getting there. After two miscarriages you tend to be more on the cautious side. But this one's a sticker and we feel blessed.
What I can say is that this little one is making me sick, sick, and more sick. My poor husband commented this weekend that he feels like a single parent, and I rebutted with- I feel like an absentee mom. With Lauren I just had trouble in the morning and learned that if I ate first thing it helped. Then I was pretty good all day- tired but functional. Then when I got home at night I was a dead dog, going to sleep by seven most nights. With this one- I'm just getting by, barely, all day long. In fact, some days I can't get myself off the couch long enough to eat, only to head right back there. Oh and eating. I don't want to eat- no sir! I have very little appetite but struggle because if I don't eat I'm worse off. The only food I've found to settle me is beef and peanut butter. If I eat mass amount of beef I can function pretty normally throughout my day. Have I mentioned that I'm not a big beef fan?!? I usually only plan a meal or two at most a week with beef. And then it's usually ground beef for tacos or Shepard's Pie. Occasionally I make us some burgers. But the other day I went to the grocery store a spent seventy dollars on beef products for our house. It's kinda sick. Tonight- pulled beef, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. I've never in my life had pulled beef- but I think it will not taste that much different than pulled pork- or so I hope.
We've already started the name game. Me coming up with names and Matt not liking them. We've got the boy's name all set since we still like what we had picked for Lauren (before we knew she was going to be a sweet little girl). The only switch is that this baby is do near Matt's dad's birthday (I hope I did the 's right?- sorry I suck at grammar). So if I happen to give birth on his birthday we are going to use his dad's first name for the middle name, if not then his middle name will be after my dad. The girl name- ha- is up for debate. Although the middle name has been decided. It will "Jean" after Matt's mom's middle name, my mom's middle name, and my middle name. That part was easy. Now if we can decided on a girl name- or not depending on how long the debate goes we might not need one...lol...oh lordy.
We're just overjoyed with the thought of growing our family. What a blessing God has given us as we thank him for Blueberry daily. I know that Lauren is just as excited about Blueberry now that she has "pictures." When I showed them to her I also went upstairs and got out the little album we have of her ultrasound pictures. She really didn't care to much about the ones of her, but she kept pointing to and looking at the new ones that I added today to that special album. I called it her Blueberry book- she even took it in the car on our trip to the grocery store. She's already holding her brother/sister close. Another blessing.
Well I'm sure there will be more as we are just at the beginning of this very long and wonderful journey. But for now I need to go lay on the couch and pray Matt get's home soon so I can be "off duty."
"He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor" Proverbs 21:21
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Snuggle Bunnies
Last night we were a family of snuggle bunnies. We've had our house invaded by the guys fixing our furnace and air conditioner unit. They started yesterday with removal of the old unit and that left us without heat. Of course it was the coldest night of the surrounding days, going down to 30 degrees, go figure. But we survived without any frost bite.
We decided to all sleep down stairs in the guest/play room. I always have the pack-n-play set up in there for Noah anyway. I just changed out the sheets for Lauren and Matt and I took up residence in the spare bed. This room gets full sun all day so it is one of the warmest in the house. We were hoping it would stay warmer with all of us in it, and it wasn't too bad. The house was 60 when we woke up this morning but under the covers was nice and cozy. Annabelle woke me up around 4:30 and Lauren was sleeping soundly, so I didn't disturb her. But by 5:40ish she was stirring so I put her in between us in the bed where she slept until 7 (well 8 since we were suppose to spring ahead today).
All in all it wasn't a bad thing, in fact it was neat falling asleep while I was listening to her soft breathing. She feel asleep pretty quickly for not being in her bed, and I went to bed at the same time as her watching a show on the laptop with headphones. Matt, bless his heart, stayed up cleaning the kitchen and doing other odds and ends chores. He said he attempted to play his video game but fell asleep on the couch instead.
I'm looking forward to heat coming from the vents again and I'm praying they get the furnace up and running before heading home today, but I enjoyed snuggling up together and all sleeping together in our cozy little spare room. To think that it wasn't that long ago that some families lived like this- all sleeping in the same room.
That brings me to a topic I've been discussing lately with a few friends. I've been talking about how big house are these days and how I find it unnecessary. My mom's house growing up had a living room, kitchen, and dining room downstairs, with three bedrooms and a bath upstairs. There was a finished "family" room in the basement too. But the house wasn't that big at all. My dad's house was a ranch with three bedrooms, a bathroom, living room and eat-in kitchen. It also had a finished basement adding an extra bedroom. Again not very big either. We survived just fine.
Now a days people have such huge homes. I don't have a desire for a big home. I know the home we're in isn't our "forever" home but when Matt and I talk about our forever home we only add two things- a garage and/or a basement and a dining room. We have zero storage in our house right now. Just closets. Having no basement or garage makes storing Christmas decorations and stuff like that hard. I want a dining room, in addition to an eat-in kitchen like we have now, for entertaining at holidays and hosting parties (like birthday parties for kid(s). In fact, I've redesigned the house we are in now (in my head) and when I do that we loose the spare room down stairs and gain a dining room.
I think my desire for a smaller house also has to do with the fact that I'm not a big spender. You pay so much more to heat and cool a big house. To maintain it and decorate it. The smaller the house the less stuff. My one friend has a beautiful home, but they have this huge foyer, which has a two story ceiling. To me it has an "aww" or "wow" factor to it, but it is such wasted space. I don't consider that living space and you pay all that money to heat it, for what? So people can say wow when they walk in. You could add a whole other room to the upstairs if you didn't have it.
I also like the fact that a small home brings a family together. When we were growing up at my dad's house (high school time) we only had two TV's in the house and one of them was in my parents room. My sister and I never went in there, so if we wanted to watch TV at night, we watched it with the family. My step-mom always said that there isn't enough family time as it is, at least we can all be in the same room watching the same program. Looking back, I liked that. I'm sure I fussed at the time that my dad was watching something stupid and I wanted to watch something else, but I got over it. So, on top of never desiring a big house, we also have no intention on allowing our kids to have a TV in their room. Oh, one last point. Smaller house = less to clean!!
We decided to all sleep down stairs in the guest/play room. I always have the pack-n-play set up in there for Noah anyway. I just changed out the sheets for Lauren and Matt and I took up residence in the spare bed. This room gets full sun all day so it is one of the warmest in the house. We were hoping it would stay warmer with all of us in it, and it wasn't too bad. The house was 60 when we woke up this morning but under the covers was nice and cozy. Annabelle woke me up around 4:30 and Lauren was sleeping soundly, so I didn't disturb her. But by 5:40ish she was stirring so I put her in between us in the bed where she slept until 7 (well 8 since we were suppose to spring ahead today).
All in all it wasn't a bad thing, in fact it was neat falling asleep while I was listening to her soft breathing. She feel asleep pretty quickly for not being in her bed, and I went to bed at the same time as her watching a show on the laptop with headphones. Matt, bless his heart, stayed up cleaning the kitchen and doing other odds and ends chores. He said he attempted to play his video game but fell asleep on the couch instead.
I'm looking forward to heat coming from the vents again and I'm praying they get the furnace up and running before heading home today, but I enjoyed snuggling up together and all sleeping together in our cozy little spare room. To think that it wasn't that long ago that some families lived like this- all sleeping in the same room.
That brings me to a topic I've been discussing lately with a few friends. I've been talking about how big house are these days and how I find it unnecessary. My mom's house growing up had a living room, kitchen, and dining room downstairs, with three bedrooms and a bath upstairs. There was a finished "family" room in the basement too. But the house wasn't that big at all. My dad's house was a ranch with three bedrooms, a bathroom, living room and eat-in kitchen. It also had a finished basement adding an extra bedroom. Again not very big either. We survived just fine.
Now a days people have such huge homes. I don't have a desire for a big home. I know the home we're in isn't our "forever" home but when Matt and I talk about our forever home we only add two things- a garage and/or a basement and a dining room. We have zero storage in our house right now. Just closets. Having no basement or garage makes storing Christmas decorations and stuff like that hard. I want a dining room, in addition to an eat-in kitchen like we have now, for entertaining at holidays and hosting parties (like birthday parties for kid(s). In fact, I've redesigned the house we are in now (in my head) and when I do that we loose the spare room down stairs and gain a dining room.
I think my desire for a smaller house also has to do with the fact that I'm not a big spender. You pay so much more to heat and cool a big house. To maintain it and decorate it. The smaller the house the less stuff. My one friend has a beautiful home, but they have this huge foyer, which has a two story ceiling. To me it has an "aww" or "wow" factor to it, but it is such wasted space. I don't consider that living space and you pay all that money to heat it, for what? So people can say wow when they walk in. You could add a whole other room to the upstairs if you didn't have it.
I also like the fact that a small home brings a family together. When we were growing up at my dad's house (high school time) we only had two TV's in the house and one of them was in my parents room. My sister and I never went in there, so if we wanted to watch TV at night, we watched it with the family. My step-mom always said that there isn't enough family time as it is, at least we can all be in the same room watching the same program. Looking back, I liked that. I'm sure I fussed at the time that my dad was watching something stupid and I wanted to watch something else, but I got over it. So, on top of never desiring a big house, we also have no intention on allowing our kids to have a TV in their room. Oh, one last point. Smaller house = less to clean!!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Faithfulness
Yesterday I got some devastating news. My wonderful friend, whom I have spoken about on here regularly, Esther has had a miscarriage. I'm trying my best to just have faith and understanding for God's will in this, but it's hard. Having gone down this road a few times myself, the pain of it all is hard to swallow back down. She is a wonderful mommy and person. She was so excited and now she's the opposite. I hate to know the pain she's in and have been praying and praying for anything or any way I can help her. When she called to tell me my body went numb and my heart sunk. I don't want her to hurt. I don't want her to feel the pain I know she is going through. I know that faith and relying on God are the only ways to get through this and I'm trying to be mindful that she can do it, just as many women have. It just hits so close to home.
So today, I'm having faith, in fact, I'm trying to have faith enough for the both of us.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him." Jeremiah 17:7
"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
"The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
"Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between him shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12
"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
"Be strong and take heart, all who hope in the LORD." Psalm 31:24
"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. " Psalm 55:22
"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
So today, I'm having faith, in fact, I'm trying to have faith enough for the both of us.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him." Jeremiah 17:7
"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
"The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
"Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between him shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12
"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
"Be strong and take heart, all who hope in the LORD." Psalm 31:24
"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. " Psalm 55:22
"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Shapes
We've been learning our shapes this February! Here are the projects Lauren, Noah, and I have been making. We've been learning shapes with songs, books, and these fun projects I've found online. (Great website for these shape projects and more: http://www.dltk-kids.com/ )
In case you can't read the labels, starting on the purple paper and moving clockwise: Square Snowman, Triangle Fish, Circle Polar Bear, and Rectangle Robot.
As I read on someone's Facebook page recently "You can take the teacher out of the school, but you can't take the teacher out of me."
In case you can't read the labels, starting on the purple paper and moving clockwise: Square Snowman, Triangle Fish, Circle Polar Bear, and Rectangle Robot.
As I read on someone's Facebook page recently "You can take the teacher out of the school, but you can't take the teacher out of me."
Heating up and Cooling down
Next weekend we're about to have our house taken over by two men and a furnace. Since we've lived here (six years this April) we've done mostly cosmetic things to the house. We took out all the carpet downstairs and put in hardwood floors, we rebuilt the front porch/stoop, we stained the back deck, put in a new kitchen sink & garbage disposal, painted, and that's pretty much it. This furnace undertaking is the first mechanical thing we've had to repair (if you don't count the garbage disposal).
Two summers ago when my dad was down we were talking to him about the air conditioner and how the pipe off the back deck had been draining and now it wasn't. Little did we know that if it's dripping it's a bad thing- the opposite of what we thought. The coil to the air conditioner has been slowly dying over the last few years. This last summer it had started leaking into the drip pan in the house and the pan has started to rust out. So if we did nothing about it, the pan would eventually give out and then the water would start dripping into the insulation and the walls below. That is not cool at all- one big hot mess! So after having our thermostat die this fall and having someone come figure it out for us, he had told us we better do something about the coil. Since we were done with the air conditioner for the season we decided we would take our time and having it repaired and do it in the early spring so that it was up and ready for next summer.
Well once we started looking into the repair we realized that we should replace the furnace itself too. We live in a cape cod style home and our furnace and air conditioner is in the knee wall of our bedroom up stairs. In order to get to the air conditioning coil you need to remove the furnace anyway. The house is nearing thirteen years old and the life expectancy for a furnace is only about twelve years. We had quotes done and the three people who did quotes told us that it would be silly not to just replace the furnace since we paying for all the labor to take out the furnace already. In fact, they each did two quotes one without replacing the furnace and one with. Each quote was only different by the price of the furnace- which was only ~$500. When you're already paying thousands, it just seemed to make since.
It will be weird having someone who isn't my dad or Matt's dad doing some of the work on our house. Even though they live far away they always seem to be able to help us out and keep the cost down. This is a project that they couldn't have done anyway- you need a licence to do all the refrigeration stuff. Plus, my dad will be down later this spring to help us replace our back door. Our next project...
Two summers ago when my dad was down we were talking to him about the air conditioner and how the pipe off the back deck had been draining and now it wasn't. Little did we know that if it's dripping it's a bad thing- the opposite of what we thought. The coil to the air conditioner has been slowly dying over the last few years. This last summer it had started leaking into the drip pan in the house and the pan has started to rust out. So if we did nothing about it, the pan would eventually give out and then the water would start dripping into the insulation and the walls below. That is not cool at all- one big hot mess! So after having our thermostat die this fall and having someone come figure it out for us, he had told us we better do something about the coil. Since we were done with the air conditioner for the season we decided we would take our time and having it repaired and do it in the early spring so that it was up and ready for next summer.
Well once we started looking into the repair we realized that we should replace the furnace itself too. We live in a cape cod style home and our furnace and air conditioner is in the knee wall of our bedroom up stairs. In order to get to the air conditioning coil you need to remove the furnace anyway. The house is nearing thirteen years old and the life expectancy for a furnace is only about twelve years. We had quotes done and the three people who did quotes told us that it would be silly not to just replace the furnace since we paying for all the labor to take out the furnace already. In fact, they each did two quotes one without replacing the furnace and one with. Each quote was only different by the price of the furnace- which was only ~$500. When you're already paying thousands, it just seemed to make since.
It will be weird having someone who isn't my dad or Matt's dad doing some of the work on our house. Even though they live far away they always seem to be able to help us out and keep the cost down. This is a project that they couldn't have done anyway- you need a licence to do all the refrigeration stuff. Plus, my dad will be down later this spring to help us replace our back door. Our next project...
Friday, March 2, 2012
Lauren's Top Ten - 15 Months Old
TOP TEN LIST:
ALL THE THINGS MY BIG GIRLS BEEN DOING THESE DAYS...
9. Playing with her baby doll by putting a bib on her and feeding her a bottleALL THE THINGS MY BIG GIRLS BEEN DOING THESE DAYS...
10. Going down the slide feet first on your belly
8. Watching and reading Clifford!
7. Playing outside as much as you can
6. Being silly and teasing mommy or daddy
5. Crawling up and down the stairs
4. Helping clean up your toys at night
3. Eating with a spoon all by yourself
2. Going pee in the potty
1. Running!!
Play Dates Plus!
Yikes, it has almost been a month, a very busy month, since I've been on here. Things here have been busy, busy and I've been tired, tired. Each night I find myself crawling into bed after we put Lauren down. I can make it through a little bit of reading or a TV show and I'm out by nine o'clock. I'm an old lady, I know. Plus, my days have been busy too. Mondays and Fridays with Noah and Lauren. Wednesdays we have library time and then a play date with Caitlyn and Esther. I've had Brooke here four or five times throughout the month. So the days that are free from me watching another baby and play dates I've been trying to keep up with house work and staying on top of everything else. We also had family staying with us for a week. And don't forget February is a "short" month-even thought this was a Leap Year.
I've been trying to keep up with running and I do good when I run with Heather on the weekends, but I've been doing more walking during the week days. Esther and I have taken the girls to parks on Wednesday when the weather allows us to. February has been surprisingly beautiful so I think that almost every Wednesday we've been able to do it (this week we meet on Thursday since Wednesday was rainy, but Thursday was 72 and sunny). We usually meet up at the library for story time and from there head to the park. We eat our packed lunches and then let the girls play on the playground some. After that we load them into the strollers and hit the walking paths. I have truly found a wonderful friend in Esther. We have a lot in common and have similar taste in things. I tell her it just cracks me up as we talk about our lives and the girls how many things she'll say, or I'll say and the other chimes in to say "me too!" She thinks we're long lost sisters.
Yesterday we were noticing more and more the girls, Lauren and Caitlyn, were interacting with each other. Babies tend to co-exist when playing "together" but now that they're hitting the toddler stage they seem to actually take notice that this other person is in the room. They did a few really cute things. There was this double slide and they both climbed onto it and tried to climb up. It was so silly to watch them both with their bums sticking out try to climb and get no where. Esther and I just watched, smiled, and laughed as they got no where fast. Lauren gave up first and finally Caitlyn did as well. It was so cute how they would wonder off and then happen to see each other again and they would squeal with delight and wave- like saying "Hey, I know you! Hi!" Then, when we were walking they kept reaching their hands out of the stroller to touch the other. This was the sweetest thing ever. They would just rest their heads on the side of the stroller and look at each other.
It is so neat to watch her begin to socialize. There were three older girls at the park yesterday, who where playing with their dolls. Lauren was just in aw of what she was seeing. She walking up slowly and then got up the nerve to touch the little girl's doll. The little girl gave her "eyes" -she give my baby girl the mommy- "OH NO YOU DIDN'T" eyes. Lauren didn't shy away. She just waited to see what the girl was going to do. The girl watched Lauren to see what she was going to do. The stare down didn't last but a few minutes but it was a neat interaction to watch. The little girl wasn't mean, and once Lauren felt like she wasn't going to get anywhere she left.
I can't believe how big my little girl is getting. Oh, I haven't written yet that our little girl is doing the potty thing...In the potty!! Well, sort of. She started to show interest in what I was doing on the toilet for some time know, so I talked to my friend who has two little girls and asked her what she did. She said once they started showing interest that she would put them on their toilet when she would go herself. So I thought that Lauren was at the perfect stage to do this. We went to store and picked out a perfect potty and then I would set her on it when she would see me on mine. She now points at it even when I'm not on one. We also put her on it before we put her in the tub (our little stinker likes to pee in the tub as soon as the water starts running and she feels the water on her feet). It was at this time when she peed in there for the fist time. I wasn't here, at church that night, but Matt left it in there so I could see. The next time it was at tub time too, but I was present for this one. I got so super excited for her. She's only gone once when it wasn't bath time. She is just growing leaps and bounds these days. Now I'm not ready, nor is she, to take the diapers away, but I'm what Dr. T said "setting the stage" for what is to come. I think depending on vacations this summer I'm going to shoot for August to pull the diapers and do full time potty training. But still I'm so proud of her.
This getting old thing hasn't come without it's downs. She's at the stage where she will throw temper tantrums. Often they happen when she has her independent mind set on doing or wanting something that she can't. She's still pretty cute when she's doing them. She yells and carries on. Usually she throws herself on all fours and carries on. Sometimes she'll walk around yelling and crying. She's pretty good at understanding what I'm saying but it's when I saying no, when she wants yes that set her off. One day she through a fit because I wouldn't let her play with the paint bottles and another time because she wanted to play in the back yard and I was putting her in the car instead (mean mommy that I am). Some days she'll have five to ten and then other days she won't have even one. She will also through a fit sometimes if she's feeling that I'm not understanding what she's trying to tell me. It must be hard to understand so much but not be able verbally articulate what she wants. She has a handful of words and signs, but sometimes that still isn't enough. Dr. T said the typical 15 month old is having 15 a day- so I thought Lauren was doing great because even on a tough day she hasn't been that bad.
Oh speaking of the doctor- Lauren as finally tipped the scales. She's over 20 pounds! We finally installed her big girl, forward facing, convertible booster seat in daddy's car. We will need to turn around her car seat in my car soon, since she's getting too tall to be rear facing and it be safe. It's going to be neat to turn around and see her looking at me and sitting up.
Oh goodness- so much going on here. I still need to tell you about our furnace adventures...but that will have to be another day.
I've been trying to keep up with running and I do good when I run with Heather on the weekends, but I've been doing more walking during the week days. Esther and I have taken the girls to parks on Wednesday when the weather allows us to. February has been surprisingly beautiful so I think that almost every Wednesday we've been able to do it (this week we meet on Thursday since Wednesday was rainy, but Thursday was 72 and sunny). We usually meet up at the library for story time and from there head to the park. We eat our packed lunches and then let the girls play on the playground some. After that we load them into the strollers and hit the walking paths. I have truly found a wonderful friend in Esther. We have a lot in common and have similar taste in things. I tell her it just cracks me up as we talk about our lives and the girls how many things she'll say, or I'll say and the other chimes in to say "me too!" She thinks we're long lost sisters.
Yesterday we were noticing more and more the girls, Lauren and Caitlyn, were interacting with each other. Babies tend to co-exist when playing "together" but now that they're hitting the toddler stage they seem to actually take notice that this other person is in the room. They did a few really cute things. There was this double slide and they both climbed onto it and tried to climb up. It was so silly to watch them both with their bums sticking out try to climb and get no where. Esther and I just watched, smiled, and laughed as they got no where fast. Lauren gave up first and finally Caitlyn did as well. It was so cute how they would wonder off and then happen to see each other again and they would squeal with delight and wave- like saying "Hey, I know you! Hi!" Then, when we were walking they kept reaching their hands out of the stroller to touch the other. This was the sweetest thing ever. They would just rest their heads on the side of the stroller and look at each other.
It is so neat to watch her begin to socialize. There were three older girls at the park yesterday, who where playing with their dolls. Lauren was just in aw of what she was seeing. She walking up slowly and then got up the nerve to touch the little girl's doll. The little girl gave her "eyes" -she give my baby girl the mommy- "OH NO YOU DIDN'T" eyes. Lauren didn't shy away. She just waited to see what the girl was going to do. The girl watched Lauren to see what she was going to do. The stare down didn't last but a few minutes but it was a neat interaction to watch. The little girl wasn't mean, and once Lauren felt like she wasn't going to get anywhere she left.
I can't believe how big my little girl is getting. Oh, I haven't written yet that our little girl is doing the potty thing...In the potty!! Well, sort of. She started to show interest in what I was doing on the toilet for some time know, so I talked to my friend who has two little girls and asked her what she did. She said once they started showing interest that she would put them on their toilet when she would go herself. So I thought that Lauren was at the perfect stage to do this. We went to store and picked out a perfect potty and then I would set her on it when she would see me on mine. She now points at it even when I'm not on one. We also put her on it before we put her in the tub (our little stinker likes to pee in the tub as soon as the water starts running and she feels the water on her feet). It was at this time when she peed in there for the fist time. I wasn't here, at church that night, but Matt left it in there so I could see. The next time it was at tub time too, but I was present for this one. I got so super excited for her. She's only gone once when it wasn't bath time. She is just growing leaps and bounds these days. Now I'm not ready, nor is she, to take the diapers away, but I'm what Dr. T said "setting the stage" for what is to come. I think depending on vacations this summer I'm going to shoot for August to pull the diapers and do full time potty training. But still I'm so proud of her.
Lauren on her potty. Still in jammiers and hair is all crazy.
This getting old thing hasn't come without it's downs. She's at the stage where she will throw temper tantrums. Often they happen when she has her independent mind set on doing or wanting something that she can't. She's still pretty cute when she's doing them. She yells and carries on. Usually she throws herself on all fours and carries on. Sometimes she'll walk around yelling and crying. She's pretty good at understanding what I'm saying but it's when I saying no, when she wants yes that set her off. One day she through a fit because I wouldn't let her play with the paint bottles and another time because she wanted to play in the back yard and I was putting her in the car instead (mean mommy that I am). Some days she'll have five to ten and then other days she won't have even one. She will also through a fit sometimes if she's feeling that I'm not understanding what she's trying to tell me. It must be hard to understand so much but not be able verbally articulate what she wants. She has a handful of words and signs, but sometimes that still isn't enough. Dr. T said the typical 15 month old is having 15 a day- so I thought Lauren was doing great because even on a tough day she hasn't been that bad.
Oh speaking of the doctor- Lauren as finally tipped the scales. She's over 20 pounds! We finally installed her big girl, forward facing, convertible booster seat in daddy's car. We will need to turn around her car seat in my car soon, since she's getting too tall to be rear facing and it be safe. It's going to be neat to turn around and see her looking at me and sitting up.
Oh goodness- so much going on here. I still need to tell you about our furnace adventures...but that will have to be another day.
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