Thursday, July 31, 2008

Very Nice Kid

We were out eating some chicken tonight and there were some kids sitting in the booth behind us. Krista kept turning around to look at them and we kept telling her to sit down and eat. As they were leaving, the little boy handed Krista his stickers from his kids meal. I could hear his mom say, "That was very nice." And Krista thanked him. The rest of the night Krista kept saying, "that was a very nice kid." Over and over, she kept saying it whenever she saw the stickers. It was cute. Her other recent phrase she likes to say a lot is, "I can't wait to... (whatever she wants to do, usually play outside)."

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Birthday Month

My birthday month is quickly approaching and another summer month is almost over. Can you believe it? Time seems to be swiftly passing me by. I know some of you will want birthday lists and I promise I will work on it. Some of you already know what you are getting me and I know what you are getting me - ha!

On a side note, I made Krista's first dentist appointment. It will be in September, so wish her good luck. It is probably a little late in the eyes of the pediatric dentist, although our normal dentist wasn't too concerned about getting her an appointment right away. But, she is getting good at letting me brush her teeth and wanting to "do it myself" - so that is a good sign.

Gabriel is almost to the point of crawling. He can get up entirely on his hands and knees for a short period of time now. This can't be an easy feat as he is a chunker. This makes sleeping through the night harder on us because he flips himself over and crawls (as much as he can in the crib). He then gets in uncomfortable situations with his legs stuck out the front of the crib or his head jammed in the corner. So up mom gets to plop him back in the middle of the crib on his back and stick a paci back in his mouth. This has been happening at least once a night recently. All I can say is: Ugh.

Friday, July 25, 2008

The Amazing Ansel

Ansel (our lovely, hair-ball dog) gets on my nerves several times throughout the day. He excels in growling at other dogs barking, barking at other dogs barking, running under my legs when I am attempting to walk, eating his own poo, jumping on Gabriel who is sitting on the floor, leaving hair ALL over the house, and being a general pain. Ansel has problems eating his dog food (I think he may be anorexic.. but not sure how the poo eating plays into this), laying contently in one spot, walking quietly on hardwood floors, letting people walk by our house without barking, and keeping himself clean. Of course, I blame my husband, who picked out this barking, crazy furball. But, he can't take all the blame. I did agree to purchase this pure-bred Shetland Sheepdog at the pet store. His beady little brown eyes and helpless demeanor as a puppy lured me into the trap. Now that I'm home all day, he just drives me crazy. I love the dog, but I don't like him too much. But, as much as I don't like him, I agree with the dog whisperer who says - it's the owners fault he's that way to begin with!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Potty Time Update

Today I said to myself, OK, you are going to set a timer and have Krista go to the potty chair each time the buzzer goes off. Of course, I have been saying this the past few days. So as incentive, I put Krista in big girl training underpants with the plastic underpant cover. Well... that plan flew out the window when Krista soaked them about 30 seconds later and she was sitting in it and not even caring. SO - back to diapers we went. I DID set the timer though and she did go when I sat her on the potty. Then we got distracted pulling weeds together outside while Gabriel took a morning nap. And then we had to do a Target errand run.... so then I was thinking, ok I'll start again tomorrow. Well, as she was eating lunch she said, "Mommy, I go peepee." So about 2 minutes later (after coraling her into the restroom with Gabriel on my hip), I sat her on the potty chair. Her diaper was pretty wet, so I didn't have much hope for this potty run. But, with a chocolate candy incentive, she didn't want to give up. She sat. And she sat. And she sat some more. About 10 minutes later I ask if her if she is done and she says, "yeah, mommy." When she stood up, I saw that she had a successful #2! Congratulations, Krista! Way to Go! Two chocolates for a #2! After nap, we'll see if the success continues.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Peek a Boo!

One of Gabriel's favorite things to watch is Krista running around the room. So we turned it into a fun game of Peek a Boo that we play at least once daily. Krista runs behind the laziboy and "hides", then she says "weady, set, GO!" and runs out yelling "peekaboo!" towards Gabriel. And Gabriel, waiting patiently for her to come out with a big smile on his face, begins laughing like a crazy man. He laughs so hard it's contagious. Krista really is his favorite person to watch... too bad she doesn't share his sentiment!

On another note, Krista has been saying some funny things now that she is talking more:

"Baby G is a Chunky Monkey"
"I wanna do that, mommy"
"I'm soooo sorry, mommy" (usually for no reason at all)
"Baby G's a kid!" (in response to me referring to him as a baby)

Kids are so funny.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Presents from Rebates

Well... it's here! I now have a girly pink/flowery laptop. I can now check my email in the evenings when Josh is playing computer games. I can also bring it upstairs with me if I want to organize pictures or do anything on the computer. Yay, me! I'm so excited. Well, gotta go - Gabriel is starting to get fussy.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Stranger Danger

Gabriel's been going through that lovely stage of development that includes "Stranger Anxiety." This means that it's a game of Russian Roullette whether he screams in terror at seeing your face or not. Let's see who's on the list of "scary" strangers: a smiling cousin Heather, the nice older lady who works at the library, Uncle Joe, and temporarily Godmother Tina. The last one he seemed to get over in about 2 seconds and he started smiling at her when she started talking to me. So... just as a warning, if you see us out and you go up to talk to the baby -- the pouty lip may come out and he may start screaming at the top of his lungs in an instant. You may think you "broke" the baby, but don't worry - he was already broken. And hey, he may start smiling and not care in the least, that's the chance you have to take.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Adult Supervision

Let me start out by saying, I am by no means overly overprotective of my kids. Well, maybe I am compared to the parents I've seen on my day to day activities. I guess I just don't understand how a parent can just let their small child go off on their own without any adult supervision. I guess my thought is: If I were able to snatch this child without anyone knowing, any weirdo out there could. And it happens everywhere. I see it in my neighborhood, small children under the age of 6 riding their bikes in the street - no parents in sight. I saw one 7 year old pulling on the arm of a 3 year old who was trying to run out into a busy street - no parents in sight. Oh, don't get me started on McDonalds (or any other child friendly food establishment). It's like they go there and just let them loose. They run down the aisle's, screaming at the top of their lungs - no parents in sight. I've even seen it at the library. Just because it's the kids area, doesn't mean you can let you 2 year old "browse" by themselves. I guess I just thought keeping an eye on your child was part of the job description of "parent". Ok, done venting now.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Black Bike

Krista is enamored of Grandpa's "black bike." Everytime she sees Grandpa she says, "Gampa's gota black bike. Ista's gota pink bike." She loves to see Grandpa riding it. She also likes to sit on it and wear the "melmits". She wants to ride the bike with Grandpa.. not realizing she would probably just fly off the back. Here's a picture of her ready to be a Harley Momma. Age 2 going on 20:

Friday, July 11, 2008

A Step...

in the right direction occurred yesterday. My beautiful, darling daughter has always been a few months behind on a lot of things like: rolling over, walking, and talking. It's like she has to make sure she can do it perfectly before she will even try to do it. So hopefully that is the case with potty training as well. Yesterday, with the promise of Dots candy, she sat on the potty chair three times with a successful outcome. With much praise and the promised Dots, she seemed nonchalant about the victory. Well, today she sat on the potty chair once and with no successful outcome. So it is still a battle, but I will keep you posted as to the progress.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Hair

I'm not too picky when it comes to my hair. It's usually pulled back into a ponytail or braids off my face and away from grabby little hands. I get my hair cut once a year or so when I get really sick of the length. I cut it pretty short, hoping it will stay short for a while - but it never does. Well the other day, I did the craziest thing I have ever done with my hair. This is the ultimate "I don't really care" moment for my poor hair. I finished taking a shower, combed my long long hair (12" or so) and immediately pulled it back in a ponytail. Enter Josh.

J: Want me to cut it?
T: Yeah! (Enthusiastic sarcasm)
J: I can do it.
T: Really? OK - I don't care.
J: Come here.
T: OK.
J: Are you seriously going to let me cut it?
T: Yeah, do it.

And he did do it. He cut it right below my ponytail holder. It actually doesn't look too bad for having my husband hack off my hair. It is shorter in the back and longer at the sides, but it kind of looks like I wanted it on purpose. Well, I guess it just proves I'm not one of these people who freak out when they go to get their hair cut OR I'm crazy.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

She Did It


Well, she did it - Krista walked down the aisle as a flowergirl at Tina's wedding. She looked beautiful in her little white dress and held the other flowergirl's hand. I was so proud of her. I got a lot of great pictures at the wedding and they are posted on my photobucket site. Here is a picture of her walking down the aisle that my mom captured.


Sunday, July 6, 2008

Long Weekend

It was a long weekend of fun and festivities this 4th of July holiday. We had fireworks, food, a wedding, and a very cute Gabriel laughfest as posted below:


Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Me At Home

Being a stay-at-home mom can be challenging and rewarding... boring and yet, there are hardly any "free" moments. I was in the working world from the time I was 16 to the day Krista was born. I was used to organizing my work to get the most done at once. I grew accustomed to getting extrinsic rewards like promotions, raises and bonuses. Things are completely different when you have no boss and no pay and no adult time. Right now, there's a lot of sitting and "playing" (or entertaining baby) time. Playing with a headstrong toddler who changes her mind at the drop of a hat. I will never get a promotion, no matter how entertained or well behaved my children are. So I tend to do other things to fill that void. I ebay when we have stuff to sell. I mystery shop when I can. I take a lot of pictures and edit them. And now, I keep this blog. These things keep my adult mind working until I reenter the workforce in the future. There are some things that work could never give me though - like never missing a "new" moment in my kids lives. And the endless hugs, kisses and thank you's are enough reward for a proud parent like me.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The Moon

It's amazing to me how a toddler learns and pieces things together. The other day in the car Krista was looking out of her window for the moon.

K: "The moon, mommy!"
T: "Yep, that's the moon, honey."
K: "It's broken mommy. Mommy, it's broken."

As I looked out my window (when we were safely stopped at a red light), the moon was no longer "round" as it had been the last time Krista saw it. It was in more of a half-moon phase. Ok, so I am definitely biased because this is my child, but I thought it was amazing how observant my 2 year old was.