It's Potty Time

I do have more pictures to add to the previous photo update...but I have to pause a moment to tell you that my baby bear is becoming a big boy! On Friday afternoon at 3:00, Aaron announced that we should slap some underwear on these kids and just "see how it goes." I was like "sure," thinking "this should be interesting." Even though I knew the accidents would ensue shortly, one feels quite a lot of freedom in this regard when they know that the carpet, which has already been destroyed by water damage, will be coming up soon, when it's replaced with hardwood...and the upholstery in the living room has already been marred by it's share of snot, spitup, and Cookie whatnot. I'm not saying we live in a pigsty, I'm just saying that I have a lot less stress since I'm not worried about a house full of brand new Ethan Allen. This also came in really handy when we painted the dining room. We spattered paint on the floor, and just shrugged it off. Really liberating!

So, back to the point. Alec went through like 3 pairs of Elmo underwear in about half an hour. He would startle and say "aaaah....peepee comin' out!" At first he didn't know it was coming. Then he thought it was coming and it wasn't. He'd say he needed to go and nothing. This happened several times, and then....he actually went! Victory! After this first major victory at keeping the big boy pants dry, he was successful the REST OF THE DAY at letting us know "peepee comin' out!" and running to the potty. I was totally floored. Saturday he did excellent. Sunday, was a little setback because of church and us being out and about. Yesterday, after Mom's Day Out, he went back to being on track. I had to trade cars/kids with Daddy on my way to teach last night, and Aaron said that on the way home Alec said that he needed to go, but they were on the highway, and there was no way to get pulled over in time. Alec was pretty upset that he had to pee in his pants (he was wearing a pull up.) What a great sign. Last night, on my way home from teaching, I got a call from Alec exclaiming "I put poo poo in the potty!" Holy smokes, the mother load! Aaron even took a picture, since I missed such a momentous occasion. (I know that's weird, but it's not like I'm posting the picture.)

Today, Alec has not had any accidents. He's been great about telling me when he needs to go. I have been totally floored by his ability to pick this up so quickly.

Emma has humored us on the potty several times. She's even gone in the potty a few times, but she would much rather keep her diaper. We've tried the underwear on her, but she has totally freaked out when having an accident. We thought this would cause her to want to embrace the potty a little more, but I'm not quite sure that she can tell yet that she needs to go before it happens. So, I'm trying to give her some space and time to watch brother. I don't want her to feel pressure or failure. It has been great for Alec to do something "first." It's great for his self-esteem. He's had a great sense of accomplishment because he knows how proud we are of him. Emma will feel that too, when she feels more ready. If you know Emma, she doesn't do a whole lot of anything until she's good and ready. I have a feeling she will just decide one day that she is done with diapers...and that will be the end of that.

So anyways, after months of dreading potty training twins, and feeling very unprepared to just begin already, I'm glad that Aaron suggested we start trying for real.

Photo Update

I know I can only make so many excuses, but I really have been "out of it" lately. Our routine was so shaken up with the whole hospital/Aaron being sick thing...and then Emma got strep. I have some cute photos that I've been meaning to share, and am just now getting around to it. We are back to a "normal" routine now. Daddy is back to work. Sissy is all better from strep. Alec and I have managed to stay well. The fact that he didn't get strep is a miracle from God. Those kids share everything. There is no way to prevent cross-contamination with those two. I know for a fact that he used a fork she used, and drank out of her sippy. So...thank you Jesus, for sparing my son...and this Momma...from another round of yuck! :-)


Here goes with some pics:

At the playground, walking trail and lake in Bella Vista

Playing at Foerster Park in Rogers while Daddy was at the wound clinic


Alec steering "vroom vroom"

I'm the king of this dinosaur!

And obviously, I'm the queen!

Random, I know, but this was Aaron's 30th birthday cake...

er...pie. He's not really a cake person. It's peanut butter silk.

No, I didn't make it. Sam's did. I didn't have a whole lot of time to be real domestic that week.

Love those pretty blue eyes

Love my little Miss Thang too

Having fun on our very own playground

Getting some kisses from my Emma doodle

Posing in the dining room before we painted

Gotta love the expressions

BFF's!

Labor Day Project

New formal dining room color: Raspberry Rouge

*Notice the clean transition lines from the dining room into the foyer and living room. :-)

Luckily, we were given a great piece of advice for how to paint a straight line on a textured bullnose corner. Place your high quality blue painters tape, and then caulk over the tape edge where you want the paint to end. Rub the caulk into the tape edge and then wipe off completely with a damp cloth. Let set. The caulk will fill in the gaps in the texture that paint can bleed into. This will create a super straight line with no/minimal bleed through when you paint. Thought that would be a good tip to share!

Pics from August Family Visit

with MoMo

with NuNu and Alex

with Alex in Branson

with Alex in Branson

cuddling with NuNu

When Life Hands You Lemons...

just be grateful that they're lemons...and not brussel sprouts.

So, almost two weeks ago, after a softball game, Aaron noticed a sore on his leg. Since he's had staph/MRSA before (in Jan 08 when I was pregant,) we pay close attention to any sores that pop up. Well, Friday he started to run a fever. Saturday, after he took his mom to the Tulsa airport, he was really feeling bad, so he went to the clinic to have it checked out. Well, they sent him to the ER. Apparently he had a deep infected abscess, so it needed to be lanced and drained. He came home from the ER hurting and pretty torn up. They told him to go see his normal doctor in 3 days.

Two days later, Monday, he was feeling wierd, light headed. We both decided he should get in to the doc a little earlier. So, that afternoon, he saw his doc, who very quickly admitted him to the hospital in Rogers. He needed to be on iv antibiotics and needed to have his wound cared for there. After a rookie nurse completely missed his veins twice, someone else finally got his iv catheter placed. Then they started a process called repacking. They pull the gauze out of the wound, and then poke a bunch more gauze in. It's soaked in a disinfectant solution to help the wound get cleaned out. It has to heal from the inside out. They can't just sew him up, and send him on his way.

He was in the hospital until Thursday afternoon. They had run a sonogram on his leg to see if there were anymore areas to drain, and said that they saw a little fluid but no need for further surgery. It was determined that it was MRSA, and we got info about following an anti-MRSA regiment at home.

WELL...Friday morning when I took him to the wound clinic to be seen by a wound specialist, he disagreed. He cut him even more. In fact, now his wound is twice as long of an incision as it was, just not as deep (thank God!) All of this, on his 30th birthday. Sorry it was such a bummer of a birthday, honey! I have to care for him at home, but repacking his wound twice a day. I am much nicer than the nurses at the hospital though. I don't do it like I'm poking around at wood on a fireplace. I hate seeing him in pain.

He has a follow up at the wound clinic tomorrow, so hopefully we will get good news: ie...it's healing nicely and we don't have to repack it so often or at all. Please pray for my hubby. He's working from home and hanging in there, but I know he's tired of this. It's a slow healing process. I want to give a shout out to our awesome friends and church family for stepping up and bringing us meals and offering childcare so I could be with Aaron at the hospital. And to all of those who called to offer encouragement. It was pretty impossible for me to let everyone know what was going on. It was just too crazy.

Last week was a week I'd rather not repeat, but it could have been worse. It could have been more serious, more unpleasant...or it could have been one of the kids. For that, and a million other things that the Lord reminds me of daily, I'm really thankful. Please pray for him when God puts him on your heart!

What a Slacker!

So, I realize that I've been terriby negligent with this blog. For the past two weeks we've had Aaron's mom, Wanda, with us. You would think that having the extra pair of hands would cause me to spend more time blogging, but it didn't. I was enjoying spending the time with her (and the boys while they were here the first week.) I haven't done a whole lot of anything on the computer in the last two weeks. Anyways, here's a quick rundown:

Wanda and two of Aaron's brothers, Andrew and Alex, arrived on the 6th. We all went to Branson on Sunday, the 8th, after church, and stayed at the Grand Country Inn. We chose the GCI because it has an indoor and outdoor waterpark, which we could all enjoy in the 100+ degree weather. We did the waterpark and did some shopping. We only stayed one night, because I had to be back to teach on Monday. Alex and Andrew stayed until Thursday. They needed to head back for a gig that Andrew had on Friday. We all enjoyed our time with them. The kids had so much fun with Uncle NuNu and Uncle Alex. I especially appreciated having so many people around to entertain the kids.

Wanda decided to stay an extra week, because we really needed help Thursday and Friday. You see, I needed to go to Enid by myself to take care of some family business that I was really not looking forward to. I needed to go support my mother in telling my Nana that it was time for her to go into a nursing home. The doctors have been saying that she needs 24 hour care for a long while, and it was finally time to do it. Thursday, I left after the kids went down for nap. Wanda was with them until Aaron got home and then took care of them on Friday while Aaron worked from home. Thursday night was no fun. It was one of those "adult things" that I never signed up for. Friday was better. By the time Nana was actually admitted to the nursing home, things were much more calm. But it was definitely an emotional few days. No one wants to go into a nursing home. And no one wants to have to put their loved one there. But sometimes, it is in everyone's best interest. We certainly want her to have the care that she needs. And I think she's ended up liking the place a lot more than she ever imagined. I was so appreciative that Wanda stayed, because the added stress of having to either take the kids along with me or to have to find sitters would have just been so much more to deal with.

She stayed for a whole extra week, which was wonderful. The kids love having her around, and so do Aaron and I. She is a big help! I got to take care of a lot of errands that are just so much easier without the children, and Aaron and I got to (drumroll please) go on a date! We know that this is really important, however, it still is a rare occurrance considering that we don't have family here, that sitters can be pretty expensive, and that even though we have several good friends that will offer to watch them for free...it's still hard to make schedules work out, because we are all very busy people.

This afternoon, she flew home. Aaron and the kids took her to Tulsa to the airport, while I had to teach a workshop in Fort Smith. We are all back home now.

I have to get back into the swing of the "just me and the kids" routine, and I have some potty training to look forward to...when I really get myself psyched up enough for it. I also have to get ready for Aaron and I to turn 30, which will be happening very soon.

I have new pics to post, but that will have to wait until later. :-)

Just one of those weeks

I know I haven't posted in a while. Things have been kinda crazy around here this week. I've been trying to get so much done, and had a lot on my mind. First off, Aaron's mom and two youngest brothers, Andrew and Alex, are on their way here as we speak. They will be visiting for a week. I'm so happy that they are coming. It's a rare treat for us to get family up here. So, one item on my agenda has been to get the house in order.

I started the week with a plan of attack to get my cleaning and decluttering done, but Monday evening Alec came down with a fever and was sick thru Tuesday. Emma came down with it on Wednesday and is coming out of it today. I'm almost certain it is hand, foot and mouth that they caught. They have had it before with the exact same symptoms. Anyways, that was one, wait...two challenges.

Also, earlier in the week, I started to notice frost in the freezer and a clicking noise coming from our fridge. One evening I realized that it was not keeping the temp down and things were defrosting. (no bueno considering we just bought a bunch of meat last week) So, Aaron pulled the fridge out, checked it out and turned down the temp for the freezer. I looked for a repair number that I could call in the morning. The next morning everything was frozen again and it seemed to be working fine. Today, it started clicking again. So, we just pulled the grille cover off to vacuum the condenser coils underneath. (I knew this needed to happen because I googled it.) If you're going to do this...make sure you turn off the power first. Hopefully, this will take care of the clicking (which is a safety feature when the coils get too hot-keeps the compressor from running when too hot and also causes the fridge to run warm.)

What else, oh...I also had a phone interview with our bank to refinance our morgage during naptime on Wednesday. I wasn't super thrilled to be losing my "me-time" but I WAS super thrilled to find out that we would be able to lock-in at 3.75% on our 15 yr refi. yay!

Finally, I've pretty much had the baby/dog gate down all week. I decided to let the kids roam a little more free this week in anticipation of the family coming over. I hate for people to have to hurdle over the baby gates while they're here. So, I figured I'd prepare them by letting them get all of their excitement about it out of their system. I don't always have the gates up, but most of the time I do. The kids get half of the house to play in and are kept out of the stuff I'd rather them not get into...and I keep some sanity. Plus the dog gets kept out of the living room, and I only have to de-hair half of the house everyday. It wasn't too bad with the gate down because most of the week I had at least one sick child that really wanted to just lay down either in our bed or in the living room.

Well, the fam should be arriving soon, because I'm finishing this post at 7:20pm. I'm so glad to have a few more people to help entertain toddlers! Plus I think we're going to spend Sunday and Monday in Branson...should be fun!