It was Christmastime!

We'll see how far I can get into the past week or so of activities. It has flown by! Currently I'm trying to dig myself out of all the new toys and clothes that everyone got.

Christmas Eve was "started" with church at 3 o'clock. Bubba and Brian were able to come out and sit with us. And we got a homily primarily composed of Christmas jokes (What is the difference between a Christmas alphabet and a regular alphabet? The Christmas alphabet has no-L.) Gwen really got into the shaking of the bells. Trevor was as interested as ever in the nativity scene and had to go and see it when the service was over.

After church we headed up to visit with Grandpa and Grandma and family for a nice dinner and opening presents. Trevor was a bit confused as to how we would open presents if Santa hadn't come yet. I'm pretty sure he thinks that all presents at Christmas come from Santa even though I tried to convince him that people other than Santa can give you gifts. So I think he might have gotten it. Just before opening presents, Trevor and dad put on a performance of Twas the Night Before Christmas followed by How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Trevor read/recited the stories while dad acted them out. They both did an excellent job ;-)

Christmas morning was very nice. Trevor was only up 15 minutes earlier than Gwen. I had him come into our bed and lay down with us while he was waiting. It was pretty cute to see him know at the exact moment Gwen made a sound that we could go downstairs. The words he uttered after looking under the tree: "Mommy! I was a good boy! Santa CAME!!!" Oops...maybe I shouldn't have made him feel that guilty about not being a perfect kid.

Then Christmas afternoon/evening was spent at Bubba and Papa's house. I'm still not sure why, but Trevor didn't want my birthday to be that day. He said it would be fine if it was the next day, but not that one. I wonder if it was because he has been talking about getting older and dying and didn't want me to get a year older....or if he just wanted it on a different day...that part I'm not sure about. But he did like the frosting and ice cream after dinner.

Soooo....as I'm trying to organize all the toys and wash clothes and such, it is interesting to see how and what things are getting played with. Trevor enjoyed opening presents just like he did a few years ago. But unlike recently, he wanted things out of the box so he could play with them right away instead of opening the next gift. This year we had to convince him that not all the wrapped gifts were his. We did let him help open Gwen's things, and he has since been having a good time playing with those toys as well. She got an Elmo driving toy that Trevor loves to run around with. She got a Little People carnival playset that has turned into a ramp for his cars. She has been playing with her purses and putting things in and taking them out of the purses. Trevor got an electric Nascar track set, although before we left in the afternoon he was pushing the cars around the track instead of using the "guns". He has loved the diecast ships that were in his stocking and the x-wing fighter with the little figures.

It is easy to see that dad got a favorite gift as well....he got his G1 phone that he had asked for and has been playing on it plenty. I got motherhood rings, stackable rings for each baby with their birthstones on them. Best gift EVER! (Well minus the first Nintendo game console I got when I was like 11). So now we just have a few things that we can get with our gift cards, then there is the continual clean-up until everything is back in its boxes and put away...then bring on Disney!

Thank you to everyone for their great gifts for our family and the kids. We love the time we spend with all of you.

Dear Hasbro

I would like to inform you that you need to make the requirement of your EZ Bake Oven needing a 100 watt light bulb AT LEAST as big as half of your package. I know you are wondering where you are going to put something of that nature, and I have a suggestion for you: Please remove the frilly looking girl and replace with the required but not included warning of the light bulb. My son, upon opening, thought it was a girl gift because of the picture. After discovering what it was, he was excited enough to want to start playing with the oven this morning! So we opened the box, looked at the instructions and discovered that we needed a 100 watt light bulb and NO OTHER. No high efficiency, fluorescent, or lower wattage bulb would work. After searching through our stock of light bulbs and running through our house thinking we must have some old bulb that hadn't been switched over to fluorescent yet, we were almost ready to check a nearby gas station or ask a family member if they might have one.

Thankfully, I remembered that our overhead garage bulb had just burned out this week, which I knew was not fluorescent, and I also knew we had at least one left that had not burned out. SUCCESS!!! We were finally able to play with the toy and make our first sugar cookie in it. We are very happy that you brought this fun toy back to life! It is a very fun and hunger satisfying thing to do! But really, do you think you could make the "not included" warning a bit bigger? Especially in this day and age.

Thank you!

**And for those of you that are wondering, no I'm not going to send this letter...just a little vent by me. It is a very cool gift. Thank you Santa! Plenty of more updates and fun things to come...

Time is flying!

And yet some times seem to crawl by....oh well. The kids both have a cold, and hopefully it will be done with quickly. Couple updates for what has been going on with us.....

Thursday night I had the annual mom's swap of cookies and subsequent gathering. We always say we wish we had more of an excuse to get together more often than once a year, but still....I'll take the fun whenever I can get it. I remember last year I had to leave pretty early because I had to come back and help put the kids to bed. But this year I was able to hold out until the end. 10:30 baby!!!! I even partook of the White Elephant game. Because of it I got a fun blue scarf for Gwen to play dress-up with. And she loves it....it is so soft and fluffy!

Then on Friday, Russ and I were out for his company's Christmas party. Again childless, I felt like I didn't know what to do with myself! Granted by this time I was exhausted because both kids had been up due to their colds. It was nice to see some of the family again without kids. Even if we go somewhere with the kids to visit, I can't stop myself from wondering, if it happens to be too quiet where or what the kids are getting into.

The food was great, the company was better and a fun thing to do once a year.

Saturday was low key....hopefully the kids were able to rest up and we stayed inside all day because it was very cold. Sunday, we ran some errands, and got ready for dinner. It was a dinner celebration for "Grandma" at Benihanas. We haven't been there since last year and this time we went to the new one open in Maple Grove. I am very thankful for the distraction of both the scenery and the many people that were in attendance. Both kids enjoy the attention, but right away Trevor was asking about the chef and when he was going to come out. (If you aren't familiar with Benihana's - they are a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant that also serves sushi.)

So we ordered our drinks, got our soup, followed by the salads before the chef came out. He started to do his thing, and Gwen looked a little frightened. But as soon as people started laughing and clapping she settled down. Trevor was really excited. It was interesting trying to watch Trevor who was very hungry, you could tell. And he REALLY wanted to use the chopsticks. So he asked for them to put a rubber band on the end so he could use them that way. He ate some vegetables and then the shrimp he was given. Now, he has always liked fish, occasionally liked crab meat, but I've never gotten him to try shrimp. I'm guessing it had something to do with the way the chef prepared it in front of him. But he ate all of it and asked for more. Thankfully everyone was offering him their appetizer shrimp to him and I had ordered shrimp for him as part of his dinner. The other interesting tidbit...he was determined to eat "octopus" for dinner. Derek ordered it and said he could have some if he wanted...so he tried it and of course had a few more pieces. I think everyone thought that it was going to be more squid shaped, but it came out in square patties. So I guess we have a few options for future foods.

So not only did Trevor have a good time, but he played "Benihana" for a good portion of the morning today. That kid is so funny. And we begin our Christmas celebration in two days. Merry Christmas all!

Making cookies

Yeah, you would think that would be simple. I can follow a recipe. Thank goodness for the allrecipies.com site where if I have an idea I can look up what I need. I even tested out a trial batch with the family a week or so ago.

I am baking cookies for the 3rd Annual Swappalooza put on with a group of mom friends. Granted I waited until the last minute for this. Someday I'll remember that it is BAD to procrastinate.

I am making a to-do list a lot. It updates, changes, things get crossed off, things get added, I just don't want to forget or get too far behind on things. And for the party (which is in two more days) I need to bake cookies, make a appetizer, and get a white elephant gift. At least one has been taken care of. But I thought tonight I could take care of the baking cookies part. I had went to the grocery store once already this week but with Trevor's preschool program, I didn't get a good shopping session in because I had to hurry back for his program. I also probably should have taken a good inventory of things I might need before I went back a second time to the grocery store.

So this evening started as I was going to the grocery store to get a few more things I needed for the party. Then I started to make the cookies. I had to double the recipe and put it into a larger bowl than I usually did. And MAN did I make a mess! Cocoa and flour on the floor, eggs, butter, and sugar on the counter, a random assortment of cookie batter on my shirt and pants....and it was HARD to stir the batter at the end. I should have built up my muscles or something.

I took a break to put the kids up to bed. Came back down to actually bake the cookies. Actually I'm in the middle of it right now. I almost ran out of white sugar (one of the things I didn't get onto my list) and am about to run out of Pam cooking spray. I know there are other ways to grease cookie sheets, but my goodness. Bad planning by me.

Then I needed to make some room for the cookies to cool and be taken off of the cookie sheets. So I put away all the ingredients. Including the extra brown sugar and flour I bought but didn't end up needing. Good job again Krissy. And as I was putting all the stuff up on the shelf and smooshing it rather than nicely organizing it, stuff began to fall off of the shelves. Ooo look....plastic bottle of sesame oil. No problem. Back on the shelf. Balsamic vinegar...glass bottle...ok. No problem. Didn't break....back on the shelf. SHOVE....Oops. There they go again....this time the top broke off of the balsamic vinegar and dripped onto the counter, onto the floor and somehow onto the back part of my jeans at the knee. SWEET.

So now, not only am I crossing off the "getting the cookies done" but I'm adding, "clean the kitchen, soak clothes, buy replacement vinegar, cooking spray, and sugar". The party is going to be just what I need......*SIGH*

Preschool performance time

Well, yesterday was Trevor's preschool Christmas program. We have been doing a lot lately, and he has been keeping busy. But with it comes the fact that he gets tired. It is obvious he still needs an afternoon nap, or at least some downtime in the afternoon. You would think that he could "catch up" during his overnight sleeping but I think he is so trained to use the afternoon as his naptime that when he doesn't get a chance, he just goes about in his usual sleep pattern. He was up on Monday at his usual 7am, but he had a rough morning of listening as it usual if he is tired or sick. Thankfully, so far he has not shown any signs of being sick.

So when we were at his performance, it was a great show, but he was not in his usual form. He basically mouthed the words, and did the motions, but not with his usual excitement. Even after we were at home, he continued his listening issues from the morning. Funny thing though, as soon as he was done with his hour plus nap, he came down with a different attitude. Man I wish I could get a good nap like that to improve my attitude!

I'm slowly but surely getting through my giant to-do list for this time of year. This week is the worst to come, but I also have to figure out what to do for the kids on Monday and Tuesday. There was a rumor that one of Trevor's friends wanted to have a playdate on one of the days, but not sure if that will happen or not. And BRRRR this weather isn't helping any. Fine...get cold enough to snow, but negative numbers in December??? We haven't even hit the technical start of winter yet! So that's what's going on with us!

Talk about surprising me!

So I knew Trevor was reading a little bit. And I know that the kid has a wonderful memory. But I also know that he loves the time when we read to him. There have been plenty of times where I stop mid-sentence and ask him to finish the line. Most of the time he doesn't even want to do that.

But tonight, he gave me a treat. He said he wanted to show me how he knew how to read. He had picked the story, "The Night Before Christmas". I was expecting that he would get to the more boring parts and either get stuck or get bored and hand the book off to me. But he got through it. He even tried to get me to finish some lines....especially naming a few of the reindeer. "Good job mom!" There were a few times he lost his spot, and then had to really read the words to get back to where he was. So while I know a lot of the story is pure memorization, there were a lot of elements of reading there.

After finishing the story, I really couldn't hide my surprise. I told him that he did a really good job, but he wasn't hearing it. He wanted to get to the next story, which was "Stories of Santa Claus" Actually, it was the words of Up on the Housetop and Jolly Old St. Nicholas put to illustrations. However, every time I read the stories he makes me sing the songs because he has seen that the first pages have the music for the song. So I requested the same thing from him. It is a much easier book in terms of number of words and ease of remembering them. But he still had a good time while I danced along to his singing.

And for the grand finale....he even went and read the entire "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Now while this book takes me about 15 minutes to read, I thought there was no way he was getting through it. Especially after the other two books. But he did it. The. Entire. Thing. And yes, he loves the book. We read it every night since I took them out at the beginning of the month. And he has seen both the live-action film and the cartoon twice already. But again, that is a LONG book for a kid to memorize and have the patience to read. I think he might have mistaken a handful of words the entire thing. He did lose his place a few times again, but just re-read where he was and went right back to it.

After he was done, I tried my best to make sure he felt as proud of himself as I was for him. Now is it bad of me to not want to try to push him into reading every night? I'm not even close to ready to give up reading to him. So I don't want to give him that idea. I know it won't be any time soon, but I really think I'm not going to try to push it up any more than I have to.

Conversations with the kids

It might not exactly be a conversation when it comes to Gwen, but the other day, I was really excited when I knew what she was talking to me about.

It was a few days ago, I had ordered a stocking for Gwen for Christmas to sort of match the rest of us. We have plush head stockings of Pooh (mine), Tigger (Trevor), and Eeyore (Russ). I looked for Piglet, but I only found one on ebay that was going for a pretty penny and shipping from England. So instead I decided to get one from TRU of Elmo instead. She likes Elmo better anyway.

It came in a package and I put it up after she had taken a nap one day. Trevor had not taken his yet so I was happy to see that he seemed to approve. I'm pretty sure he gets how much she likes elmo. But when she came down from her nap, right away she didn't notice it. I had went to get her a snack before dinner and as she was walking with me she saw it. I heard her say ELMO! Then she said "Blankie Elmo". She has been talking about her blankies that she sleeps with when she wakes up in the morning. One of them is a blanket pal bear that I can see how she would think looks like this stocking Elmo. But without even seeing what she was doing, I knew exactly what she was doing and looking at. I took it off of the stocking holder and she cuddled with it for a while. It was pretty cute.

Then yesterday with Trevor: We had been to swimming lessons and then went to the nearby McD's for lunch. It is the one in Edina that has the "world's only pneumatic drive-thru". Simply put it has a station removed from the restaurant where they have to - like a bank teller - send your order of food through a pneumatic tube. They have people manning the station, to fill drinks and take money. Anyway, I had been talking to him about it and how it works because one time when we were there, I think the tube wasn't working because they had people pull up to the front of the restaurant and a worker would come out and give you your food.

So he was doing his questions about the time we were there and it wasn't working. And I was explaining it to him again. Then he asked me, "Mom, how old do I have to be before I can work at McDonald's?" Remembering back to when a few friends were working there, I told him he had to at least be 14. But that most people don't start working until they are 16 because that is hold old you have to be before you can drive. And when you want to work somewhere it is probably a good idea to be able to drive yourself to work. Trevor then stated to me, "Mom, I don't want to learn how to drive, I want you to drive me when I'm 16 because you are an EXCELLENT driver." I tried to explain to him that probably by the time he was 16 he would change his mind, but he quickly said that when he has tried to drive (in the driveway with the car off) he just "doesn't know how to do it, I keep turning the wheel back and forth and back and forth."

Between working at McD's and learning how to drive, it will be interesting to see how things change. I am really surprised that he isn't already interested in driving based on his love of Nascar and Cars. But oh well. I'll keep him innocent as long as I can.

One other fun thing

Here is the picture with santa for this year. Gwen was just crying to get off of Santa, but really she wasn't that upset. I wouldn't be surprised if we go for 3 years in a row next year, but you never know.

Annual Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Please excuse the mess

I'm trying to figure out how to clean up the blog and having no experience with it, it is going slow. So please bear with me. Thanks!

So far, so tall

Trevor went for his 5 year check-up yesterday. It went very well. I prepared Trevor as much as I could without making it a big deal to have his shots. They were out of one, so we have one left to get before Kindergarten. They said they would put him on a waiting list and call when one became available. However, he cannot have another shot for at least 4 weeks so that is nice.

He came to the appointment complaining of an upset stomach. He had a good breakfast of eggo waffles, and he actually was happy to say he had this upset stomach because he thought the doctors and nurses could help him. I knew the stomach ache was nervousness due to the upcoming shots. But he obviously couldn't put that all together yet. He just knew his stomach hurt. So he told his nurse, then told the doctor right away. Both of them also knew that it was probably nerves after they heard he had a good breakfast.

So he was weighed and measured first. 45.5" and 48lbs. They took his blood pressure, and then waited for the doctor. We found out he is in the 90% for both height and weight. So unless we have some fast acting growth stunting genes in our family, I'm guessing we have a tall boy on our hands.

We found out the doctor has two kids that are going to be going to the same elementary school Trevor will be going to next year. And because it is such a small school, they might run into each other. He said they have reading programs between the upper grades and the K classes.

I had forgotten that Trevor hadn't been to the doctor since back in March due to his bad ear infection. So really, this past year, he has been very healthy. He has been able to get through a few colds and sick incidents without needing to go to the doctor. It REALLY helps now that he can tell us what is wrong.

After the conversation with the doctor, we went to have his vision and hearing screening. He passed very easily. But after that was the shots. Even with the conversations before hand I knew I couldn't convince him that he could remain calm during them. So we had to hold him down. But after all of it, he recovered quick. I think the build up of it all was worse that the actual event for him. Which makes me wonder if I should just spring it on him rather than talk about it. But remembering back to my experiences, I can't do it. I'd much rather know it was coming than not be prepared for it.

Since the shots, his legs have been sore. He got some special treatment at preschool today because the teachers understand it is hard to sit with "pretzel legs" if you have just gotten shots. He still has his band aids on, but we'll have to take them off for swimming tomorrow. Or maybe not. I guess we'll see tomorrow.

On to more Christmas preparation.....

Final decorations are up!

Friday night, we all went to the tree lot to pick out our Christmas tree. Turns out Trevor knew right away. It was reasonably in the front, as you walked in. I was hoping for something slightly taller, but when I looked around, I didn't see anything better. It is a very round tree. I like those the best. It fills up the corner nicely.

Of course when we brought it home, Trevor thought we should decorate it right away. We had to let it open up and drink some water, I tell him. We didn't even get home until close to bedtime anyway. And when we got up on Saturday morning, he knew that was the day the decorations would go up. I again forget to inform him of one other thing we needed to do in order to be able to put the decorations on. We need the angel and lights on. FINALLY we are able to be ready enough to put the decorations out.

So I'm ready for the fun to begin with the kids. I know Gwen has no idea....and I know Trevor gets it a little bit more. So Trevor begins to find the ornaments. He had already found a package of ships from Star Wars that were ornaments. He took out the X-wing and has been playing around with it. So he found the Luke, got out the Darth Vader that is supposed to "talk" but doesn't now due to us getting LED lights for the tree, and began dueling on the couch. Every few minutes I'd remind him about more ornaments, and he took them and added them to the collection. Yoda, even the rest of the ships, Lightning McQueen, Mater, Thomas, and Percy are all in this reenactment on the couch while we finish decorating the tree. For some reason, he didn't even want me to put the Mickey Mouse ears that we had been getting from the advent calendar that are supposed to be hung on the tree every day.

So I have this video of Gwen talking to the tree, looking at the lights, taking down any low-hanging ornaments to play with, and Trevor - on the couch - playing with the ornaments. *Sigh* Maybe next year. And I guess I shouldn't complain. He is very excited about getting out these ornaments....he just wants to play with them again. Not put them on the tree.

And a funny side note....I always replace the ornaments that Gwen takes off of the lower branches so she can go through and take them off again. Well, Trevor saw her take one off, and while I told him that it was ok, she just wanted to play with them, he said, "No Gwen, the tree ornaments are NOT for playing with."

I gently said to Trevor, "What do you mean they aren't for playing with? You have almost an entire table full of ornaments that you are playing with."

The look of realization that came over his face was priceless. He didn't really say anything, but he gave the ornament back to Gwen to have her fun with. Merry Christmas Trevor!

Always a new Christmas Spirit

Obviously with each passing year, the kids pick up on different things about our Christmas traditions. I bring up a big pile of movies, CDs, and books related to snow and Christmas. And now when it gets brought upstairs, I get to watch Trevor's mind remember about what they are all about. I also can start to see where I need to fill in the gaps when he can't piece together things about Santa or a story he thinks he remembers from last year.

Funny thing is, he still remembers when two years ago, we showed him the cartoon version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and at the very beginning, there is a Cat in the Hat that raises and lowers his eyebrows. Two years ago, he was afraid of it, for whatever reason. He would hide behind the couch until it was done. Last year, he was proudly telling everyone he was not afraid of it anymore. And again this year, we just watched it tonight and he is still proud of that fact. But we won't mention that there is a scene in the live action version of The Grinch that he is afraid of. And even hiding behind the couch if need be.

I get the added benefit of using Santa in my bargaining tactics for the next few weeks. However, I think I mistakenly told him about the thought that Santa can decide you were not nice this year and put a lump of coal in your stocking. Now when he gets mad at his parents, daddy gets a lump of coal and I've already gotten a whole bag full of coal. THANKS Trevor.

Another new thing, now that Trevor is really on the verge of reading, he follows along with the story, and asks a lot of questions about words that he and I read. Tonight we were reading the Grinch and he asked me about the phrase, "He liked least of all." He asked me to explain how you could like something but get the impression that he didn't like it. He didn't agree that the word "like" should be anywhere in that sentence. So I had to explain the definition of least. Then I think he got it. The other word was chimbly. He told me the word was chimney - until I pointed it out, and said that the author was trying to be funny because it was a rhyming book and he had to rhyme with "nimbly".

Through watching him this year, I think I've decided that this year might end up being the best Christmas for him. He has yet to really get into the commercial side of wanting gifts. I think he senses that he is supposed to want something, but really doesn't care about anything enough to want it. He is much more interested in the spirit as well as celebrating the birth of Jesus. He gets a lot of time to talk about that as well through preschool. I am guessing this is going to change when he gets to Kindergarten next year. He might see things other kids have that he wants, or be more influenced by the older siblings of his friends that want things. And I'm guessing it also will cause Gwen to grow up faster while watching her brother want and ask for things.

So anyway, I'm trying to not put so much pressure on getting him things I think he might like and just trying to make sure he enjoys the season. It is over pretty quick, so I think my time would best be spent enjoying it as much as possible. Merry Christmas everyone!

A difference between boys and girls?

I have heard that there are quite a few differences between girl and boy babies (besides the obvious genetic and physical differences.) Although I know that there is no for sure in those either. Mostly just personality or possibly how your parents treat the difference between a boy and a girl. And in our case, I also wonder if it is partially due to the first vs. second child thing.

I had thought that Gwen was going to take longer than Trevor did to learn to walk...but nope. She was walking a few weeks earlier than he did. However, I think it has taken her longer to learn to climb and now finally descend stairs. I had thought with Trevor, he was quick to want to climb on everything. But only just recently has she started climbing on things. We finally brought up the Christmas decorations which are stored in big plastic totes. She has loved climbing on those.

What seems to be different with her is her small motor skills. She is very independent feeding herself. And part of it is normal development. She now wants to have a spoon to feed herself with anything like cereal or yogurt, or will play with silverwear after eating, pretending like she knows just what she is doing.

What surprised me most recently was that Russ tried to get Trevor to play his new Connect Four game, which he didn't want to do, but Gwen was interested in it. It only took her a few tries to figure out how to put the checkers into the game. So it's now her game to play...hee hee.

Then there are her words. Trevor's big word used to be "ON" for when he saw lights that were on. Gwen's similar phrase and word is "Dark" for when the lights are off. And actually if we are outside in the sunlight she likes to say "Bright!" But I can't get her to understand that lights inside can be bright too. She's been picking up a lot of words and I do remember Trevor doing something that she has been doing lately. If you ask Gwen a question like if she wants water, she usually answers: "No" when she really means yes. Most of the answers she gives are no, regardless of the question and how she feels about it.

I'll be back shortly with our coming Christmas....

It really was 5 years ago yesterday....

We spent our Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital. We were very thankful to be doing so. And now 5 years later, his birthday is on Thanksgiving again! I have to admit, the preparation for hosting a Thanksgiving as well as a 5 year old's birthday party is a bit much more than I was expecting. I then thought how difficult it must be for my family to have had to do it on Christmas every year. But then I remembered that they never had to host a houseful of people on Christmas. However, they did have to prepare for a total of 3 kids' Christmases.

Anyway, I do feel like I jipped Trevor a little bit out of a full-fledged party. I meant to pick up some balloons for him as well as some more party decorations. But we probably made up for it in the quantity of gifts he got. LOTS of Star Wars stuff. Some other fun stuff too, but it was a Star Wars theme to a lot of the gifts.

One of the biggest things that I don't know that he'll get for a while is that he does not believe he is a year older until he blows out his candle on the cake. He was born at 8:41 am, and we have a keepsake engraved with that time on it. I tried to explain it saying that he was now 5 years old, but he would not hear of it. It must be a sort of struggle to a boy who is in the midst of learning about growing up and such. I have been talking about all the fun things he is going to be able to do now that he is 5....Kindergarten being the biggest deal. And we even talked about all the fun stuff he did when he was 4....the trips he took, playing T-ball with his friends. So it has been a fun and challenging year for mom and I'd say it was the same for Trevor. He had to deal with a new sibling for the first time as well as his sibling developing into a little girl that can get into his stuff and yet not have the capacity to understand what she is doing.

In the end, the party was a good one, Trevor got a lot of attention by his extended family, and we even got to play a rousing game of dominoes! I almost won...and actually, so did the newbie Amy. But Kevin got the best of us both. Mario will get you next time!!!!

Lots to learn

So we went to visit Kindergarten yesterday. Our family and one other mom were the only ones having the tour that night. So Trevor got the full attention of the principal. It was a very cool site. Although we have been to the school's playground many times, we had yet to actually go into the building.

The school had been through a remodel 6 years ago, so when you walk into the main entrance, it is very bright and well lit, even though we were there after dark. Trevor's comment as we walked in was that he was surprised they had a library. And seeing as how he is loving all our books lately, it won him over immediately.

We saw a Kindergarten classroom, the computer lab, the library, the gym, the cafeteria, a 4th grade classroom, a 2nd grade classroom, and the music classroom. Trevor loved pretty much every new thing he saw. I know it helps him imagine what it would be like when he goes there.

It was interesting to me to compare my experience at my Elementary school from way back when. Now I don't know if I am remembering correctly or not. I guess I could go check my yearbooks. I thought we had close to 30 kids in our classes each year. I want to say around 27 or so. We had 3 classes from 1st through 6th grade. So around 90 kids in each grade. At this elementary school, their average class size is 20 with the exception of kindergarten which is 22. That year their full day class was at capacity of 22 and their morning half day was 19, afternoon was 17.

That was another thing I'm going to have to look into. They do offer full-day K, but I had thought that it might be too much for Trevor. I think going from 3 days a week to 5 will be a big energy change for him. That's another thing, I looked at the district's elementary start times, and this one starts the latest and goes the latest. From 9:00 to 3:20. But half day morning time is the exact same time as preschool. 9:00 to 11:30. I guess my only concern about all day vs. half day is that he'll somehow be behind if he isn't in the full day option.

Another thing that I learned is that they will be doing a K screening in the next spring. So first we have to go to the round-up which is late January, and then the screening. But I now have Trevor talking about it, and getting excited about it, which is the goal. Granted, I think I'm going to have to prepare myself a lot more than I thought I would. Letting him go is going to be a big deal for me next year. I can already tell.

ok ok...I'm finally ready to admit it

Trevor is not a little boy any more. I can really have an almost grown-up conversation with him and not even bat an eye. A few weeks ago, he stayed over at a friend's house while I took Gwen to her ECFE class. Except for preschool where he is watched by his teachers and with a whole group of kids, I haven't left him to play for a long time. So it was really nice to hear (and I guess it shouldn't have surprised me) that he and his friend Elizabeth played really well together.

So I decided today that since we have been cleaning getting ready for Thanksgiving and his birthday on Thursday that it wouldn't be too hard to host a playgroup and invite all his friends (and their moms and siblings) over. I wasn't aware that a lot of the preschools (and actually even the public school district) has school today. But I still invited any of the moms that wanted to come over to come for a chat. So TRUTHFULLY it wasn't just for Trevor. Now there have been instances I'm sure that other kids have gotten together, to help out in a pinch or to babysit or whatever. But it had been a long time - before Gwen had been born - that we all had actually had a playdate at our house.

I was a wreck as was my usual introverted, not good party hosting self. Trevor was on cloud 9 as is his extroverted, life of the party self. I'm really looking forward where he can take on more of the responsibilities of hosting a party. But by the time all the kids were here and their moms, it all just fell into routine. The preschool kids played really well together. And I mean REALLY well. Not one tear was shed. The younger kids were able to play somewhat at least watching the older siblings. But that gave us moms time to chat and get a little caught up. And what is the topic of conversation? KINDERGARTEN. YIKES. Yes I'm looking forward to it (and Trevor is too), but it seems to be starting whole different types of discussions. Where, how long, which time of day.....are they ready for it....it is so nice to have these moms in my life and I hope somehow we are able to keep it together. Even if it is just through email.

I was talking to Gwen (and formerly Trevor's) ECFE teacher Debra last week and she was saying how she felt like she was a great parent when her kids were babies. But she now is a parent of two young teenagers and she feels very out of place. She has a mom's group of teenage boys that email once a week discussing their children. What a great idea! And actually, my group of friends that I know online have been a great source of help for me as a parent. But I think it does help to discuss some local things as well. School and church activities and such.

And one other thing that I think everyone that was there will agree needs to be documented. When we were at dinner last night, Trevor was being his usual self. Something that I haven't really pushed has been using silverware to eat. He uses it for spaghetti, soup, cold cereal, but doesn't for things like waffles (yes with syrup on it), buttered noodles, and cooked broccoli. But when I saw him stuffing his face with a fistful of noodles I decided he needed to start using the silverware. He had obviously learned how to use it so that wouldn't be an excuse.

So he finally was using the fork for the noodles. Then, the remainder of the dinner was meat and lettuce with ranch dressing. For both the meat and the lettuce he started using his hands again, and when Russ asked him again to use his fork. Trevor's reaction was "No dad. The fork has noodle slobber on it." Nice.

Spoons anyone?

Once you try to teach a young child something new, that's the only way of doing things. Gwen has never been a good off-the-spoon eater. The only thing I could get her to eat was yogurt. Baby food was a no-no. Finger foods are still the best choice.

Breakfasts have been quite boring, usually mini pancakes. So a few days ago I decided to do a bowl of milk and cheerios. She has always liked dry cheerios- again as a finger food - but this time wasn't sure what to think about having them on a spoon. Once she had a bite or two she was convinced.

I have learned at this age that if you want your kid to keep eating, you have to let them have their own spoon. It isn't enough to simply hold a different one, you need to let them feed themselves. So a large mess has ensued almost at every mealtime since. Yogurt goes flying into the walls, floor, hair, and face. Milk gets splashed as far as it can. But such is life with a toddler.

I have heard that boys are much more active and interested in running around, climbing and getting into things. Girls can generally focus more on their small motor skills. Gwen fits this bill. She can already feed herself with the spoon although she would much rather use her hands to shove more than a spoon can handle into her mouth.

We now have changed ECFE classes to an older child class. She now has the option to use markers and crayons. And she really wants to use them. That might be due to the fact that Trevor really likes to make little projects as well. Only problem is that she still and will for a while try to eat crayons. Markers, not so much but they are a lot more messy. But I do have washable ones so they do come off and out of anything.

I think I might have damaged Gwen when I had her in class on Wednesday. Not only was it a new class with new people in a new place, but I didn't know that we were going to separate from the kids. And since this was the second class in a series of three a year, half of the class had already been separating for a few weeks. So it wasn't going to be a gradual process. Thankfully we have been putting Gwen in the nursery at church so she knew about me leaving and coming back. Add to it that I had to leave early because it always ends at the same time as Trevor's preschool so it was really disorienting to her to then be pulled out and put into the car before we could sing our good-byes. The next time we go back to class is two weeks so hopefully it will be a bit easier next time.

On the Trevor front, we've been counting down the days. Yesterday, he came down with what I had on Monday I think which was simply a fever and feeling not-so-good. He seems better today already and when I gave him some tylenol during the day he was almost back to his usual self.

Next up, is to make it through this weekend and next week of no school. We have a few things planned to make the week go by, and then Thanksgiving will be here!

I'm sure she thinks we are crazy

So Gwen has been talking for a while, although you have to listen carefully. I've heard her put two words together such as "Hi Baby!" when she sees a picture or herself in the mirror. She also does do a lot of babbling if she is walking around by herself. I think she thinks of it as showing off.

We were getting ready for church yesterday and breakfast was ready. Trevor had put his slacks on backwards so I asked him to turn them around. In the mean time, he decided to tell Gwen about Mater - who happened to be on his underwear.

The conversation went like this - Trevor: "Gwen, who is this?" (Pointing to the picture on his underwear)
Gwen: "Trevor".
Trevor: "That's Mater".
Gwen: "Trevor"
Trevor: "No, it's Mater"

At this point I start giggling because it has only become clear she is saying Trevor within the past month or so. So I have to tell Trevor that she is trying to tell him that he is pointing to himself. I'm sure in her mind she thinks that we are crazy. He is pointing to himself - and we are asking who it is. It's our mistake.

We are also having to become very careful about the words we say to her. She cues into words such as walk, bath, and eating quickly. So unless you are prepared to give her a bath, whenever she hears the word, she heads over to the stairs to go upstairs for her bath.

The rest of the weekend went by pretty smoothly. We are organizing the house for the holidays. And counting down the days until someone's 5th birthday! Only 10 more days!

Event filled week

This week, Trevor was the star at preschool. Gwen got her top two teeth. We went to a local thrift store for their half off sale. The family got a huge chunk of a new wardrobe. We are starting to plan for Thanksgiving, Trevor's birthday, and the following crazy few weeks before Christmas!

Gwen has been waking up earlier each day even after going to bed later than the previous night. I know the trend will reverse soon, but it is hard when you are trying to do a handful of things before going to bed yourself, hoping to get a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning. NOPE.

For Veteran's day, a local thrift store had it's 50% off sale. On top of really low prices, everything was 50% off what was marked. So we got a few books, a larger toy for Gwen, and another floor chair (this one is Thomas) for Trevor. I meant to go look at the clothes, but that area is always packed. But the kids were very happy to see that they each got something new to play with, and if we have to get rid of either of the bigger items, I know they didn't cost much of anything. I walked out paying $9.08.

Yesterday, Old Navy (and its sister companies) had a big sale. We all needed some kind of clothes. So we all got clothes. We got Trevor a few warmer shirts, and as he was trying them on, he liked one so much, he didn't want to take it off. Not only that, but he wanted to wear it to preschool today. I MAYBE could have seen this if it were a character shirt. But this was simply a green and cream striped shirt. It did make me feel good that he liked it. I have to admit.

But that was what I had to do last night. Wash and dry all the new clothes that we got so we could wear them today. Unbeknownst to everyone (until now that is...) we all had on brand new clothes. The shape of the day was stars, the letter of the day was S, and the colors of the day were purple and brown. We had packed the toys that we were going to talk about at class the night before so we were all ready to go today. Of course unpacking the toys led to a few surprises. And then, after explaining all the toys (including a pumpkin light that he had snuck into the bag), it was clear that he didn't want to stop being the center of attention. So he started talking about his shirt. Thankfully, it was "s"triped so at least it appeared as though he wanted to talk about it because it was part of his star sharing.

I stayed to help with the preschool class after we were done. It appeared as though the teachers were surprised but very thankful as I was put to work with a little craft project set-up that they needed help with. I got to use a hot glue gun! Unfortunately, I'm not exactly crafty so although I know how to use one, I'm not very skilled. I burned myself a few times, but I still did the requested task and it took almost the entire time I was there. Sounded like it helped the teachers out a lot. It was also cool to watch Trevor and the other kids interact and run around. They were also practicing their Christmas program songs and poems. They practiced singing loud enough so that I could hear them. I was on the other side of the room and most of the kids thought it was so funny to watch to see if I could tell what they were saying. I gave them a "good job, I could hear you." And most of them were pretty excited.

So here we go....13 days and counting until Thanksgiving! Not to mention another important date. I suppose we should get a turkey huh? I'm usually a bit more ahead of things when it comes to food preparation.

One point for Gwen

Our day was marked by a momentous occasion. Miss Gwen finally popped a top tooth. It looks like the second one is just a few days behind, but I'm happy that she finally can get a good smile for the sibling pictures in a few weeks.

Trevor had the first of his star days at preschool yesterday. He gets to be line leader and sit next to the teacher during story time. I'm sure there are other things, but until we get there on Friday, we don't see a lot of it. He did go to school announcing to everyone that he was the star. I am glad that he has such confidence and hope that he doesn't lose it as he gets older.

I also signed him up for his Kindergarten tour. That's in a little under two weeks. I put it on our calendars and right away he asked me what it was. Of course he might still be a little jumpy about going back to the doctor for his next round of shots.

And last but not least, happy sort-of anniversary Russ. 13 years ago today.....be sure to thank Dylan again for us ;-)

Time with family

We went down to the cabin for the weekend. Gwen is really enjoying ALMOST saying a lot of words and names. I can't remember the exact date, but ever since her "hi" noise that a lot of people swear she was saying hi (and I think it was at 4 months or some weird time) she has said a lot of things clearly, but yet it sounds impossible that she is actually saying the words.

It might be because of the fact where she out of the blue will say the word, and then when you ask her to say it again, she looks at you like you are crazy. I've heard what I thought was "Trevor", but whenever I talk about him, or point to a picture and ask who it is, she never responds by saying his name.

Gwen was in love with Kona the dog. Kevin and Kelsey's dog was at the cabin with everyone and Gwen was enjoying playing with the toys that she had. Specifically her sock. That was entertaining for a good 3-4 minutes of pure belly laugh. Then again, for some reason, while she was eating, and Kona was watching intently, Gwen found out that if she threw her food onto the floor, Kona would eat it and she thought that too was absolutely hilarious.

Ahhh...to be a baby again and to see things for the first time and to get such joy out of it.

Gwen got to spend a little time with her "cousins" Addie and Ellie. Addie is sooo close to walking, but did I mention that when Addie and Gwen get to be just a few years older, I can see that they will have such a good time together. Addison gets picked on by her big sister Ellie the EXACT same way that Trevor picks on Gwen. So I'm guessing they are going to have a lot to talk about and complain about their older siblings.

Coming back home, Gwen was already very tired, but of course didn't fall asleep until the last 15 minutes of the carride. Fortunately, she stayed asleep for another hour at home. She wasn't well rested today, but at least she got some sleep.

Tracy and family came over to visit before Tracy had to head back to Boston. Gwen was able to show everyone her tricks of running and talking up a storm.

And then she crashed earlier than usual this morning. I suppose that means I should turn in early too so that if she wakes up early, I'll be ready for her.

Oh, and in terms of Trevor....I can confidently say he is reading a lot of words now. There were some Sesame Street board books that he was reading to himself where I heard him struggle with a few of the words, but he would get 90% of them correct. And he hadn't memorized them at all. And he's also very interested in math. So Kindergarten, here we come!

A few changes

I know I'm going to be a little sad when it finally happens in 10 months. Yesterday in the mail, we received a notification for Trevor going into Kindergarten class next year. I was SO excited! We have a Kindergarten "round-up" to put on the calendar in January. We have to get his immunizations up-to-date. We get to attend the school as part of a "tour" that they do to any interested families. I'm pretty sure Trevor doesn't get it at this point, but I'm pretty sure he will in a few months.

Yesterday I went to the salon to get foiled and a haircut. I had decided it was time for a haircut. I'm pretty sure that 6 inches or so came off. So not simply a "trim". Everyone saw it before they went to bed last night, but this morning Trevor says to me, "Mommy, when I just looked at you, I thought you were Bubba." (My mom). That always seems to happen. Whenever my hair gets shorter I look more and more like my mom. What can you do?

We are off to the cabin this weekend. Too bad the weather is going to be so chilly. But it will be a short trip. Have a little fun and then back to reality. Time to continue packing!

Guess it is time for a change

Yesterday was pretty busy. Since Trevor was up most of the night, he was not exactly energetic during the day. When we went to the doctor's office, we were put on a longggg wait. Wait to enter our updated insurance information. Wait (for only 2 min) to get the flu shot. Wait to find Trevor's shot information. Wait to get the shot. Trying to keep Trevor off of the play equipment. Then going to the polling place. Lines longer than I had ever seen (granted I haven't seen any there before) and what really confused me is that I thought I remembered it being set up differently than last time. And that there were fewer voting booths than last time. But that doesn't sound right.
We were in and out in about 40 minutes. And of course our alphabetic line to check in was manned by an 80 year old, hard of hearing, generally confused guy. Then we had to go vote which was the long line.
After that was done, Gwen turned to mush. She was tired and hungry. I couldn't keep her awake past noon. That is odd for her. Trevor fell asleep probably as soon as his head hit the pillow at 3. I heard him coughing a little bit, but he did get a pretty good rest.
I stayed up until I found out Barack won. Call me sentimental, but I couldn't help get the chills when they called the election. Even though it had no significance to me personally when he was called the winner, or maybe it was because it has been almost 2 years of campaigning finally ending last night. But I'm really happy that so far no crazy things have happened as a result.
I got a good night's sleep. Trevor didn't wake up other than to cough before I went up to bed.
Unfortunately, it sounds like Gwen is getting the cough. And with it getting colder again (it has been close to 70 these past few days) it's going to be hard to help her kick the cold.
So the day today is going to be catching up on a few errands, hopefully kicking myself back into gear. We are heading to the lake this weekend!

Some nights can be really bad

Oy....I should be counting my lucky stars for the few times that last night has happened throughout Trevor's almost 5 years. Weird thing is, he had a fever on Wednesday night that went away while he slept. The only thing that seemed to stick around was a cough since that time. He slept a lot and wasn't full of energy or very hungry on Thursday, but he was pretty much back to normal on Friday with the exception of a runny nose. He has slept through the night without a noise every night which was confusing because most of the time on the night he gets sick he wakes up a lot. Then yesterday he started to go downhill again. A few more coughs during the day and a really long nap (for him) yesterday. 2 hours!

He got some sudafed before he went to bed so his runny nose didn't keep him unable to breathe. Gwen got her usual dose of Motrin because she has been teething up a storm. Sometimes she will wake up at night and need more motrin to go back to sleep.

So Trevor was up before 3 am complaining that he lost his voice. His coughing has now gone up to almost non-stop. So I first give him Tylenol in case he needed something to get back to sleep. An hour later he was still up coughing....So I gave him some Delsym which is supposed to stop coughs for 12 hours. I will say that with all these medications I gave him, I have talked with his doctor about them and he has ok'd all of them. But now we are at 5am....Trevor is still not asleep, still coughing, and Gwen wakes up. She gets a dose of Motrin and Trevor starts asking when he can get up for the day. UG. He gets out of bed at 6, and I ask him to stay until 6:30. So in the mean time, I try try try to get any rest because I can already feel my muscles screaming for more rest. I can't imagine how Trevor is still awake...and chipper for goodness sake.

So 6:30 comes and he heads downstairs, gets dressed and starts watching playhouse disney. Gwen starts making noise that she wants to get up. So we have to go and get shots today. I'm not sure if a cough disqualifies you from getting a chicken pox vaccination. I think I would be worried if it were something that I was worried would really knock him out like a flu shot or MMR or something. Also, he really "seems" fine other than the cough. And when Gwen went in for her shots at her year appt, she had a bad cold but it wasn't enough for her to not get shots.

On top of that, I'm planning on taking the kids to the voting place. I hope I won't get any horrible stares.

The only thing I'm thankful for today is that I'm not a big caffeine person. If I get coffee from a Starbucks or Caribou, it is always decaf. So on days like today, I don't have to drink a lot for it to have an affect on me. I just wonder how long I'm going to last tonight. I wanted to see some of the returns at least for our state. Oh well. I'd be much happier if the kids were healthy than making myself sick staying up late.

Healthy thoughts to all!

Well, the weekend is over

Friday was average. Trevor brought home a weekly reader talking about the presidential election. He seems to know that Barack Obana (his pronunciation) is running for president. He said he wants to be president so he can ride on Airforce One. He went out for Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood. Came home with some loot that we added to our leftovers from all the candy I bought. On the off chance that we had a truckload of kids come to our house. We had 20 kids. Gwen enjoyed answering the door and saying her favorite phrase of, "BYEEEEEEE."

Saturday, I wasn't paying much attention to the kids because my mom was over and I was able to go outside to help with yardwork. She said the day went well. Perhaps because the weather was nice? So then we went out for dinner with Russ's dad. Again, the kids did pretty well. I think we are training them well on how to sit for a reasonable amount of time, even if we have to distract them with food or books of some kind.

But today....oh today. The fallback part of the day did not transition well for the kids. Trevor was up at 6, Gwen at 6:20. So it was a LONG time until breakfast, church, and then we went to Target. I guess I should have asked how Trevor was in his Sunday School. It was doughnut Sunday. Everyone got a doughnut, a little running around and we were off to Target. Then it all went to pot. We had too many things to buy with a discount card. Plus they are running a deal, buy two Wii games, get one free. BADDDDD idea for us. As if we need any more games. But twist my arm and I'll buy it. Trevor had to be taken out of the cart so we could fit our diapers and other stuff in it. But that is ALWAYS a bad idea because he then wants to run around. I had to chase him down the checkout aisles when we were about to leave.

We got home after lots of screaming and tears from Trevor. But I still could not get him to settle down and get him "in line" so to speak. I guess the time change must have the same effect as a full moon or something. I'm going to have to give him a week or so before he is back to his regular self. And Gwen seems to pull her freak out moments whenever she isn't being paid enough attention. So she doesn't exactly help the situation....

Now if only I could fast forward into the next week when he is well adjusted for the next few days. I need them to pull just one good day for me on Tuesday. And I need a little luck that we don't have a long line.

I should get to bed in case I don't get any sleep from the kids waking up early....

5 days and counting...

And it happened again. We lived in this house 4 years ago. We lived in the same city 8 years ago. But I do not remember all the phone calls and junk mail and even personal stops by our house in such numbers. We got 12 phone calls in 24 hours two days ago. Crazy. So then they took a day off and it has started again. Only a handful have left a message, but I guess I'll just be happy to have them be done in 5 more days.

I am happy with the fact that gas prices are declining so much. Nothing like an election to reduce gas prices! It was 3 weeks ago that I told Russ that I guessed it would be at $2.25. Well, our area one has it already at $2.17. So maybe we'll go below $2.00! Cool!

As far as next Tuesday, we have our family shots planned. Trevor gets a chicken pox vaccine, Gwen gets round 2 of her flu shot and I get a flu shot. If we are all in good enough spirits after that I'll be taking the kids to the polls. Hopefully that will go well.

Pure innocence is gone

What a sad day it is and will be this holiday season. I know they can't stay this young forever, and that more good things are to come, but I didn't realize it was going to go this quick. I remember last year at about this time, I was having to shield Trevor from a lot of the "scary" Halloween stuff. He was starting to get nightmares and I figured I should keep him away from the stuff that would make his imagination possibly give him more nightmares. This year, it is obvious he is growing out of a lot of his fears. Especially if it is something he can get used to. He got used to the Disney concert, as well as the hayride at the pumpkin patch, he was afraid at first, but got over it. He has been asking a lot of questions about ghosts, being scared at Halloween and such. We had dinner at a restaurant and we had no idea they were decorating for Halloween. They had a motion detecting scary guy and as soon as Trevor saw it he was startled. I blocked his view from him at that point on, but he kept wanting to see it. It's like he knows it is cool to be scared or something.

He likes seeing the disney movies that are showing that have a little bit of scaring in the movie. He laughs at it and jumps around because he knows what is going to happen and can get a little scared by it. Thankfully no nightmares yet. I just don't think there are going to be many more times of having to keep him from somewhere or something because it is too scary for him.

We went to a family Halloween party on Friday night. I assumed we wouldn't be there for very long because I didn't think Gwen would last very long. They both did very well. We got our family portrait taken... and Russ scared a few kids. Even without his mask on. There were a few kids in some kind of Star Wars garb. Even a dad that admitted he made his son be I think Bobba Fett? Or else it was a Storm Trooper. His son had no idea who he was. But his dad was very proud.
Trevor got to see a few of his school friends. We made frosted cookies. Sunday we went to a costume brunch. Trevor got his arm painted. He got some sword balloons for his costume. Also that day, we got the Toys R Us Holiday catalogue. While I have yet to hear at a Target store, "Mom, can I have that toy?" the catalogue that came out was quickly told to me that he wanted everything in the book. Oh dear. Hopefully he will be able to show some signs of level of importance, and another hopefully: he will not say that something like a Powerwheels car is the most important thing that he wants.
So for the rest of the week, we will be carving pumpkins, and going trick or treating. Trevor is very anxious to get candy. Hopefully we will be doing something similar to last year. Updates to come!

It all starts today

The Halloween Festivities start today! We have T's preschool costume party this morning, and then another school family party this evening. Then a brunch on Sunday. Hopefully lots of pictures and a video coming soon!!!!

It went decently

So yesterday wasn't half as bad as last Tuesday. I think the idea that it was a full moon really had something to do with it. We also did run an errand that helped get the kids out of the house. Maybe they are just feeling really early cabin fever. If that's the case I'm really in trouble. It's supposed to be CCCCOOOOLLLLDDDD on Sunday.

I did get a lot of vacuuming done, and Trevor did get frustrated with me for a while. As a result, he made a "no mommys" sign so that I would stay away from him. He has been doing a lot of art projects lately. By that it just means he likes to use his markers to draw things. Oh, and cut up the papers with his scissors. But before yesterday the signs he had been making were simply a circle me Bert sign (which comes about because our TV announcer for the Twins games does a bit every game where he circles fans. Most of which have a sign that they hold up saying "circle me Bert". The other sign that Trevor had been making was a "no babies" sign for Gwen.

But the day wasn't all frustration for Trevor. Before Gwen's naptime we got to all play in a band. We have a lot of instruments and so we all were in a band playing together. So...it's not all hard times for anyone. On to the next day!

The weekend of last

This past weekend...not a lot went on. More cleaning/organizing the outdoor projects. The driveway is CLEAR! We got rid of the extra supplies for the wall via craigslist. The pallets are being broken down to firewood. Next is the garage. And that isn't horrible, but it will take some time.

Friday night Russ and I had a date night and tried out a new restaurant called Bloomington Chop House. I guess I should have taken the hint that we got right in for a reservation the day before we went. It was pretty empty while we were there. Our service was horrible. Granted, we couldn't see the entire restaurant, but this was supposed to be a steak/seafood place of the upscale variety. The food was decent. The prime rib was better than the crab legs. I'd rather eat them at Red Lobster. So not the best experience overall. But I'm no restaurant critic, so don't take my word for it.

Saturday was errand running for Russ. Then we went to the golf course for dinner. I'll be excited when they get the pizza oven done. It would be nice to have something different there from time to time.

And Sunday was a poker tournament that I decided to play in. I guess they had a pretty low turnout for the event compared to last year. I made it through well over half the entrants and almost to the second break, but no luck in the money again. One of these events, I'll do it. Just have to get the cards at the right time.

So that brings us to this week. I'm hoping today goes by fast...as I hate Tuesdays ;-)

A visit to the pumpkin patch

We were on MEA (Teacher conferences) break Wed afternoon - Friday for school, so on Friday we decided to go out to Bubba's house to go to visit the pumpkin patch. Trevor still remembers from last year, although I think it will be the 3rd year we have gone there. It was pretty busy because all the kids were off from school. But we got there right away in the morning, and it was only going to get more busy.

They did have a bouncing house that they were setting up as well. Trevor was looking forward to that, when he saw it. There was also a hayride. I wasn't sure if we were going to go on it or not. Given that it would be pretty busy and that most hayrides are supposed to be "spooky". So we started with the animals. There was a turkey, sheep, chickens, goats, calfs, and ducks. They had feed machines so we spent some money doing that. Also, we took some pictures with the "put your head through the hole" poses they had. Then, the first hayride was going to start. We made the decision (and Trevor was pretty happy) to jump on board as it was almost ready to leave. I bought the tickets and got on the ride. Both Trevor and Gwen loved the pieces of straw. Our tour guide "Mike" started the ride off with three rules. #1, no throwing straw off of the ride. #2 I cannot remember what it was, but Trevor thinks it was no throwing straw at each other. #3 You have to have fun. The group on the ride were all very young kids with the exception of two pre teen girls. The tour guide was very good about not acting the least bit scared or scary when explaining all the stops. But still, Trevor picked up on the vibe and a few times he was hiding his face while giving me a big hug. He was asking a few times for it to be done. But it was bright, and really there wasn't any gross stuff.

So the ride was done and he wanted to do the jumping house. I went back over to get more tickets, and the ticket taker asked me if I graduated in '96. At that point I really looked the guy in the face and was surprised to see that it was someone I went to Elementary school with. So I said "Hi Troy" and he said he thought he recognized me. I'm bad at studying other people and have probably missed noticing a lot. But anyway, Trevor had his time in the jumping house, and then went on to the stationary tractors to get his picture taken. At that point, he became "tour guide Trevor". He was performing the same way as our tour guide on the hayride. Not only did he do it on these tractors, but also when we came home. He was doing it outside as a fun game.

I'm hoping that conquering some small fears ahead of the time that we go to Disney World will help him want to go on a few more rides than he would if we had gone a few months ago. A lot of his fear isn't something that he can communicate very well, but the things that I can see, we talk about and let him see that they aren't that big of a deal. The one that I'm really puzzled about is the Buzz Lightyear ride. Russ and I think he would love it...and he probably will if we can get him to ride it. But we show him pictures and he says he doesn't want to go on it. And I'm not sure why. He has computer games that he plays with as Buzz, I'm just not sure what else to do other than take him on other rides so he can understand what is going to happen. Hopefully it is just an unknown fear. I guess we'll see.

But for now...it was a successful pumpkin patch trip. Upcoming are the costume parties! Here we comeeeee!!!

Update...the day did not get better

Unfortunately, the day did not get better today. I was hoping that by blogging about it I would be able to prevent the downward spiral. Guess not. I had forgotten that it was a full moon today. Maybe that's the reason.

During Trevor's "quiet time" today, I found (actually smelled) what he was doing in our bathroom. It was quite funny, except for the rather large and difficult to clean up mess in our bathroom. And by taking these pictures, I have ammo for future teenage blackmail. I am SO glad to be done with today!!!

It was a busy and good weekend

The back retaining wall is DONE! Looking back, I guess the kids were just in good moods. Or the weather was nice enough so that they enjoyed being outside. We went up to the park on Saturday where Gwen got to swing on the swings and try to walk around on the pebbles. A new surface for her to try to walk on. Trevor met some friends there (not that he had known beforehand) and while I was very happy to watch him not have the urge to be a bully to any of the kids there, he did call out that he wanted to be God in a game that the kids were playing. The game was jungle where you had to crawl all over the jungle-gym and try not to fall off of it. If you did, you were in the water and had to swim or ride on the crocodiles. Trevor quickly said that he was God and Jesus and Jesus walked on water. Thankfully the moms in the area laughed it off and said that their kids would get a nice dose of CCD for the day. And really, if that is the worst thing that Trevor does at the playground, I will be a very happy mom.

He is loving all of his religious experiences. Through both preschool and Sunday School. He came home from preschool on Monday saying that he got to "be Adam". Their current Bible story is about Adam and Eve in the garden. He loves to talk all about it if you ask him.

But I digress...that was not part of the weekend. So the wall was finished on Saturday. Sunday, Trevor had Sunday School, and Gwen went into the nursery for the second time. I think the only problem with it, is that it ends up being right at the time where she likes to have a snack. And when she doesn't have a small snack she gets cranky. So when I come back to get her after an hour, she cries out for me. But I am assured that she has a fun time while in the nursery. I was even told she was talking away as if they understood exactly what she was saying. That girl is a talker already!

After church, the next activity was to take Trevor to the show "Playhouse Disney Live". There aren't any activities that Trevor and I do alone. I did go to his field trip for preschool, but I don't really think it is the same. Or maybe I'm not reading it right. Anyway, we've been talking about this show for a while. He was nervous going into the show. And we were like two minutes late getting to our seats as we were getting popcorn and the line wasn't moving. But when he sat in his seat, you could see he liked what was going on. Hands still in ears and everything. After about 15 minutes, his hands were off his ears and he was singing along to the songs he knew.

Playhouse Disney consists of the shows he sees in the morning on the Disney channel. He was probably on the old side of the age range, but it really was good timing with everything else coming up. He still really enjoys the shows, and is excited to go to Disney World in February. Back to the concert....the only downside was that it was a LOT shorter than I thought it would be. Probably best given the age group they were playing to. So from the show we went to dinner for my mom's birthday. Trevor, not having had a nap except for in the car on the way to the show was a bit short on calmness. But we did the best we could. Overall we have pretty good kids. The meal was yummy and the company was great.

But it was a busy weekend. I think it will continue to be busy weekends with the holidays coming up. A lot to prepare for! Oh, and with this weekend, I also found a lot of Halloween decorations that I've never used. So they were washed and used and Trevor loves that. Too bad we don't do as much decorating for Thanksgiving. Just Christmas...but that doesn't start until after Trevor's birthday. And yet Trevor is already asking about those movies and books. So much planning to do!!!

I hate Tuesdays

You would think that Tuesday would be a good day. It is one of only two days of the week we don't have anything planned. Trevor knows I designate it "clean the basement" day. He and Gwen get to play with the toys in the basement while I organize papers and such. But it isn't such a big deal that I put it off another week if we have something else we need to do.

I figured we haven't been to the "jump jump" place (aka Edinborough park) in a while. However, I was not going to bring Trevor if he was not having a good listening day. And he couldn't even make it until 9 o'clock. I should have just went back to bed. It has gotten significantly cooler than the past few days, but I knew we needed to get out of the house. So we went on a walk. It is just so hard to get through the morning. Lots of fighting, screaming, crying...thankfully today none of it was from me. Then I put in the order for the darn photos. That was a big GULP. Just not a very good thing to have to do today.

And I know I need to look at it from the bright side, but I hate Tuesdays. And with that, I realize that my last two posts have been gripes. But my intentions are that I will post about the happiness that took place this weekend in the next post. That way, the gripes will be out of the way first.

Professional photography

Ug. I am not a good judge of professional photography. I do not think it is worth the EXCESSIVE amount of money you pay to get a few pictures of your kid. I do think it is worth while to do Senior Pictures done this way. However, with Trevor, it was a necessary evil when he turned 1. We tried the JCPenney portraits, and he wouldn't stand still. And I think I had a horrible photographer that did nothing to try to distract him. So, we found a place and at least I got a few pictures. But overall, even those just didn't look like him. He wasn't in a setting that meant anything. The props he played with didn't have any significant meaning. Plus, I think I have always just liked the "typical" portrait pose. Even my wedding photographs, most of them that I like the best are the posed shots. NOT the candids.

And I realize this is just my style. But now that I had Trevor's done, I feel like I have to have it equal, and do Gwen's photographs the same way. And of course, the place that I had Trevor's done either closed or relocated. I probably should have researched more, or compared prices or something. But I was all about easy. I got a postcard in the mail a while back and decided to use that place.

The drive was about a half hour. Kind of obscure location, but it turns out that that was because it was at someone's house. Then I started talking to the "receptionist". Turns out they had wrong information on me. Spelled my name wrong, and thought I wanted all outdoor photographs. Actually, all of Trevor's pictures were indoors, so I wasn't thinking outdoor much at all.

Then, the photographer happened to be a guy. I probably should have asked about that first. Gwen isn't all that comfortable with most guys. Thankfully, he stayed out of her face for most of the time, but when she first saw him she ran to my leg and pulled. So while the guy rearranged the "studio" for the indoor shots, he talked my ear off. About absolutely random stuff. Again, I know it is just my personality, but I HATE when people do that. He talked about the Twin Cities Marathon, how computer illiterate he is (another wonderful star for him), bugs, toxicly spraying and killing them....it just made me want to get out of there fast. Then I was surprised at how few pictures he took of each setting.

Anyway, fast forward to today. I was supposed to have the pictures online by this morning, but I had to call to say that they weren't there. A different person that I had not met, helped put them online for me to view. While at the session, I knew she had some good shots based on her smile. But really, it gets lost with all the extra stuff around her. Or maybe I'm not remembering correctly. Or maybe they weren't as smiley as I thought because she had an ear infection at the time. Or maybe the actual pictures were taken a second after she actually smiled.

Whatever the reason, whenever I actually pay for the pictures, I'm going to just have to scream silently. Or maybe I'll have to go back to the card club and win the money to pay for the pictures. ;-) Anyway, thank you for listening to my rant. Oh, and in case I need further clarification, I have seen other people's photographs done by professional photographers. THOSE are always beautiful. I just don't like them with my kids for some reason. Oh well. Last time I will have to use one for another 13 years or so....unless we have baby J3 ;-)

A doctor visit

Yesterday was Gwen's 1 year appointment. It was pretty uneventful, as usual. We did get permission to face her forward. Although the safety commission has strongly urged parents to have their infants rear facing as long as possible. She is already showing signs of wanting to face forward. I don't think it would be as hard to face her rear for longer if she didn't have an older sibling that was already front facing. Or if she was the third child and there was someone to look at in the back. Regardless, I'm sure she will be forward facing soon.

For those of you that don't know, the guidelines for forward facing children are that they have to be a year AND 20 lbs. I don't know exactly what the limits are for 20 lbs at 1 year, but both of my kids have exceeded that, I think even at 9 months. So when I was talking to a few other mom friends, they were mentioning that they turned their kids to forward face when they were 21 lbs, meaning it was past a year.

Oh, funny side note...well, not really funny but anyway.... we were waiting for the doctor to come into our room and Gwen was walking all over the room. I think she had grabbed a toy from her bag and was putting it on her head. She had put it on her forehead over her eyes so she couldn't see very well, and then proceeded to almost run right into the door. It made a very loud sound, so at that time, the doctor walked in saying, "Does anyone need a doctor?" But as per usual, Gwen had a very quick recovery. Plus she was probably pretty doped up from the ibuprofen I gave her for her shots. But it made a pretty red mark on her forehead for the visit.

After the behavior checklist, I was told she is in the 15-16 month level for development. All of a sudden, this week has been full of learning new words. Balloons, animal noises, dollies, spoon, shoes, socks, car, more, water, hat....she loves to repeat.

And I have to tell you about a funny phrase I heard this weekend, care of Russ. He had been outside working on the wall most of the weekend. But had bought some soda for his workers. After dinner, he had opened the freezer and found an exploded can of Coke. The phrase that got me: "For a second I was wondering how the cat puked in the freezer". That would be one I never thought I would hear.

And the busy week continues

Well, the big party is done. Trevor's field trip is done. The retaining wall is not done :-P but it is getting closer.... We still have a few things left to take care of this week and then we'll have about 3 weeks until Halloween. Costumes for all 4 of us are in the works. But that's another story.

Trevor and I went on his fall walk for preschool on Friday. It was a perfect day. A little chilly but felt really good in the bright sun. Trevor had a great time looking for acorns, different leaves, and all sorts of "treasures". I'll have to include another post for just pictures....

We went home to continue the birthday preparations. We made the cake, and then Trevor went out to a park for a bit. I finished the organization and wrapping presents while Russ was busy with some family trying to get the wall area ready for the weekend.

We had a good turn out for the party. Pizza, cake and ice cream were on the menu. Trevor helped with all the things that Gwen didn't know about. Blowing out the candle, opening gifts, and even playing with most of them. Ha Ha. We finally have some girly toys in the house! A few dollies (even a Cabbage Patch infant....oh how I remember the wonderful smell of those dolls!), dollhouse activities, princess toys, books....she made a good haul. She wasn't very interested in the cake, like Trevor was at her age. But I already know that she isn't the same kind of eater that he was.

Time to get ready for the week!

Yay, we made it through a year

Trevor woke me up this morning saying, "Mom! Mom! It's Gwen's Birthday today! You have to get up so we can make her CAKE!" Such a nice thing to hear from her other child. I'm hoping her party goes as well as this wake up did.

It is a huge sigh of relief here that we made it through this year. It is a hard and trying year that first year or a baby's life. It has been exciting to see her grow up, and happy for me to have my body back (as opposed to carrying or feeding a child with it).

I don't have much time to post now, but wanted to include a few pictures to remember the year by:

Here is her first day as well as her first haircut ;-) Happy Birthday Gwen!