Wordless Wednesday - Kira dresses herself.

Wordless Wednesday - 10 months.

Wordless Wednesday - Go Huskers!

WANTED: Lost sock.

Last seen Wednesday morning when it was tossed into the laundry hamper. If seen please give twin a call so they can be reunited on their owner Kira's feet.

We bought days of the week socks to teach Kira the days of the week. I thought about undies but well we aren't quite to that stage yet so we went with socks. Since we got them we have been able to wear then the full week maybe twice. One or more of these pesky socks like to turn up missing once placed into the hamper. We lost Friday for over two weeks and once we found 'him' we lost his sister Sunday and the Tuesday twins. We will start again tomorrow with Wednesday (I have them for now, hopefully they don't run away by morning) and hopefully by next Tuesday the twins will be rejoined.

So if you come across Tuesday please tell him to go home, we miss him!

Not mountain climbing, laundry climbing.

I was enjoying the kids' break too much. We were playing and baking and doing normal clean up. When they all went to school I looked in the laundry room and almost cried. They had brought their laundry to the laundry room and I am thinking now that I should have taken a picture. The pile was something out of the show "Hoarders." I couldn't see the floor and couldn't open either the washer (front loader) or the drier. It was insane. I have been doing laundry for over four hours and can finally see some floor- I had to make piles outside the room to even load the washer. I am still trying to figure out how this happened as Wednesday night I had everything washed, folded AND put away! This is a lesson learned, at Christmas break I will definitely still be doing my 2-3 loads of laundry a day.

Busy week.

This week is going to be both busy and emotional. I have to take Loryn to a dermatologist on Monday. She had some moles removed and the majority of them came back "angry." Their words, not mine. The way the doctor explained "angry" was they weren't normal but if left untreated could turn into skin cancer. This really freaked me out and it made me want to have every single freckle removed from her body. This isn't practical of course, but the doctor is sending us out to be checked by a derm. They will look at all the blemishes on body and determine if any more need to be watched or removed and we will go from there.

Then Wednesday is Kira's appointment at Childrens Hospital. She has had a hernia about 3 or 4 inches above her bellybutton since she was about 9 months old. Over the past year it has gotten worse and now she will just double over in pain at times pointing to that area screaming that her belly hurts. I want her to be free from pain but I do not want her to have surgery. I am actually not even sure how I would manage her being in a hospital in Omaha being that there isn't anyone to care for Jonas while I would be up there and I don't think that he is allowed to be in the patient area.

My life would be boring if I didn't have a billion doctor appointments to go to. I swear there is no one that goes to the doctor more that me (as I write this after returning from my second trip this week for Jonas' ears- I see another specialist appointment in my near future lol).

Crawling!

 

On 11/11/10 Jonas finally figured out how to crawl. I haven't figured out how to transfer video from my camcorder with Windows Vista, so I just captured it with the pc camera. A little blurry but it did the job. He is now full on crawling, up on all four. I still need to get a video of how he currently crawls. I need to do that soon as he is now pulling up on everything and trying to walk! It still amazes me with each child how quickly the first year goes by. They grow and learn so much so quickly. Someone please tell him to slow down, his mommy isn't ready for him to be growing so fast!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

McNice or McFraud?

After reading another blog I was directed to one of those "without pity"(WOP) sites about a popular site on the net. A site that has had me crying and laughing with them for the past two years. Reading the WOP site made me sad. I know that not everything put out on the net is factual, so I had to wonder which site was the real deal. I finally decided that the gray area in the middle is probably where the facts are. I also noted that maybe the owner and certainly some of those that leave comments are upset that she made her blog profitable. How wonderful would it be to go from foreclosure to a 1/2 million dollar home, near bankruptcy to having a money making business? I wouldn't mind being a part of that category. Will I stop reading either blog? Heck no, I never was good at looking away from a crash.

Potty learning - Day 11-17.

To be honest, I didn't think this whole potty stuff would take as long as it has. In the past week there has been significant progress. Kira has told me when she needed to go pee nearly every time, we have had many dry naps and one dry night. She has started to recognize when she needs to poop but still is distracted enough to have accidents. When this happens she will immediately find me and let me know then finish in the toilet. One thing that happened this week is while taking a bath she jumped up and told me that she had to go. The thought of peeing in the bath horrified her and she gave up the extra splash time after being cleaned up. This is the time of day that she LOVES the most. So I know that she gets it, it is just a bit longer of a process then some of her sisters/brother. I am hoping that the next post that I put up next week (as I think weekly from here on out is best) will be stating that we are done and doing the only-one-in-diapers happy dance of joy!

How time flies....

 

I can't believe that it's been 8 years. Today, in 2002 I married my best friend. We had been together 6 years at this point and had 4 children together. I am not sure what kept us from marrying sooner, we both came from broken homes. My mother had been remarried 3 times, the third lasting 18 years (and is currently on her fourth YIKES!). His mother was only married once but it ended very badly. We both had the fear of "what if" looming over our heads along with horrible previous relationships. It took a very kind and wonderful pastor to encourage us to take the leap and walk us through the counseling and the marriage process, thank you Pastor Troester! What a beautiful ride the past 14 years have been and here's to another 50 or so more.

Potty learning - Day 10.

Today we went back to the basics. I forgot to get the water proof undies washed last night and we had one pair, one. I was hoping that today would be a good day and we would get through the day w/o needing more than that one pair. It wasn't meant to be. After dropping the older kids off at school we made it exactly 3 minutes. I had just took her to the potty, went to get our breakfast and she ran over to tell me "my farted mommy, my just farted." I knew I was in trouble after the stink cloud that was following her finally reached where I stood. So after we got cleaned up I let her run around with a dress and no undies. She did not have another accident and by the end of the night was in regular panties and telling us when she needed to go. She had to be persuaded to get into the diaper tonight but I know having her in undies would be asking for trouble at this point. I was hoping that the Super Undies would save my floor and give her the idea that she was wearing undies and not a pull-up or diaper. That is not the case, as soon as they were taken away she improved 100%. I should have just bought a Little Green Machine instead of those stupid undies!

Google Call Phone- ♥ it!

If you are like me you may have completely ditched your landline. I recently had an issue with my Blackberry, now you know those pesky cell phone companies and they do NOT like you troubleshooting a phone that you are talking to them on. I searched for the kids' cell phones that should have been left at home while they are at school (BUSTED! I'll deal w/you later!) but they were no where in sight. So I downloaded Google Call Phone, their currently free VOIP (voice over IP) phone. ♥ it! I could talk to them and troubleshoot my phone w/o having to wait for the kids to get home and dealing w/yelling and screaming kids while trying to follow instructions. I will definitely be using you again!

Potty learning - Day 9.

 

How can this cute little girl be so ornery? I swear this potty training is going to make me stroke out. She again told me twice today, "Oopsie, my pooped mom!" I wasn't sure if I wanted to bust up laughing or break down and cry. I have two things that I can't stand, poop and vomit. Baby poop does not seem to bother me a bit, I guess it's the mother's milk that makes it not smell so bad? Whatever it is, I don't enjoy cleaning it up but it doesn't make me want to gag. Now on top of all the gaginess (is that a word?) I have to swish the pants in the toilet with poo and poo tainted water splashing all around. Sorry I just reread that and so gross, but it's true. This is what I have been dealing with for the past 9 days. Well ok, two of those days were poop swishing free, but still. Yesterday I talked about one step forward and two steps back. Today felt like only the two steps back part. I am really praying that tomorrow is better. I have started the sticker program, each time she pees or poos on the toilet she will get a sticker. I am hoping this works because candy did not (I know, I know that was an awful plan!).

School pictures.

Due to a someone taking pictures and posting them to their Facebook page, I have not included Haley's picture. If you would like to see her photo, please visit my Facebook page.

Wordless Wednesday - 9 months.

Toddlers do share.

I  read a post recently that talked about how toddlers don't share and it got me thinking. I know Kira shares a lot of things, they may not be things that we want at times but she does share. I have put together a list of items that she has shared in the past few days just to prove how well she shares.

• Boogies- in church she must have been picking her nose while I was juggling a baby, a hymnal and service bulletin to follow along. At a time for reflection and prayer she said in a voice that could be heard throught our small church "Here mommy, I have a booger for you!"
• Sneezes/coughs- she will run across the room or even in from another room to be two inches from my face when she sneezes or coughs. I think she knows that it is coming on and wants me to wipe her nose but she shares it just the same.
• Poo- just yesterday she pulled out a piece of poo from her training pants and tried to give it to her sister then when she didn't want it she tried to give it to me.
• Food from the floor- she picks up food that either she dropped or her siblings dropped and tries to feed it to one of them or to me. 

This is just a small example of things but as you can see they do share!

Potty learning - Day 8.

One step forward and two steps back. Just when I thought that we were nearing the end of this chapter, reality hit and I realized I was back to page one. Kira was not to blame for this poor day, it was completely me. I was up every hour on the hour with Jonas and was up for at least 15 min each time. Poor guy had an ear infection that we did not know about and was just in a lot of pain. Due to my lack of sleep I wasn't up every 15 to 20 minutes with her reminding her to use the restroom and it was a horrid day. I will be working extra hard with her tomorrow to remind her of using the potty. This is all new to me, other than Loryn all the rest of the kiddos were done w/learning how to use the potty in a week. On to week two and hopefully a better one!

Potty learning - Day 7.

Both Kira and Jonas had well baby visits scheduled this morning. They have been sick for a few days with a fever and cough/congestion. They probably should have been seen over the weekend but since we already had this appointment set up I just waited it out. Any how, since we were going to be at the doctor and I didn't know how long the appointment would be and Kira knack for pooing in her pants when I'm not looking made me skip this morning. Sure enough we were not in the doctor's waiting room more than 5 minutes and she had dropped a bomb in her pants! We got called back to the room and I changed her at about 9:30am, when we finally got home it was time for lunch and then naptime. The frenzied mom that I've been with these sick kiddos made me actually forget to change her pants. I woke her up from her nap at 3pm and her diaper was dry! She held it for nearly 6 hours and during her nap. We did not have any accidents at all tonight, and to think I was going to give up LOL!

Potty learning - Day 5 & 6.

Day 5: Let's just say that I am really tired of poo. It never bothered me much when it was in a diaper but when it is in something that needs to be cleaned it is not pretty. Not only that but it seems we have had a relapse from taking time off on Friday. She not only had a messy accident but had two other pee accidents. She gets it I know she does so I am not sure what the deal is.

Day 6:  I often wonder why it is that little kids who are potty training or in diapers disappear then suddenly reappear with poo in their pants. It's almost like they sneak off and we wont notice the smell LOL. I just don't get it. I swear that I am going to have to tether her to me tomorrow and see if we can forgo any poo mishaps :). We had far too many today, she has been sick the past few days so I will chalk it up to that. I do have to say that I was so very close to quitting today. I hope that tomorrow is a better day.

Potty learning - Day 4.

It has been a beyond crazy day for us. The two younger kids and I were out of the house from the time that we dropped the older kids off at school until I picked them up. The littles had pictures then I had various running around to do for Kaly's birthday party tonight. We skipped learning anything this morning. When we got home she had barely used her diaper and went right on the potty. She did not have any accidents the rest of the afternoon/evening and even told me when she had to go. Another great day for Kira!

Potty learning - Day 3.

So by now I am pretty confident that the Super Undies are not going to allow a mess all over my house so in the morning I spread out the potty trips to every 30-45 min. Kira did so great, didn't have one pee accident. She is still struggling with the other. I have learned that if I were to cloth diaper it would definitely have to be a hybrid diaper or in the very least we would have to use those handy liners. Swishing poo off of these is not fun. I do recall tossing away plenty of Gerber training pants when the other kids were learning to use the potty and for one fleeting moment I thought about doing the same. Then the training pants in my hand morphed into the $20 bill that I paid for them and I sighed and went back to swishing LOL!

After the great success with the longer time between potty trips in the morning, I decided to let Kira lead the way in the afternoon. She told me 3 times that she needed to use the restroom (yes she does say restroom lol). I am going to have to say that she has learned how to tell when she needs to pee!

Potty learning - Day 2.

Kira is doing amazing. Today we have not had any pee accidents (even at nap time). She is reminded to use the restroom every 15-20 min up from every 10-15 min yesterday. We are still working on poo. It seems that somewhere in that 15 min window she went and had an accident in her undies. We talked about it and she is getting it. It can't be easy to go from doing something the same way from birth to switching in up in a day or two. I keep repeating that as I am cleaning up the mess lol! The way she is going, I don't think that we will have this problem much longer. The biggest problem that I am having with it is when I am tending to Jonas I can't always quick run her to the potty-not that it would have mattered today, but surely I could have recognized the signs if my attention wasn't diverted.

Look at this!

I just had to share how thoughtful my oldest daughter Haley and her friends were in making these signs. They were made to hold up at my graduation and I love how creative they were. I wanted to save them but they are huge poster sized papers so I took a few shots of them and will keep these pics!

Wordless Wednesday - Sneakin' kisses.

On the look out.

My blog needs a new look. The picture on the header is a year old, I am scheduling the kids for their picture and once that is back I will be changing my look, well technically I will be working on the new design and will just plug the picture in when I have it lol. If you know of any digital scrapbook sites out there with cute themes, let me know!

Potty learning- Day 1.

 

Well, after a frustrating ordering process with Super Undies we finally received part of our order. I say part due to an error with their stock they ran out of the gender neutral light blue Super Undies (see I'm thinking ahead ;)) and sent us these lovely, very girlie pants instead until the blue ones are back in stock. With all the issues I had they with them I have to say that they have excellent customer service.

As for Kira she did so much better than I expected. We had one pee issue in the morning, just a smidge as we were running to the potty, than another after nap-time. She woke up and quietly played in her crib (yes, she is still in a crib-she doesn't mind it so I'm going to leave her be), normally she will yell "Somebody get me outta here!" as soon as she wakes up. Of course the day that I want her to let me know she's awake is the day that she doesn't. After I got her cleaned up-which btw her Super Undies did not drip a drop on her bed, two soakers in the pocket work great-she went poo on the potty. Since she normally only goes once a day I thought we were good. HUGE mistake. I think after seeing how it was different changing these pants vs. diapers she understood that we don't go poo in the undies. For the rest of the night we had no issues at all. I would have to call today a success, yes we had bumps in the road but she is learning that we don't do that. She definitely gets it and I am sure that it wont be long and she will be done.

Trick or Treating Twenty-Ten.

 Jonas snug as a bug in costume getting ready to take a nice nap while his brother and sisters load up on some trick-or-treat candy.

 Kira the pink cowgirl decided that her trusty stead for the evening would be a stroller manned by her oldest sister as walking would be beneath this rodeo princess.

 

Here is the group, Kaly is the red queen, Loryn is a gangster, Paige is Alice, Haley is 1/2 grandma, 1/2 clown,  Jake is Bumblebee from Transformers, Kira a cowgirl and Jonas a lion.

The kids had a blast and made out like bandits, Kira could barely hold up sack.