Happy Holidays!

Sorry it has been so long! We have great news though! We are expecting baby #2!!!! Unfortunately our whole family has been struck with a yucky cold so I've had barely enough energy to care for Little Moo let alone keep up on everything else. I'm behind on Christmas cards, haven't finished decorating for Christmas, obviously haven't kept up on this blog and a so so many other things need to be done.

Zippercow has been taking great care of me and Little Moo couldn't be more excited about being a big brother. We don't know that he really understands it yet, but we aren't due until around his Birthday so I'm sure you know that is a bit out from now. He's pretty insistent that he is having a little sister but we will have to wait and see!

We hope that everyone is enjoying this wonderful holiday season!

How does YOUR pumpkin smile?

This was the first year we bought big pumpkins and then carved them. It was a lot of fun and while Little Moo seemed uncertain about removing the pumpkin guts (he isn't big on yucky hands) once he saw we were digging around in there too he didn't seem to mind as much. He really got a kick out of pumpkin "lids".  Since this was the first time, he didn't understand why we were doing it, but once he saw them lit up he was pretty excited. Our pumpkins smile like this!

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A Barbalootous Little Moo

In case you didn't know, Little Moo was a Barbaloot for Halloween this year. A Barbaloot is a fictional character from his favorite Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax. He has insisted he wanted to be a Barbaloot for about 6 months now so we decided we could oblige, how hard could it be to find a teddy bear costume right? Well it proved more difficult than originally thought but thanks to the help of both of his grandmas he was the cutest little Barbaloot you ever did see. Zippercow was The Onceler  from the same story (at LM's insistence) and I was a bee (yeah it doesn't fit the theme the other two had going, but I wasn't about to be a furry little guy with a mustache!) You should know that Barbaloots sit under Truffula Trees eating Truffula Fruit (hence the bunch of grapes in his hands). We had a wonderful Halloween and Little Moo really enjoyed himself which is all we can ask for!  Thanks Grams and Grammy for the help with Little Moos costume, it was a success!  Oh, and apparently Barbaloots don't mind snakes!

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New Host

After 7 years we've finally moved to a new and better web host. This is a test to see if everything works!

Up and Down

We've had a pretty rollercoaster week. We had some great news that in short time turned to bad news. We are very sad but still hopeful. And the weather has been incredibly cold, which killed all of my beautiful flowers (so this isn't really as important as the other things that were going on, but I'm trying really hard not to dwell) Yes, the flowers continued to grow into beautiful blooms that made lovely cut flowers! I'm sad that summer has ended and so too have my flowers that were literally late bloomers, but the end of summer means fall and we love fall around here! We went to Green Bluff a couple weekends ago (our official tradition) and there are some great pictures I'll share. Also we are gearing up for Halloween. Not that we do anything particularly special but we are gathering things for costumes. Little Moo is going to be a Barbaloot from the Lorax and Zippercow is going to be the Oncler. Me, I will be a bumble bee which completely doesn't fit in but the other two should be cute! We love this time of year because as people wind down from summer activities we find we get to spend more time with our loved ones. Stay tuned for some great Barbaloot pictures!

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How Does Your Garden Grow.

With silver bells and cockleshells and pretty maids all in a row.NO! Much to my dismay I am not much of a green thumb. I kill things quickly and thoroughly. Seriously, I potted new plants the week before out of town company came. I watered and fertilized and they were dead before the next weekend! I'm sure some of it might be my lack of patience. Okay, maybe all of it! I tried to plant flowers in the spring with seed packets from my Mother-in-law. After getting up and down to retrieve Little Moo from the street (relax we live on a cul-de-sac!) or the garage and not making much progress planting the tiny little seeds I just sprinkled the seeds all over the flower beds and convinced myself that it was fine since we were even sure anything would grow in the soil we have anyway. Shocker, nothing grew. Not only did nothing grow, but I planted some lily and dahlia bulbs (that I purchased at a store)  and they didn't even so much as sprout. To make things worse I let some weeds get out of hand because I wasn't sure if they were the things I actually planted..

And then.

 

The bachelor buttons and one Zinnia (I think) bloomed in my flower beds. I was so excited that I was able to grow something! Not only that, but my Mother-in-law also was kind enough to bring some more dahlia bulbs that I planted in our back yard. I very carefully planted them, even researching the correct way to do it ( I didn't really want to be a complete failure to the Mom-in-law) and low and behold all of them grew into plants and a couple have even bloomed! Hurray for my wonderful flowers! To be fair I should probably give them all the credit, they were resilient to my efforts to deny them their very purpose. To you flowers I say BRAVO!   

 

My only problem now is that grasshoppers (I think) are making a tasty meal of my very pretty flowers. As if they didn't have enough to overcome!

 

 

Baby Cousin Is Here!!!

Little Moo is very excited about his new baby cousin who came last Saturday. Zippercow and myself are pretty ecstatic as well! We are so excited for my brother and his wife. This is a new chapter of their life together and of course, we are an Aunt and Uncle!

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Does. Not. compute.

Little Moo was pretending to be a robot (where he learned this we aren't really sure) but Zippercow has taught him that robots say "DOES. NOT. COM.PUTE." so now he has been wandering around saying that for a couple days now. It is fun to listen to him play by himself and with his friend. They play more interactively than they did before and there is a lot more dramatic play than there used to be. A lot of it involving McDonalds which is strange since the number of times Little Moo has been there can be counted on one hand. It is fun to listen to them play just the same. So many words!!!

 

In other news we have finished the room, just need to get the computer back in the there as well. We are a bit worn from that project. We may not fair well with lots of construction in our home, good thing there isn't any major construction to be done!

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I'm Not Coloring The Cat!!!!

We've been busy, busy! I realize that isn't a good excuse, truth be told I am terrible at keeping anything updated. But before I get into what we've been up to, a cute little story!

Little Moo was "clipping coupons" with me cutting his paper and "coloring" like mommy but the cats wouldn't leave him alone (this is mostly due to the catnip being stored in the same drawer as his marker box) after fussing about Wampus a few times I explained to him that the cats just like the way they smell. I immediately realized my mistake as Little Moo turned his back to me. I asked him what he was doing (assuming he was smelling it himself) and he quickly turned and said "I'm not coloring the cat!". I looked down and Wampus looked just as guilty. Little Moo was letting Wampus "smell" the marker which of course was just fine with him!

Aside from coloring kitties we've been pretty busy. Zippercow has been repairing and painting our bedroom. Out of necessity. Our old AC that was in the wall started leaking inside and we couldn't figure out what was causing it or how to fix it (the thing predates the internet!) So we put a new one in. I shouldn't  say we, it was all Zippercow. He has been very busy reframing, dry walling, mudding, taping and painting. I've done what I could to help, but someone has to keep Little Moo out of the middle of everything. In the meantime our bed and computer have been in the middle of the living room. Not ideal living conditions, but Zippercow is almost done! We may even be back in our room by our 4th Anniversary!

We also had some out of town guests which we had a blast with, too bad they are allergic to the cats, tenting it in our backyard only works in the summer. We have also been in weddings, thrown baby showers and had a pretty fun birthday party for Little Moo, and have been spending quite a few evenings with Zippercow's sister and brother-in-law. Sadly they moved back to the western side of the state so we won't be seeing them as much. We already miss you Carrie and Caleb!

My latest venture has been savings through coupon clipping. I love the thrill of the thrift! So if you get coupons you don't use, feel free to share them! It has given me a challenge which I sorely needed and also save our family money, not too shabby.

I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of things in the middle there but we've mostly been keeping super busy with stuff around the house and with our friends and family. I'll add some more  photos.as soon as I find our cables to upload the photos!

 

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Getting Around

Grammy found a great deal on some grow-with-you type skates and all the other safety equipment needed for a  rolling good time.

I'm not sleepy!!!

Our Little Moo has been refusing to nap. This is fine if he truly is not tired but most days he crashes in a melted puddle of toddler, just long enough to rejuvenate and want to stay up really late. And while quiet time was working for awhile it appears to be just toddler wrangling time. What exactly do other parents do when their children can no longer be contained by gates or doors with "child proof" knobs????? Anyhow,  I thought I'd share another few fun pictures  of him sleeping.

Summer's Coming

The Shed is up!!!! Thanks to a couple of our friends with trucks and trailers we have a shed now and it is all put together. So now we have more room in the garage and less stuff hanging around in the back yard making it look junkie. Now we just have to figure out how to keep the yellow jackets from making their homes in there and we are set! Things are finally coming together with the house. Its unfortunate, there is so much we want to do and just not enough resources to do it. Of course I'm aware that is the case for most people so I shouldn't complain too much. So I won't.

Last time I mentioned that Little Moo wasn't really napping but occasionally he crashes during some hard play. His newest craze is to pull the sheets off his mattress and push the mattress off the box springs, dump ALL of his toys and pull things of the hangers. It makes for a long clean up sessions. Everyday. Sometimes a couple times a day...but here are a couple pictures of him falling asleep during play, they're pretty cute.





Zippercow and I are looking forward to our upcoming yard sale extravaganza. We go to a community yard sale every year. I don't know why we like it so much, but we do. Most of the time we don't even buy anything, but just walk around looking for hours. Good exercise, it is usually sunny and we might find something we are looking for, how can that not be fun? Also it is the start of our very busy couple of months between Father's Day, my birthday, Independence Day, a wedding, Little Moo's Birthday, a baby shower, out of town guests and all the other stuff that comes up in between it is going to be most busy. But we should know better, it is like this every summer, it just feels more hectic because the older we get the faster the time seems to go.

So, so long!!!!

To be honest I didn't really think anyone was actually viewing this blog so when I realized it had been a few months I didn't feel too guilty, but apparently I was wrong! Our Family has been pretty busy so lets see if I can update everyone.

I had my wisdom teeth out in the beginning of March and before I was fully recovered both Little Moo and Zippercow came down with a terrible, terrible virus that meant that I had to take care of them...ah, to be a mom! Then when everyone was better Zippercow had to leave town for a trade show and then we had to get ready for A.J. and Stephanie's wedding where I was a bridesmaid and Little Moo was a ring bearer. The wedding was great and so much fun and LM looked absolutely adorable in his tux! Did I mention that was also the weekend of Easter? So tons of stuff is going on and will be continuing that way all through the summer.

We've been working very hard on the yard. Actually I shouldn't say "we" more like Zippercow. I've found I can't really get anything done while watching Little Moo so the things I do tend to be done in spurts as I find the time and he is being cooperative. It is safe to say that HE IS TWO as in the independent, tantrums and argumentative nature that rightfully gets the title, The Terrible Twos. While it is to be expected that most children will go through this age and stage it has limited me in most projects I like to take on. I thought I just wasn't handling it well until Zippercow claimed the same about his Sundays with Little Moo and was quick to say he would not trade me his job even on his most stressful day. So I have been reading. Mostly because I needed something I could do after the chores were done while the kids (I watch another kiddo during the week) were playing with each other that could easily be set aside (unlike my paper crafting) , and quite honestly I needed something to keep my brain from complete atrophy. Don't get me wrong, being a stay at home mom is challenging but definitely doesn't make use of my full intellectual capacities. I do however get to referee many tiffs over imaginary toys. At least they are using their imaginations right?

So since I've rambled incoherently, let me continue! About LM. We've been trying to teach him sign language (ASL) and have found these wonderful DVDs called Signing Time and he has been soaking it up! Also he is doing much better with the potty training. Still having accidents but they are fewer and far between so he is well on his way to being potty trained, yay!!! Our biggest obstacle at this time is that he doesn't nap. We've tried nap time and he just screams and kicks and throws tows until nap time is over. And when he naps he is very grumpy and seems to take just as long recovering from his nap as he did napping. So we have instituted quiet time instead. He is to play in his room quietly for the allotted time and is only has to sleep if he wants to. This has seemed to work out pretty well. He still doesn't sleep but the quiet time seems to help and then I still get some peace in my day as well. He still seems to need the sleep, but again, if he naps an hour and screams and tantrums for an hour after that it seems to defeat the whole purpose of napping.

So that is mostly what is going on right now along with my brother and sister-in-law are going to have a baby soon and Carrie and Caleb are temporarily living in town which we really love! Oh and Zippercow is working on getting a shed in the back yard and cursing the dandelions in our yard. Fortunately they are mostly gone now!

I will try to be better about updating. Little Moo is growing so fast it is hard to keep up so I really should post more as things happen and not months later!

At the far end of town where the grickle grass grows...

Little Moo is quite taken by the Lorax. He reads it EVERY night with Zippercow and the two of them are often heard reciting it to each other when they are together. It's pretty cute to say the least. Zippercow shared this story with me and I thought it was too cute. Apparently while I was at work and they were eating lunch Zippercow was telling Little Moo that after I got home we were going to go to the store to pick out "big boy" underwear and Little Moo said he would like Lorax underwear. Zippercow told him that he didn't think there were any like that and Little Moo got quiet and then after a moment said "if there was, it would be my favorite". Too cute! Also, he is wanting to be a Barbaloot for Halloween this year. Hmm....

Potty Training Adventures: Day 3

Using the toilet we definitely take for granted. You hear about how difficult potty training can be but much like most aspects of parenting, you never really know until you are doing it yourself. Unless you are one of those people who tout your awesomeness by proudly claiming you just put underwear on your kid and they only had one or two accidents since. You don't count, and stop acting so smug, you aren't responsible for that, it is all your child's doing. Anyhow, we are on day 3 of our potty training adventure with Little Moo. We went out briefly to the dentist and he stayed dry. And actually he's only had one accident so far today (whereas he's had 4 or more by this time the last couple days) but I still am not sure he's getting it. He is dry, but only because we go in every 30 minutes and "try" and he goes. However I have waited a few minutes past that to see if he will go on his own (or at the very least tell me) and he just stands and pees...in the middle of the living room. So again, I'm not sure he is really getting it, or if it has just been luck.

Here is what we tried:
Prep: talking about Monday ( a couple days, tomorrow, etc.) we are going to start wearing big boy underwear and the day before we started we let him pick out big boy underwear in the store. He was really excited.

Day 1: Put him straight into underwear in the morning, told him we have to use the potty and that we don't want to go in our pants because it feels yucky. He had 6 accidents but pooped in the toilet. We offer praise, high fives and a "potty treat" (butter mints, he really likes them) and for poops in the toilet we told him he would be allowed to color with his newly purchase markers (for this purpose) We might rethink that because it doesn't seem to act as a constant reminder of his accomplishment. We did put him in a diaper at nap time and bed time because he simply doesn't wake up. Our goal is to have him daytime trained. You can't push the other.

Day 2: Just as many accidents. They seem to be clustered between snack and lunch time. I'm not sure if he is just playing too intently or what, but it seems to be the worst time of day. I have forgotten a couple treats in the painstaking "wash your hands after we go potty" craziness. I think I need to be better about this, but since he forgets, I forget. He poops in his underwear and in his naptime diaper...twice. I'm really thinking the marker thing isn't going to cut it. He pees on me and the couch while I was reading him a story and didn't say anything. I just noticed he and I were wet.

Day 3:We had an early dentist appointment so we were careful to go right before we left, right when we got to the dentist and then again before we left the dentist. I never really knew how un-child friendly public restrooms are. The mall I could see, but at a pediatric dentist office they couldn't at least have a stool for washing hands for goodness sake! He has mostly been dry but he still isn't telling me he has to go and if I ask him he says "no" then a few minutes later goes in his pants. I suppose this only happened once today, but still frustrating.

I really don't want to be a parent who complains about all the difficult stages because obviously I very much wanted children, but you have got to vent somehow and it is highly counterproductive to yell at your child when they've peed in their pants for the third time in an hour (and lets face it, just plain mean!) so I am posting my experience for others who share my same frustration and sense of failure as a parent. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong or if it will just take a few more days for it to "click" for him. Obviously he will eventually get it and I should know better than to think that I can convince him he wants to do it when he doesn't. It is like a game, he is very smart but won't do anything until it is an interest to him, so we'll keep trying.

Some Mommy potty training tips:

Don't ever stand in front of your son in a stall, no matter the size (need I explain?) this is actually on the advice of a friend, but I will definitely remember it!

Find something comfortable to sit on in the bathroom while they are going. I have spent many hours on the floor and it gets pretty uncomfortable

Don't attempt to try training if you are cutting out caffeine, PMSing, or on a new diet. Trust me.

Always potty your child before you yourself goes potty, they always have to go while you are.

We praise children for going potty and often give rewards, candies, toys, stickers, etc. Well find a prize yourself! Whether throughout the day or at the end when your child is asleep, reward yourself, you deserve it!

Hurray!

Our couches have finally been delivered! We have waited for 5 weeks and are so excited to see some of the changes we are making. We have been working diligently at organizing and getting rid of anything we no longer need (and trust me, there is a lot of it!) in hopes of taking care of our spring cleaning now so that when spring comes we can work on our yard, which also needs a lot of work. However the more cleaning I do the messier it seems to be, which is odd because we have gotten rid of a lot of stuff and are still getting rid of more! It is almost as if for each thing I find its place it displaces five more things I then need to find a home. Oh well, it will just have to be a continual work in progress. Fortunately Little Moo is sleeping through the night in his bed so I am more rested and able to work on our various projects. Finally, now just on to potty training! On new furniture...

Shocking!!!

So, the terrible parents we are find it humorous when our son is upset. We both felt bad but could not keep from chuckling. We were at Fred Meyer and Little Moo was sitting in one of those monstrous carts that have the big plastic seat with steering wheels behind the actual cart. Great for kids, horrible for the parent that likes to shop without crashing into everything. Anyhow, the air here is particularly dry and the plastic conducive to creating static. So when trying to keep Little Moo from grabbing things off the shelf Zippercow grabbed his hand and of course zapped him. LM didn't like this so much and was crying and asked me to kiss his hand. So I did, and managed to zap him again with my lips. This horrified him and he started crying harder and he kept reaching to hug me and would get zapped. It just kept happening! Like I said we felt bad, but we still laughed. Aweful, we know.

Settling In

So finally we are settling in. Which of course sounds ridiculous since we've been here since late November. But now that the holiday season has officially passed we are finally emptying the rest of the boxes in our garage. We are finding that while we have shelves and various different storage, it isn't what is needed to make our new space the most functional so we have been selling some of the stuff we no longer need or have room for so that we can make room for furniture that will be much more functional. Sometimes it is just plain unpleasant to be rational and logical. We have managed to talk ourselves out of getting a new TV or Mac Laptop because we could rationalize other things we need to make our home better. And we just couldn't justify financing these things, especially since we have a working computer - I just wanted the laptop for the video and photo editing that is offered from iLife, which I can't find in any other program- and our current TV works just fine. Sometimes I dislike being a rational, responsible person. And I truly dislike the discomfort I feel as a result of spending money I shouldn't, hell I sometimes feel guilty for buying things I know I need! We did decide that new furniture would be practical. Matching, for a new house. But of course by new furniture I mean a loveseat and a couch, unlike most people who buy new furniture for the entire room. We of course could not rationalize that. Lame. I suppose it is good we found each other, Zippercow and I, because that is one more thing that makes us absolutely perfect for each other, we don't have to fight over money the other half is spending, because neither of us buy anything without first checking with each other. Sigh. We definitely don't go without, but we just have difficulty replacing something that doesn't really need replacing.

We are settling in other ways as well. Little Moo is doing much better in his bed. He still wakes up most nights but only very briefly and sometimes only needs reassurance from the door. We've discovered that he will stay in bed with the lights out if (and only if) his door is open with the gate up. Which isn't horrible, except our place isn't that big so it limits what we can do after he goes to bed without disturbing him. We have developed a nice routine where Zippercow reads him a story before bed, in bed every night. It's nice, he can't wait for bed! When we mention bed he grabs a book and races into bed calling "come on Daddy!" His favorite right now is " The Lorlax" (his words) they have read it every night for a week! It will be unfortunate when we have to return it to the library...

"Sleep is like the unicorn - it is rumored to exist, but I doubt I will see any"

Little Moo has not slept through the night since Christmas. Apparently his big boy bed is proving to be a bit much for him. We took it a step further and purchased a twin mattress and box spring. This way we can have them on the floor and have a safety railing up. Not that it makes any difference anyhow, because he still sleeps on the floor. We've been working hard at being consistent but with him being sick most of that just goes out the window. We just want him to sleep! I am painfully aware that sleeping troubles are the bane of most parents (especial those of infants and toddlers), but I just miss my sleep. It is a shame that at this point when they need so much from you toddlers prevent you from sleeping, something that is so desperately needed in order to recharge for the next day so that we can be the patient, loving parents we all want to be. I find myself half listening to people and never really getting anything done (oh yeah he won't nap either!). And god help you if you are amongst the people who share with me that "man I slept until noon today and I'm still tired!". I have no sympathy for you and I don't think Zippercow will either. If he can even keep his eyes open long enough to hear you say that of course. :)

Redeem himself he will though! As with most children, right when you are ready to pull your hair out and run screaming into the night they do something remarkably sweet or hilarious just long enough to make you rethink your previous escape plan. A few nights ago I sat in across the room from Little Moos bed in his mostly dark and quiet room trying to provide a reminder to stay in bed. He had been near sleep 4 times and then all of a sudden active and I was trying to keep my sanity whilst trying to be soothing (not an easy task) when in a sleepy voice he started listing all the people who were sleeping, "Grammy, Grampy, Grams, Gramps, Tyler, Karen, Uncle Nustin..." and the list went on. I found it humorous (though duly noted that Mommy, Daddy or Little Moo were nowhere on that list) but didn't respond to him. He was quiet for a few moments and I was certain he had finally fallen asleep when he rolled over and said "Mommy, this is ridiculous" though I hadn't said anything to him in quite some time I had to chuckle and say "Yes Little Moo, it is".