UPDATE TIME

california adventure. it was raining and charlie had to stay in the stroller pretty much all day. so no family pic. boo.

I finally have news to report! Hooray.

1. Danny has officially taken a job! And it is here in So. Cal. Just off the 5 at J. Serra. So we are going to be real residents!! We are busy trying to decide what to do about the housing issue (they may be down, but prices are still sky high in my book). But we are still so excited to call the O.C. home again. Now we just need to work on our tans!

2. Charlie is 3 months old now!!!! I cannot believe how fast it has gone by. I feel like I just left the hospital with him. He is such a sweetie. He loves to smile and whenever he does his whole face smiles. It is sooo cute. I have yet to capture it on film. Still trying though. He has recently discovered his hands and loves to suck on his fists. Yummy. He is as round as he is tall and so squeezable. He lights up whenever he sees Eden. It melts my heart to see them together.

3. Eden is 31 months. That is a lot of months! She is little miss opinionated. I love to hear the crazy stuff she comes up with. The other day she was talking to the cashier at Old Navy and introduced me to the cashier as "This is Daddy's wife, my mommy." Hilarious. Two days ago she told me "my little body needs a resty time. go get me a milky d." (for those not in the know, a milky d is a drink of milk. d was her word for drink when she was like 15 months and it just kinda stuck.) She still loves stories, play dough, dolly, silky, and binky (although we are trying to rid her of the binky.) Her potty training is going pretty great. She still has at least two accidents a day, but she is doing so much better.

4. I have nothing noteworthy in my own personal life because I am pretty sure I don't even have one. But I don't really miss it with so much entertainment coming from my two kiddos. What on earth would I be doing if I weren't Mommy?? I don't even want to think about it.

All in all---good things, happy faces, sunshine and waves.

bliss

Yesterday was a particularly hectic day. And we never even left the house. First off Potty Training Day 2 was not so great. She just kept having accidents. And Mr. Charlie was not a happy camper. No reason; just a constant desire to be held-by Mommy only. And Danny finally went to the doctor yesterday and learned he has an upper respiratory infection. No longer contagious, but on antibiotics. So just as I was about to throw the towel in and scream at the top of my voice, Debi whooshed in and saved the day. A pedicure! So I fed Mr. Charlie and was off.

It was wonderful, as most pedicures are, but this one really hit the spot. And the leg massage was fantastic. (Meanwhile back at the ranch: Eden slept the whole time I was gone and Charlie didn't cry once. Figures)After I returned from my bliss we had our first potty success of the day. And then another and another and another. Suddenly it had clicked and Eden was telling me when she needed to go potty. I am so proud of her. Deep down I knew she could do it, but I really had some doubts yesterday.
As for Potty Training Day 3: She hasn't had one accident yet. And we even went on an outing. She went as soon as we got home. **Smile**

Big sigh. I am still crossing my fingers behind my back though!!

PS Big Huge Thanks to mom-in-law Debi. And she isn't even feeling 100%! She is too wonderful.

edit: my feet look distorted in the pic, but i can't seem to fix it. oh well.

right in the middle of it all

For Your Enjoyment:




The bumbo chair. One word: awesome


Eden likes to share her toys with Charlie. Not sure how he feels about it.


The potty room. So alluring. If only our potty successes were continuing. Check back soon for the potty saga.

Happy Potty Day!

I have seen lots of blogs about the glamorous lives people lead. They travel, they live in NYC, they spend money on fun things like new shoes and not on diapers. My life is not one of these. I am up to my elbows in poopy diapers and runny noses instead . In order to change at least one of these things, we are celebrating Potty Day today. It is a fabulous holiday.
Since none of the potty incentives were working, I decided to roll them all into one thus creating Potty Day. First thing this morning Eden got to pick out a pair of pretty panties to wear. She was excited to see her step stool in the bathroom so she could climb up to the potty all by herself. Her princess potty seat was waiting and for once she actually wanted to sit on it. Her special potty cyrstals were in a cup and an empty cup was waiting to be filled. She knew she would get to pick out of the treasure chest after 5 crystals (1 for pee pee 2 for poo). So we set the timer for 20 minutes and 18 minutes later she had her first accident. That is pretty panty number 1. Every twenty minutes for the next two and a half hours we went to sit on her pretty princess potty seat. Nothing. Then she had accident number two. Pretty panty pair number 2. But at least this time she came running to me to tell me she had gone pee pee.
Now it was lunch time. We ate a scrumptious lunch. Then I asked her if she needed to go potty. She answered YES. We climbed up the step stool, took off the pretty panties, sat down on the pretty princess potty seat, and...... went pee pee!! A victory! Eden had a huge smile on her face, almost as big as mine. We celebrated by washing hands, flushing and saying goodbye to the pee pee, and then she finally got her first crystal! So far pretty panty number 3 is holding on strong. Lets just hope she doesn't have to poo soon.

So happy potty day to all! Here's hoping we have continued success on this wonderful holiday.

happy love day

In honor of St. Valentine's Day, I thought I would do a little post about the things I love.

Obvious loves:

Danny: He is the rock I lean against when the wind blows. And it has been blowing a lot lately. I am so glad I have him or I might have blown over by now. I love you Danny.

Eden: She is the sweetest little curly headed love. When I held her for the first time, I couldn't imagine my heart loving more than at that moment. But I truly love her more each day, even when she makes me want to scream.

Charlie: I had no idea the capacity to love my heart had. I am totally in love with my little man. He is the cutest.

Family: I love and admire my parents so much. And I love being the big sister to my brother (and his cute wife) and sisters. They are each so talented, unique, smart and funny in different ways. I can't wait to see who my sisters marry so we can complete our pretty great family.

In-laws: I got so lucky in this department. Each member of Danny's family has some trait or virtue for me to aspire to. Thanks guys!

Pedicures: Hello! Whats not to love?!

Not so Obvious Loves:

The two minutes a day when both kids are happy and no one is crying. I cherish those two minutes.

The feel of the sand between my toes on a sunny day. Ahhhhh.

The Cabin.

Watching the rain. I love rain on occasion, just don't send me to Seattle.

Food: Cafe Rio, Settebello, Wendy's chicken nuggets (don't judge), strawberry shakes from In-N-Out, pumpkin cheesecake, a good bowl of homemade spaghetti, I could go on and on and on.

Long HOT baths with a good book.

Snuggling in bed on Saturday mornings. We started this tradition with Eden. I love looking at my kiddos happy smiling faces first thing in the am. If we have any more kids, we are going to need a bigger bed.

Singing campfire songs with the fam. I know this makes us a little red neck but what the hey, it is so fun.

And last but not least, I love trying to be spontaneous! I am trying each and every day!

Happy love day to you!!! Go hug someone!

things sick kids do

now that the flu symptoms have passed, we are all feeling a little better. however, the cough and ridiculously runny nose has stayed to play. so we are doing errands and playing outside when the sun shines, but still not feeling 100 %. i am anxiously awaiting that day.

in the meantime, charlie is really enjoying the swing the neighbors let us borrow. he sits and watches the fishies swim round and round. he even gets a big smile on his face and sometimes tries to coo at his fish. he is a pretty happy dude, albeit one who doesn't sleep much.

eden has discovered a new love: cinderella. all things cinderella. she now has the movie, the barbie, and several cinderella figurines. she even has a potty seat featuring cinderella, but unfortunately for me, this beautiful potty seat has not spurned any more potty success. tomorrow we are going to try something new. we have tried rewards (5 crystals gets you a present from the treasure chest), bribes (disneyland! with cousins and friends!) and pretty undies. nothing has worked for more than a few minutes. so any suggestions from potty training experts, ie anyone whose child will actually use a potty, please please help us!

we remain in southern california. it has been wonderful and sunny until today. hopefully the sun will return soon. it certainly makes us smile!

sick sick sick

We have been in california a little over a week now and so far it is just a hotbed for passing germs. We got here Sunday and by Monday night I was sick. Body aches, sore throat, fever, and cough. Yuck. I finally started feeling better on Friday, but then Eden started getting sick. She had a fever on Saturday and Sunday. And then just when I thought things couldn't get worse, Charlie and Danny got sick yesterday. Charlie has had a fever and will not sleep unless being held and even then he is fitful. So we had a nice long night last night. And Danny is throwing up and everything. It is so sad to see my big strong hubby so sick. And there isn't really much I can do. We love our life right now!

For all those we had planned to see when we got here, we are certain you don't want our nasty sickness, so we will see you soon. Let's just hope we all get better and no one passes it back to me again.

Bathtime has been a good way to pass

the endless time at home. Hooray for baths together!