Off to Tahoe

To play in the snow...

A comparison

So at Claire's 18 month appt, she was:
27.1 lbs and 33 1/4 inches

At Olivia's 18 month appt, she was:
21.01 lbs and 31 1/2 inches

(Olivia weighed in at 27 lbs at her 3 yr appt!)

We got a baby gift yesterday!

I fooled ya', it's for Claire, even though she is not a baby anymore...sniff...sniff.

Anyway, here are pictures of the beautifully handmade dress and cross with her initials on it. I think they were made in Mississippi. The dress is blue with tiny pearls handsewn along the smocking around the neck and on the sleeves. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

More about our French student

She is from the south of France near Beziers right near the Mediterranean. She has an older sister and an 18 month old brother! That's why her teacher placed her with us, she likes kids. During the day, she is dropped off by us or our neighbor to the bus stop to meet up with her teacher and class. They take the bus to the BART (train) station and take it into San Francisco. Every day they go sightseeing in the city, yesterday they all rented bikes and biked across the Golden Gate Bridge. Finally, the weather has cleared here and it is spring...or should I say spring has finally sprung! The last couple of day it has really warmed up in the afternoon and it has been sunny.

I have to say, I didn't realize teenagers eat so much or maybe she just has a healthy appetite! She takes 2 sandwiches for lunch with a snack and dessert. She eats well for dinner, too and she has tried new things. Last night I made a Johnny Marzetti casserole, it's a pasta dish with ground meat. I use turkey because I don't eat beef. I told her after the fact that it was turkey, she was surprised. I think she likes turkey though because her family eats it for Christmas. We also had a conversation about peanut butter. I know they don't have this readily available in France and I thought French people didn't like it, but at the grocery store, E, told me she loves peanut butter! Also, I learned that although she doesn't eat corn, which I've been told (Amy!) the French don't eat, she says her family eats it. I asked her about pumpkin, she says she has eaten the soup and likes it. I'll have to let her try some pumpkin bread and see what she thinks.

Okay, in all fairness, I should tell you that her mother is from Luxembourg and apparently the people there eat peanut butter! I'm surprised, but...then again, I don't know a thing about Luxembourg. Maybe that's why they eat turkey, too!

18 month appointment

For Claire today. She weighed in at 27.1 lbs and was about 33 1/4 inches tall. She had 2 shots :( poor thing, I didn't realize she was getting shots today. All in all, it was a good appointment. The dr asked about her talking and I said she talks alot and in sentences. Yesterday she said 'less go' (Let's go) and 'Daddees in there'. He said his experience with early talking is that the kids are very bright. That might leave Olivia in the cold, she was a late talker. I'm sure they will both be bright though.

Claire has had this cough since our trip to Texas, I think it was all the cat hair that triggered it. See, the woman that was living in our house used to have a cat and I don't think she ever vacuumed it up. The dr said she was wheezing just a little bit, so I asked him about asthma. I'm worried about her getting asthma. The house we are in (and getting ready to move out of) has a serious mold and dust problem. I hope when we get into a newer house, that maybe her wheezing and coughing will clear up. He suggested I put her on albuterol again for a week to see if it clears up her cough. There are some other medicines we could consider if that doesn't work. He didn't seem too concerned about it.

I'm so worried about finding a good pediatrician when we move, but he gave me a great idea. He said I should find the community hospital where everybody goes to have their baby and call up the nurses in the nursery and ask them which pediatricians they see the most and are good. Isn't that a great idea??

Olivia's old nursery

Before Olivia was born, I painted a mural in her nursery in Texas in the theme of the cow jumping over the moon. We didn't find out she was a girl till after she was born so we were trying to be neutral with the nursery. Now that we are selling the house, we had to have a painter paint the room neutral like the rest of the house.

Here is the wall before as the painter began:

Here is the wall after the painter was done:

Claire's new word is...

Pincesssss...translated means, Princess. Wonder where she gets that from?!!

All dressed up for Easter

Pictures from the reception at Maggiano's restaurant

Playing in the window.


Here are the cakes. The groom's cake is a chocolate 'mountain' with a cake topper she ordered from France of a Bride and Groom on bicycles.

Olivia and Claire dancing:

Olivia dancing with one of Daddy's friends, this was the highlight of the night for her!

It's time to go home! Claire is pooped out so she decided to lay down on the floor.

Pictures from the wedding we went to in Houston

It took place in the Houston Rose Garden at Hermann Park. Here are pictures of the girls looking at roses before the ceremony.

Freaking out a bit....

I just realized we only have about 4 weeks till we move out of this house...ahhhhh!! I can't believe we will be moving so quick. And I have to plan Olivia's 4 year birthday party which will be on June 10th. I think after we move out of the house, we will stay with her great-uncle who lives about 1/2 an hour away just so she can finish out her preschool here. This will be interesting since he is a bachelor. He is my husband's uncle, I sure hope he is okay with us staying there!

Easter Egg hunts

The hunt in California, notice the rain boots and rain jacket and also how cold Olivia was!


The hunt in Texas, notice the sundresses! Quite a difference, huh?!

Kissing quandry

Did you know that when French people greet each other, they do an 'air kiss' on each cheek? Well, when I first greeted E, I shook her hand and then I brought her home. The first 2 days, she kissed us good night and good morning, I think my husband was caught more by surprise than me. I never did this with the French family I lived with, I guess because they were used to Americans. When I lived in France and I did meet French people, I did get accustomed to the kissing.

So then all of a sudden, E stopped kissing us good night and good morning. I'm a bit perplexed. Do you think we offended her? Or maybe she understands it's our culture not to do this? But then I'm thinking, should I be treating her like part of our family like when I kiss my girls good night? Should I ask her why she stopped? What do you think?

Fajita night

Oh darn, I forgot to take pictures of our dinner on Sunday. We had friends over, a couple and their daughter who is Olivia's age. We made fajitas with all the trimmings, I also made a fake sangria made from juices, sparkling water and cut up fruit. And the piece de resistance: Tres Leches cake, a Mexican cake that is too rich to tell you what is in it! My friend and I enjoyed talking with E and getting to know her better. I have to tell you it's been so hard not to speak French. I told everyone I will not speak French with her since she is here to practice and learn English, but we get frustrated when we don't understand each other.

How do you clean wine out of a suitcase?

So Saturday afternoon, E, our French student tells me her mother would like to talk to me on the phone, but it was too late to talk at that time in France. After she arrived she talked to her mother and her sister and I did hear her say something in French about not wanting to bother (us?). So after church on Sunday, I ask about talking to her mother, she is able to text message her mother and her mother calls. Her mother speaks very good English, much better than E! Apparently E was afraid to tell us that a wine bottle she brought as a gift broke in her suitcase and wine spilled all over her clothes, in the suitcase, and in her room. Her mother told me she was afraid to ask about washing her clothes. Of course, I told her it was no problem...of course, I do laundry about every day. So I've told E, it's no problem and if she has any other problem or questions to tell us!

There were 2 other bottles of wine that she brought, a red from Languedoc and a Muscat (I think that's a sweet white wine, anyone know?). She is from the south of France near Montpellier so maybe the wines are from her region.

Church on Sunday

So, we dragged along our French teenager to church on Sunday. We go to a small Methodist church. I think it was a very different experience than what she is used to (she is Catholic). A friend of mine had her baby baptized during the service and they also had the children's choir perform, so that was neat. I think she had a hard time following the service. She said it was less boring than the Catholic service!

Today we went to Japan town

In San Francisco. They were having their annual Cherry Blossom Festival. They had traditional food, traditional/classical music and dancing, origami exhibit, paper doll exhibit, Taiko drummers among other activities. It was pretty fun, a bit crowded, but at least the weather held out and it was only a little cloudy. E, our French exchange student was such a good sport. She tried California rolls, rice balls and Udon, all Japanese foods. When I asked her if she liked to try new things, she said 'no'. Oh well, at least she gets to experience some new things while she is here!

Our teenager has arrived

Our French exchange student that is... The group just got here this evening and I went to pick up E, she is 15. She is having a hard time understanding me because I talk so fast, so I have to remember to speak slower. She is only here for a week and a half. Tonight was make your own pizza at our house and she seemed to really like that, you can put whatever you want on the dough you roll out. I feel like I'm in a role reversal because I stayed with a family in Versailles about 14 years ago...it's kind of weird to be in the opposite position.

Yep, w'ere back from Texas (typed with a Texas draawwwl)

We left early in the morning on Tuesday, April 11th. We flew in and went to a friends' house to pick up a borrowed pack n play and to visit with their kids who are about the same ages as our girls. We ate dinner at Jason's Deli, came back to our house and got the kids to bed and went to sleep.

For those that don't know what's going on...we have a house we kept in Texas thinking we would be going back this summer, but now we are getting ready to sell it since we will be moving somewhere else in California.

Wednesday...in the morning while Claire was napping, I took Olivia to the neighborhood park and after that, our old realtor came by for us to interview. Since we are going through the company relocation, we have to interview 3 realtors. A painter came by to give us an estimate to paint the nursery and we had window washers/power washers come clean the windows and outside of the house. After eating Chick Fil-A lunch, we went to a friend''s house so the kids could play. They have a ...ummm...very different parenting style than us. I walk in and her 3 year old son is riding a bike in the house. I didn't see any outdoor toys outside so maybe they use the outdoor toys inside??? Also, they have a couple of those Little Tikes playhouses in the play room and the mom watched as her 3 year old climbed on the roof and jumped off onto a kid's couch. I was stunned to say the least! Am I that overprotective? I didn't allow Olivia to climb up there for fear of breaking bones. Is this something other moms would allow? Please tell me if I'm being overprotective. Meanwhile, my husband interviewed another realtor. Then for dinner we met a friend of mine and her family at Rainforest Cafe, the kids had fun.

Thursday morning, we went to our neighbors to visit and she lent us a basket of toys. Then a friend of mine came by to pick up Olivia and I to go to the outlet mall to shop and for lunch, we ate at Johnny Rockets. Claire was supposed to nap, but my husband got her up thinking she napped and she didn't. He met with the 3rd realtor then met us at the mall for lunch. I got to buy 3 pair of new shoes! And I bought Olivia 2 dresses and the girls matching nighties and I bought Claire some cute sandals. Grandma and Grandpa (my husband's parents) drove down from Dallas to watch the girls and help us get the house ready to go on the market. Then my husband went to a Bachelor party and a friend of mine is picked me up to go to the Bachelorette party.

I was looking forward to the Bachelorette party because they were having dinner at Pappasito's....yummm, I was really wanting some good fajitas, chips and salsa and margarita's. I only managed to drink 1 margarita, it was called a wave. It was a frozen margarita with sangria swirled in. Afterward, we were forced to go to La Bare, a strip club. My ride (fortunately) had to get home early so we only stayed about 1/2 an hour...thank God! It was so gross, I can't even describe it. The whole place felt dirty. Well, I guess that's what the Bride wanted to do.

Friday we were going to drive to Brenham to get pictures taken in the bluebonnets (state flower of Texas)...it's a rite of passage for all Texans. Then we were going to go on a tour at the Blue Bell creamery...the best ice cream in the country. Well, we scrapped that plan because the bluebonnets were pretty much gone, which I was sad about. My friend says the best time for pictures is about the 3rd week of March. April 14th was just too late, we just missed the boat.

So we just did things around the house and we all went to lunch at Double Dave's pizza, they have great pizza and the girls were quiet while eating and watching Dora on their tv. Later in the afternoon, my husband and I went to a rehearsal for the wedding, he is the Best Man. They planned to have the wedding in the Rose Garden at Hermann Park in Houston, it was a really nice setting. Afterward, they had the rehearsal dinner at P.F. Chang's. There was so much food! It was family style and they kept bringing more out. It was nice that Grandma and Grandpa watched the girls while we did all this, it was so much easier not having to chase them around and worry about feeding them!

Saturday, the 15th, we all went to eat at the breakfast buffet at Luby's where the girls ate for free. It really wasn't too bad. I remember going to Luby's on Sundays after church with my own grandmother, I just loved to go! They used to give out coloring books with pictures of Texas landmarks. It's cafeteria style so it's nice for kids, but, you know, the food isn't high quality.

After breakfast, we had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. It was beautiful weather and Olivia loved finding all the eggs. Claire found 1 egg, sat down, and turned it over and over in her hands trying to figure out how to open it. We helped her open it, she was just happy with the one egg, but Olivia shared the eggs she found with Claire, too.

I then put Claire down for a nap at 11am so she would be rested for the wedding at 3:30pm, we had to be there at 2:30pm though. I went to do some shopping, but I think someone got Claire up too soon and she didn't nap. We dressed the girls and left the house about 1:30pm.

I brought lots of things for the girls in my backpack, toys, workbooks, snacks to keep them happy during the wedding. It was hot, but bearable, at least there was a breeze. Olivia liked seeing all the 'brides'...I had to explain there was only 1 Bride and the others were her friends. After the ceremony when the bridesmaids and groomsmen had to walk down the aisle, Olivia turned to me and said "Mommy, Daddy just got married to that lady!" Isn't that too funny! I told her Daddy is already married to Mommy, he was just walking with the lady.

The couple that got married have a girl about 2 months younger than Claire. Olivia loved playing with her and said she was her friend. She got upset when they took her away to take pictures with everyone.

After the ceremony, they had the reception at Maggiano's. They had planned an appetizer buffet, open bar and sit down family style dinner. They also had a DJ. It was a very nice reception. The Bride's cake was beautiful and delicious. The Groom's cake was very interesting, it was chocolate and in the shape of a mountain with a road going up. On top, the Bride found a cake topper that had a bride and groom on bicycles. It was also very tasty. They are really into cycling, the Groom has even taken a tour of parts of the Tour de France while on vacation.

After the cake cutting and the toasts (and my husband gave a phenomenal toast to the couple), they presented a slideshow with pictures of them growing up. That was pretty funny, everyone would say, oh, that's the 70's, oh, look at that 80's hair, etc. Then they had the traditional dances of the Bride and Groom, then everyone was invited to dance. Olivia loved to get out there and dance and ended up dancing with one of Daddy's friends. At this point, Claire started laying down on the floor, she was soooo tired! It was time to go home! They crashed in the car.

The next day was Easter, so we went to our old church. I saw a couple of moms from our neighborhood at church, too. It was kind of weird going back, it seemed so big, it's about twice as big as our church in California. The service was also alot more formal than our church in California. Afterward, we met my mother and brother for brunch at a local hotel. It was pretty good, they had an Easter bunny roaming around and they had a small petting zoo outside. Olivia even got to hold a bunny and Claire pet some goats. Towards the end, Claire had a complete meltdown, the lack of naps and deprived sleep finally got to her. I was trying to hold her while she was writhing and screaming and while I was trying to pay for the brunch. Needless to say, they both took naps in the car.

While they took naps, I went to visit a friend of mine at The Women's Hospital. She was on bedrest in the hospital since December and she finally had her baby the day before Easter. She lost twins last year just before Easter, so I am so happy they get to take a baby home this time. She had a difficult recovery and the baby, he had fluid in his lungs so he was in the level II NICU for a couple of days. He is so cute and I am so thrilled for them!

After I visited with them for a little while, I went back to our house as we planned to go to dinner to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday. We went to Babin's seafood restaurant. It's a cajun style restaurant. They always have the freshest seafood, too, I think it's a great restaurant.

Now this is the point where I have had just too much food, I think we should call this trip..."The Tast of Texas" trip because it seems like all we did was eat. Btw, there really is a restaurant in Houston called "The Taste of Texas". I kind of got sick after eating at Babin's.

Of course that didn't stop us!

Monday on the 17th, Grandma and Grandpa loaded up their van with a few things we had left in our house and drove back to Dallas that morning. My husband, the girls and I loaded up the rental car and headed to our hotel near the Galleria. We stayed at the Bradford Suites. It was a really great hotel. We had the bedroom and bathroom in one side that could be closed off, the other had the kitchen, desk, pullout couch and we borrowed a crib from the hotel. The girls could sleep in one room and we had a room for ourselves. In the afternoon, I took Olivia to the Houston Museum of Natural History/Science so Claire could take a nap. We had a great time, she really enjoyed the newer hands on activities down stairs. I don't remember the museum having that when we lived there.

Monday night, we had yet another dinner with friends at Pappadeaux's. It worked out well since there were 12 of us total with kids, they put us in their wine room. It secluded the rest of the restaurant from the noisy kids! It's another cajun seafood restaurant. I got something lighter this time. I split the Greek salad and the mixed seafood skewers with someone else. Oh, I forgot, we did get dessert, some kind of chocolate mousse cake, it was really good, but I split that with my husband.

Tuesday, we had to head to the house and hang out there because we had a painter coming to paint Olivia's old nursery. I'll post before and after pictures whenever I get my pictures on our computer. After Claire took a nap, I took the girls to the local outlet mall for more shopping and for lunch. After spending some time there, I headed back to the house. They both fell asleep, but of course, Olivia woke up the minute I got her out of her car seat. At least Claire took a nap. After the painter finished late in the afternoon, we packed up what was left and said goodbye to the first house we built together. It was the house where Olivia took her first steps and made her first friends...can you tell I'm getting a little weepy?! As my husband says, it's just one of many houses that we will live in.

On the way to the hotel, we ended up at Pappasito's for dinner...I just couldn't get enought of their food! I ended up ordering a kid's meal for myself which worked out perfectly, it was Taco al Carboon. and the girls shared the kids' quesadillas.

Wednesday, my husband got a ride to his company's office from the hotel transportation after he packed up the car. The girls and I stayed in the room for a bit longer for Claire to take a morning nap. Then we checked out of the hotel and headed for the Children's Museum. They had a blast. We played outside in the water, looked at the Global Shoes and Access Ability exhibits. Then we went to the tot spot (for toddlers). Then we had some lunch in their cafe. Afterwards, they did some face painting and we headed over to the market to pretend shop and then to the Mexican village. After all that we went back to the tot spot so Claire could have fun, too. Claire was especially having a fun time in this section because everything was just her size. Olivia made a little friend so she was happy too...until...it was time to say goodbye. She had a complete meltdown, I took them to the restroom and she was screaming, crying, with tears pouring down her face making the face paint run down her face and onto her shirt. It was time to go. I managed to get her to go potty and forced her into the stroller.

We headed over to pick up my husband from his company's office and then we went to visit a friend of his and headed to the airport. We arrived at the airport really early so we could take our time and then get something to eat before boarding our flight. We finally arrived back in California about midnight...whew, that was some whirlwind trip, huh?!

Back from our whirlwind trip to Texas

We just got back about 1am this morning. Lots to do...lots to do... I have to unpack, clean the house, do laundry, grocery shopping, etc. It's going to take me a while to tell you all about our trip and get my pictures loaded on our computer. All in all, we had a great time, but we are exhausted. Be patient, okay, I will post as soon as I can!

We are travelin' to Texas!

Tomorrow we are going to Houston for 8 days, so I probably won't be able to blog. Dh is in a wedding, we are going to visit with friends and get our house ready to sell.

Right when we get back we are hosting a teenage girl from the south of France for a week and a half.

HUH?!

I wasn't sure what to caption this, isn't it too funny?!

Olivia's 'do

Olivia always loves going to the kid salon. She loves the sprinkles they put in her hair (I don't). Today, they went to a different stylist and she put 2 braids in the sides of Olivia's hair. She loves it so much, she doesn't want us to take them out, so we couldn't wash her hair tonight.

Claire's 'do

No bangs:

Bangs:



Whaddya think? I'm not sure about the bangs, maybe I just need to get used to them.

Crankiness

The girls are so cranky. Yesterday, Claire literally attacked her baby doll and tried to bite a chunk out of her forehead! When that happened, I immediately put her down for her nap.

Olivia has been misbehaving and cranky, too. I don't know if it's this weather with all the rain or the girls are not getting enough sleep...but I really wish all this bad behavior would stop.

Olivia is fine by the way, must have been some food that didn't agree with her.

The girls seem to be fighting non-stop these last couple of days...ugh.

It was Christmas again yesterday!

Yes, this is what the girls did yesterday. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. We pretended it was Christmas yesterdy.





I guess I must explain. I got this gingerbread kit in December for the girls to do for Christmas. Since I had the accident with my hand and subsequent hand surgery right before Christmas, we weren't able to decorate the gingerbread house at Christmastime. So I waited till my hand was all better and we would have time to do it.

Claire was mostly interested in taste testing the candies. Olivia had a good time decorating and after a while, Claire started to add candies to the house, too. However, next time, I will have to remember to do all the prep work in advance...making the icing and putting the frame of the house together. The girls were too impatient to get started.

When it rains, it pours

Olivia just threw up tonight when her dad took her shopping to Costco. They were waiting in line for their hotdogs. Ugh, hopefully she will be all better tomorrow. Poor thing.

At least Claire's fevers have gone, except she is unusually fussy and clingy. Please, let everyone be well for our trip on Tuesday....

It was my birthday today

I got an MP3 player from hubby...yeah!

Picture of the day

Here's a picture of Claire tonight after her bath. She seems to be getting better day by day. I'm not having to give fever reducers as much. At least she will be all well (and Olivia from her cold, too) before our trip to Houston.

Update after ER visit

I did forget to mention that my dear husband happened to call me as the paramedics arrived. He decided to check out of the hotel he checked into only a few hours before and drive the 4 hours back home. He got home about 2am and sent my neighbor home.

I took Claire to her doctor this morning and he says it looks like she has a virus. Also, he emphasized the febrile seizure will not affect her brain or intelligence...which I knew, but it was nice to hear from him.

I will call his office in the morning to check on the test results from our visit to the ER.

I guess this was our annual visit to the ER, hopefully that is it (forever).

Helpless and Caught Off Guard

I was totally caught off guard yesterday. I had taken both girls to the doctor on Monday because Olivia seems to have a chronic cough and Claire was crying every time I put her to sleep which is so unlike her. He checked them out and declared them find...Olivia had a cold and Claire was fine.

Tuesday morning I notice Claire had a temp of about 101. She continued to run a fever all day. I gave her motrin and tylenol throughout the day. She didn't seem her self most of the day, but I didn't see any other symptoms. She seemed okay, ate okay and played okay most of the time, although she was unusually clingy. I kept asking her what hurt and she would tap her head. I tried to give her a lukewarm bath to cool her off before bed, but she wanted nothing to do with that. She seemed ok when I put her to bed.

When I went to check on her around 9pm, she was burning up, her temp was around 104. So I woke her up, gave her some motrin and tried to get her to drink some ice water. I then got a wet washcloth and tried rubbing her down a bit while I held her in the rocking chair.

That's when it happened. She stiffened and her eyes looked like they rolled back. She was having a seizure. While holding her, I ran for the phone and dialed 911. I put her down on the floor in the hall. She was so out of it, she appeared to be gone. I think she had a few seizures, at one point, her lips turned blue. This was so scary. I was helpless. I wanted to help her to breath, but her jaw was clenched closed because of the seizure. All I could do was put her on her side and wait for the paramedics and try to rouse her. They arrived within 5 minutes of my call.

My dilemna: Olivia was asleep in bed, I was alone, my husband just left earlier that day to drive to a town 4 hours south. I thought about calling my neighbor, but I felt I wanted my family together. I was going to have to drive while my poor baby Claire rode in the ambulance by herself.

I guess my neighbor heard and saw the ambulance because she showed up at my front door and offered to stay over with Olivia. So, I got Olivia, whom I had woken up and already put in the car and handed her over.

I drove to the hospital while Claire was whisked away in the ambulance. I worried about her the entire way, I wanted so much to be with her to make sure she was okay.

When we got there, one of the paramedics was carrying her in and she seemed better...more aware...

They sent us to room 13. There were stars, clouds, and moons painted around the room. The paramedic had me sit down and finally handed Claire over to me. She was still so warm. We spent about 5 hours in the ER and left about 3am Wednesday morning. During our time, we met a Physician's Assistant who checked on Claire. The nurses took her vitals. They put in a catheter to get a urine sample and put in an IV which was so hard, but they did such a great job. They got a blood sample and left the IV in, just in case they might need to administer medicine or fluids.

We waited and waited. It was busy in the ER. The tests came back fine except it showed she might be getting an infection so they gave her a shot of antibiotics. They would have given it in her IV, but unfortunately, she had pulled it out at some point.

She had had febrile seizures which I've actually had experience with. Olivia had the exact same thing at about the same age. I remember being so scared.

Ever since then, I've been diligent about keeping fevers down so that's why I was caught so off guard. And when Claire had hers, her lips turned blue...that didn't happen with Olivia. With these type of seizures, they don't suffer any type of adverse affects to their brain or anything. It's just the body's way of reacting to rapidly increasing fever. It's the body's way of cooling off the body somehow. But still, I worry. I always worry it's my fault. I didn't do enough to keep her fever down. Maybe I caused her seizure when I woke her.

She still has a fever of about 100, I will be taking her in the morning since her doctor doesn't work this afternoon.

Monsoons

The rain continues, there seems to be no end in sight :(.

A Wow moment, warning: this is about potty training

I swear this is true.

Occasionally, I have Claire, my 17 month old, sit on the potty just to get her used to the idea. Well, today when I asked her if she wanted to try and go poo poo on the potty, she went straight to the bathroom and insisted on going in and sitting on the potty.

Usually, she just kicks her feet and smiles and plays and tears off little bits of toilet paper and puts it in the toilet. Well, today, she did the usual, but then she reached around to her bottom and got this look on her face like she realized something was about to happen and then she went poo poo!

She immediately had this look like a light bulb went off in her head...but truly, I think it was just lucky timing on my part.

On Friendships and Moving, a 3 year old perspective

This morning as I drove Olivia and I church, we had a conversation about moving and friends:
Olivia: Are you dropping me off (to Sunday School)?
Me: Yes, and I will go to the big church.
Olivia: Mommy and Daddy's church?
Me: Yes.
Olivia: And my friends will be there?
Me: Yes.
Olivia: My friends will miss me when we move, they will be sad.
Me: Yes, will you miss your friends, too and be sad?
Olivia: No...they will still be my friends.
Then she paused......and said "I will make new friends."

Wow, she is so easy to adjust to changes, she sure amazes me.

Productive day

Yesterday was so productive. My husband, me and my oldest, Olivia, all had dental checkups and cleaning. Olivia was such a trooper, she was never scared of the polishing or of the dentist looking at her teeth. She was so good about lying still for everything and keeping her mouth opened.

Afterwards, I took her to the mall with me to exchange some clothes. We ate at Fresh Choice, the salad place. So glad they had tortilla chips, croutons and pizza, and soft serve, that's pretty much all she ate. Her favorite thing to do was to put the crouton on top of the tortilla chip and eat it that way. I did manage to get her to eat a few bites of salad, some shredded jicama, and a bite of shredded carrrots. At least I think it was healthier than Burger King. We also saw the Easter Bunny walking around the mall on his break from picture taking!

I then took her home so daddy could put her down for a much needed nap. I went to get our repaired tire back on our car (I noticed a flat the previous night), took our car back to the tune up place that put a new alternator belt on our car because our car was squealing every time we started it. Then I headed to the grocery store and then home.

It was nice to get so much done in one day.