Sunny 9 for 2007 November

(3) Fri Nov 16 2007 23:10 I can do it myself, I'm a big kid now: I wish I could have put the last couple days and the next ones coming in fast forward. I have begun potty training again with Lily. Going through this has made me second guess whether or not I want more children. I would rather gnaw my arm off than potty train. I will say that Lily is doing loads better than the original attempt. I see a pinhole of light at the end of the tunnel.

So basically my sister in law Hailey swears by the DVD Potty Power, so I checked it out from the library. Lily watched it over and over and then again and again and a little more. So with the combination of Lily's enthusiasm and Gunnar now having croup and us being homebound because of that I decided that I should multi-task and try and get through this potty training thing while Lily was still showing interest and me having to be home anyway.

The first day Lily woke up and I put the DVD on for her and afterwards we did the "say goodbye to diapers, bye-bye" schtick in the show. (Aaron and I have all the songs memorized by now.) She was really into saying goodbye to diapers that she did not want to wear one that night for bed. I also tried to talk her into wearing a diaper for her nap but my sister Aly called during our standoff and she urged me to take a chance on her not peeing while she was asleep so Lily could get used to being in panties and having her newfound independence. She also told me I am potty training and thinking of ways that were counterproductive for Lily in hopes of not having to clean up more human waste that I had to were, ugh, just that- counterproductive. I followed her sage advice and to my absolute shock, Lily did not wet the bed during her nap. Wahoo!

But I digress, back to saying goodbye to diapers. I put her in big girl princess panties and a shirt only. I wanted to know right away when she had an accident. I then proceeded to ask her every 5 minutes to sit on the potty chair. (We brought the chair onto the entry way tile--hey, she said she wanted it in the family room and not the bathroom.) She would pretend to go potty and then 2 seconds later say all done- whatever. It was so tedious and frustrating and boring all at the same time. FINALLY! Lily said she had to go potty and she sat on the chair and then said I am done a couple seconds later. I went in and looked and saw she had gone like a tablespoon. I was so ecstatic. I was so proud of her and gave her a treat and let her put a sticker on her chart. While I went into the bathroom to clean up her bowl I came back and Lily exclaimed she went potty again. I looked into the chair and sure enough. She went a ton! I was so happy even though she peed into the chair part and not the bowl. Who cares if I had to wash out the chair. My daughter went pee pee in the potty chair all by herself! It was awesome and it only took 2 hours, ha.

We had a minor setback when I had to take Gunnar to the Dr. because I was really getting nervous about his breathing. His chest was compressing so much and he was really wheezing. I wasn't surprised when the Dr said he had croup because Lily just had it last week and it was a matter of time. I was just glad he didn't have pneumonia or something. While we were at the Dr's I encouraged Lily to tell me when she had to go potty, and of course right when I said that she said she had to go. Just great. I took her into the restroom and tried helping her while holding Gunnar. Of course she had to do it herself and while trying to get on the toilet she fell in and got her jacket wet. (I wanted to cease and desist training right then and there. Why must I endure such torture was all I could think.) of course she was just pretending (or was she?) that she had to go potty because right after she sat down she said "all done". Literally 5 minutes after that she peed her pants. Nice. At least the training pants I put on her before we left contained the problem mostly.

Then we had the victory of staying dry during nap that I already mentioned. She went again on the pot before Aaron got home and after he came home we went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate as a reward for Lily.

Today, the second day of potty training, we got off to a rocky start. She wet herself at preschool (not surprising), but stayed dry again for her nap. Then she got caught up in playing and I got too lax in asking her to sit on her chair that she wet herself again after her nap. Again I was in a crushing depression that this was never going to end, but then things looked up after she went in the potty all by herself. She still hasn't gone #2 in there but she knows that she gets to help put the gingerbread house together that I bought and we get to go to Chuck E Cheese again after she goes #2 in the pot. I think she is scared to since yesterday she held it until we put her pull ups on for bed and tonight she didn't go at all.

Hopefully she will be a pro by the time Thanksgiving Break is over because I don't know how many more days I have to stay home and ask every 5 minutes for her to try again. She does love prancing around in her panties though and I wonder if I can ever get her to wear pants again!

Another note of my bad week, yesterday I was trying to light the grill and finally it lit with a poof and when I sat down at the table Aaron exclaimed that I singed my bangs, eyebrows, and eyelashes. Wonderful! I love having curly strays and no eyelashes. And to top it off I did it again today except I singed my hand hair only. My hand is still tender. Gotta love the curve balls of life.

(2) Sat Nov 17 2007 17:30 We have lift off: Third day's a charm. There is a poopy in the potty. I am so elated. We went through all of today will NO accidents and we even went to a store and Lily told me she needed to go and she didn't wet herself. While we were out and about she saw this princess pack thing that has earrings and a brush and purse and the works in it. Lily wanted it so bad and I told her she could have it after she went poopy. Well, when we got home she sat on the pot and went. I think she really wanted that princess thing. The girl has literally had nothing but treats today as a reward, but I could careless. For a couple days she can live off Oreo packs for all I care just as long as she keeps this up.

I am so glad the hard part is over. It was like labor. When it is bad, it is bad, but now I've got the baby and things are so much better. Phew! I know she will still have accidents but at least I know we can work with it and that things will get better everyday. YEEHAW!

(4) Mon Nov 26 2007 13:11 Manic Monday: I love Mondays. Today was a sad day though, because Aaron had to go back to school. For some reason this holiday break really felt like a Christmas-type break where he would get a couple weeks off. Sadly, it was just 2 days and the weekend, however I do have something to look forward to today. Monday nights are always a treat. The longer I am married to Aaron the more and more I have learned that Aaron and I don't really have a lot in common. Back when we were dating I only put up with his video gaming because he was insanely hot and I thought it was just a phase that teenage boys go through and then grow out of. The truth is, they don't grow out of it, it gets worse. I ABHOR video games. I have learned to put up with them, though, and deal with them even though they are the bane of my existence. I don't know if I have ever admitted this to Aaron but one time back when we were first dating in '99 (Nintendo 64 was the console back then) somehow the Golden Eye Bond video game (the choice game) got kicked under the lazy boy chair and I saw it there while laying on the floor. I didn't bother to mention it to Aaron that I knew where it was when I heard the boys talking about not being able to find it for a couple days. Of course they found it later, but did I feel bad for what I did? Not one bit.

Another thing I equally detest is football games on tv. I think this stems from when I was a child and after church my brothers and my Dad would hog the tv ALL DAY watching football. I know football season is not year round but it felt like it. So I would sit and watch a couple minutes thinking maybe since they thought it was great, I would soon like it too. Never happened. In fact anytime I rounded the corner into the family room and saw it on, I would turn right back around. I don't know why, no offense to anybody that likes football, I just hate it. (I know hate is a strong word.) I hate the noise and endless standing around with nothing happening. BORING!

So back to the point, Aaron and I don't really share common interests, but one thing we do share is Heroes. We watch that and Journeyman together on Monday nights. (After FHE of course. I mean usually uh, ummmm, never.) It's nice for me. It is like a date night. A time when we aren't fighting over who got the tv last for video games or a show. I don't know what we will do with ourselves Monday nights after the last airing in Dec because of the writer's strike. Maybe something productive, but don't hold your breath.

Wed Nov 28 2007 11:36 Heavenly: Sleeping on white freshly bleached sheets. Who doesn't love this?

(4) Wed Nov 28 2007 13:04 Giving thanks: Now that things are settling down here I can finally post a bit about how our Thanksgiving holiday went. It is hard splitting your time between two families but it was done. First we had our traditional dinner with my family on Wed night. The Taylors have a tradition to go to Mo Ranch for Thanksgiving so while Aaron went to the turkey bowl and I took the kids there. It is a buffet style and the grounds are beautiful, but it is always colder in the hill country so you can't enjoy it as much as you'd like. Aaron met up with us, and the whole crowd was there: Ann Taylor (Ben's mom), Ben, Mom, Joe and Louise, David and Ashley, Aaron, the kids and me, Michelle, Lorna, Meg, Garrett, Leah, Amanda, and Ben's dad and his wife. We missed Julie and Chuck and Dave, Alyson and the boys.

We came home and went to Jake and Erin's for another Thanksgiving feast. Davey and Booner drove all the way from AZ to be with us. It was great just hangin and later we went back to our house for pie and chill time. I made 3 pies homemade: pecan, lemon meringue, and french silk and Aaron made 2 pumpkin pies from a pumpkin. They all turned out good except Aaron for some reason thought the lemon pie could be left out over night and it didn't hold up too well. That was the one that took the most time too. Blast. Now we know.

The next day we caught all the sales for Black Friday. I made a list out of all the places we were going to go and Aaron even wanted to go with me. I wanted to head out at 4 AM because that was when Kohl's was opening. Aaron thought he set the alarm at 3:30 but it was really set at 4:30 so we got to Kohl's late and the line was insane. So we left since all the things I wanted to get were gone anyway. Target didn't open till 6 so we headed over to JCPenney's and I pretty much got all my Christmas presents there. Then we went into Target and ended with Walmart. Amazingly, Walmart was a ghost town by the time we got there at like 7:00. It was so weird and there were plenty of things left. Last year Walmart was terrible. We got the kids' Christmas presents and Gunnar's birthday present and came home. Oh yeah, our kids were watched by Lorna so we could shop but when we got home everyone was still asleep. Aaron's cousin Tyler came around 8:30 because his finance was shopping at the outlets since midnight. He didn't end up leaving to meet up with her until like 6. Can you imagine over 15 hours of straight shopping? Go Andrea! So the real reason why Aaron was so nice to get up and go shopping with me was so he could get his shopping done. It was now his turn. Costco. 9AM. 50" flat screen. Yep. We did it. We bought the plasma tv, and yes I do feel very guilty that we live off loans yet we spent that money on a tv. Judge away. But it is done and Aaron is thrilled. Oh, I guess I like it too. So there you go. I can't spend anymore $ for a long time. I need to get out of the mentality of sales. No more, even if it is on sale.

I am grateful for a lot of things that aren't things though. I am grateful that we have so much family around that we have to divide up holidays. It is hard and I hate feeling like I am hurting people's feelings but there is nothing better than to be surrounded by family during the holidays. We only have 18 months left in SA, and I am already starting to be sad that we are going to go. I love that I can call my brother David up 7 houses down and ask him to keep on eye on Lily while she naps so I can take Gunnar to the Dr. I love that I can let Lily run loose in my mom's house and all her aunts and step aunts dote on her. I love that Lily and Gunnar get to play with their cousin(s), now just one, and make memories with them.

I am grateful for Aaron and his hard work in school. He is really so smart and just the other day he was saying something about a sore in the mouth and was like "sporal pepticauctal seratus". That wasn't even the words, I forgot it already, but it was some medical speak and I can't imagine how much knowledge he has in his brain. I could never make it through dental school I don't know how he gets all that stuff let alone how he leaves the house every morning at 7AM and gets home around 6PM. How he survives on 6-7 hours of sleep, maybe, every night and still has the mental stamina to put up with me after he is done at school, I will never know. I will entertain the kids, clean, cook, and run errands any day over doing that. I love my job as a mom, and there is nothing better. And there is nothing better than a husband that affords me the opportunity to witness my kids' lives.

Which is a good segue into my third thing which are my kids. I love that I have kids (plural). I thought nothing could be better than my Lily but sure enough there was. Gunnar is equally as good. I love them both and the differences in a boy and girl are awesome. I love having both my babies around. This year was hard for me, and I feel as though I have gone through another rite of passage. I feel older but in a good way. Last night as I was tucking Lily into bed at 10PM because she was still up and continuing her habit of being the last one to leave a party (this girl has the biggest case of FOMO ever), I was giving her butterfly kisses and she then got to thinking about how other animals kissed. She asked me how lions kissed and I said, how do you think they kiss? She then said "'roar' but softly so we don't scare Gunnar." That cracked me up so much because when Gunnar was first born Lily would get in his face and "ROAR" so loud and it would make his little arms fly up all startled and he would bawl and bawl. (And you wonder why Gunnar would never let me nurse him sitting down, because every time Lily would assail him with roars or scratches.) So even though sometimes it feels like she doesn't listen I know some of what we have taught her is rattling around in that brain of hers.

There it is in no particular order. Not very surprising but I figure I better write it or I would be an ingrate indeed.

(3) Fri Nov 30 2007 15:52 Happy Birthday Gunnar Boy: Happy birthday to my little nerd. I just love him. He is the sweetest boy and so huggable. We threw a birthday party for him on Sunday already since I thought there would still be some family in town. There wasn't, but it is a good thing because Gunnar was a stink the entire time. Sundays are just bad. He doesn't get his first nap and then the second one is just never enough and he always wakes up grumpy. For some reason he was extra grumpy at his party refusing me to not put him down at all.

I made a camouflage cake for him (as best as I could) and the little stinker didn't want to even lick the frosting let alone grab a big handful and stuff his face with it. Lily was much more fun in that regard on her 1st b-day. I thought maybe after he tastes it he will want more so I stuck my finger in his mouth but that just made him more mad.

Oh well, he did get a little early birthday treat a couple weeks ago when we went to Cold Stone and I shared my ice cream with him. He had a lot and loved it. No breakouts or rashes or sickness so I guess we are in the clear for milk. Here we come!