Potty training: check!

We went to our final CTC performance in our subscription, Mulan Jr. The show was cute, and Romelie got a free photo taken before the show which turned out well considering she was pulling on the decorations and wouldn't look up more than twice.

Chason and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary on May 28 (congratulations, us!). Barb, a wonderful co-worker of mine, agreed to watch Romelie at her home so we could have a grown-up night out. We went to our old neighborhood near St. Anthony Main and ate dinner at Tuggs and walked along the bridge. Very nice and relaxing...until Chason's car alarm started going off and we couldn't figure out how to make it stop. A little embarrassing, but it quieted down eventually and seems to be doing okay since then!

Saturday, May 29 was DAY ONE of potty training. I'm happy to say that after peeing in her pants first thing in the morning (on the wooden floor, luckily, so easily cleaned), she did amazingly well. The first 3-day weekend, she had maybe 5-6 accidents, and they all happened either outside when she was swimming in her pool OR they were pooping accidents. We ended up doing a sticker chart as her reward, and she's super into it. We are now on day 21 of potty training, and I'm very proud to say that she hasn't had an accident in 8 days. Woo-hoo! She still sleeps in a diaper at bedtime, but never once has she had a naptime incident, so we just let her sleep in underpants for naps. I was pretty paranoid the first few days (wouldn't let her sit on the couch without puppy pads and/or towels underneath), but now I don't worry about it at all. All I can say is...thank you, Lord, for making this lots easier than it could have been.

Other events...Uncle Paul came to town for about a week and a half! We miss him already. We actually went up to both my mom's place and to my dad's cabin for a little while, though I was only able to stay at my dad's for a few hours - Chason and I had another date, can you believe it? We went to the MN Orchestra, which was interesting. Not something I'd ever make a regular habit, but definitely worth a shot every now and again. While at my mom's, Uncle Paul became Romelie's personal entertainer. Here's a terrific video of her on a singing horse with Paul making a giant dog dance for her. As you can see...she's definitely entertained.

Then last week, honorary Aunt Crystal was in town! We did our annual high school graduation overnight party entertainment with very little sleep ordeal. Five nights in a row, baby! Impressed? At any rate, we made it through, met some cool kids, and had generally awesome times. And then...I got to just spend some time with Crystal. Which is always a good thing.

Now everyone's gone home and it's back to normal. I had a doctor's appointment and an ultrasound on Wednesday, and I now tentatively know what baby is going to come out as. (BTW, the first picture shown is from my April 14 ultrasound...the second one is from Wednesdays...baby's sucking its thumb...adorable). However, they couldn't get a perfectly clear picture, so I'm doing another ultrasound in about three weeks (not to check gender, they don't really care that much one way or another about that! But they couldn't get clear pictures and measurements on a few other important things, so they'll do it later when the baby has shifted). So, we are about 97% confident that we know what the baby will be.

SPOILER ALERT! (Don't read if you want to be surprised...) It's a girl.

Potty training time

Another month goes by. Ah well.

Chason and I are now both 30 as my birthday was a couple weeks ago. We decided to take a weeklong vacation down to Houston, which was wonderful. My camera broke on day two, so I borrowed some of Angel's pics for this blog - thank you!!

We had a lot of fun visiting family and friends. We got to see the family on Mother's Day for good fun and lots of pool time. Romelie kept trying to decide whether or not she liked the pool. On this particular day, she wouldn't go in herself, but enjoyed watching other kids (like Torin) spashing around.

We also got to see some friends while we were there (hi Crystal!) though unfortunately I had two days of horrible nausea and some barfing, so I was a bit lame in the middle and missed some stuff.

Our last full day (Friday) we went to Kemah and walked around and enjoyed the sights. The highlight was definitely watching Chason and Romelie ride the airplane ride. For some reason, their plane didn't go as high as the other kids' planes...

Our first week back was pretty low-key, just relaxing and readjusting. However, we officially start potty training on Saturday. As in, no diapers except during naps and bedtime, no going back. All in. I'm very nervous but I believe Romelie is ready. It's just going to be a bit of a stressful weekend. So, we're trying to fit in lots of fun activities now since I'm afraid it'll be harder for us to leave the house confidently for a while. We visited my cousin and her newly adopted daughter last Saturday (welcome, Masha!), and went to Chason's co-workers' home for a backyard party (though two parties in a row were apparently too much for Romelie...we didn't stay long). Yesterday we went to the zoo for an evening members-only event, which was great, because it was great weather but not crowded, so we could let Romelie run around a bit more without worrying about her ramming into folks or getting run down by a stroller. Of course, she went pretty quickly to the water play area, so we didn't see too many animals. Whatever, she had fun. Tonight we'll see our final show of the season at CTC, "Mulan Jr.," and tomorrow is Chason's and my anniversary. Because our family is all out of town that night, a co-worker has generously offered to watch Romelie at her home for the evening so we can go on an actual date. Yay! Grown up time.

In other news...that pregnancy thing I mentioned. My official due date is October 25 (Crystal and Aunt Martha's birthdays...a good day, right?). I'm about 4 months along, officially 18 weeks, 4 days. I have gained 11,000,000 pounds already (no, but seriously, about 30...in 3-ish months...yikes). I had absolutely horrible nausea from weeks 5-16, far worse than the first time around, though I actually threw up less. My most recent time throwing up was on Monday night, so I'm not completely over it still, but it's definitely way better. I just started feeling the baby kick for the first time last Tuesday, and there is definitely just one baby in there. My next apointment is on June 16, and I will also find out the sex of the baby at that time. We haven't officially told Romelie because we're waiting for that appointment so we can tell her that she's going to have a little brother or sister (specifically). I absolutely promise to get a blog entry out that very same day to tell you all, too!

For now, though, I'm going to wrap it up. I will keep everyone posted on how our first few days of potty training go. Cross your fingers for us and the kid!

April

HI EVERYONE! Miss me? Yeah...first I wasn't feeling well, then I got lazy, then I wasn't feeling well, then I got even lazier...hence the longest stretch between blog entries ever. Sorry.

But on the positive side, it means lots and lots of fun pictures and stories to share!

First, I'm proud to announce we are now members of the Minnesota Zoo. Romelie had a day off from daycare, so I brought her first thing in the morning and we ended up spending almost three hours roaming around. I figured we've taken advantage of the free Museum Adventure Passes for a while now...and this way we can go anytime we like. Romelie especially liked the playroom (we'd never been in there before) where they have some animal-like costumes for the kids to wear. I think she's supposed to be an otter.

So Easter. Yup. We had Easter. We dyed eggs the night before outside in the backyard. Romelie loved dropping the eggs in the little cups and loved pulling them back out and putting them on the little tray to dry even more. We went to my dad's house for Easter lunch with the family (yummy!) and then did the official Easter egg hunt outside that evening. Romelie has been obsessed with her plastic eggs ever since.

Then my mom had a birthday. Happy birthday, mom!! I love you :)

Then Grandmommy Diane came into town! She was here for an entire week, which was fabulous. We had dinner with my dad her second night in town and I took some adorable pictures of Romelie playing with her grandmommy, her grandpa, and her dad. So very cute. I had to work for the first couple days Diane was here, but Chason was able to take time off and the weather was pretty darned amazing, so they got to have lots of fun park and backyard time.

That Saturday (we're up to April 10 now) was Chason's 30th birthday. Happy birthday, hubby. We did a backyard barbeque, Kevin and Nicole brought ice cream cake, Joe (same birthday) and his family came over...plenty of fun shenanigans.

And in the weeks since then, well...not too much craziness has happened. We work. We play with the kid. We watch Dora the Explorer every day (sigh). We bought a new kitchen from IKEA this past weekend (I'll post plenty of before and after pictures once we're going through the installation period, but that won't be for a couple of months, unfortunately). I picked up a free sandbox. Romelie moved up a clothing size (3T all the way). We get to go to Houston in just two short days and we'll be staying for a full week (yay!).

Oh...

...and I'm pregnant :)

Okay, most of you already know this, but for those who don't...there's your teaser for the next blog entry. Promise not to make you wait until next month. I will, however, leave you with a video of Romelie singing some good ol' Yo Gabba. Enjoy.

Mock. Yeah. Ing. Yeah. Bird. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Romelie has started to mock me. One might put a positive spin on it and say that she's just imitating me, but sometimes, it feels like mocking.

Take this weekend. We had another bout of stomach bug fly through the family this past weekend, which was as fun as always. But as I was sitting with my head in the toilet (days after Romelie, ahem, STARTED this problem), she comes in and starts making barfing sounds next to me, and then laughing.

Ha ha, Romelie. You are quite hilarious.

Ah well. In other news, we just did our taxes and fared a bit better than last year, so that's good. Still owe money, but less than we had planned to owe, so it's kind of like we saved money. Kind of. We are also working on some home improvement projects; I'll keep you updated on just how handy we really are vs. how handy we simply think we are...

I'll have more to share after Easter (and I'll try to get some new photos up as well), but that's all I've got for now. Check it--I got a blog entry in on a non-holiday! Good for me. Well, unless you count MC Hammer's birthday as a holiday. Which you should.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Apparently I am only writing blog entries to coincide with holidays since my last post was over a month ago on Valentine's Day. See you all on Easter...? I taught at a school today where they made an announcement to remind the students that even though it's St. Patrick's Day, school rules of keeping their hands to themselves were still in effect, and pinching would not be tolerated. I had no idea what they were talking about until someone explained to me that you apparently get pinched if you don't wear green on March 17. I don't know how I've gone 29 years without ever hearing about this before.

So...updates. Well, it's Spring in MN. There is no snow on the ground. Pretty much literally. We went from a few feet of snow to nothing in about 2 weeks. It's glorious and unheard of. So we've been relishing the good weather and spending lots of time outside again. I forgot how much I love our backyard. And sunshine. And t-shirts.

This past weekend, Romelie and I went to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live! (Again.) This time, it was in Minneapolis, and we got to attend a little pre-party and meet the characters from the show. I actually thought Romelie would be a little terrified (they're a lot bigger in person than they are on the TV), but she was thrilled. She was smiling and giggling and just generally gawking. Muno (the red one recently featured in the Kia car commercials) is my new favorite because he was awesome. He was giving her little hugs and high fives and pats on the back, and he still had two shows ahead of him! And DJ Lance Rock was there (or, as Romelie says, DJ Rah), and that was just as exciting for me as it was for Romelie. Yes...I get star struck over actors on children's television programs now.

I'm finding it hard to give updates on the last month, but suffice it to say, we're doing well. Romelie can now count to 29...actually, she can count to 20-10, but she doesn't believe me when I try to explain 30. She is learning how to cut with scissors...which is apparently very exciting to a 2-year old, so I try my best to sound enthused when she shows me her paper from daycare with lots of fringes around the edges. She's also learned how to fib. I can't really call it lying, because I understand that's not how her brain works, but it's frustrating. Her big one is when she doesn't want to sleep, she says over and over again that she's poopy. And on the one hand, I know she's not. She's just trying to get me to come into her bedroom. On the other hand, on the slim chance she actually IS poopy, I can't just let her sit in it all night. So I go in. "Romelie? Are you really poopy?" "Yes." "If I check your diaper, am I going to find poopy?" "Yes." I check diaper. No poopy. Then we have a "talk" about fibbing and how it's not nice. And then she does it again some other night.

Honestly, though it's been over a month, there's not much else I have to share at this time. I promise I will have more updates soon, but for now I'm off to drink a Shamrock Shake from McDonalds. Oh yeah...I party hard.

Happy birthday Uncle Paul

(We might have practiced that a few times before making the video.)

Folks, Romelie is doing so well lately. She's generally happy and pleasant and fun. She still whines and throws occasional tantrums, but so many fewer than just a couple months ago. It makes life with a toddler much more enjoyable.

The odd thing is, she's been sick the last, like, month. She's had a cough for nearly four weeks. I finally brought her into the doctor on Wednesday, and she's being treated for a double ear infection and possible bronchitis. Which seriously makes no sense to me because she's been so darned awesome. I mean, if I had a double ear infection and bronchitis, you can bet your butt I'd be a lot whinier and throwing a lot more tantrums, and I'm nearly 30. She's on her last dose of medicine tonight and we go in for a follow-up on Wednesday, so I'll let you know if it's cleared up (she's still coughing, though not dry coughing anymore).

She's also entered the "Why?" stage. Romelie, it's time for bed. Why? Because you need to sleep. Oh. Let's get your jammies. Why? Because it's bedtime. Oh, bedtime. Help me put on your jammies. Why?

Like that. It's still cute, and I don't mind repetition, so it's okay.

I know there's lots more news to share from the last week (ask Chason about taking Romelie to swim lessons yesterday, getting her all dressed, and walking into the pool area only to be told classes are cancelled because someone barfed in the pool--and then having to break the news to the all-excited-to-go-swimming 2-year-old...), but I'm on my way to Buca di Beppo for our romantic Valentine's dinner...with the kid. :)

So I leave you with videos. Both of these go together, so play one after the other. See if you can recognize the following songs in Romelie's musical medely: ABCs, Old MacDonald, Row Row Row Your Boat, and 5 Little Monkeys. Bonus points if you can recognize the animals and their sounds in Old MacDonald. Final comment--listen for the dramatic ending to E-I-E-I-O in video #2; it's how mommy sings the song, but I'd never heard her do it that way before this moment. Enjoy.

Happy groundhog's day!

This is going to have to be more of a summary than anything else, which is what happens when I don't write anything for three weeks. Yikes. I'll put in lots of pictures and videos and let them do the talking.

So it's Minnesota which we all know is cold and wet. But we have been able to spend some time outside at least. Here's some cute photos and videos of our first snowy backyard fun (a few weeks ago):

When we can't go outside (which is most of the time, unfortunately), we try to fill our weekend hours with fun family events. We went to a birthday party for my friend Katie's son Gabriel at Choo Choo Bob's train store. Romelie loved playing with the trains and didn't throw a giant fit when it was time to leave. Both good. Our friend Joe has started a new company for dads called Papa Gio (check it out at http://www.papagio.net/!) so we went to a kick-off event for that. We've been to four waterbabies classes now, and at the most recent class, Romelie let me dunk her completely underwater THREE times. Without crying. We saw "Mr. McGee and the Biting Flea" at Children's Theatre (very sweet) and went to the zoo this weekend. So we're finding excuses to get out and about. We've also started taking Romelie to the gym at Bally's when we work out, and while she cried the first few times, she seems to be doing alright now and even occasionally asks to go to the gym.

We've also all been sick, though that's really nothing new. We've either shared a cold or had RSV, but since both are untreatable, it didn't seem particularly necessary to go to a doctor to get an official diagnosis. Mostly better except for Romelie's continued cough and my overly goopy eyes. One particularly funny moment came when I coughed while helping Romelie put on her boots and she looked at me and said "Cover your mouth, Mama."

We also recently learned that Yo Gabba Gabba is coming to Minneapolis on March 13, and not only will Romelie and I see the show (again, I know), but this time we'll also get to meet the characters and Romelie will be able to have her picture taken with them! I'm so much more excited about this than any grown up should be.

Other than those general updates, I don't have too many specifics to share. We're keeping busy, doing well, and generally looking forward to Spring. So now, on to the photos and videos.

Bath pictures...always cute...

In this video, Romelie spontaneously said the prayer they say at daycare before every meal: Dear God, thank you for our food, and thank you for our friends. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Self-portrait and playing hide-and-seek:

Here's Romelie doing her best animal impressions.

And finally, feeding the ducks and playing in a box filled with toys. Like you do.