Katie loved the ballerina Nutcracker we saw at Target... And also, No Diet Coke!

We went out on Sunday afternoon to do our bi-weekly grocery shop.

It was a looong day. Started at Payless to return my boots because I had already found a cheaper pair at Kohls. Katie tried some shoes on but decided that none of them hit her fancy EXCEPT for the pink sparkly pair that really weren't at all practical and wouldn't even match her Christmas outfit. So mommy vetoed. She had her foot measured and came up as a toddler 8 1/2 or 9. As we were leaving, the lady who helped us said goodbye and Katie stopped just outside the door and lifted her booted foot and said "I didn't find any shoes but we buy these already." Then she kind of nodded her head and off we went.

On to Aldi. I don't usually shop there but we paid our quarter for the cart and found some wonderful bargains. Katie also found the toy section and asked me over and over "Mama, when I grow up, can I have this toy?" and I always say "Katie, when you grow up and have a job, if this is in your budget, you can buy it." That works for her and for me! She got a little fussy there, wanting to go over each toy and ask that same question.

Finally we left (after getting our quarter back) and drove to Costco. Got some yummy samples that I gave to Katie and was so tempted to buy a juicer for $398. I had to repeat to myself over and over "I am not a juicer person. We have a juicer we do not use." That got us out of the immediate area. Besides, it was a big box and there wasn't any room for it in the cart, what with the baby wipes, Katie, chicken, and other assorted goods already taking up most of the space.

Got done shopping and paid with one of the two checks I brought with me. Then we stopped at the snack area and ordered a hot dog and pop. And had to break out the other check. Cause they don't take cash cards! Arg. Enjoyed that while Katie had a long chat with Honey who happened to be sitting between her and a man and woman on her other side. I wonder what they were thinking. Her conversation with Honey was very long and there were many hand gestures.

Went to Target next and got a few grocery things. Bought a trash can that I thought would fit in the cupboard under our sink (since Jake thinks it's the funnest thing EVER to hold onto the trash can we already have and try to chew on it. Maybe he thinks our expressions of horror as we rush across the room to him are funny.) but when we got home I realized that there have to be pipes under the sink to, you know, drain the water or something techy like that.

Got some other stuff and stopped so Katie could look at every one of the Nutcrackers on the end display. She very carefully touched the ballerina's long hair and it was almost like she was holding her breath and trying to be so gentle. So precious!

We walked through the girls section and Katie saw the Christmas dresses. As we're walking, I saw her head slowly turn to stare at them and she veered off to look. That's the first time I've seen her do that for clothes! She said "Look Mama." I asked her if she liked that dress and if she wanted to get that dress instead of the other Christmas dress we already had. She did... her face was beaming! Then I reminded her the her other Christmas dress had a small matching dress for Baby Doll. She took her hand away and thought about it and said, "No, I keep that dress." Then looked at the other dresses and said, "Oh, this is pretty." I told her it wasn't in her size and she said "Oh, I so dissappointed. Okay, let's go mommy." And that was that.

Then we went home and hung out.

Watched So You Think You Can Dance (and I can not dance so it's just fun to watch). Katie watched the dancers and then Daddy danced with her. The next type of dance was hip hop. John told her that for hip hop you don't hold hands... you just dance. She didn't like that and said "I no like hip hop. I want to hold hands!" So they held hands and danced and it was sweet to see.

Jake went to sleep early and Katie fell asleep in the middle of the conversation between her toy frog and toy whale.

Oh, earlier while I was taking a shower and she was "just bisitin" me in the bathroom, she was playing with the two fish, frog and the whale (they are bath toys) and she came and asked me "What does a whale eat?" and I told her fish. Then she said "Okay." and went back to her toys. A few seconds later, she came back and asked "What does a frog eat?" and I told her insects. She said okay again and went back to playing. I heard her say "Here are some yummy pretend insects froggy. And some yummy pretend fish for you whale."

All in all, a pretty good day.

Oh, except for the fact that there was NO Diet Coke at Target... at all. The lady even checked in the back for me. Grrrr. Arg.

Pirates didn't take the cash. Sorry Katie.

Katie had a stash of cash (about $14) she found on the counter that *someone* (not mommy) let her play with.

She played with this money for a very long time till she finally set it down and went off into the kitchen. So someone (mommy) took the money** and hid it in the waistband of her "at home" pants. She came back in and was very concerned.

** I only took the money away because she's been known to tear paper just "because" and even after I told her very seriously about the value of the cash, I was still a little worried that to her it would only be "paper" and we would be having another discussion about how not good it is to rip it up while we're actually looking at a pile of ripped up cash.

I could see that this was going to be a big deal. So I told her that I thought pirates took the money and ran off. I know, not nice to tell a lie. But this could have gone down very badly had I just told her that she couldn't play with it anymore.

I figured she would let it go after a bit and play with something else. She did not.

I heard so many quesitons about pirates. Why did the pirates take my money? Where did the pirates go? Are they bad pirates? Are the pirates still here?

After about 40 minutes of this, I finally dropped the money behind my chair (into her "kitchen" area by our front door) and told her she should check her kitchen to see if they were hiding there. She glanced over and said "no, no pirates there" and I told her she should really check the door. So she did and exclaimed "Mommy! The pirates left my money!" She was very happy.

I thought she would go back to quiet playtime. That didn't work because now she wanted to examine the motives of these pirates all over again. All. Over. Again.

Mommy, why those pirats come here? Why those pirates leave my money? And so on and so on.

So I told her that she should go talk to Daddy... because he knows pirates. And she did (hee hee hee). That worked great till daddy (AKA: The Rat) told her that Mommy knows lots more about pirates because Mommy studied them in school. Grrr.

So we were on again. Till she finally ran out of steam. And she was distracted by Daddy leaving the living room.

So, Mommy learned her lesson. Next time I tell her to talk to daddy because he knows soooo much about whatever it is she's curious about... Mommy won't sit in her chair, waiting to see how Daddy will respond to Katie and her million questions. No way.

Instead, Mommy will run.

Christmas Gifts - Check. Wrapping Paper - Uh oh!

We're done shopping for Christmas. Woooo Hooo!

I am still amazed that we got done in roughly 3 hours. Without spending a fortune. AND buying some pretty cool stuff, if I do say so myself!

Mostly thanks to Grammy and Grampy who watched the kids for us this last Saturday, because nothing adds 2 hours onto your shopping time than two kids with kids needs.

So we're done. Now everything's in the bedroom on the side of the bed... but Snoopy McSnooperson (AKA Katie) has been in there many times and just *happens* to meander over to that side of the bed and while she just *happens* to be there, she peeks. Totally. And without remorse. Even mentioning the gifts she can see and asking questions about them. Grrr!!! :)

I've got to wrap these things up soon. But I need paper.

I might see if anyone's got the comics left over from... oh, 6 papers, maybe 10... Mom and Dad? Grammy and Grampy? Are you reading this? :)

Our Tree and Bam Bam (AKA Jake)

We got the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. It's beautiful. Katie got home from the lake and just stared up at it. For about 10 seconds, then she ran off to play downstairs.

Jake doesn't seem to care much. The only time he pays attention to the tree is when the bench is moved out of the way of it and he can alllllmost touch it with his tiny hands if he stretches as much as he can. So, the bench is usually in the way.

He's actually started to grab the edge of the window ledge and, holding on tight he lifts up his legs. I tried to get it on video last night but the lights were dim and the picture wasn't clear.

Between that and climbing onto the couch, I would say we're going to be in trouble sooner than I thought.

The kids have gone to play center and Katie's gone to Cubbies. I think they enjoy the activities.

We went to Paigey's birthday party a last weekend and had fun watching the kids play. Katie wanted to be rightnexttoPaige during present opening and at one point asked if she could play with the little people game after Uncle Mike got done opening it "and then Paigey can play with it" but that was vetoed. Because, you know... obviously not Katie's birthday or Katie's toy.

It was cute.

Not much else has happened in our little world aside from the usual hijinks and catastrophies courtesy of two wonderful children who make me laugh pretty much most of the time I'm with them.

Santa Claus

So, yesterday we were sitting around in the living room enjoying the humor that is Sponge Bob* when the topic came up.

*(Really, we were *watching* episodes of Sponge Bob and talking about funny scenes from them. Really. I know, strange.)

Oh, so the topic:


Santa Claus.

Now, I have been telling her over and over that the reason for Christmas is to celebrate Jesus' birthday. And she gets that... but when I ask "what's Christmas for?" She'll flip back and forth between "Jesus' Birthday!" and "Santa?"

So, as we're sitting there, I looked at John and he looked back at me. I said, should we tell her the truth? Would that make us bad parents? And he didn't think so, and I didn't think so (cause I think she's old enough to understand that Santa does not = presents... No-ho-hoooo, mommy and daddy = presents and really) so we...

*gulp*

told her that Santa isn't real. That's he's just pretend. That mommy and daddy buy presents for her for Christmas and that the mall Santas are just people who dress up in Santa outfits. Because Santa isn't real.

After taking a second to catch my breath, I looked at Katie to see how she was taking it...

And she was fine.

She said something about the Santas at the store being strangers and that Santa is pretend. And I calmly agreed.

I was still waiting for tears or some indication that we had burst all of her little girl dreams but she just said "Santa is pretend." and I said yes, again. And that was pretty much it.

And then John piped in with "And so are the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny."

Now, I don't know if Katie heard that but I sure wasn't going to burst every little bubble on such a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Also, I didn't want her to start asking questions about the validity of the Toy Fairy... because she's TOTALLY real.

Sometimes I feel like I spend most of the day in the bathroom... with the kitchen and living room coming in sscond and third respectively.

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow we're celebrating Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpas.

Mom and grandma are making (between the two of them) turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, salad, dessert and probably more stuff I don't know about. I'm still a little unclear on what I'm supposed to bring. I guess I should call grandma. Now.

We're going to head over, eat lots of food, sit holding our tummys and head home.

Then on Friday we're going to decorate the 4' tree I bought at Menards with a few little ornaments and a polka dot ribbon Katie picked out. We decided to avoid the large, very heavy tree decorated with many breakable ornaments till Jake is out of his "shake it till it falls over or lands on you" phase. He's also going to be a climber so maybe we'll be using the small tree next year too.

This tree is going to reside in our living room window so if you're in the neighborhood on Friday night, swing by for a peek! (This is not an invitation for everyone we know to come into the house... though I guess we don't know many people and if you really wanted to stop by, just call first and I'll whip up some dessert and move Katie's kitchen and many toys from where they block the front door so you can enter without breaking someting - and by something I mean an arm or leg. No coffee though unless ya like instant.)

So, we're excited about that. And then on Friday night I think Katie is going to the lake for the weekend. Dad mentioned it to me last night but didn't actually invite her so I'm wondering if he was just expecting me to catch what he was throwing out there in the form of saying that mom will be shopping this weekend and he and Katie would have fun doing stuff or if I still need to confirm she's invited before I pack her clothes and she packs 50 of her favorite toys in multiple bags.

If she goes, I think, now that Jake is sleeping in his crib (woooo hooo!!!) I might attempt to watch a movie. But, I'll probably just end up going to sleep at 9:30 when I put Jake down cause that's what seems to happen.

Ahhh, and I don't have to work on Friday. I have a 4 day weekend to relax and have fun! Unless I go out to catch some black friday sales. Which I probably won't. Because it's probably not going to be relaxing. Or fun.

So, I didn't want to say too much and jinx the whole "sleep in crib" thing but...

Last night marked the THIRD night Jake spent in his crib!

Saturday night he fell asleep and I decided to put him in his crib (which doesn't ever work because he wakes up instantly). He started to cry (quelle suprise) and I considered picking him up, but then I reconsidered.

I thought "do I really want to continue squishing myself into bed next to Jake (when Jake gets to lay in the middle and ends up migrating so he's rightnexttome then I move over toward the edge of the bed and he scoots over so he's still rightnexttome but now I'm hanging over the edge just a little bit?

OR, did I want the bliss of freedom to read in bed, to go to the bathroom without rushing (because I'm afraid *someone* will wake up and crawl off of the bed), to snuggle with the covers pulled up to my neck (because I can't when Jake is next to me... he doesn't like to have his legs covered)... Yes, I wanted that bliss.

So I let him cry. Remembering ever episode of Supernanny I had watched this month (because really, that show is ALWAYS on!) really helped too. I remembered that parents are supposed to sit outside of the crib with their side to the baby so I did that. Oh, and no eye contact. (This got easier on night two and three because I was very busy playing Brickbreaker on my blackberry storm *insert hearts and hugs and kisses here because... I lurv my blackberry**.)

I felt very bad for awhile but at about the 40 minute mark Jake started to get sleepy. He would stand up and cry, then he would plop down onto the mattress and cry, then he would stand and then sit over and over and over. Finally, he plopped down on the mattress and stayed sitting. Then finally the moment I had waited for... he flopped down onto his tummy and rested his head on the boppy pillow that was in his crib (because I didn't think he would actually stay there!).

I scooted toward the door a little... and he woke up and cried more. Then he flopped down again (it was so cute!) and I scooted a little more. He woke up again and cried but for less time. We continued the "scoot and cry" for about 5 minutes till he flopped over and was out. So precious.

He slept for about 3 hours before he woke up. I brought him to bed then.

The next night he went down very easily. We got Katie to bed and were snug as a bug until... 10:30 when Jake woke up crying. I picked him up and cuddled, then put him back in his crib (while keeping an eye on Katie to see if she was waking up). He cried for about 5 minutes but went back to sleep. This happened at 11:30, 12:30, 1:30 AND 2:30 but finally he settled and we were all back to bed. Katie didn't even stir till about 2:45 when I tucked her in again and she rolled over and covered her ears. In her sleep. I guess she's used to Jake's loudness.

Last night he fell asleep easily and I heard him crying two times during the night. Both times he stopped before I could get my glasses on (you know... so I could play Brickbreaker while I sat on the floor waiting for him to calm down). I was so proud of him... and me for sticking with it.

I kind of miss it though. Not enough to quit... just enough to be a little sad that it's over. Because we can't go back to where we were.

Good Bye to Daddy's Glasses

Good bye glasses.

Mommy's glasses
Daddy's glasses.

We're down to
one pair
each.

It's sad to see
them go.

They've served us well
and lived to tell

of many a time
in a child's hands
and yes,
drooly mouths.

Till now.

Jake and Katie,
you've done it.

Between the two of you
destroyed

at least 4
pairs of glasses

(maybe more
cause daddy's a collector
and I don't know what
he's got goin' on)

ahem...

please, have mercy
on these, our last two.

Katie and Jacob go to Play Center

Katie and Jake went to play center last night. It was great! We got there in time for Katie to make a cornucopia. Everything was already cut out so all we... I mean all she had to do was glue it down and draw the lines (like for the grapes and banana and stuff). She did great with the glue and the lines. We hung it up on the drying hanger and she went to play.

She was going to play with some fruit and scales until I drew her attention to the COOLEST dollhouse and dollhouse accessories! I think she played with that for at least 30 minutes with grandma while I wrangled Jake. He loved watching the kids and crawling on the toys. He even pushed one of those little vacuum cleaner type toys with the balls and when you push it the balls bounce and make popping noises. I held him up so he could stand but he used his little legs to move!

It was fun.

At the end of the night, after clean up time, the kids sat in a circle and the teacher led them in a song. They had "maracas" they made out of milk jugs from McDonald's and rice and shook those for the song.

I guess I should mention here that *some* of the jugs had beads, some had dry corn, and some had rice. The rice jugs weren't too loud but the bead jugs were verrrrry noisy.

And Katie is a little picky about noise. In fact, when she's not making it, she expresses a very strong dislike for it.

And these jugs were loud.

I was very proud of her when she joined in, despite the noise, and shook her little shaker just like the others.

I held my breath a little when I saw that she was shaking a little less each time that part of the song came up. Till finally her shaker, still in her hand, was resting on the floor. Whew. I was worried that she would throw it down and have a loud fit... telling everyone what she thought of the noise.

We got through the song and had a story. I liked it and I thought she did too.

Then we sang the goodbye song and headed out.

As we were leaving the parking lot, Katie says "Mama, I don't like that. I don't like the story and the singing."

So I decided to roll with it and I said that she didn't have to go back next week and then she was all "but I like play center, I want to go back!" and I was all, "Okay, but not next week because play center's closed."

Crisis averted. Again.

Go stand outside!

So about two weeks ago I was going to the store with Katie. She was wearing a dress. To be more exact, she was wearing a sun dress. A little chilly for the weather, I know but it's warm in the house and she's pretty much the dictator for what goes on while the kids are with daddy. I've come home to find her in a long-sleeve, heavy fabric dress in the summer and her sun dress in the winter and those are just the days when she's actually in "outside" clothes. I've pretty much decided to let it go and call it a draw. (And yes, we've tried to put an outfit in her "tomorrow spot" but if she's not "feeling it" she won't wear it.)

So, back to the store...


Katie didn't want to change out of the sun dress which was my first suggestion. And she sure didn't want to put pants on *under* the sun dress, which was my second, ahem... suggestion.

Finally I decided tough love might be the answer and I unlocked our sliding door and looked at her. She said "what mama?" in that cute *I don't know what you could possibly want from me... I already said I didn't want to put pants on or change my outfit so let's head out already* voice. She had on her shoes and socks and jacket and I ... I told her to go stand outside.

She happily went out and stood by the house. Smiled at me while enjoying the great outdoors. And didn't seem cold at all. Then I figured that standing next to the house wasn't the same as walking into a store so I figured she needed to go out a little more... to really experience the great outdoors.

So I sent her to the farthest part of the deck. She still didn't quite get it. Till I asked her if she was cold. She denied being anything less than cozy and warm but was ready to come in pretty quickly to get her pants on so we could go.

I guess that's "thinking outside of the box."

Mommy - 1, Katie - 0 (at least for now).

Jacob, you're not a stunt baby so stop it!

Katie's pink chair has been the scene of many a stunt. Mostly perpetrated by one baby boy.

Jacob has, on more than one occasion, crawled onto the seat, then onto the back then

1) slid off when the chair topples.
2) onto the seat of daddy's recliner, then onto the arm where he's tried to reach the lamp.
3) tried to get on the baby gate causing it to wobble dangerously.

It's too much. There's not enough padding to wrap you in to make mommy feel safe about any of these stunts.

So it's got to stop.

Katie has only ever ONE time crawled onto the seat, then onto the back, then toppled off when the chair fell back causing her to fall off of said chair and into the baby gate, scraping her back (at least that's what I assume happened because she was crying so hard she couldn't tell me). All because you did it first and came out of it laughing. Really hard.

So please stop. You're not a stunt baby and Katie doesn't need any more owies.

Thanks!

Dear Katie and Jacob,

My Sweet Children,

Mommy loves you dearly. Mommy loves it when you want to cuddle (Katie) and when you want to snuggle (Jakey) and I love it lots when you want to just sit by me and *be*.

I just have one request. It's simple really and there's no reason you couldn't help your mother out.

Please, PLEASE be careful with your tiny elbows and your big heads. This week, I've been poked and pushed, bumped and bruised. Jake, your head has bumped (with great force) against mommy's lip many a time and Katie, your elbow has poked(also with great force) mommy's nose. I have to say kids that this really hurts. It's usually far and few between that mommy worries about getting a black eye, fat lip, or bloody nose but this week you've really been active.

So, I would like it if you could be a bit more gentle.

Also, if I could just throw this out there, do you think mommy could have some quiet time just all by myself? Not a lot... maybe just 10 minutes each day after work to collect my thoughts before the complaint/demand "window" opens? I don't know if you realize this but before you, my precious babies, came into my life, I had hours and hours of quiet time. And it was nice. Then with the addition of one sweet, happy baby girl, that changed a little. Still pretty quiet but different. And with the addition of our sweet, rambunctious little boy it's changed a lot. Lots. Really a bunch. Playing by yourself you are still pretty quiet but when the two of you get together to play, you play together loudly.

Now, I'm not saying that I would ever want to go back to the boredom of those early days because I wouldn't trade either of you for any amount of peace and quiet or alone time.

I'm just sayin' that it would be nice if you could grant me, your wonderful mommy, 10 minutes of quiet at some point each day. Or at least the time it would take mommy to use the facilities all by my self. Because mommy doesn't feel lonesome when I'm going potty. Really, I don't mind.

So, that's it. You are both too cute for words.

Love,

Mommy

An Ode to My Glasses

On the
bathroom floor.

Under a
towel.

Right
underfoot

As I step
out of the tub.

Katie playing
while I'm in the shower.

So quietly
but I didn't stop to wonder

What she might be
playing with.

I guess I should have asked.

Katie and the Rocking Chair

Whew! We had a GREAT day yesterday.

I had the day off - I could pretty much stop my list there, right?!

BUT wait, there's more!

The kids were sweet, I folded some laundry while they played in their room. Katie running around with a play drill, Jake watching her every move while trying to follow her around, both of them just content to "be". It was nice. And relaxing!

Then Grandma invited us to go to Walmart with her and Grammy invited us for dinner later that evening!

So we got ready to go to Walmart with Grandma and both kids were good. Not too much fussing. Bought some 12 month clothes for Jake since he'll be able to wear them... ohhhh, right about ... NOW. I had to buy a bag of trail mix for Katie to munch on since she was *starving* at the store. She was so hungry she reverted back to about the age of 1. She was adamant that she was not hungry before we left, but oh boy, once we got there she was staaaaaaarving. So it was a very smart impulse buy!

Then on to Sam's Club. Looked at lots of stuff.

At both stores Jacob sat in the cart in the seat. Usually I bring the carseat with me but Grandma wanted him to be able to look around. He sure did! He loved it. Stared at everything.

After we were done shopping we headed home. Mom waited in the car with the kids while I ran in with the "super duper juice" and the milk. When I started out again she called to me to remember Katie's water. So I went back in and got it. By the time I got into the car (not ever 3 minutes after mom got out) Katie was asleep. So was Jake. They slept ALLLL the way to Grammy and Grampys and Jake slept in the car while I carried Katie into the house and stayed asleep till we got to the door.

Ate a delicious roast with everything OH, and Grammy made some delicious sweet potatoes. With marshmallows. Marshmallows that mom forgot at home.

Dad came in and then we heard the car leave... and couldn't figure out where she was headed to!

Jake wanted to be into everything (there's a framed pic on the bottom of one of Grammy's tables that Jake goes for EVERY time were there! and he had a blast playing with some wooden spoons and a plastic funnel on, and the beach ball too!) and Katie was having fun with the chalk and the firefighter hats.

We were taking a bathroom break and Katie told me "Mommy, I like it here. I have fun."

She really did have a good time talking to Virginia about everything under the sun... she took to her right away!

We got home and that's where the trouble started. *Someone* took the remote and hid it. When I asked *someone* she said she didn't take it. I asked the same *someone* quite a few times but didn't really press the issue because I didn't know if John had moved it so the kids didn't play with it/chew on it. Then *someone* had a meltdown... Katie thought Jake was interested in touching her rocking chair. You would think it was made of glass and would break at a glance when really, it's sturdy wood. I told her to put it in her room and shut the door but she cried that she "couldn't do that because Jakey would get it before she shut the door!" Oh my. Not fun. Then "her knee hurt". So I got her an ice pack and moved the chair into her room... which is when I saw the toys she was supposed to pick up and put in her toy bins... "but not just in one pile sweetie... put the dolls with dolls and knex with knex... not in a big pile!" They were laying on her bed. In a big pile. So I called her in and she came right away (I get the feeling that she knew I had seen the pile!) and she cleaned them up.

When we were ready to leave the room, I told her that she should "turn off the light, shut the door, and get the tv remote." (If you remember from the previous paragraph she told me that she hadn't moved the remote.) What do you think happened? She turned off the light, shut the door, and WENT TO THE DINING ROOM AND GOT THE REMOTE FROM THE CHAIR UNDER THE TABLE. Hmph. We're still working on truth vs. lie.

Katie and Jake - First Plane Ride

I'm a little nervous but really excited. We (me, the kids, mom and dad) will be flying to Texas in January.

Nervous because I'm not sure how the kids will handle it... and excited because it will be really fun to see my family and introduce Jake to everyone. I'll get to see babies, kids who've grown from babies in the two visits I've made in the last 7 years, cousins, aunts and uncles, my grandfather... everyone!

I told Katie that we were going to fly in an airplane to get to Texas. She said "I scared mama." I asked why and she said "I scared I will fall out."

So we're back to nervous. What if she decides (at however many feet in the air we're at) that she doesn't *want* to be in the plane. I'm a little nervous that she will start her looooouuuuuud cry. It's like a siren in its repetition and it drives me bananas.

I think I'll have some candy (maybe suckers... maybe caramel wrapped around peanut butter wrapped in taffy - get it? Gooey candy = quiet toddler) for her during the flight and hope for the best. She'll probably be fine. Really. Probably.

Jake can only do two things... sleep or cry. I'm hoping he'll choose sleep. It's a long flight and I can't keep a bottle in his mouth the whole time. And candy for him is probably a no-no.

Then there's the car seat/stroller dillemma. Arg. I didn't ever think I would be able to travel anywhere while the kids were little (unless it was by car) so I didn't consider the logistics of a toddler and a baby.

I think mom has read up on stuff so I feel a little better but still... getting there is going to be a challenge.

But I can't wait!

Kids are funny...

I was folding laundry on Sunday and decided that I might as well pack the kids' bag for their trip to the lake on Friday.

Yes, I know it's a whole (almost) week away but there were enough clothes so I didn't think they would end up running around half dressed... well, maybe Jacob but he's usually in a onesie and diaper anyway (minus the onesie) so we would be fine.

I really truly did not pack them up on Sunday in eager anticipation of Friday's good bye's, no siree. I only wanted to avoid the rush on Thursday of bath and packing and all that good stuff. Katie decided to pack her toys too, even after I told her that we've got a lot of days to go before it's Friday and she might want to play with the toys she crammed into her toy bag to bring along... but she was determined to pack in advance. Oh well, I expect to see her toys on the living room floor when I get home. Oh well again. *sigh*

So, we had a great week. The kids were fun and cute and wonderful, as usual, there were no meltdowns and no one peed on the bathroom floor because they were too busy playing and didn't make it on time... 3 times. No siree.

No one spilled water on the floor while playing in the sink and then raced through the kitchen and slipped on that water and cried and cried and cried... No siree.

No one had a horrible accident on the living room carpet that grandpa helped clean up... No siree. (When I say horrible, I mean gross and icky... so it's a goooooood thing it didn't happen!)

So we've had a pretty quiet week with all of the stuff that *didn't* happen.

Oh, I hope to be updating more since I can do it on the road or from the comfort of my recliner now that (insert Oprah voice here... yep, it's her "announcey" voice I hear in my head when I'm really excited about something. I know. Strange.)

IIIIIIII got a blackberry!

I didn't think I would ever want one but John convinced me that we needed one for Christmas. We're sharing it because, while we did get a discouted price, the price tag made me second guess. And third guess... and keep guessing till I heard that I could go on Facebook and even do internet stuff (insert Oprah voice here...) from my owwwwwn recliner at which point I just had to say hook me up!

I did have a little gulp of worry about our budget but knew there was some wiggle room... I might have to save up for another month to get my under cabinet kitchen radio/cd player I've wanted for the last few months, but this is 10 times cooler so I'm okay with that.

Katie's ready to go (aka: why you should always keep a key handy)

Katie has been locking her bedroom door lately. The first time she locked it, she happened to be in her room. Daddy was not. He had to talk her through turning the little switch on the knob to open the door. I could make a comment about how hard it was to talk to her through her yelling and crying but I figure that's just a given.

But I think she learned her lesson... or at least, she learned how to lock and unlock the door at will so we haven't had any repeats of this.

So good for her! She has learned to lock the door AND unlock... the only thing no one thought to mention to her was that if you don't disengage the lock before leaving the room and shutting the door, you're kind of outta luck if you want to go back into the room and ya don't happen to have a key.

Once grandpa found out (he's the one who got to unlock the door so we could get back in) he was able to find a new door knob without a lock. Thank you Grandpa!

So yesterday after dad's doctor appointment he and mom decided to go to dinner. After realizing they forgot a gift card for the restaurant, dad came home and mom went shopping. Dad fixed the door knob and while he was busy, so was Katie. I guess she (the kid who never dresses herself without a lot of huffing and puffing because it's to haaaaarrrrdd... and she's to tiiiiiredddd) pulled on her skirt and a top and socks and shoes and told grandpa "I ready to go!" and really with that kind of cuteness looking at him, he couldn't say no!

So Katie got to go to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and she ate wild rice soup, baked potato, green beans, and steak. YUM!!!

I ate frozen burritos.

Look Mommy! Jakey is STANDING!

Yes, my little baby boy is standing up all on his own. He doesn't make a big deal out of it but me and Katie look at each other with wide eyes and smiles, sharing the moment. I don't know if Katie does it because she knows I'm excited but it sure is cute - of both of them.

He's done it so much in the past week that it shouldn't be an event each time... but it is. We get excited and we watch him and we try not to make any sudden moves. And he calmly reaches out and holds on again when he feels like it.

Jake started just letting go one day. He was standing by the couch and he... let go. And stood there till I got nervous and slowly reached out my hand to steady him if he got wobbly. Once he saw my move to steady him, he put his hand out and reached for the couch.

The other day he was holding on to the cabinet in the bathroom and he... let go. He stood there and then he started to crouch down... got a little wobbly and reached for the cabinet door but didn't stop what he was doing until he had one knee and one foot on the floor.

We were in the kids' room and he was holding on to the bed and he... let go. He stood and watched what was going on until he got wobbly and held on again. Calmly.

So I started thinking that maybe it's time for me to let go a little. Not panic when he stands up on the hard kitchen floor or a baby gate falls over onto him or he gets bopped in the head and almost run over by Katie because she decided she needed to carry her pink chair while running around the living room playing with Jake (yes, playing with Katie can be a contact sport). Not even when he crawled onto the seat of her pink chair and kept going over the back till it tipped over and he fell off laughing(!) when he slid to the floor. I did panic a little at that one.

He loves to stand up and "walk" while he holds onto the rolling chairs in the kitchen and I decided that I would try to let him even when I'm afraid he will fall over. I'll let him do this on his own so he can learn what he's capable of.

After all, it's not like he hasn't gotten a bump or bruise here and there and a little fall onto his tush isn't going to hurt him (not with his diaper padding the fall).

Matter of fact, most of the time he's doing great till I started to get involved!

Katie was easy when it came to this stuff. She waited so long to crawl and walk that once she did it she went full speed ahead (and it was time... I was ready to let go of my tiny baby and accept that she was growing up into the next stage of her life) so I wasn't as worried. Once she started walking, I could tell her "Katie, be careful" and she would slow down. I don't think it will be that easy with Jacob.

But I do think it's time for me to... let go. Let him see what he can do, test out his boundaries, be there for him when he does fall.

Halloween (I'll add pictures later)

Katie had a great time on Saturday. She got dressed in her princess costume about 2 hours before we needed to be at church so I took some pictures. Jake didn't mind his lion costume (that Katie also wore when she was a baby) and he even kept the hat on!

Went to church and played games then saw a play.

Went to Target and Katie got a set of small pots and pans with utensils, which she loved. She was telling me "I keep my kitchen cleaned up mommy." "My kitchen is neat, isn't it mommy." So I really wanted her to have something special. And she loves it. She has been picking up her toys really well and she's been keeping her kitchen clean so I figured she deserved something special!

Pee is gross. Don't read this if you're squeemish.

We made our rounds to Costco (and yes, I did hold my ground and did not buy the huge bag of chocolate chips!) then to Paigey's to drop off Uncle Mike's camera charger, then to Rainbow for some extra stuff you can't get at Costco (at least not in a size that fits into our cupboards!).

We're finally at the checkout lane. Waited forever for it to be our turn and finally I'm ready to load our stuff onto the belt. When...


SOMEONE


had to go potty.


I asked her, "Katie, do you really have to go potty now? The bathrooms here are not super clean and if you can wait for just 20 minute, we can be at home and you can go there! Can you wait?"

She replied, "I really have to go mommy... now."

So we left the checkout lane with only one longing glance and headed to outer Siberia, oh, I mean headed to the back of the store to use the bathroom.

Found a stall that looked okay, got her on the potty, then remembered something kinda important.

If she's not all the way on... sometimes there can be overflow... over the seat.

And as I watched, sure enough, out of the potty and onto her pants. Then I pushed the small scrap of toilet paper onto the seat, trying to stop the flow running down the base and again, onto her pants.

This was gross. And icky. But finally I just moved her legs out. Wish I had been that smart in the beginning!

It wasn't too bad, but she started to complain and I started to laugh. She was getting cross with me and I told her she had to stay put because mommy had to wash the pee off her hand. And I laughed while I washed. Twice. With lots of soap.

Then I turned and tried to figure out how to get her out of the store, into the car, into the house without the pee from her pants getting all over. Ick.

Finally decided to fold up the paper towels (thank goodness they had paper towels and not one of those air dry things) and put it next to her tush so it wouldn't get irritated, then wrapped another batch around her waistband so it wouldn't get on the seat and her shirt.

Made it out of the store (luckily the checkout lanes were pretty empty when we went back) and into the car with a minimum of complaints about how itchy she felt.

I'm laughing now too... It was funny. Even though it was gross.

Actually, I can say this is the first week BOTH kids have peed on me. Jake got me during an early morning diaper change.

I guess I'm a keeper!

Just a typical Saturday morning. Kids playing, tv going, lots of giggles and no sharing issues.

Katie looks at me and says "I don't want any other mommy than you, mommy." And I thought that was just the sweetest thing.

She said it about 10 times that day and on Sunday. It was very cute but at one point I had to ask her why she thought she would get another mommy besides this mommy. She just answered that she didn't want any other mommy that me, she didn't want any other daddy besides her daddy, and she didn't want any other brother besides Jake.

I was happy about that last part because a couple of weeks ago she told me that mommy and daddy and Katie should live here. When I looked at her, she glared in Jacob's direction and I saw that she was trying to hold the baby gate closed so he couldn't get into her precious kitchen... he might touch something!

Cuddles and Babies

When I come home from work, I'm usually greeted by Katie who rushes to me and tells me "I happy you come home from work, mommy" and we get to hug and talk for a minute.

And then I try to sneak into the bedroom to change my clothes before *someone* tries to find me. Calling "mamamamamama" all the way.

He says mamamamamama a lot and he stands up (holding onto stuff) and he plays well with Katie, and he eats puffs by himself, and he sometimes lets go of the stuff he's holding onto while standing and he stays up!

It's crazy. He was standing up holding onto the couch one day last week and when I looked, I saw that he had let go and was just standing all by himself!!! I couldn't believe it! He's done it more than once and I think we're well on our way to a more mobile baby.

Except when he wants mamamamamama.

So I'm looking for a baby sling so I can carry him around. You know, for those times when I want to do something that I might need two hands for. I've heard babies can be worn for a long time... and the sling I'm thinking about holds up to 35 lbs.

One evening I was in the bedroom and I heard him in the hall. I thought he would pop in at any moment but when I heard him crying I looked out and realized he was sitting in the hallway outside of the bathroom where he must have thought I was. He was much happier when I stuck my head out into the hall to show him that I was right there!

Oh, my sweet girl has wanted to cuddle a lot these days. She comes over and says "cuddle mama?" and it's so precious that I want to just sit with her forever.

It's almost more precious when we've been cuddling for a few minutes but I have to get up for a minute and she stops me and says "But mama, I not done cuddlin yet." I love that because usually before I'm ready to let her go, she's ready to get going. Playtime and imaginary friends wait for no mom.

Target - Is it still my oasis of calm?

I like going to Target. It's got formula, groceries, shoes, kids clothes, and more, all under one roof. It's usually got a very quiet peaceful vibe since I don't always take the kids with me when I need to run in for medicine or odds and ends.

So, I guess I should say that I like going to Target alone. I clear my head and exhale.

Well, on Saturday night, something happened that could have ruined my Target experience forever.

Chaos arrived into my happy Target world. Katie and I were over in the dollar section playing with dinosaurs and I hear a lady (lady #1) telling another that she wasn't talking to her, she was on her cell phone and that she feels threatened and feels like she should call security!

I'm like, whoa! This is Target, respect the vibe! And respect the little ears that are listening to you. (Luckily Katie wasn't paying attention... she was busy helping the dinosaurs make friends with each other.)

Then the other lady (lady #2) walked past with a cart and says something very threatening... I won't repeat it here.

Almost at the same time, I hear lady #2's relative tell lady #1 that "she didn't mean anything by it... there are children here..."

Huh? If there are children with you, should you really be getting into an argument with someone you don't know? And if you don't know them, how much should you really care if they say something to you or what they said?

I was angry that Katie and I were standing there when it happened. And it only lasted a minute before both parties went their separate ways. Well, I wasn't going to say anything about lady #2's comment until I saw three Target employees walk by.

Then I had to tell them what she said. And I had to tell them that if nothing was done about this situation, it would be very sad.

I don't know if anything was done and the whole situation made me really angry. And ruined part of my Target experience.

Luckily we got back on track after I shopped for my bagels and cream cheese (yum) but I'm still mad about it now... two days later.

The 50's

We had a fun Saturday. Me and the kids (and mom and dad) went to a 50's themed 50 birthday party.

There was live music, good food, poodle skirts, slicked back hair, rolled up jeans, t-shirts and lots more! We ate and then listened to the band.

Jake slept (as he often does when there's loud noise and commotion - really! He seems to sleep best when there's lots going on and it's loud) and Katie did not sleep. She did not like the loud noise. I don't know how it worked out but a little bit into the music she ended up sitting on a chair in the hallway with grandpa watching the band and the dancing. In the hall. Oh, did I say that already?

So it was fun.

After the party we went to my friend Lori's house to visit. She's just moving in and I hadn't even seen the paint yet! Got a tour and visited.

Katie and Jake played with Lori's grandson, Mahkai, and had a great time. Katie told me she was "watching the kids" which was funny!

Just before we left, Jake pulled a chair down onto himself. Poor baby! He was not happy.

So in the car, when he got quiet, I asked Katie how Jake was doing. She said he was sleeping... then she said "He awake... He opened his little peepers, mommy."

Went home and got settled then took Katie to Target for formula. Nice night except Target was not the calm oasis it usually is. I'll have more to say on that in another post!

Katie and the Early Childhood Screening

Friday was the day! Katie was going to go to "school" for her early childhood screening.

I reminded her about it on Thursday (like I had done many times in the past few weeks) just to get her used to the idea and in the past, she had been very excited to go to "school" (that's what I called it). Unfortunately on Thursday she was not as thrilled about the idea.

Me: Katie... tomorrow you get to go to school to see a teacher and play games! It will be soooo fun!

Katie: I don't want to go.

Me: You have to go. We've got an appointment.

Katie: I don't want to go and play with the teacher. I don't want to go to school.

Me: Well, you have to go.

Katie: I tell the teacher I don't want to go to school.

Me: That's fine. Tomorrow we'll go and you can tell the teacher you don't want to go to school.

Whew, crises averted! I figured that teachers had to have pretty thick skin as a requirement of being a teacher so she wouldn't be crying in her coffee over Katie's words.

So off we went! I got off work early and packed up the kids and we got there right on time. I filled out paperwork while someone got her height and weight (I don't remember what the numbers are, I have to look at the paper we took home) and Katie cooperated the WHOLE time! She put her things down and cooperated so well and so quietly that I couldn't belive she was the same kid who threw a fit at the doctors office when they tried to do the exact same thing!

She could have been distracted by the other kids running around (I think it was day care pick up time so kids were leaving with parents and she was watching everything.)

Once that was done we went into another room and one of the testers had her build a tower with small blocks, write shapes she saw on a card, give names to four items (car, ball, button, something I can't remember), finish sentences (I loved it when she answered correctly that a window is made of glass), match cards up (like memory) and finally... take the eye test.

Everything was going great up to that point. I mean, I could tell she was getting a little huffy toward the end of the blocks/cards/shapes part but I thought we could make it.

Not so much. By the time we got to the eye test she was ready to rebel. She went along with the first part (covering her right eye and pointing to her card to match the letters she saw on the board) but when we got to her left eye... she kind of didn't want to do it anymore. I know because she told us. She said "I don't like school. I don't want to do this." That was a good indicator that we had reached the end of a toddlers patience with jumping through hoops.

So, we took a break and went to a different room for the hearing test. She got to listen first without the headphones on, then with. And she was supposed to move a block from the cup to the table whenever she heard a tone. She did great! Then she had to look at a small clown face on a stick that the nurse moved around. (Why a clown? I don't know. Don't get me started on clowns.) She did great at that too. Then... it was back to vision. The nurse finally got Katie to finish her left eye and then we went to the play area and her and Jake played. They had a great time! He was laughing and crawling and she was laughing about what he was doing. The nurse ran through some papers with me and then we were done.

When we left, Katie told me "Mommy, ask that lady if I can come back her sometime. Like tomorrow."

I thought that was a good sign... till later when we were in the car and she told me she didn't want to go to school anymore.

I figured it was time to fess up.


I had to tell her that it wasn't actually school school.


I had to tell her that it was just a pretend school


and that if she passed the test at the pretend school,


she would get to go to the real school where they play games and have story time and snack time and learn fun things.

Another letter to my sweet Katie (otherwise titled: You're too young to need makeup)

Katie, you are so precious. Mommy loves looking at your sweet little face. It's so different from just a year ago... and even though you still resemble the 1-year-old I remember so fondly, you don't look like the little baby you once were.

It's because you're so young that I didn't think we would need to talk about this yet.

It's something I hoped we could avoid till you were at least... 10?

or even older would be great.

It's...


Makeup.


And, yes, you're a big girl but you are not big enough to need powder, blush and mascara. Mommy was very relieved that you did not poke out your eye when you tried to apply what turned out to be a large black clump near your eyebrow and a black smear across your nose. Very relieved that daddy did not have to make the call to mommy telling me to rush to the hospital because of a bad owie.

Also, it may have seemed like a good idea to use mommy's blush brush and blush... oh, and my powder foundation, but you've got such beautiful skin that it was really gilding the lilly.

Oh, and mommy's blush brush is not the same as your paint brush. It should not get wet, (especially, since I think you might have used it as a sink cleaning brush - so even if it could have been saved, mommy would not have wanted to use it anywhere near her face in the future - then put it back into mommy's makeup bin) ever. Oh, and something to remember for future blush use: when you put blush on your face with a wet brush, it looks a little cakey. And not the good kind of cake.

So, let's talk about makeup when you're just a little older... like, 20? (did I ever say 10 cause I'll deny it!) and we'll figure it out then.

Love you sweetie!!!!

Mommy

Weekend at the lake

Had a great weekend at the lake with the kids! Katie went up with Grandma and Grandpa on Friday night after work and I brought Jake with me later in the evening. We got there at about 9:30 and got settled in.

Mom and Dad too Jake for the night and I got a great night sleep! Woke up the next morning and had a delicious breakfast and then helped run the winch for the men while they brought in the docs. Yes, I ran a winch. It was very fun.

After a heavy lifting then mom and I were going to go shopping until I realized I couldn't find my cash card. Arg. I was a little upset. Looked high and low till I figured out that maybe John hadn't given it back after he used it. Still had a check tho so off to Walmart we went!

I love that store. I can spend hours there and it seems like only minutes!

Bought some formula (since I forgot ours at home and then ended up forgetting this formula at the lake when we left on Sunday. Grrr.) and a cute hat for Katie, and a t-shirt for me, and some other stuff from their clearance aisle. I shouldn't even go into that aisle. I found some stuff that I thought about buying even though I didn't. even. know. what. it. was. for. Luckily I stopped myself before it found it's way into my cart.

We also hit two dollar stores and some boutiques. I did much better there. The only thing I bought at the dollar store was a bag of Hot Tamales... yum... that I tried to hide from Katie all day on Sunday. Till I could tell she was going to get mad because I wasn't sharing. I gave her a tiny taste and she did fine... then I gave her a whole one and she did fine. Well, her eyes were watering but she assured me that it wasn't too hot or too spicy. I decided to stop talking to her till she was done eating each piece (yes, she had more than one... or two pieces) because she was telling me "mama, it not schpishy" and I worried that there was potential for drool and if she did spray any Hot Tamale juice out onto grandma's stuff, it seemed likely to stain it.

Project Runway was on and I HAD to find out who was "out" that week, THEN I went to bed.

Woke up and hung out with two of my fave people (who happen to both be under 4 feet) and we had rice crispies and hung out. Mom woke up from her nap (she was up early with Jake and went back to bed at around 8 a.m. and woke up at around 10 a.m.) and made eggs and ham and tortillas... It was delicious.

Later in the day me and Katie went out to help dad pull off the cover of the pontoon lift and Katie helped pick up s-hooks and put them in a bucket. She was adorable in her purple boots, pink hat, pink scarf, and princess hoodie. Well, till she went into the garage and came out in her purple boots, pink hat, and princess hoodie. Then she went back to the garage and came out in her purple boots and princess hoodie. THEN she went to the garage and came out in her purple boots and inside clothes. Luckily we were about to go back inside so I didn't push for her to get everything back on!

Sunday evening I headed home with Jake at about 6. Katie stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and came home later that night.

All in all, a good weekend!

Happy Birthday John!

It was John's birthday a few days ago. I totally remembered it on Saturday, Sunday, Monday... even reminding Katie a few times on each of those days that "daddy's birthday is on Tuesday!".

Then, I forgot. I forgot till Mom asked me what we were doing for John's birthday
that night!

So on the way home, I decided to make spaghetti for dinner. Till Mom and Dad offered to take us "out" to dinner! They picked up KFC and we ate and ate... it was really good.

I made brownies so we had that for dessert. It was a fun meal (and I didn't feel so bad that I kind of forgot).

Happy Birthday John! Hope it was a good one.

Kids are sick. Nuff said. Maybe I'll end this post here.

Or not... because I'm sure everyone is just dying to know what's going on in the Tiessen household and why it's been so long since I've posted anything...

So, Katie and Jake are sick. We thought it was just a cold and it would pass quickly but it didn't. In fact, Katie got worse with a cough and actual runny nose! Before that she had a stuffy nose and when I asked her if she was sick, she said "I dot sick baba." Hmmm. I had to silently disagree.

So now, Katie and Jake have runny noses and coughs.

We went to urgent care on Tuesday night and once I mentioned that both kids had coughs, the receptionist next to my receptionist piped in and told her to give me there... these turned out to be facemasks. For a 3 year old and an 8 month old. Really.

My receptionist looked at the nosy, er, I mean helpfull other receptionist and said "I don't think we're going to get a toddler and a baby to wear these things" in a totally doubtfull tone. Mrs. Kravitz, I mean, totally helpfull if delusional other receptionist said we just had to try.

Well, I was dealing with a million questions, our insurance information, a slow printer making me yet another sheet of labels when I don't think they have ever used more than two for any visits... so I gave the masks to John to see if he would have any luck attaching them to the kids' faces.

I don't think he even tried to get in on Jakes face (Jake was asleep in his carseat which is better than awake and trying to get down so he can crawl all over the germy floor) and when he asked Katie if she wanted to wear her mask, she said "No way." and that was that.

We finally got called and I was dreading Jake's visit... but he did the weigh in just fine. Katie, not so much. She cried and screamed like we were poking her with a bunch of needles... kind of like she does when Jake is about to touch one of her precious toys.

I ended up having to hold her and weighing us both then putting her down to weigh just me to come up with her weight. That wasn't fun for either of us and it sure wasn't fun to see my weight posted in 2" tall numbers on the scale screen. Ugh.

We got in the room and Jake let the nurse do everything she needed. He was doing well but Katie was not. She was crying and carrying on the whole time the nurse looked at Jake and the whole time she checked Katie.

When the doctor came in, she calmed down a bit. He talked to her and I think it helped. She let him listen to her breathing and check her ears and throat. It could have helped that he gave her two Diego stickers before he started.

Found out that Jake was fine (aside from his cold) and Katie has the beginnings of an ear infection.

Fun night.

Oh, and for those of you holding your breath for an update on Inches...

I haven't been very successful yet. I'm going to start walking on my afternoon break or something just because I'm not loosing anything.

Oh, and I'm also going to stop eating the chocolate chips like my life depends on it.

I think that's my problem. I've been pretty good about portion control but 50 chocolate chips each day (and that's a loooooow estimate) is probably WAY over the suggested serving per person per day... or per week.

*sigh*

Katie is not sick.

That's what she told me yesterday during our bathroom conversation.

I told her that she was sick because her nose was running, her voice sounded funny, and she was coughing lots.

She disagreed.

But she stayed home from Cubbies anyway. Well, that and she didn't want to go to Cubbies. So it was good that she was a little sick so I didn't feel like I had to take her anyway.

She was going to go with Grandma for the first time but maybe next week.

Both kids went to bed and then, at about 1:30 a.m., Jake woke up. I brought him to the living room to rock with him and a few minutes later, out comes Katie. She walks into the living room, announces that she has to go potty and needs help so off we go.

Jake sat on the bathroom rug while I assisted and then we all went to the living room. Did I mention it was 1:30 in the morning???

Katie wanted to watch tv... I told her it was too late for tv and she said she wanted to watch my shows. Still too late. We sat in our chairs and fell asleep. I woke up at 4 a.m. and got everyone to bed and Jake woke up AGAIN at about 4:30 and that's when John took over.

What a night. This is the 3rd night in a row for Katie to have woken up... I hope she gets better soon!

Katie is my "precious daughter"

Me, the kids, and grandma and grandpa went to dinner on Tuesday night. Katie had to go potty not once but TWICE in the hour and a half we were there.

The first time was a quick visit to the bathroom (where she's gotten used to mommy's "don't touch ANYthing in here... no, not even leaning against the wall... no, not even the counter... no, nothing. Because there are germs." Yes, she does wash her hands but I sort of suspend her above the counter... like she's flying. And she's getting heavy at 3 and a half years old!

She's a good listener when it comes to this - and if I see her start to reach for stuff, I just reminder her of the messy house show (how clean is your house) and that usually stops her because... have you seen how icky those houses are before they are cleaned. Very icky. Katie agrees.

We go back to the table, eat dinner, then have to go for our second visit. This was more lengthy. We had time to converse.

Katie: So mommy, how was your day?
Mommy: Good sweetie, how was your day?
Katie: Good.
Mommy: Are you done sweetie?
Katie: No, not yet.
(I probably asked her this 5 times while we were there.)

Katie: Mommy, I Honey's mama, and you my mama, and grandma is my grandma and grandpa is my grandpa.
Mommy: That's right! You're Honey's mama, I'm your mama, Grandma is my mama.
Katie: Mama, Grandma is my grandma and you her daughter and I your precious daughter.

She totally is.

Katie and her first Cubbies experience

Katie went to Cubbies last night. Grandpa took her so John could stay with Jake and mom and I could go to this food tasting (food I did NOT write down because it was too varied and... well, about 20 minutes after we left I had already forgotten what all I ate).

We stopped by the church after our thing was over and looked in on them.

The kids were sitting on the floor and the adults (including dad) were sitting on tiny red chairs. Katie and grandpa were on the outside fringes but that was okay... Katie was paying attention.

Then I heard her (from across the room) say "Grandpa, I can't sit on the floor anymore. Why can't I sit in one of those chairs?" And she pointed to the multitude of tiny chairs set against the wall. I held my breath. Hoping grandpa wouldn't get her a chair when the rest of the kids were sitting on the floor... because this is a good time to teach conformity (ick) to prepare her for school.

Grandpa didn't get her a chair...


He gave her his.


Katie did well though. She stood up to sing and colored with the rest of the 3 year olds. I was very proud of her. A little sad when she didn't really react to seeing me once I stepped in the room (she ignored me for the glitz and glam of the toy food and play lunch trays) but I was proud of her for being such a big girl.

When we got home she showed me the picture she colored. She drew circles with long sticks attached to them. She pointed to one and said it was Cubby (the bear mascot) and then said "Oh no! I forgot his ears!" I never did learn who/what the other 3 were... I offered her a pen to add ears and she started to color, ears forgotten, on the other side of the paper.

Katie and the strange assortment of toys

Katie's grandma got home on Tuesday night to find Katie standing by the door ready to go downstairs holding:

an empty formula container
an empty bowl of some sort
a play spatula
a play fork
a play spoon
(possibly other play utensils)
part of a box with numbers and letters cut out of the sides
a cover to a knex box
a few knex sticks
AND finally,
a play plastic measuring cup she was holding on to with her teeth because none of the toys were in the formula container or bowl so she ran out of hands.

Before grandma came in, I heard Katie say "I ready to go down now Mommy" and when I looked at her, she had the measuring cup in her teeth and was slouched over holding onto all of her stuff.

I laughed. I laughed. I laughed.

I was laughing when Grandma came in and trying to explain to Katie that she hadn't been invited to go downstairs and maybe grandma was tired... but it was broken up with lots of me, laughing.

Then grandma started to laugh and she said "How can I say no now!" so I helped Katie put toys into the empty formula can and got her all sorted out (while still laughing) and she got to go downstairs with grandma.

Jake was standing holding on to the recliner the whole time this was going on. Just looking at us. Or maybe me. Like I was a little bit crazy.

Inches update...

I'm starting to think I should just write down "20 THOUsand chocolate chips" on my food list each day. (I'm keeping a list of what I ate in case you missed my two previous posts. Feel free to go back and read them... I'll just wait here...)

I love chocolate chips. They are my tiny and delicious downfall and now I have a huge bag of them sitting in the freezer.

The huge bag I got at Costco. Now I don't bake cookies on a regular basis so I'm sure you're asking yourselves, "WHY would she need a huge bag of chocolate chips if she doesn't plan to bake cookies?" and my answer is... I don't know.

It seemed like a good idea at the time since I needed chocolate chips and the price at Cub is so high I always feel guilty adding them to my cart and the price at Costco is still high but you get enough chocolate chips to make 5,000 cookies... which I don't bake anyway... And they freeze well and they are a good little treat/bribe for Katie and well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

So I dropped the bag into the cart and off I went. It didn't look too big sitting in that huge Costco cart... and when I got it home it fit in the freezer but was the same size as my 3 lb package of ravioli, I realized I might have a tiny chocolatey problem. I'll have to think about need vs. want once my pack is gone and I'm faced with the dilemma of Cub vs. Costco again. Maybe I'll have shaken this habit... maybe not.

So anyway, each day I do pretty well with a few exceptions... like pot luck days, birthday cake days, bake sale days, and weekend days. Which, come to think of it have been happening often in the past week.

Still though, I'm doing okay. I find that when I eat a big meal, I don't eat a lot for the other meals and I've really cut back on snacks!

I still have to remind myself to leave Katie's plate alone because some days she leaves half of her food on her plate and I graze. Then when I realize I've eaten more than I should have, I need to calm myself down with an ice cream cone. With some chocolate chips on top.

With love...

On Saturday and Sunday I would give Katie her sippy cup and say "here's your sippy, with love!" or "here's your lunch, with love".

On Sunday evening I was humming/whistling "God made me" and Katie called out to me from the dining room, "Mommy... God made me... with love, right?" And I said "He sure did!"

This was a sweet moment.

Much better than the times she's in the bathroom washing her hands and I tell her "two squirts of soap only" (because if I don't tell her, I'll come back and there will be purple soap all over the sink and counter... one time I looked and she had gotten it all over one of our hand towels. Arg!) and she tells me "Mommy, go into the living room now." That's kind of a giveaway that she's going to use 3 squirts... or 30. Depending on how long she's left in the bathroom with the sink running.

Cinderella or Stripes?

So on Sunday morning Katie got up and I helped her pull an outfit together. She had a blue top, blue shorts, and Cinderella underpants. I helped with the shirt and left her to handle the rest.

Later in the day as I was helping her after a bathroom break, I pulled up her underpants and was puzzled to find her Saturday stripey underpants instead of the new Cinderella ones I had put out for her to wear.

I was only surprised for a second. Till I looked and saw another waistband next to her blue shorts.

She must have thought it would save time to put her new clothes on over the existing underpants.

I laughed so hard it took me a minute to get everything sorted out.

Katie fixed the "kitchen sink"

Katie was having some trouble with her kitchen this weekend. She had to pull out her tools and she spent some time laying on the floor working on it. (It kind of reminded me of a few months ago when our sink broke and her grandpa fixed spent some time laying on the floor working on it.)

It was cute. Jake was next to her chewing on the door and just hanging out. Katie told me that he was helping to hold the door open.

Katie is such a good sister. She's gotten better about sharing toys (especially Jakes toys) with him and this weekend she even brought him a bin of blocks to play with.

Slow down... you move too fast!

Jake, this is your mommy.

I'm telling you to slow down. You move too fast when you want to get to where you want to go.

Mommy would love it if she had more than 30 seconds to herself in the bathroom before you a) start to bang on the door or b) push the door open and start to crawl in (which icks mommy out because... it's the bathroom floor.)

** Katie, this is a shout out to you too... if the bathroom door is closed, it might mean that mommy is having some personal time. I know you like to chat (with a captive audience) but it's really just not such a good time. Especially when you leave the bathroom door open. I know, I know, you try to help by shutting it once mommy reminds you but by the time Jake has an arm in the door, it's too late.

Back to you Jacob...

I'm telling you to stop trying to move the baby gates by pushing and pulling them. Usually while they are supporting your standing weight. The baby gates mommy and daddy put up are to keep you in and it kind of defeats the purpose when you manage to pull them down. Onto yourself.

Also... Katie's kitchen is not a baby gate. Pushing and pulling it usually ends with you covered in... well, hard, plastic kitchen. There is no door or opening behind it to go through or explore, just wall. Maybe some dust. So, I would really appreciate it if you could cease and desist. Mommy is tired of panicking and doing a tooth check every time said kitchen falls down. Onto you.

Also, you're super cute. Love your smiles!

But PS, the grinding teeth isn't so cute. It makes mommy's head hurt and sounds icky.

Thanks Jake!

Think again...

The other day we were talking and Katie asked me what "Mom, what color is the Toy Fairy's bag?" And I said I thought it was purple. Katie said "Think again!" So after a little laugh at that, I said "Orange" and Katie agreed. And I chuckled again.

So,last night me, mom, dad, Katie, and Jacob went to the park. Mom and Katie came upstairs ready to go at about 7:45 or so and mom was very surprised to find that it had gotten dark!

The plan was going to change to a walk around the block until Katie said "I have an idea..." and she waits for our attention. Then she said "Let's go for a walk... to the park."

Mom did her best to explain that it was too dark to go to the park but I think Katie is getting that "selective hearing" because she kept repeating that she wanted to go to the park. So, after trying, and failing, to get her to understand that you can't see in the dark so it's hard to play at the park when you can't see, we all headed to the park. She didn't have any doubt it seems that we would go.

There was just enough light for her to pull out her little pail and shovel and dig in the sand. I think this is her favorite, and maybe only, reason she wants to go to the park because that's all she did the whole time. We could put a sandbox in our back yard and save the 15 minute walk if that's what lures her to the park in the first place!

But the walk was good excersize and she had fun.

Till it was time to go home and she wanted me to carry her. 10 blocks away from home. And cried when I wouldn't. I finally distracted her enought that we made it home without a lengthy meltdown. And at home, she was totally fine. We talked and she played till she fell asleep.

Jesus and Truth - something interesting I read today.

You'll have to copy and paste this because I don't know how to link. :( That was a sad face with tears (and I don't know how to do emoticons in blogger either).


http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2009/09/honey-strawberries-and-truth.html

Update to "inches"

Pot luck. At work. Today.

What a great way to start my second day of writing down everything I eat. Not really.

It's awful. I mean, who wants to write down "salad, egg roll, crackers with cream cheese and peper jelly, cookie, sloppy joe, special k bar, tiny wieners" and the pot luck isn't over yet!

Well, apparently I must. Because you may have noticed that I didn't say "who wants to eat" all this stuff because well, it's already down the hatch. And it was yummy. Really good. Maybe I was getting faint from hunger after my light breakfast of pop tarts with butter and a banana. (I'm just kidding about the "light" part, for all of you who want to tell me that two pop tarts have the caloric equivelant of 500 spoonfulls of sugar. I already know... and still I enjoy. With lots of butter.) Hmmm.

Anyway, wish me well as I jump back on the bandwagon... tomorrow. :)

So, I've added a few extra inches to my waistline lately and not because I'm you-know-what... because I'm not... so I can't blame it on that.

Also, Katie is 3 and a half and Jake is 7 months old now so I can't say it's still baby fat.

And unfortunately my clothes are getting a bit tight (and when I say "a bit" I mean, I put them on and want to yell at John because he must have washed them in hot water... and then I remember that he doesn't wash my clothes so...) which means that I either learn how to sew like the people on that show with many children OR I figure something out.

So, I am pleased to announce that I HAVE A PLAN! My plan...



is to write down everything I eat.

What, did you think it would involve excercise??? :)

So I started this morning after I got to work and picked up a delicious breakfast from the cafeteria.

First I had to jot down "two cookies" (what could I do? They were on the kitchen table when I left this morning and I ate them in the car on the way to work) and then I wrote down "sausage croissant breakfast sandwich... with jelly. One pop."

So far I think it's helping because this morning I really wanted some almond M&Ms at about 9:30, then at about 9:46, 10:01, 10:08, 10:17, and finally at 10:25, (then I got really busy so I didn't have a chance to think about it) I really wanted to visit the candy dish (the one with the good candy like KitKats and Almond Joy and peanut M&Ms... mmmm) BUT I stopped myself because really, how bad would it be if I knew I would be writing it down and STILL stuffed myself? Really. Really. Bad.

Now I've got to add "hotdog, cookie, pop, chips" to my list.

Oh, and I might as well add Tootsie Pop to the list now because I'll probably enjoy that this afternoon (or now).

Letter to Katie

Dear Katie,

When you take a bath, it is never acceptable to dunk your large bottle of 3-in-1 shampoo/conditioner/body wash into the tub. Especially if that bottle is open. Especially if you plan on squeeeeeezing it. Lots. Especially if mommy is in the other room changing your sheets (listening for any splashes or silences that may indicate problems) and not watching you with her own two eyes. Really it's not acceptable.

Especially when it's the next morning and mommy has forgotten that the tub was full full full of bubbles and that when the water runs out the slippery bubble film stays.

Especially when mommy is in a rush in the morning and steps into the tub for her shower and notices that it's kind of like standing on a hill... covered in ice... under a waterfall.

Mommy got all the way in before she realized that it might be tough to stand up when her feet are slipping allllll around but soldiered on anyway and started to clean the tub with her foot and well, let's just say that mommy was surprised to still be flexible enough that when one foot went one way and the other foot went the other way... she was able to stay upright. (I'll tell you a little secret... mommy hasn't attempted to do the splits since, well, probably since she was your age so it was a reliefe that she didn't end up on her tushy butt.)

Thanks for understanding.

Much love,
Mommy

Super Duper Juice

So, there are some things that, before I became a mother, I never thought I would use, say, do.

I never thought that after being puked on, a wipey would be an acceptable cleanup tool. (Before kids I would probably have needed actual water with lots of soap.) But it is.

I never thought that pizza for dinner 3 nights in a row would ever happen. But it does.

I never thought I would ever want to tell my kids that I was off duty. But I do. And it works. I'm never off duty for hugs or cuddling or reading a book but I AM off duty for putting clothes on a doll, filling a sippy cup, changing said doll's clothes AGAIN... and many other things.

I never thought that I would have to hide pens higher than the kitchen junk drawer. But I do.

I never thought that I would pretend not to see something Katie did but wasn't supposed to do, just so I wouldn't have to give her a time out. But I have.

I never thought that I would lie to my kids to make my life easier. But I have. Case in point: The Toy Fairy and telling her Caillou and the other just as annoying characters have gone to sleep so we can't watch them right now.

Oh, and just last night I got a grocery list from John before leaving work. He said we needed super duper juice - that's our name for Sunny D (it's so cute when Katie says it). And I actually wrote down "super duper..." and groaned. Then laughed. Then threw out the post it note I had written it on and wrote "Sunny D, Milk, Ovaltine" because it would be too funny to look at this at the grocery store and see super duper juice. And become the weird lady laughing to herself in the refrigerated section and I don't want to be that lady.

All she needs now is a top hat and cane... ba dum ba.

Katie loves to play games with Jacob. She talks to him in baby talk. I heard her last night and she was saying "Oh, you're such a precious boy. Such a precious baby." and it cracked me up!

And when he's in his hi-chair eating she likes to hide behind him and pop out on one side and say "la la la" and then go to the other side and pop out and say "la la la". He laughs so hard at this. She does too! But mommy doesn't always laugh. Not because it isn't cute, because it is! Super cute.

No, mommy doesn't always laugh because it's very hard to feed a baby when my reflexes aren't great and his head is turning from side to side as fast as Katie can move from one side of his high chair to the other (which is pretty darn fast)!

Sooo, we've come to an agreement, Katie and mommy, that Katie will wait until mommy tells her it's okay to play the "la la la game" as she's so creatively called it! :)

Katie does reserve the right to ask every few seconds if Jakie is done eating... and if he can play now... and to say that she's waiting for me to tell her when he's ready. Which kind of distracts him, resulting in head turning, resulting in applesauce or prunes or berries on his face. Oh well. At least they aren't fighting. Yet.

It's more official. He's a crawler who likes to get around!

Last night Jake was in the living room and I was in the bedroom putting things away with Katie when who do you think made an appearance! Jacob... in the hallway. Jacob who crawled ALLLL the way from the living room, around the recliner, down the hall past the bathroom... all by his little self.

Whew. We're breaking out the baby corral soon since, in addition to being very curious and mobile, he also seems to like outlets and the things that go in them.

It's official... Jacob is a crawler!

It's true! He's done a little crawling in the weeks before but this weekend I had a bag on the floor and it was about 5 feet away from Jake. He must have wanted a closer look and he crawled... did I say he CRAWLED? to it. He didn't throw himself at the bag like he will sometimes do, he didn't get to the bag by sitting then turning then sitting then turning till he works his way over... NO, he crawled. At least 5 little leg movements and there he was. I am so proud of him!

He's trying to grab hold of stuff now and he pulls it toward him. Last night it was a laundry basket. I think he's trying to pull up but he just can't coordinate all of the movements needed to make it work. That's fine with me. And it's fine with Katie. I think she would have a nervous breakdown if Jake could get to her toys at this stage. Really. She even asks me "Will Jakie play with my toys when I go to the store?" It's pretty bad.

That's why I think I'm going to start Mission: Toy Share. We'll see what happens... and I'll post about it (as soon as I get a chance to invent it).

Good Times, Bed Times

Katie is almost three and a half and she STILL won't fall asleep in her bed. Ohhhhhh, nooooo. She won't lay in her comfy bed in her pretty pink room but she *will* fall asleep on the living room floor, or half on the couch or sitting in her pink "comfy" chair. And we've just been carrying her to bed.

We know this is one of those things we've got to train *ourselves* out of but I'm just happy she's settled into an earlier bed time! It used to be 11:30 p.m. and now we're at about 10:00 p.m. I think that once we get Jacob to sleep through most of the night, we'll start tackling this problem... or maybe we'll just leave her in the living room.

Jake however sleeps pretty well in his crib now. The only time I take him to bed with me is when he wants a bottle and I want to close my eyes. I'll feed him in bed and we'll both fall asleep.

I've only woken up a couple of times to find that he's spit out the nipple drifted off and there's milk dripping down his neck and onto my arm. But, that's a small price to pay for a few more zzzzz's.

Fever and teething and constipation, oh my!

Jake needs baby tylenol. He's been waking up pretty much every two hours which results in me being up for an hour and a half, just dropping off to sleep, only to get up again!

It's either from his shots, from his teething, or from being constipated so tonight after a trip to the grocery store for some baby tylenol for fever/pain and baby orajel for teething (we've already got the prunes for the other issue), I'll be well armed to treat anything that comes my way tonight.

I'll consider this a success if I get more than 3 hours of sleep tonight.

We'll see.

Stop... In the name of the law!

Last night as I was using the "facilities" Katie stood in the doorway, put her hand up and said "Stop! In the name of the law". I thought at first that she was saying In the name of Love but then realized after a few more repititions that she had indeed "deputized" herself.

So she continued... Mommy, you get a ticket! Me, puzzled, "Why?"

She answered "because... (and I don't remember why I was getting the ticket now)" and she pushed her hip and tushy butt out to the side and made a motion like she was pulling a ticket book out of a holder then she made a big show of holding up a ginormous ticket (she held her hands out to the side like she was holding a piece of paper larger than her head) and putting it on the counter next to me.

It cracked me up. Oh, it just started with a little "isn't she cute" giggle but when she gave me another ticket for laughing (complete with pulling the ticket book out of the holder and holding her hands out to show me the ticket) I started to outright laugh.

Well! That resulted in another ticket complete with all of the motions, and another and another, and another, and another. Till she finally stopped giving me tickets for laughing and just joined in.

Where does she get this stuff?

It's official... Jacob is a 20 lb 9 oz, 29" long bundle of joy!

Jake had his 6 month well check on Wednesday evening (only 2 weeks late so... yay mommy for finally scheduling it!) and Jacob is a healthy baby boy.

We (mommy, daddy, Katie, and Jake) got into the room and he looked around at everything. Sat on the scale for his weight without a peep and put up with me getting him undressed.

Katie was very curious about everything and was very well behaved while the doctor asked questions like:

How are his bowel movements?
Is he sleeping well?
Do you brush his teeth?
Do you give him juice?


My responses were:
Fine, I think.

Well, except for waking up once or twice. Once to cuddle and go back to sleep and once to have some formula.

No! I didn't know you were supposed to brush teeth at 6 months (and two weeks).

No! I didn't know you should give babies juice!
(This was a TRICK question since I guess you're really not supposed to give babies juice. The doc asked since it kind of goes along with the need to brush teeth smaller than a tic-tac.

Apparently, babies who drink juice have a habit of also getting cavities if no one brushes their tiny baby teeth for them. Not too much of a shock but I'm glad I wasn't planning to give Jake juice anytime soon.)

Katie, your Super Duper Juice (aka Sunny D) is safe for now!

So after the questions and the eye, nose, mouth, chest, back checks, Jake got a-okay from the doc.

He's in the 90 percentile for weight and 95th for height. (He and Katie are very similar. I think she was 95th percentile for both even through her 3 year well check.)

Then he got his shots and he was not happy. He cried loud but did pretty well. I looked at Katie when it was over and she had her hands over her ears. That wouldn't have been funny all on it's own but when the shots started, she was playing with two of Jakes diapers John stuck in the car seat just in case so she had one diaper in each hand and both hands over her ears. It looked a little strange. :)

We got into the car, Jake fell asleep, Katie told me more than once that she wanted me to be "back here" instead of up there, we got home and ate and that was that.

He was fussy during the night but I don't know if it was his legs, his teeth, or his tummy what with the toots! We'll see if he improves tonight.

Katie

Not in the mood for a picture:


Really. Not in the mood. Imagine this with a nostril flare and a little "hmph"


How precious!


Just hanging out


Playing with Babydoll in the walker:


Not big into sharing said walker with Jake:


She loves to draw


She loves knex


And this shopping cart with alllll of the groceries.
(Thanks mom and dad for bringing it back from the lake this weekend!)


The End!

Weekend Fun - Just mommy, daddy, and Jakey

Daddy and Jake:


Jacob laughing at Daddy:


Daddy laughing at Jacob:


Jacob likes his fingers:




Mommy gets a "thumbs up":


Just so cute


Jake and Mommy


I change him on Katie's bed sometimes. He loves the blanket. It's got Disney princesses on it and he puts his face on Snow White's face... it looks like a kiss!

Here, he's just relaxing:


He loves the tag on this thing:


The End!

Katie having fun outside

Jacob can sit up!

(Please ignore my lengthy commentary. And yes, John is wearing shorts. )

Leche... what you drink with cookies

Katie had fun last night. She got to go with Grandpa to visit Jon Long at his assisted living apartment. She didn't want to leave so they sat on a bench and looked at the flowers and probably whatever else she could find to look at in order to stretch the time out. She's good at that.

After that Grandpa took her to the panaderia for some pan dulce. She loves that. She got a cookie and convinced Grandpa that they should sit on the curb in the parking lot to eat it. I think she was having too much fun with Grandpa and she didn't want to go home!

When they did get home, she was sleeping so grandpa carried her in and put her to bed. I got her shoes off and she woke up. She wanted to go with Grandpa downstairs (he promised she could when they got home) so we got jammies on and after a little funny play time with daddy where Katie asked:

Daddy, do you like Kipper?
Yeahhhh, I love it!
Daddy, do you like Caillou?
Yeahhh, I love it!
Daddy, do you like SpongeBob?
Yeahhh, I love it!
Daddy, do you like Barney?
Yeahhh, I love it!

And on and on. And every time he answered, she got the giggles. And then I got the giggles and John got the guy version of the giggles (you know, the manly, macho version...).

Then we went downstairs. Katie, Jake and me.

Grandpa asked if we wanted leche. Katie did. I asked her what leche is and she said "It's something you drink with your cookie" and I giggled cause she's just so cute!

She ate her cookie and then it was time to go. But Katie didn't want to go. She wanted to "sit and talk for a little bit." So we did for a few minutes and then we went upstairs and had lights out.

We were all in bed by 10:30 (which actually seems late to me now that I'm a mom) and I was up by midnight to cuddle Jake and feed him a little and again at 2:30 for the same thing and no sooner had Jake gotten to sleep to the point where I could lay him down, than Katie woke up. I laid Jakey down and picked Katie up and we cuddled in the living room. Katie was pretty awake and smiley and I asked her why she woke up... was it a bad dream? And it was. She asked me "where that giant go?" and I explained that giants don't exist... that there are tall people but not mean giants. Then she asked me if the tall people have lots of teeth. So I guess it was a pretty scary dream if she saw a teethy giant... I fell back on the "daddy sprayed monster juice and that covers giants too" then we prayed and then she mentioned that maybe the giant wanted to be nice but didn't know how. So then I decided that it was way to early in the morning for a big discussion into the thoughts and feelings of the average mean teethy giant and we went to bed to watch TV.

Finally Katie fell asleep and not an hour later I heard Jake fussing. I thought it was a good time to wake daddy up so he could enjoy the early morning thunder/lightning storm ... and so I could enjoy some shuteye.