It's Potty Time!

It's here!

When I went in to get Emery this morning, she had taken both her pajama pants and her diaper off! She was screaming and pointing to her diaper at the other end of the crib. Again, thankfully there was no poop involved! While Pete thinks that this potty training stuff is going to be great (because of the $$ we'll save), I am in absolutely no hurry. I can't even imagine shuttling two 18 month olds to the bathroom when we're out and about and Emery has to "go". So, I guess we'll just let things happen at their own pace.

The worst part is that I can't get that Eddie Murphy song out of my head......."My girl wants to potty all the time, potty all the time......". (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5LX16zia2k) haha :-)

Hug It Out

Through all of the fights over toys, hair pulling, and wrestling matches, it's nice to see a little sibling love every once in a while.......

Gavin was a little preoccupied with his new Matchbox cars. He held one in each hand for most of the day. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree........ I just wish Pete's cars were that small. :-)

Where is W.?

As you're watching President Obama on the news laying out his plan for our future, have you wondered what President Bush is up to?

He's mountain biking with a friend of ours at one of our favorite Dallas/ Ft. Worth trails!

This is at Cedar Hill State Park. He's creating quite a stir in the DFW mountain bike community. I wonder if that's the secret service in the black Tahoe behind him?

Boxes Boxes Boxes

We've FINALLY gathered up all of the empty boxes from our move so that we can take them to the recycling center. Of course, we had some little helpers.......

If you live in the DFW area and need boxes, these are all still in the back of Pete's truck. Free boxes to any takers!

Toddler Brain

It's bad enough that I point out tractors and airplanes when Pete and I are out by ourselves....... Now I'm changing my kids names to Sesame Street characters. I just said "sit down Elmo" when Gavin was standing up on the couch. I need to get out more...... :-)

Dog Walker

Emery took Grandma's dog Annabelle for a nice, long "walk" this weekend. The walk was in a circle through the kitchen and living room (over and over and over) and went at Emery's pace. Poor Annabelle. We finally gave her a break, but Emery was NOT happy that their walk had to end.

We should probably watch her closely or she may have Gavin on the leash next!

Warning---- Nudity!

Yesterday morning, I went to church while Pete watched the kids. When I got back, I got Gavin up from his nap and went in to check on Emery. When I opened the door, I immediately saw her bare rear end and a diaper laying outside of the crib. My reaction.......

1. Hmmmm. Why would Pete forget to put a diaper on her? Oh.....she must have taken it off.
2. Ok. check for poop. No poop......we're good.
3. Run, run, run for the camera. By the time I got back, she was standing up and my photo-op was over.
4. Check for wet sheets. They were completely dry. Awesome!

Fast forward to this morning........As I lay her down for her morning nap with pajama top and diaper on, I thought maybe I should put her pajama bottoms back on. No way, she won't do it again. Well, I was wrong.........


Luckily, no poop again, but I didn't get as lucky on the sheets. She also took her diaper off two more times tonight right before bath time!

I think we're very close to potty training. I'm sending Pete to Target at lunch tomorrow for a potty chair, so we can get started. Lately, Emery has been much more aware of her diaper and her "bodily functions". She'll pull on her diaper and say "poop" when she needs to be changed. She also knows the sign for potty and sort of understands what it means. So, I guess it's time. I wasn't going to rush it and really didn't think we'd be facing this so soon. When I was reading reviews for potty chairs at Babies R Us, a lot of people had purchased them for babies 8 months old! One was trying to potty train at 6 months! WHAT??????

Wish us luck. Mostly, wish us luck that Emery keeps her diapers on! I'm going to keep pants on her at all times. If that doesn't work, then we'll go to duct tape!

When Scary Squirrels Attack

We had a nice week. Challenging at times, but overall it was a good week. I have no idea what I was thinking when I decided that taking two 18 month olds (1 who was very cranky) to their checkup by myself (during naptime, to a brand new doctor) was a good idea. It was a very very very bad idea. Filling out the new patient paperwork was almost impossible and I was getting some awesome looks (NOT) from all of the other patients whose kids were hacking up a lung all around us while Gavin was screaming for an hour and 15 minutes straight in the tiny waiting room. BUT......we made it. Gavin weighed in at 30 lbs. 10 ounces and is 34 1/2 inches tall. Emery is 26 lbs. 3 ounces and 32 inches tall. After the doctor's appointment, we headed to a local park to meet Pete for lunch.

First Emery and I waited for Gavin to take a cat nap. He fell asleep on the short trip from the doctor's office to the park. On a side note: I think my kids are the only 18 month olds in the world who are still taking 2 naps. I've tried over and over to transition to 1 nap and I've decided to throw in the towel. These kids just seem to need several short naps vs. 1 long nap. So, that's what we'll do......at least for a little bit longer. They took 3 naps until they were 12 months old, so this really doesn't surprise me. I just figured that some of you may wonder why the heck Gavin was napping before lunchtime!

Pete showed up with Subway and we had a nice lunch.....until the crazed squirrels began to circle our table. I seriously have never seen such fearless, apparently hungry, sneaky, crazy squirrels. There were 3-4 of them. They circled the table, they snuck up behind us, they crawled down the tree next to Emery (looking like they were about to pounce), they crawled out onto the limbs above us. People were staring at us while we made hissing noises and chased the squirrels away from the kids. Don't ask me why we made hissing noises.....It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. :-)

In this picture it kind of looks like Pete swiped Gavin's drink and is taunting him with it, but I'm sure that's not really what is happening.........



See the squirrel sneaking up behind Emery?

Look closely and you can probably see one of them climbing down the tree. Emery is pointing at it. They got MUCH closer than this (like inches away), but I was too nervous to take pictures at that point.

Emery came very close to petting one of these squirrels on the head. Next time we have a picnic at the park, I'm taking my pellet gun.

The rest of the week was spent hanging around the house. This is a double stroller that came with twin boy and girl dolls. I bought it (for $7!) when they were very young and saved it until this Christmas. Gavin and Emery REFUSE to let the babies ride in the stroller. Just an occasional teddy bear and Gavin's wooden train.

Hanging out on the couch, watching the movie Cars. This is the only way they'd ever sit this close together for more than 2 seconds, so of course I had to get a few pictures.

Emery hung out in her bed for quite a while with all of her stuffed animals. They really don't spend anytime in their beds other than sleeping, so she thought this was a blast.

Gavin's turn, but of course he had to add his tractor to the mix.

We're looking forward to the weekend!

In the Dog House

Grandma came to visit this week and brought her dog Annabelle. Emery LOVES Annabelle.

Don't worry, Grandma was running to save her as I was taking this picture.

I was always a big fan of The Far Side cartoons. I think that is why these pictures crack me up. Annabelle looks like she's thinking "Seriously? Could you please get the crazy girl out of my kennel?".

What we've been up to

So, what have we been doing lately?

Exploring........


Helping Daddy wash the truck.......

Assisting Vandaddy with proper tire inflation.......

Eating popcicles in February.......

Learning how to work the digital camera......

Making to do lists.........

Wearing cool pirate hats made out of Kroger ads.........

Watching Signing Times (gate, what gate?)......

Climbing, Climbing, Climbing!

Gavin and Emery are almost 18 1/2 months old and are growing up fast (too fast)! They are funny little people. Exhausting, but hilarious! Every day is an adventure!

My very own garage

I know I haven't posted in a while and most of you probably want baby (toddler) pictures, but first......... I'd like to unveil my first VERY OWN garage! This will mean nothing to you unless you know us well and have seen our previous garage(s) and the torment they have caused me. In our house in Indiana, we had a three car garage. Sounds great, right? Well.......between Pete's hobby (cars, cars, and more cars) and his HUGE amount of other "garage" stuff, there was no room for me! While the babies were in their infant car seats (babies were strapped in the carseats and then we took them to the car), I had to park in the driveway because I literally could not open my car doors wide enough to fit the carseats through the opening and put them in the backseat. Parking outside during an Indiana winter means that you often have to clear snow or ice off of your car before going anywhere. Fun. Once we transitioned to convertible carseats (seats stay in the car instead of taking in and out), I parked in the garage, but had to "thread the needle" with the kids when putting them in the car. There was so much stuff hanging on the wall next to my car that I had to carefully feed Gavin and Emery through the openings until we arrived in their carseat. I called this "Running the Gauntlet". So THAT is why I am SOOOO excited that Pete now has separate garage space and I have my OWN garage. I am allowing him to park one car in my garage, but it must be the car that he drives to work each day. :-)

Check out the wall of toddler transportation: 1 wagon, 2 push cars, 1 double jogging stroller, 1 tandem stroller, 1 single stroller, 1 backpack carrier, and 1 bike trailer that converts to another stroller.



And from a different angle.......

A few things in the corner will be cleaned out so that I'll have even more space! On the other wall is a plastic tub with balls and outside toys. Now I don't have to stress about the kids hurting themselves in the garage and we'll have a great rainy day playspace!

Best Valentine's Day present EVER! Yes, I am that lame.

The Duet

See the wedding picture of Pete and I sitting on the back of the piano? Gavin and Emery kept pointing at it, saying "Da-da" and doing the sign for Daddy. I could say "Where's Daddy?" and they would consistently point at the picture. When I asked them where Mommy was (even when holding the picture in front of them), they were stumped. They pointed at the real me, but couldn't recognize me in the picture! Maybe that is a clue that I should take better care of myself! My own kids don't recognize the pre-baby me!