~~ So Much To Tell ~~

Wow, it's only been a few days and I feel like I have so much to say. I think this one will probably be long so feel free to come back and visit when you've got lots of time. Let's see, since the last post Van has continued to be a potty training pro. He still hasn't had any accidents since last Monday, so that puts us up to 9 days. (okay he had one mini one on Sunday, but he came and got me right when it started and he stopped it before it got to his legs, just a little wet underpants and it was when he needed to go #2 so I think #1 just started before he could help it, so I'm choosing not to count it because we caught it w/o any cleanup needed and it was a tricky one....hey you can't blame me, I'm a proud parent that wants to brag even if its not warranted).

Also, Mike and I had our first outing this weekend minus both kids. We had a friends' wedding to attend so we left the kids w/ family and got to just enjoy ourselves. Its always nice to get dressed up and feel beautiful (thanks to a friend of ours who was at the wedding who said, "wow Beck I forgot how beautiful you are, I always see you in sweats at bedtime). Ava took a bottle (w/ breastmilk) like a champ and Van of course loved his time w/ Grammy and Pappy. I'd say it was a success even though I really missed my babies. Its amazing how attached you can become in such a short period of time. Oh how I love those little munchkins.

Next thing, as you can tell from the picture above, we finally took Van to Disneyland. Yep, we live in socal and it took us over 2 years to get our first born to Disneyland for the first time. He loves Mickey Mouse and all things Disney so we've been wanting to go for a while but its just never worked out. Well Monday was the big day and it was so much fun. On the way there Ava was having a fit because just like Van did, she hates riding in the car, but her big brother was trying to soothe her (when he thought we weren't listening) by saying "calm down baby girl, we're going to Disneyland", and then some more "hold on baby girl"s. It had to be one of the cutest things I've ever heard, I wish I could've recorded it. Once we got to the park, Van was a pro. He rode on Dumbo, the carousel, the trains (which had to be his absolute favorite), and the boats. Time was flying and before we knew it it was already afternoon and our little guy wasn't going to make all day so we caught a Playhouse Disney live show and called it a day. Ava was an angel I must say. She just went from person to person, stopping every now and again to visit mommy and get a fill up and then just hanging out. I don't think we heard a peep out of her (well except little coos) all day. Van was just in awe of the whole thing. He loved the rides, all the people, and of course the characters. He had no fear whatsoever. He was even a perfect pottier all day, not one accident and had no problem going potty in some dingy stalls. Overall, it had to have been one of the best days with our 2 little ones. I do think mommy and daddy were more tired than the little ones by the time we got home though. Luckily, we got annual passes so we'll be able to go more often now and hopefully catch a few different rides each time and still make it home for nap time. Below are some pics we snapped while we were there...enjoy.

Let's see what else is happening. Not sure if you remember or not, but a few months back I had talked about getting a job at a law firm that would allow me to stay at home and work as a marketing coordinator. So far it hasn't worked out, but I still keep in touch with the lawyer and she keeps saying she wants to hire me but is trying to get things settled down a bit. I've gone back and forth on really believing her or not but today I got a call from her husband who is also a lawyer and owns his own financial business and is interested in hiring me until his wife is ready. So I guess she liked me enough to really want to find me a position and refer me to her husband. Well I'm meeting with him on Thursday and hoping it goes well. Please keep us in your prayers for this one...we never really know what God has in store for us but I will keep you all posted.

Since I feel like little Ava wasn't in too many of the Disneyland pics I'm closing with some cute ones of her we've taken recently. She really is becoming such a beautiful little chunk. She has a very sweet disposition and we predict she will definitely be our talking and ticklish little one, much more than Van ever was. Oh how we love our baby girl.

Sorry for writing your ear off, I tried to warn you. I will be back in a few days w/ more updates and maybe more pics. Love to all.

Becky

4 Days In A Row!!!

News Flash...Van has completed 4 whole days in a row with no potty accidents. Yahoo!! He is doing so well. He's still in a diaper, or actually I should say pull-up (because he refuses to let me use a diaper) for naps and bedtime but other than that, he's doing great. These 4 days have even included car rides, an outing with friends, and time at home. I would be more daring about doing just underwear with sleep times too except that Van still takes 3-4 hour naps during the day and sleeps anywhere from 10-12 hours at night. He isn't great at letting me know he needs to go and he can't open his bedroom door so I'm not sure I'd get to him in time before he has his first potty when he wakes up. We're not too worried about the sleeping time yet, we'll get to that. But, he is doing so well. We are very proud. Again, Van has made our initiation into parenting pretty seemless. His sister is proving to be our challenge but by the time she gets to pt, Van will be such a pro that even he will be able to help us.

xoxo
B

American Idol Bump

Just wanted to give a good hoot and hollar for David Cook, the new American Idol. Anybody who knows me know I'm a huge AI fan and have been since the beginning, I'm quite the addict. We anxiously watched last night to see the rocker we've been rooting for take the title...yippee!! (Mike had him picked from the beginning but I took a little more convincing) Can't wait until next season...maybe I'll actually be able to convince someone to try out this year...:)

Our Chunky Monkey

Wow, look at those chubby cheeks and big blue eyes. Well today was Ava's 2 1/2 month well baby checkup. She was the lucky recipient of 5 shots and an oral immunization not to mention a little girly issue that I will leave unmentioned for the sake of tact. Boy was she happy!! Her stats came in as follows: wt -12 lbs 11 1/2 oz and ht -21 1/2 in. She is just slightly above average in weight and actually a little under average in height. I have to say I was very surprised. I feel like she is so heavy and man does our girl have some thunder thighs but apparently her obesity is not nearly at the extreme level that I thought. Whoo!! So she is a happy and healthy baby.

As for our little pee machine, he's doing great. We even had our first #2 on the potty a couple of days ago and he's really on a roll. With some assistance from Uncle Danny today at the doctors, we managed to get through the appointment with only 3 or was it 4 trips to the bathroom, all successful, including one #2 drop off. I'm so proud of him and how good he's doing. He had a rough day yesterday, probably our fault for not taking him into the potty when we knew he should go, but he picked it right back up by night time. Its so nice to not have to worry about diapers for him. Thank goodness, they were getting expensive.

I believe that's all for now. Look at me, two posts in one week. Yippee!!

Becky

One More Week Passed

So I realize it's been a week since I've blogged and I'm really making an effort to do this weekly so here's my update. As you can tell by the picture to the left, we've been spending lots of time outside. It's been really nice weather lately so we've been playing in our little pool and with the hose. If Van had his choice, he'd be naked all morning and outside...which leads to our next update. Potty training has been going wonderfully...until we started spending all morning the last 3 mornings outside w/ limited or no clothes on because of swimming. When Van is naked outside, its virtually impossible to talk him into coming inside to go potty. So it seems we've been a bit off the last couple of days when it comes to his training. I'm going to try hanging out in the house tomorrow and see if he picks it back up. Everybody says when it comes to this pt thing, there will be good days and bad days before he gets the hang of it for good. I hate to put him back in diapers or even pull ups because I don't want to revert back to any old habits but we'll see how it goes. Let's just keep our fingers crossed.

As for Ava, she has found a new enjoyment, the walker. I took some pics today but didn't load them up yet, hopefully tomorrow. She can't quite reach the floor with her toes, but she loves to look at the rings on the top and be able to just hang out. This may be our new savior. Van loved the swing, but Ava won't really have much to do with the swing or the bouncy chair, so maybe it'll be the walker. Its a little earlier than Van learned to appreciate the walker, but heck, we'll take it. Its nice to have somewhere to put her that will keep her entertained and awake. I'll post some pics as soon as I get them loaded. She has her next well baby appointment on Monday and I'm very excited to see how much my "chunky monkey" weighs. I'll be sure to blog that update.

Mike and I are good, nothing new under our sun. Oh, Mike did get a new car...luckily we didn't have to pay for it. His lease on his company car was up and Mike couldn't wait to get rid of his "gaystion" wagon. I personally loved it and it worked great for our needs but it wasn't really the car Mike would've chosen. So anyways, he ordered his new car a couple of months ago and it arrived yesterday, a 2009 silver Toyota Camry with a whole bunch of bells and whistles. Maybe a Camry wouldn't have been Mike's 1st choice, but he had to pick from a list of only a couple cars and this was definitely the best one of his choices, and I have to say (as a previous new Camry owner), it's beautiful and I love it. I was really bummed when we had to get rid of my Camry so I'm relishing this new edition. I'm secretly very excited about the times I may get to drive it. Good pick babe...congrats.

Off to tv w/ the hubby. I'll be back soon.

xoxo

B

Big Step!!

New pt update. Tonite we went out to dinner and Van was dry from 430 until 730, in big boy underpants mind you, when he went potty at a restaurant. Yep that's right. In a cold, foreign, not so beautiful bathroom stall that wasn't home. We are soooo proud. We think it's a huge step in the right direction saying he was comfortable enough outside of home and was able to stay dry for so long w/ no accidents. It's times like these that I find these little people so amazing. Praise the Lord!!

Potty Take Two

Wow, has it really been that long since I did a blog? I check all of our friends' everyday and think why aren't they updating more but then I don't even realize how long it's been since I've blogged either. So here goes.

So potty training has started up again. We were really doing well before Ava came but we got lazy and never really pushed it with Van. However, last week Van started running out of the bathroom after his bath and relieving himself on his bed. After 2 nights of this and having to strip the sheets off twice in a row, we started to get the hint. So Sunday night, after his bath, we asked him if he wanted to sit on the big boy potty, he said yes, and after lots of reading, a little singing, and plenty of time, Van finally peed. From there it has been a whirl wind of lots of pottying. We decided to be pretty aggressive from then on and he has been pretty much a little naked man running around working on pottying. Monday he went once in the morning and once at night on the potty and by Tuesday he had up'd it to 7 times. He has also learned, I think, to tell me when he needs to go but if he doesn't I'm still doing the hourly (or really 40 min) check in with him to see if he wants to try. He has been doing so well but we did have a little setback last night. We tried pull ups yesterday and he totally doesn't feel a difference between this and a diaper so we're going straight to big boy underpants, which he's really excited about. Last night was the first night of going out in the big boy pants and he went in the potty once but had 2 accidents. I was a little worried about today but he seems to have recovered, for the most part. Its so hard, this is so trial and error for us. We really don't want to push him if he isn't ready and at the same time he's in his "no" stage so we're really searching for the area in between where he's comfortable and I'm not letting him get away w/ something just because he says no. So here we are, 4 days in and still making progress. We'll keep you all posted.

Ava is getting more beautiful everyday. She is quite the chameleon and can look different in every picture I take. It all depends on her chubby cheeks, multiple chins, and beautiful eyes. You never know what you are going to get. She is proving to be a little diva if you will. Much more high maintenance than Van was, but I hear just like her daddy was. She is always in need of attention and touching which has caused me to make my Snuggli (baby pack) her second home in the mornings. I have found one (yep just one) way she is easier than Van though...Van had to be rocked to sleep, like really rocked and dead to the world for him to go to bed at night. Ava, however, can be placed in bed still tossing around and put herself to sleep nice and easily without so much as a cry. This makes bedtime for us, mostly, about half the time it was with Van. Praise the lord!!

As for Mike and I, we're surviving. This is such a change, the 2 kids compared to just one. We're both constantly busy with our hands full with one or the other and really don't have much time for each other until they are both asleep. Even conversation when the 2 are awake is almost impossible since Van always finds it necessary to interrupt and get all of the attention. Luckily both our kids are usually in bed by 930ish and so we have a little time for eachother. We really relish these moments alone.

I promise to be a much better blogger in the future. I've also got some good pics saved on my laptop so it will be much easier to get around to it. Talk to you all soon.

B