Papa and Granny started telling Talon a few days ago that when he didn't go potty in his pants anymore, they would buy him a 'big boy bike'. Well, he hasn't let that rest since. Every waking moment, he tells us he wants his bike. When he gets done on the potty chair, and he finishes cheering for himself, he wants his bike. We remind him that it's for big boys who don't wet their pants and always go on the big boy potty. Well, tonight Papa and Granny caved in a bit, and brought Talon his new bike. He was so excited! It's a good thing he didn't have any accidents today... we wouldn't want to be enforcing the wrong thing! We have told him that if he wets his pants, his bike has to go out in the garage until he can be a big boy again. (Let me tell ya, I am not looking forward to that!) So far, so good!
I have a feeling we're in for a real treat until he can peddle it on his own. He wants to be pushed all around the house. Not only is it extremely low to the ground, but he keeps his feet on the peddles and continuously puts the brakes on. After just a couple of minutes, my back is killing me!
Well, tomorrow we start eating different. There, now doesn't that sound better than "We are going on a diet"? However you want to say it, we both hope to be much slimmer in the months to come. I'd like to say I'm just retaining a bit of extra water, but that would mean I have a serious heart condition. So, here it is... our diet stinks! The baking of goodies has to stop, the carbs have to be cut waaaaaay back, and the exercise my fingers get from updating my blog and Facebook is not considered a cardio workout. Our goal this year, is to get into a healthy lifestyle. We've both talked about it a lot over the past couple of months, and are very excited about the changes we plan on making in this brand new year. I've decided to blog about it, hoping it will help to keep us somewhat accountable. Feel free to leave us a note and ask us how it's going. If, for some reason, we tell you to 'mind your own business', you'll pretty much know that it's not going so well! So, here's to a happy and healthy 2010!!
Anyone who says their child "pretty much potty-trained himself"... you are blessed! It hasn't exactly been that way around our house. This past week has seemed a bit like a broken record. Juice, timer, potty chair, M&Ms, new pull-up, juice, timer, potty chair, M&Ms, new pull-up, juice, timer... yeah, you get the idea! Oh, and the occasional "Kaitlyn, don't play with the potty chair!", and "Kaitlyn, get out of the bathroom!". By the fourth day, I was so frustrated. I felt like the world's biggest failure! On day five, he seemed to turn the corner, and has since been doing great. He still has an accident occasionally, and still has a ways to go as far as bed time, but at least we're making progress. He is super excited about it, and loves being a 'big boy'! He's learned that he really likes 'tocolate' (chocolate). If he goes potty and doesn't wet in his pull-up, he gets 2 M&Ms. I'm not usually one for bribing, but this system seems to work really well. Now, when he's 10, and still expecting candy for being a big boy and not wetting his pants, we have a problem! ;0)
He's already figured out he enjoys reading in the bathroom. Fabulous! I think we may have to put the kibosh on that before it becomes a habit.
He loves the part where he gets to wash his hands and use the soap; and he gets so proud of himself for pulling up his own pants... uh, we're still working on that part.
In the past, when it's time for the Christmas tree to come down, I carefully take all the ornaments off, and we carry it outside to strip off the lights (to prevent needles from covering the floor). Last week, when I was taking the tree down a little after midnight, and it was below freezing outside, I decided to take the lights off in the house so I wouldn't have to freeze. Once we finally got the tree outside, this is what the living room floor looked like. The tree was so dry, there were needles and branches everywhere! My hands and arms looked like I had gotten in a fight with a really big cat... and it won! When it was all said and done, I was wishing I hadn't been such a wimp about the cold. I have a Kirby vacuum, but when I pulled it out, I think I heard it laughing at me! Our house still has a bit of a pine scent (or maybe that's burning rubber from the vacuum belt getting so hot and overworked! ;0)
In the middle of the clean-up, the thought always crosses my mind, "Maybe next year we should invest in an artificial tree". However, when December rolls around again, I seem to have the memory of a goldfish, and get excited about the torture all over again! So, until next year...
After much prayer and consideration, and with mixed emotions, we have decided to move back to Oregon. There are a lot of factors that play into this decision, which I wont go into great detail about, but it became official about a week ago. Our plan is to move to the Canby area. It will be great to live close to our families again (which is something that we have really missed!).
I have accepted an RN position at Emanuel Hospital in Portland where I used to work. I basically got the job back that I left- in the Pediatric Resource Pool, supporting PICU, NICU, and Peds.
I must say, we have really enjoyed living in the Boise area, and will miss it. It didn't take us long at all to consider it 'home'. We love the weather, and the lack of traffic, chaos, and rain! I've really enjoyed working in the PICU here, and have learned so much. We've met a lot of great people and have made some life-long friends that we will look forward to coming back to visit. There are so many things we still haven't gotten to do here, so we have decided to make Idaho our vacation spot. So what now? My last day at St. Lukes Hospital in Boise will be January 26th. I will get about a week off, then Kaitlyn and I will fly to Portland on February 4th, and I will begin my orientation. Until we officially move (which looks to be sometime in March), I will fly back and forth for work. That's the part that I am really not looking forward to... being away from my family for a week at a time! Hopefully, it will only be twice and we will be done with the move.
Talon got a train set for Christmas. Yes, our dining room has currently been taken over by Thomas the Train. It's amazing how much longer a simple task can take when you have little ones around. I don't know how many times I had to put this track back together after Kaitlyn would come behind me and tear it all apart. I think we'll add the other pieces and expand it a little at a time... like when it's moved up to Talon's room!
We are in potty-training mode around our house. I guess Talon decided it was time for Sissy's doll to get potty trained as well. I heard him tell the baby repeatedly, "Sit down, Baby, go potty!".
When the baby kept falling in and wouldn't sit on her own, he finally sat her on the seat of the big potty and walked away.
After Kaitlyn couldn't figure out how to get into the bin with her brother, she decided to push him around in it. It was really funny. Now it's a game they play... usually with the laundry basket.
Kaitlyn's been ready to walk for a while now, but has been rather lazy about it. She'll take a few steps here and there when she wants too, but finds it's faster to crawl. This day, I guess she was in the mood, because she pretty much walked all over the house. What a big girl!! (Pardon the mess in the living room... this was the disaster left over after we opened gifts on New Years Eve!)
We celebrated our family Christmas on New Years Eve this year. I flew home from Oregon on the 26th because I had to work, and Anthony and the kids stayed until Tuesday (the 29th). So, we just decided to wait a couple of days and let things settle down a little. It worked out very well, actually. Anthony's parents came over, we made a nice dinner, and after the gifts were all opened it looked like a bomb went off in the living room. Mmmm... candy canes!
We had a great time in Oregon, spending Christmas with family. We went to Jeremy and Donna's for Christmas dinner, and opened gifts. The kids, of course, got spoiled! The dogs even had a great time playing with their two schnauzers.
We stayed with Walt and Rachel on Christmas Eve. They made a great dinner, we decorated some cookies (and ate a few), Talon played Wii with the kids... we had a great time! On Christmas we stopped by to see the rest of the family for a little while.
Wow, time has flown! Things have just been crazy the past couple of weeks, so the blog has just been pushed to the side! Life is starting to finally get back to normal and it's time to catch up on all the happenings around the holidays. It may take me a bit, but here's the start of it!
We had a lot of fun decorating the gingerbread house. Talon was old enough to help this year, and really got into it. Of course, you can't get a kid around that much candy and expect all of it to make it onto the house. I'd say he probably ate about every 3rd piece for a while. We finally had to put a stop to it, but he'd still pop one into his mouth every now and then. The real fun came when he had already put a piece in his mouth, then decided it belonged on the house. Thanks to him, even Kiki and Kallie got a piece or two!
It snowed Friday night and all day Saturday, so we took the kids out in the evening to play in the snow. We had a lot of fun!
We took turns pulling the kids around in the sled.
Talon even tried pulling Sissy around, but they didn't get far. I tried to convince him that she was too heavy for him to pull and it was Mama's turn, but he wasn't about to give up without a fight. After a few minutes, he finally gave in and said, "Sissy heavy?".
Talon hated his hands getting cold, but refused to leave his gloves on. I finally told him if he didn't leave his gloves on we were going back in the house. It wasn't much of a fight after that.
It's definitely been cold the past few days- 1 and 2 degrees at times. You know you'd better bundle up when the forecast high for the day is 15!
We had our first real snowfall at the beginning of last week. It hasn't snowed much since, but it's still pretty white around here because it's too cold to melt!
Talon was carrying Kaitlyn's new baby doll around the other day and trying to be really gentle holding it. He kept talking to it in a really high voice saying, "Hey, baby! Oh, baby!". Of course, when he was done with it, he threw it on the floor and ran off to find something else to play with. Kaitlyn isn't much interested in it yet... except she likes to suck on its thumb and put its pacifier in her mouth.
We got our Christmas tree last week. Talon was so excited to 'help' put the lights on. It made a lot more work for me (especially when he started taking them all back off), but he had a lot of fun. He got up to the table and began to shuffle through all the ornaments. Big mistake on my part! He couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him play in the bin of "balls". Next, he found his wonderful reindeer stocking. Yes, the one from last year that we were all too happy to put away. It's hiding in the closet already. Don't think I can do a full month of "Just hear those sleigh bells jinglin', ring-ting-tinglin' too...", I think I'll pull it out right before Christmas, then let it hibernate for another year. Anthony's response to it was, "That's probably the most annoying thing he owns. I sure hope no one gets Kaitlyn one of those!". I have to agree with him on that one!
The finished product. So far Kaitlyn hasn't destroyed the bottom half of the tree. Not that I haven't seen her eyeing it from time to time!
We took the kids in for their 'well-child' appointments. Good news... they're both on the growth chart and doing well! This was Talon's 2 year appointment a little late. He only needed one immunization, so we decided to bring both of them in together when it was time for Kaitlyn's 1 year checkup. (Here are a couple pictures that I took of the little cherubs waiting to see the doctor.)
Talon is now 29 lbs., and 35 1/2 inches tall. (40th percentile for weight, 34th percentile for height) He's definitely hit a growth spurt... and is finally growing out of his 18 month pants! His head is still in the 97th percentile- always been an overachiever in that department! :)
Kaitlyn has finally made it onto the growth chart (she was only in the 4th percentile at her last appointment!). She now weighs 19 lbs, and is 27 3/4 inches long (11th percentile for weight, 8th percentile for height), and her head is in the 64th percentile.
Dr Godfrey is very happy with both of their progress! We just laugh... we never would have guessed that our kids would be considered "little".
(Note: This picture was taken before the 4 immunizations she got!)
Kaitlyn and I celebrated our birthdays while we were in Oregon with my family. Yes, I have finally turned the big 3-0. (I'm a little sad that I can no longer tease Anthony about still being in my 20's, while he's an old man in his 30's!)
My mom made Kaitlyn a really cute 'hat box' cake (she did quite a number on it), and she actually participated in ripping some of the paper off of her gifts. She got really restless and kept trying to crawl off the table, so I had to put her in her high chair seat to keep her in one place. Talon was pretty excited with Sissy's new toys, too! He was being so sweet to help her figure out how they work! ;0)
Talon was so proud of himself... he put Mr Potato Head together all by himself. (He got a little carried away with the eyes!) Picasso would be so proud! I laughed so hard when I saw it. I had to take a picture!
Showing off his masterpiece... so happy with himself!
The kids have both been sick off and on over the past couple of weeks with a respiratory bug. Talon had a low grade fever for a couple of days, but otherwise seemed to be doing well. It definitely didn't slow him down. Wednesday night, when I was trying to get ready for our trip to Oregon, I got the kids in bed between 8:30 and 9, and started cleaning up the house a bit. Around 10:00, Anthony said I might want to check on Kaitlyn- she was crying. I went upstairs and she was asleep, but Talon was crying. I turned on the light to find him sitting up in bed, he had a horrible croupy cough, and was having a hard time breathing (grunting, retracting, ...the whole nine yards). Not to mention, he was running a fever. Hoping desperately not to have to sit in the ER all night, I called the PICU and asked the intensivist if he would see him and treat him. He said to bring him in. Off to Boise we go. Thank Heavens for Dr McConnell! Talon got a neb treatment, a prescription for steroids and Tamiflu, we hung out for about an hour to make sure he wasn't going to rebound, and we were on our way. Talon sounded much better. Motrin brought his fever down, and he was a pretty happy boy as we trotted out to the car around 1am. Home from Boise we go!
I drove to the Walgreens in Eagle to fill his prescriptions, and found a sign that said "Your closest 24hr Walgreens is in Boise". Fabulous! Back to Boise we go. When I was almost there, I decided to call and find out if they even carried the med that was prescribed. "I'm sorry, we don't carry Orapred". But of course! Home from Boise we go.
Coming to the conclusion I wasn't going to be able to fill his prescription until morning, I decided to go to Walmart and get a humidifier. As I walked through the store, my son barking like a seal every time he coughed, people just stared. You could see it all over their faces..."What a horrible mother- keeping that poor baby out at this hour when he's obviously sick". I finally found the humidifiers. Decisions. Decisions. After 'shopping' for one that seemed like it would do the job (without spending my kids' college fund), we headed to the check stand. Every time we passed an item that even resembled food, Talon would say "Eat? Snack?". I tried to find something remotely healthy without a lot of sugar (since it was almost 3am). Ah, ha! Ritz crackers with cheese. I paid and we left the store. It was FREEZING outside! Just as we were getting ready to pull out of the parking lot, Talon reminded me... "Crackers?". As I opened the lid, I realized they had already been opened and half of them already eaten. PERFECT! I again had to get him out of his car seat and go into the store. Wouldn't you know it, we had grabbed the last container of crackers. With the help of the clerk, we searched every check stand. Not a single container of the cheese crackers left. I gave up and we left with cookies. ~sigh!! We finally got home around 3:30am. I think I finally got to bed around 5am. Of course, Kaitlyn was up bright and early the next morning. This is my little trooper (holding tight to his monkey and getting ready to go to sleep after a very long night!).
He got better with the steroids, and has only had one short episode since. Dr McConnell strongly suggested we have a consult with Dr Beck- who may recommend we have his tonsils taken out. I guess we'll see!
Yes, our little girl is "1" today. It's hard to believe that a whole year ago, we brought this little bundle home. Time has flown by so fast! She has brought such joy to our lives. She has so much spunk and personality- we enjoy her so much!
We had a party with my family while we were in Oregon over the weekend. The place was decked out in pink and brown!
Tonight we celebrated with just the four of us. I made cupcakes, and Kaitlyn made a huge mess of herself with the frosting. (I had to take it away when she decided it was more fun to eat the paper than the cake.)
I'll be posting more pictures, but here are a couple for now.
Happy Birthday, Sissy... We love you!!! -Daddy, Mommy, and Bubby
We love music around our house and we play it a lot, the kids are crazy about it. Talon can find a way to turn just about anything into a drum, piano, or guitar. The other night, Anthony was online and found some of the Gaither's music. After it had been going for a few minutes, I had to grab the camera and get some pictures. Kaitlyn was just singin' along and doing her best to keep up with the beat! Notice how, in the second one, Kaitlyn can pretty much hold her own against her brother when she really wants something. What an entertaining duo we have. They crack me up!
It probably helps that I put about 1/2 a pump of raspberry flavoring in her milk to entice her to drink it. She LOVED it! She guzzled 8oz in a matter of a couple of minutes. (I thought I may have to surgically remove it from her hands!) Hopefully the transition from bottle to sippy cup wont be that difficult. (Especially when she doesn't get her milk flavored every time!)
Getting rid of the paci... that may be a bit more of a challenge. I only let her have it when she goes to sleep, but she's pretty attached to it. My goal is to have the bottle and pacifier gone when she turns a year old, but when she can't find her paci, she tends to suck her thumb. We may just get rid of the bottle right now, and work on the pacifier slowly!!
We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary in May. We live in Minot, North Dakota. Anthony is on the ministerial staff at our church, Apostolic Faith Church, and enjoys playing the guitar. Candice is an RN, and the Unit Manager of Pediatrics and the NICU at the hospital. We have 5 kids- Talon Shade, Kaitlyn Michelle, Nolan James, Natalie Danielle, and Olivia Ruth. We have 2 miniature Schnauzers- Kiki and Kallie. We love spending time together as a family!
I have a feeling we're in for a real treat until he can peddle it on his own. He wants to be pushed all around the house. Not only is it extremely low to the ground, but he keeps his feet on the peddles and continuously puts the brakes on. After just a couple of minutes, my back is killing me!
