My helper...

What a blessing it is to have such a wonderful helper. Two of them (some days) truth be told.

Both kids have been fed for the night, and we're just hanging out here at the house tonight...a rarity it seems, lately. No t-ball practice, no school activity, and we were home by 5:30ish, which meant dinner was over by 6. Again...all rarities as of late.

Back to my point.

I was putting a load of laundry in to wash, and apparently Tatum heard me. All I hear is a little girl running toward me shouting, "I help ou, Mommy! I help ou!"

Have I mentioned how much this girl L-O-V-E-S to help with laundry? As in, L-O-V-E-S it. Has thrown a fit because we didn't understand she was asking to help me with it one weekend. Really.

So I put the towels in a pile on the floor, in front of the washing machine, and sure enough, she was diligent in putting them into the washing machine. Yes, this was an added step in my process, but SO WHAT!! This gave her such joy! And as soon as we were through with that pile, she wanted to move on to other clothes...so cute! Then, she ran into the house and proceeded to tell her big brother that, "I help Mommy!!"

She was so proud.

So I asked if she wanted to help me some more, and got out the small hand vac...and she played with that for about 5 minutes...just beaming with pride that she was cleaning the carpet. No, it's not perfect, but that's not the point.

And wow....what does that say about how far I've come in kicking some of my perfectionism with that statement? Does that mean that I'm getting to the point that I'll let the kids do something if it's less than perfect or not done just the way that I would do it? Hmmm....

God MUST be moving here, folks!

Sweet words...

You have to know things will be great when your morning consists of a sweet girl and the words, "Kiss, Mommy!" followed by, "Cheek, other cheek."

Then, "Nose, eye, other eye, other eye." [I feel I must insert here that I don't actually have three eyes...she just kept going back and forth]

"Ear, Mommy."

"Other ear."

Awww....all is right with the world when things like this occur to start off your day.

Tatum's birthday & birthday party

Here are some pictures of Tatum on her actual birthday...She looked ADORABLE all dressed up that day! (Trust me, she did...the pictures may not have turned out all that great, but it was totally the photographer, not the model!)

The rest of the pictures are from her (VERY windy) birthday party, which we held nearby at the park. She had LOADS of fun playing on the playground, feeding the ducks, eating cupcakes, and of course, opening her presents. Which reminds me, I need to write thank-you notes. Ug!! Where has my mind gone??

Part of the fun was actually flying a kite...Winnie the Pooh, of course! It was certainly windy enough! Daddy and Mike worked on it, and for a little while, they even let the birthday girl play along. Except that her playing along was simply chasing after the kite as Daddy pulled it away from her! Tatum actually thought that was quite fun...Then decided she had had enough, and wanted to help with the real kite flying.




Here she is opening some of her presents...jewelry, dolls, a puppy, but the crowning jewel, perhaps, was the Aggie chair with the cup/water holder. Once she sat in it, she insisted on a water bottle, put it in the appropriate holder, and was pretty well set!



And here is the birthday girl with Daddy and Mommy shortly after diving into her cupcake...I wonder who she takes after with her affinity for all things chocolate??

Here is big brother very much enjoying the cupcake, icing and as many sprinkles that he could possibly fit onto the icing...and even some that didn't fit!

Catching up

I'm woefully behind in my blogging, so I'll see if I can TRY to catch up a little at a time. I've just downloaded several hundred pictures from my camera, so that should tell you how behind I am in that respect as well. Granted, we DID just get through with spring break and had a glorious time with many adventures captured on film (can you even say that now if it isn't really "film" anymore??), but you get my drift...Rather than get overwhelmed by catching up all at one time (yeah right!), I'll attempt to do a little bit...

Get ready!

Happy Birthday my (not so) baby girl!

I had another early morning with the kids today. For some reason, Tatum isn't making it through the night without some help (either putting her back in bed or settling her back down in ours) and Kellen seems to gravitate toward Mommy and Daddy's bed at some point in time in the middle of the night as well. So I woke up to Kellen sleeping next to me and Tatum hollering for 'Mommy!' I brought her back to bed with me, while Matt snoozed oh-so-nicely on the couch, so as to be sure his tossing and turning didn't disturb my sleep. Several hours later, when it was actually time to wake up, I got out of my shower to see Tatum still asleep, but Kellen starting to rouse and snuggle with her. He laid next to her, gave her a hug and kiss, then stroked her hand, which prompted her to grab onto his thumb - in her sleep, mind you - and hold his hand. So he looked at me, shrugged his shoulders, and just laid down next to her again. It was SO PRECIOUS! So precious, in fact, that I went and woke Matt up and made him come to look!

I then proceeded to tell Tatum "Happy birthday!" She got really excited and started saying, 'Happy birthday party!', so we tried to explain that today was her birthday and we would have her party later. All morning she walked around saying, "Happy birthday to me!" She's VERY excited about her upcoming party. But then again, this is the girl that will sit and have tea parties for hours, so...

I just still can't believe she's two. I'm in awe that two WHOLE years have actually passed since she was born. She's brought so much joy, laughter, love and SPUNK into our lives - I can hardly remember our lives without her!

Here are some of the current things that Tatum loves:

Shoes
Socks [Note: neither of these top two stay on for longer than perhaps 5 minutes in the car, but they MUST be put on prior to going someplace]
Having her toenails painted ("pretty toes")
Bows in her hair (although they don't stay there for long - most of the time)
Having her hair fixed (Pig tails, ponytail, top spout - there's another name for that...)
Pink and purple just about anything
Winnie the Pooh
Her lovey (the yellow one...that's why we have 3 identical ones)
Her blanket (a specific one - pink with minkey on one side and silky on the other)
Her paci's (although she knows that they're for night-night only, which includes naps)
Jackets with pockets
The Foot Book (Dr. Seuss)
Brushing her teeth (yup...she loves it!)
Baths (she loves the bath, but dislikes the act of actually getting clean, including washing her hair)
Going to the park to feed the ducks
Coloring (both with actual crayons and with sidewalk chalk)
Dancing to just about anything with a beat
Her brother
Her big girl undies
Having tea parties

These are obviously in no certain order, but I wanted to jot them down so that I could remember what she likes RIGHT NOW. Even if she's almost as stubborn as her mommy, she's such a tremendous joy.

Happy birthday, my sweet monkey!

The meaning...

God's moving, but I seem to be left searching for the 'Why?' in the movement at the moment. There have been so many things this week that I've been dealing with that I simply don't know where to start, so I won't. I'm not going to rehash it all. Suffice it to say, God's been testing how broad my shoulders are and my ability to lean solely on Him. If my faith exhibited through my life this week were a class, I'm not sure that I would be passing at this point in time.

I attended a funeral for a colleague this afternoon that was a wonderful celebration of a life lived to the fullest. It was beautiful. I know that Dr. Edwards is in a better place, and is no longer in pain. His life and servant leadership is a model to emulate, and I left wondering if I'll ever "get it" and "get there" and wondered what people would say of my life and witness if something were to happen to me. These things really make you think. Especially in light of the various things I had to deal with this week.

Did I exhibit Christ's love through the various conflicts I dealt with this week? When I consciously thought about it, I tried, but how successful was I? And why should I have to consciously think about it? Shouldn't it be an outpouring of me and my innermost self without the conscious thought?

On other fronts....
Tatum busted both of her lips this afternoon on the concrete as she fell off of the swing while she and Kellen were outside playing. Matt was watching them while I was attempting to take a nap to ward off the migraine that has now taken residence upon my brain. Moments into the attempted nap, I hear Tatum's screams and Kellen runs into my room to inform me of the incident.

"Did you get your DADDY?!?" I asked, probably louder than I intended or needed.

"Yes, but her lips are bleeding."

So I rushed out to the living room to check on things. Looking back, I'm not quite sure why I did this, since the most appropriate person to check on her was doing so, but anyway...Matt asked if she wanted to snuggle with Mommy, and she did. So Tatum and I snuggled with a rag on her lips for a while to stop the bleeding. Kellen was so sweet during the whole thing. He was terribly upset that Tatum was hurt, and ran to get whatever we needed...her lovey, her blanket, a hug, a kiss, held her hand, whatever. He was the embodiment of the caring big brother and it was just precious.

Poor thing, though...both lips are quite swollen. We don't think there was any damage to her teeth, and when she brushed them tonight she didn't grimace or wince like she was in pain. When it was 'my turn' I brushed and tried to check to see if anything was loose, and nothing appeared to be.

And to back things up a little further, we had a WONDERFUL time today at Kellen's school carnival. They had all kinds of games set up and both he and Tatum had fun playing games. There were a few that Tatum was able to play, so we tried to let her play some as well so she didn't get too bored. She also got her face painted (a purple butterfly on one side and an orange flower on the other side). She was adorable during the painting...she kept perfectly still during the entire thing. She just LOVES getting her face painted!

There was an obstacle course that Kellen ran and at the time he ran it, he was the 4th fastest grade K student. They're keeping tally of the top 5 students in each grade level on a board throughout the day, and the fastest in each grade receives a prize. We were so proud of him! You could tell that when he started to run the course that he was nervous, and he really wanted us to cheer for him, which of course we did. Even Tatum got in on it, cheering her big brother along!

Matt and I got reminded of how much Kellen likes moon bounces and other bounce-type pieces, so we ended the carnival experience with a few of those games. And by the time we made it back to the house, both kids were fast asleep in their carseats, evidence that they both had a BLAST!

Spring fever

"Spring fever" is what Kellen's teacher coined as the cause for his misbehaving ways today. Darn! He had been doing so well at school! Apparently he had a lot of trouble today listening and following directions. At least enough trouble to warrant an email to me with a request to reinforce those items at home. Got it! Consider reinforcement of said behaviors done...

I feel like I've gotten a mark against me in the "bad parent" column seeing as how he misbehaved the day after I let the he and Tatum have a movie night because they both had such good days yesterday. On a school night at that! Shame on me. But I enjoyed watching Aladdin, too!

Today was picture day for Kellen...Matt and I discussed, at length, whether or not to cut his hair for the pictures, and ultimately decided against doing so. Kellen is becoming increasingly 'attached' to his hair, so much so that he'll put his hands over his head to 'protect' his hair if we discuss him actually getting a haircut. As of now, neither Matt nor I mind this, but I wonder how long that will last...Matt typically likes to give him HIS type of hair cut come late spring/early summer, and keep it that way throughout the summer time. I'm not sure if Kellen will be up for that one this summer...It might be interesting...

In another front, Tatum will be two in a week. Whoa. Where did the time go? On the one hand, I can't believe she's going to be two! On the other, I can barely remember my life - our family - without her. If you've ever met her, you'll understand that on a couple of levels, especially considering she has such a strong personality (can't imagine where she might get one of those).

She's still doing GREAT on the potty front...She's had maybe 4 accidents in the last 3 weeks or so, one at school and the others either on our way home or with me. Hmm...what does that say? I wonder if I'm not asking enough? I had a conference yesterday and today and took her with me this morning to get some coffee before I dropped her off. While we were waiting on it, I asked her if she needed to go and she said "yes," so we did. And she did. I'm working on this with her, but I'm still not really sure that I'm ready for her to actually GO to the potty. Even considering the fact that I cloth diaper, it's still a LOT easier for her to just go in her diaper and have me change her when the diaper is full and/or I get a chance, rather than when she has to go RIGHT THEN.

Mommy's got to get with it!

What streaks...

The kids are doing pretty well over here...Kellen is actually GOING to the potty (YAY for medicine that works consistently!), Tatum is NOT having accidents consistently, and on the sleep front, she's going to bed like a champ once more. Now, the next hurdle to overcome is getting BOTH (yes, I typed BOTH) kids to sleep all night in their OWN beds, and to sleep all night without having to be taken to the potty, or put back in bed at any point in time prior to 6 AM. Heck....I would even bump that back to 5:30 right now and be pretty much ok with it...

It is a little sad to take one kid back to bed only to see another asleep on the floor next to the gate containing her in her room. Awww...

But kids in bed is one habit that I do NOT want to start (on a rare occasion, ok, but every night crawling in bed with us, nope). Sadly, Matt doesn't necessarily agree with me. Either that or he's buying Kellen's sob story virtually EVERY night...or Kellen's really sneaky...Dunno.

I have some work stuff going on right now that's pretty stressful...Some university-wide student vs advisor articles that have run in the Batt that I get to deal with visa via my office this year with the advising organization on campus. Pray for guidance as I meet with some committees and navigate these political waters. I need my brain-to-mouth filter firmly in place and most of all, need the Lord to provide the correct and appropriate words to say.

The secret?

I didn't want to post for fear it might ruin it, but I believe we have found the secret to Tatum staying in her bed until she falls asleep. We haven't quite made it to the sleeping all night long in her bed until the regular morning (per the rest of the world, or at least the rest of the household, is concerned), but it's progress!

Friday night was the discovery night. I began the nighttime ritual the same as usual, with me catching her getting out of bed, then walking her back to bed, tucking her back in, and telling her 'night night'. One time I even stayed outside of her door and counted on my hand to five. Sure enough, by the time I had gotten to five fingers, she was at the door opening it up. The next time I put her back into bed, she actually told me, 'door open', so I thought I would give it a try.

Grandpa Gerren had come to visit on Friday as well, and he offered to go lay on the floor in her room to assist, but I told him I was going to try something different. I was going to leave the door open slightly and try to catch her being good.

By this point in time it had been longer than a count to five, and she was still laying in bed, so I went into her room (the door had been left slightly open), praised her for staying in bed and going night night, and told her I would be back. I put my stopwatch on, and went back in after 30 seconds and repeated the above statements. 45 seconds. Repeat. 2 minutes. Repeat. 5 minutes. Repeat. When I went back in after 7 minutes, she was asleep.

Whoo hoo!

Saturdays nap went remarkably well, too. Grandpa and I took the kids to the park while Daddy worked on the yard, and we made it back to the house slightly after noon for lunch. It was about 12:45 and Tatum was rubbing her eyes and actually asking for night night...Well, about that time, Daddy was working in the front yard immediately under her window - and he wasn't raking leaves. He was mowing and weed eating. That didn't faze her. We followed the same routine as Friday night, only we started out with the cracked door and she was asleep within 5 minutes, I believe...I went in after 2 minutes to check on her, and she was in that 'almost' phase, the next time in she was completely asleep.

Saturday night followed the same pattern, although it began a half hour earlier because her nap was abruptly cut short by an older brother screaming for mommy inside the house. (Thank you very much). The half hour shift didn't seem to bother her, and it still worked.

Sunday went smoothly as well, and so did tonight. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner!

Now, if we can only get her to STAY in bed after she wakes up in the middle of the night, rather than go back to sleep by the baby gate or worse, scream until a parental figure 'rescues' her...

Any suggestions for that one? I'm open here!

Whew!

I feel like I can *almost* breathe a sigh of relief...this week has been SO HECTIC, both with work activities and with the Tatum sleep adjustment issues. I am just READY for a relaxing weekend...

Lord, PLEASE let this be a relaxing weekend!

To update...the chili went well, and Matt invented his own special chili recipe, even if he didn't intend to do so. He went to the store last night, but didn't quite get my grocery list exactly correct, so the chili wasn't made how I usually make it. But, as is his normal cooking style, he managed to pull it off and it still tasted pretty good with his "help" even if it wasn't my normal chili recipe. In fact, it was one of the only pots of chili there that I could actually EAT without needing a fire extinguisher for my mouth, so I was completely ok with it! It; however, did not win the chili cook off (as opposed to the last time I made chili and entered it in the chili cook off...it DID win). Just saying...

We now have valentines for the parties at both schools that will be taking place tomorrow. Kellen and I spend some time writing out his valentines, inserting the tatoos, and sealing then shut. What exactly is the point of sealing them shut with a sticker anyway? The 'to' and 'from' are on the outside of the card itself? I just don't get that... That, along with the chili cook off and having to go to the store to get said valentines resulted in him going to bed VERY late - I certainly hope that tonight and tomorrow go well for him. He hasn't been sleeping well at night either lately, so I hope that tonight will be different for him (and subsequently for me as well).

Hey, Tatum's visiting Maw Maw and Paw Paw, so I don't have to worry about her. If Kellen has a good night sleep, perhaps that means that I will as well, right? Sound logic, huh?

A girl can dream, can't she?

3 days in a row...

Now I'm detecting a pattern. Here we are at Wednesday, and no accidents for Tater-tot at daycare again today. She's even poo poo'ed on the potty.

Now, I was expecting some problems today, but perhaps they'll show up tomorrow - she snuck a drink of unknown size of Kellen's "special" yogurt drink this morning. There are two problems with that. First, it's a strawberry flavored drink and she can't have 1) fruit and 2) strawberries, specifically, yet and the next BIG problem is that it was Kellen's "special" drink, which means it had a FULL dose of laxative in it. I have NO IDEA how much of the drink she got before I caught her. Will that catch up with her tomorrow? We shall see.

We're almost at Valentine's day and I'm quickly realizing this holiday has snuck up on me. Both of the kids have school parties on Friday afternoon, and we're currently valentine-less in this household. Yikes!

I guess I know what my project for tomorrow will be. After the chili cook off. Oh yes...the undergraduate chili cook off is tomorrow immediately after work. So as I type, the third pound of ground beef is browning on the stove for my chili. Yes, I know it's late. I might not even have the chance to throw it all together until the morning. Because other than the meat, I don't have any of the rest of the ingredients I need to actually MAKE the chili. Another yikes! Oh well, I guess it's ok for only deciding to enter it at all last night!

2 days in a row...

So for the 2nd day in a row, Tatum had zero accidents at school. She had an accident at the house this morning before we left, and one immediately before bedtime, but I think in the hustle and bustle of the morning, I didn't ask her if she needed to go as we were trying to get out of the house. As for tonight, well...that was just an accident. I asked, she said no, and went not even minutes later.

She's getting there, but I would by no means call her potty trained.

On the Kellen front...no accidents today. What a blessing!!

Big changes

So long containment, hello freedom! *Sigh*

If you've ready any of the latest posts here, you're probably guessing what happened.

Tatum got home on Friday night, and was already asleep, so Friday night was just fine. Saturday for nap; however, was an altogether different story. I returned for a quick trip to the store, after getting her down and Kellen all ready for nap, in time for Matt to ask me, "Guess who can climb out of her crib?"

I'll give you two guesses and I don't think you'll need the second one, huh?

I immediately went into mommy-panic mode...you know the kind. 'She can't stay one minute longer in the crib, it must be taken apart and she must go into a toddler bed, we have to do this NOW, she's not sleeping in that bed like that tonight, etc, etc.' All true statements, but they could probably have been said over the span of perhaps two minutes rather than two seconds...I dunno...

At any rate, our Saturday afternoon, clean up around the house and take a walk to the park plans changed rather dramatically...the kids and I ended up going to Rockdale to pick up the toddler bed that was being stored there. We left shortly after the kids woke up from their naps (much later than normal because hey...it took Tatum a while longer than normal to go to sleep - apparently a small feat of strength will do that to you - or maybe it was the small bump on her noggin from the climb/fall out of the crib that interfered with her sleep pattern?)

At any rate, we get there, my uncle and I get the bed, and Tatum is following us to the van as we are getting ready to load the bed and mattress. We stop and put the items down...Tatum didn't. She high-tailed it RIGHT into the metal foot of her new bed. In the eye. Thank God that it was at the height it was, because millimeters in either direction and I shudder to think of the damage that the metal rod could/would have caused her eye with the force of her collision. As it was, the top of the rod gashed into her eyebrow and the bottom bruised the area immediately underneath her eye.

I scooped her up and ran her into the house, with the blood pooling on her eyebrow and then dripping down her face and onto her shirt and shorts...bless her heart, she was just screaming her head off - and I don't blame her one bit! My uncle was running behind me, my aunt and Kellen were inside the house, and Kellen wanted to know what was wrong with his sister! My aunt isn't as mobile as she once was, and I'm sure it was upsetting her to no end that she wasn't able to help us. I had my head next to Tatum's and just kept repeating, 'Mommy's gonna fix it. Mommy's gonna make it all better.' I was able to stop the bleeding, then get Tatum calmed down enough to sit on my lab and let me hold ice on her eye for about five minutes or so. It's a nice cut, but not bad enough to need stitches. I do imagine that it will scar. So she'll have a scar in her eyebrow just like her mommy.

Good grief!

A few minutes later and she was running around asking for a snack like nothing had ever happened, so Praise the Lord that all things ended up like they did!

We got the bed loaded back up, and then made it back home in time for supper that Daddy made for us (YAY!). While the kids were eating, I cleaned up the bed and put it in Tatum's room. In the process, I did my fair share of crying. The room no longer looked like my baby's room. It had a toddler bed in it and looked like a toddler room. And it made me cry. Seriously cry. And I think it made my husband question my sanity. Although I'm not entirely sure about that one.

We introduced Tatum to her new bed (re-introduced, I guess I should really say) and she liked it (much better the second time around, really...). A short while later, it was time for bed.

Then the fun really began.

Due to our trip and getting the bed set up, we were about a half hour off of her normal bedtime, but I lost count of how many trips we made with her back to her room and to her new bed. After an hour and a half, I finally just went in her room, laid down in the bed with her, and patted her back until she fell asleep. (Don't judge - I had had enough!)

That worked fine. And she didn't get up. At least until 1:30 when we heard her screaming for Mommy at the baby gate we put across her door frame. So Daddy went to get her, and she spent the rest of the night in our bed, snuggled as tightly as she could get against me. She likes to snuggle tight and push. I felt like I was inches away from getting pushed out of my bed. And I don't have a really small bed!

Fast forward to Sunday nap and I think the time frame to get her down was about an hour and a half...I'm not sure what finally worked on that one, but I think it was just the Mommy-Daddy tag team combination that finally wore her down.

Sunday night we whittled the TTS (time-to-sleep) to down about an hour. We tried about 30 minutes of walking her back into her room and putting her back in bed, and then after than, I laid on the floor for a little while until she finally fell asleep. I actually think I did as well, so the full TTS might not have been a full hour - Matt came to get me at about 8:15.

Tonight was about 45 minutes. We did a few trips of putting her back to bed (maybe a half dozen or so), then I laid down in her room on the floor for about 15 minutes and she was out. I think that might have to be the plan we go with at least in the beginning, as it really seems to work with her!

On the Kellen treatment front, he seems to be doing well with this medicine. He was able to 'go' before bed tonight and said it didn't hurt at all. Praise the Lord! That's two days in a row, which is a blessing in and of itself.

On the Tatum potty front, she went all day today at school without any accidents. I'll just say a big WOW on that one. Still am not expecting it, but it's nice!

Clean Slate

So after yet another accident today....Kellen and I went to Walgreens to pick up two different medicines...his "old" medicine and an enema. The latter was HIGHLY recommended by a co-worker who is dealing with the same issue with his son, and their doctor - a specialist - recommended it as one prong in their trio approach treatment. We had, up to this point, done the two other prongs, but hadn't taken the leap for the third.

I took the leap.

So we now have a clean slate, so to speak. I won't go into details. Suffice it to say, I still want to know what's wrong with Kellen. I'll simply ask WHY should that particular medicine (or any other medicine, for that matter?) take 2-4 times the allotted time frame to take effect when the box says 2-5 minutes (it took his body almost 10 minutes to kick in). Ask yourself, if you've ever had one, if it took the full time the box indicated to take effect.

Uh...Hello????

At any rate, we'll begin the Miralax tomorrow and will try for two weeks, as was the plan the first time around.

Please pray for Kellen as we go through this. Pray for a cessation of accidents, especially at school (four in this week alone horrifies me - I shudder to think of the various impacts those are having on Kellen). Pray for us as we continue to trouble-shoot, and pray that we are making and continue to make the correct decisions for his treatment, whatever that needs to be.

Updates...

1. We're still trying to "regulate" Kellen. Unfortunately, he had another accident yesterday. I talked with Matt about switching him from this medicine back to the old medicine...his body seems to react better to it. I mentioned that last night, and Kellen was happy about it. I said something about it again this morning and Kellen was excited. He went on to make some comments about it that just made me want to cry...

'I like the old medicine, because it didn't make me have accidents. This medicine makes me have accidents. It turns my poo poo into poo poo water and it doesn't stay inside - it leaks out.'

Oh my...let me tell you...first thing in the morning - heck, any time of the day, that just broke my heart.

He had another two accidents today...So, bottom line - I'm not giving him any more of that medicine, will get some more of the Miralax, and we'll switch asap. We'll try for two weeks - same plan as before - and see if his body can start to self regulate.

2. My daughter is a chocoholic. (I wonder where she gets that from?). And she's a sneak.

Interesting combination.

There was a small container of Oreos on the computer desk this morning. She had seen it and was continually asking for 'cookie'. Considering she had only just had breakfast, I had told her no. Well, I was in another room for only a few short minutes, and that was apparently long enough for her to get into the container, get a cookie, and spill the rest of them on the floor. When her daddy walked in and busted her, she tried to cover by picking them up and returning them to the container, then taking the container to her daddy and telling him, 'cookies yucky-fell floor - yucky'.

Little stinker.

I guess that's what I get for not eating them all last night, huh?

3. Tatum is visiting Maw Maw and Paw Paw today...Well, I got an email today during work letting me know that Tatum is now capable of escaping...er, climbing out of her pack-n-play.

Nice.

To the best of my knowledge, she hasn't tried to get out of her crib here. YET. Kellen was out of it at about 20 months, if my memory serves me correctly. So we've had 3 months of extra 'containment' time with her....Let's just see how long it continues.

I'm NOT ready for that switch over here...

She what???

As many of you know, Tatum has been choosing, as she feels like it, to potty train herself. Periodically, I'll ask her whether she wants to wear undies or a diaper as she's getting dressed in the morning. The past couple of days, she's chosen undies.

And she's done ok during the day...I don't have high expectations, and it doesn't really matter to me whether or not she has accidents during the day. I take LOTS of undies, diapers, and lots of changes of clothes, just in case.

Well, I go to pick her up today, fully expecting to see her in an outfit other than that in which I dropped her off.

Not so.

She didn't have ANY accidents today. At all.

They put her in a diaper at nap time. But it was dry even after she woke up.

No accidents. None.

Now...I don't expect this to continue, but WOW! Way to go baby girl! I guess you wanted to make a big splash once you hit 23 months old, huh?

Challenge

To get the kids to work on their areas of control (ie., THEIR rooms), while I simultaneously work on the rest of the house. Plus laundry, plus whatever else happens to be on my to-do list today. (The goal is to surprise Daddy when he gets home with a clean house. The question is whether or not this is an attainable goal). And to get ALL of it done in enough time to get a birthday present for the party we have at 2 PM.

AND to make time for naps prior to that. For the kids. Not necessarily for me (who are we kidding!?!?).


We'll see how that goes...


What challenges are you up against today?

Odd week

This has been an odd week...

I've had mental moments all week long - you know the kind...the ones where you have way too much to do and tasks that should roll off your brain make you think WAY too hard and question your abilities.

Then yesterday, my assistant flipped backwards out of her chair and hurt her leg on the trash can, and a short while later I smashed my pinky finger in one of my long desk drawers. Instantaneously the nail was filling with blood...You know those kind of smashes...the ones that make you want to scream, but you can't scream because you're in an office, and that's not socially acceptable. You know, you can't just scream your head off in an office, right?

Ug...

So all day yesterday while trying to work, I fought to keep, "my throbbing finger" from seeping into every thought. I punctured it twice last night to relieve the pressure, but it still woke me up several times last night. So I punctured it again this morning.

Just in case you're wondering...I'm gonna lose that entire fingernail. I just know it.

As I got into the office this morning, I came to the realization that you actually USE that little pinky finger A LOT when you type.

Ouch.

I'm still not sure why this week has felt so "off" though...Oh well..only one more day until the weekend!

New feature

Follow me, if you want...I've added the "Followers" section to the blog on the sidebar toward the bottom on the page (you'll probably need to scroll down to see it, below the list of blogs). If you would like to follow the blog, feel free to click and follow. If not, no biggie, just thought I would add the feature.

Have you....?

I copied this from a friend's blog. The thing said to bold ones that applied.

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper (can't imagine why I'm bolding this one...LOL)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (depends on your definition of "afford" - God provides...
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty (can you even do this any more after 9/11? - I'm bolding this one since I've at least been to the Statue of Liberty...)
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (Yup...taken 'em when the kids are sick)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold shower
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking (just about every time I dance! LOL)
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment (Just about every time I look at one of my kiddos!)
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (Money doesn't buy my satisfaction...)
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing (Does the Rec count?)
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Survived a Hurricane (Ike, anyone?)
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy (I have kids, of course I do this!)
70. Found out something significant about your ancestors
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fo
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people (I like to think I have the opportunity to do this fairly often!)
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band (Does high school count?)
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style (I'm not that trendy or influential! LOL)
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in a historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Ran a marathon (Can I italicize this for a half marathon?)
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment (Can we say learning instead of learned?)
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David (And it is MAGNIFICANT!!!)
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunch box
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
64. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
6. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics (Does attending a former location of the Olympics count - Munich, Germany?)
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books - Yeah, buddy!!
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
80. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hotel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a camp fire
189. Kept a blog (Hmmm...)
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
198. Built your own PC from parts
199. Written your own role playing game
200. Been arrested