May

I can't believe it's May already, this year is flying by so fast! We've had a busy few weeks to a trip to Oklahoma for a mini family reunion followed 2 days later with a trip to Houston. The kids did amazingly well with all the time in the car and Joshua asks me daily now when we're going on another trip. We're going down to Corpus for a few days at the end of the month and they are both really excited about going to the beach. I asked Joshua the other day is he wanted to eat a fish while we're there. He got a very serious look on his face and told me that fish are nice, we don't eat them, we just look :) We'll see if he still feels that way when I give him a plate of shrimp and coctail sauce....my vote is he won't.

We were able to get both kids registered for preschool this month and I'm excited for them to start in August. Joshua talks about going to school all the time and doesn't want to wait that long. They will be going two mornings a week for about 3 hours. I'm really excited for them to make some friends their own ages. I found out a couple of weeks ago a little girl that Abigail goes to nursery with is going to be going to be in the same preschool class so we're going to get them together a few times this summer so they will know someone on the first day.

Tommy is busy with work like always, but he loves what he does and is still enjoying the fact that he gets to make the decisions :) He built the kids a picnic table a few weeks ago and they are enjoying being able to eat outside on it and (one day soon) play with finger paints for the first time. He is building another boat and hoping to have it ready to take out on the lake near our house soon. I have an ultrasound at the end of the month to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl, I'm REALLY looking forward to being able to get rid of a bunch of baby clothes once we find out if we need blue or pink. They are taking over my house and it's time to find a new home for the ones we won't need!
We are looking forward to a busy summer. We have a trip to Corpus planned over Memorial Day, Abigail's 2nd birthday, a few days in Galveston (Kemah, Moody Gardens, the beach) in June while Tommy goes to a conference for work, and a wedding in August. We're excited for all of our little adventures and hoping it will be enough to keep the kids from getting too bored with our everyday activities.

April update

Happy Easter family! We've had a busy couple of months at our house. We found out in mid February that we will be welcoming a new little one into our family at the end of October. A couple of weeks later we celebrated Joshua's 3rd birthday with Grandma and Grandpa. They came up for his birthday weekend and we had fun going to the zoo, having donuts, pizza and cookie cake, and playing with new toys :) I spent the month of March dealing with morning sickness, and was VERY greatful that Mom was able to come and stay with us for a week to help me get the house back together. I had my first doctor appointment last week and everything looks great with the baby. We get to find out at the end of May if it's a boy or a girl, both of the kids say they want a girl, so we'll see if they're right :) This past weekend we enjoyed spending some time together over the Easter weekend. We went to Georgetown on Sunday and had an Easter egg hunt and enjoyed visiting and having dinner with the Bertucci's. We have a trip to Oklahoma planned at the end of April to visit some of Tommy's family, then a few days later we are going to Houston for a wedding. We are keeping busy, but are enjoying every minute of it!

Joshua is such a big boy now! He talks all the time and wants to do everything by himself. Potty training is going well, he seldom has accidents anymore and he's getting better and better at telling us when he needs to go potty instead of waiting for us to tell him to. We've been going to the park a lot the last week or so, he loves playing with the other kids we see there and talks about it for the rest of the day after we go home. He loves to play with his trains and spends as much time as possible in the backyard.

Abigail is almost 2 now....I can't believe how fast my little girl is growing up. She talks all the time and constantly wants to read books and talk on the phone....usually to Grandpa :) She loves shoes, purses, and getting her hair done......she also loves to play with my make-up brushes and tells me she needs lipstick! She's still a cuddly little thing though and loves hugs and kisses. She likes to climb on the equipment at the park and go down the slides by herself, I'm not allowed to help her anymore. She points out every baby that we see and tells me that they are "Abby's babies".......I'm trying to convince her that they have their own mommies and can't come home with us :) We are working on sharing and she is slowly improving. I am working on getting them both into a 2 morning a week preschool next fall so they can have more interaction with kids their own ages.

Tommy is busy with work and his calling at church. He's been even more busy the last month or so taking care of the house and cooking dinner for the kids while I've been sick. He finally got the final approval for his thesis and has had it published so he is officially finished with school!!!! Unless of course he goes for his PhD one day.... For now he's enjoying having his evenings free to get stuff done at home and play with the kids.

And baby makes 5 :)

I went to the doctor this morning and am happy to officially announce that we are having a baby!  After spending the last month throwing up I have been feeling MUCH better the last few days and have even made it out of the house a few times (church, grocery store, park).  We're so excited to welcome a new little one to our family in October...even though I have no idea how I'm going to handle 3 kids under four!  I had an ultrasound this morning and baby looks great and is right on track for growth.  We get to find out at the end of May if baby is a boy or a girl and for the first time I really don't have a preference either way.  As long as this one is healthy and happy we will be thrilled.

Preschool

I think I found a preschool for Joshua!!!!  I kind of stopped looking because they all require the kids to be potty trained, but now it's time to start looking again :)  The place I've found is a preschool program combined with a gymnastics place, they divide the "school day" into several sections including educational activities, art, and gym time where they introduce basic gymnastics exersizes to the kids.  It seems like it will be a good fit for him.  He went to Sunbeams with me at church a couple of weeks ago and really seemed to enjoy the structure, so I think he will definitely be ready for this in the fall.  I'm so excited I finally found a good place, there are shockingly few of them aorund here!

Joshua is doing AWESOME at potty training!  We are on our 4th day now and have only had 2 accidents, both of which happened when he was playing outside with Daddy and was too distracted to come inside :)   He is really starting to figure this whole thing out, I'm so proud of him!  We've even had several successful trips out of the house without any problems.  I odered the kids' Easter outfits today; they are going to be so cute!  I love that I can dress them up a couple of times a year.  I'm hoping that I have a few more years of making them match (at least for Christmas and Easter!) before they're old enough to care about it.

Potty training.......

Ok, I promise I've done this before.......practically every job I've ever had has involved potty training other people's kids.  I have successfully potty trained at least a dozen children, usually woking with three or four at a time.  Why then is it so frustrating to potty train one almost 3 year old???????  He understands the concept, he knows that he is supposed to go potty on the toilet.  He tells me all the time "no potty on floor, no potty in car, no potty at store........."  and he hasn't had an accident except at home.  Why then does he sit in the bathroom for an hour with no result and then promptly pee in his pants????  I kow this is normal but I am going crazy here.  I had enough laundry without all of the extra underwear, pants, and socks!!!!

February

Welcome to February! We are enjoying the cold weather and are looking forward to our new fireplace screen arriving so that we can use our fireplace :) Tommy and I got callings at church a couple of weeks ago so we no longer get to attend our classes.....I am the Sunbeam teacher and Tommy is the Ward clerk. Unfortunately that means that I now have to get the kids ready and take them to church and home again on my own. I enjoyed the brief reprieve I got over the last couple of months, but it is nice to be useful again!


We recently started potty training Joshua. He is excited to get to wear "big boy" underwear and is doing pretty well. He wasn't feeling well yesterday so he came to Sunbeams with me instead of going to nursery. He liked going to sharing time and singing the songs and did really well sitting in his chair during class time. Unfortunately he won't be old enough to REALLY be in the class until next year, but it just made me want to get him into a preschool program next fall even more.

Abigail is as full of life as ever :) I'm starting to understand what people mean when they talk abot having a "spirited" child! She is doing really well in nursery and didn't cry at all when we dropped her off yesterday. She loves to help me around the house and is VERY intersted in the potty since Joshua started using it. She tells me when she needs to be changed and has started telling me when she needs to go. we're still trying to work on the timing though.....she usally goes right AFTER she gets off the potty.
Tommy is keeping busy at work. He is in the process of hiring a new planner and is looking forward to having a full team again. He has officially finished his master's now (his thesis has been approved) and is enjoying not having me bug him about doing his school work every night.

I'm keeping busy with the kids and the cat :) Riley had surgery on his eye last week so I've had to keep him from messing with it and not the the kids mess with him too much. He's healing well and gets his stitches out next week. I'm looking forward to not having to buy diapers anymore and try to remember that while I clean up the inevitable accidents.

Belated December update :)

Merry Christmas everyone!
We are settled into our new house in Harker Heights and are getting more and more comfortable finding our way around all the time. Tommy is enjoying the new challenges that his job brings. He is actually going to have to hire someone in the next few weeks. He is THRILLED to be done with school and the kids and I are enjoying having him around a bit more.

Joshua is almost three now........I can hardly believe how big my baby boy has gotten! He is doing well with his speech development and is learning new words daily. I call him my little parrot :) He loves his new backyard and plays out there for hours everyday. His nursery teachers tell me that he is the best in the class at cleaning up and we are trying to get him to show us that at home more often. He unfortunately doesn't take naps anymore :( but is really good at playing quietly in his room while Abigail takes her nap so Mommy can have some "alone time".

Abigail is 18 months old and all girl :) She loves purses, shoes, jewelry, make-up and bows. She loves to come with me when I'm getting ready to go somewhere and play with my blush and lipstick. She also steals my necklaces and bracelets on a regular basis. Since meeting Bailey she carries her baby doll around the house with her all day long. She feeds it and rocks it and pats it's back, then puts it in her little cradle. She'll come find me afterwards and tell me "shhhhh, baby night-night". She loves to give hugs and kisses and read stories. We're working on using words when she wants something and she's learning several new words a week. When she started going to nursery I realized that she's not a little baby anymore......so time outs are once more in effect in our house......they are infrequent though and she's following directions better everyday.

I am enjoying the new house and the freedom it gives the kids. They love to play in their rooms and in the backyard, leaving me free to actually get things done during the day :) They love to help me and are actually getting big enough that their "help" is actually helpful. Joshua feeds the cat every day and Abigail helps me throw things away and unload the dishwasher.

We are so grateful for the blessings that we have received this year and are looking forward to seeing what the new year has in store for our family.

Wow, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years have come and gone since I last posted.  The stress of the move has been almost forgotten, and the boxes have long since been unpacked.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's house and got to meet our first niece, Bailey.  We enjoyed having Christmas morning at home and having the Elders over for breakfast, then had dinner with the Bertucci's and ended the day by heading down to Houston.  We were able to see the whole family over the weekend and were happy that we could be there for Peter's Eagle Court of Honor and to see Bailey be blessed. 

Since then Abigail was talked about babies non-stop and drags hers all over the house with her feeding and rocking them :)  She chatters all the time now and a good portion of it is actually real words!  She has been in nursery for about 6 weeks now and does better every time.  She loves to help me and is getting more and more able to actually do small jobs.  We moved her into a toddler bed at the end of the year and ever since she tells me that she is "big, not baby".  So apparently we only have big kids in our house now, not babies!

Joshua will be 3 in a few weeks.  I can't believe how fast my little boy is growing up.  He loves to play outside and help me take care of Abigail and Riley.   He checks every morning to make sure that Riley has enough food and water and helps me to refill his bowl if he needs something.  He has officially outgrown his carseat and graduated to a booster.  He likes that he has a big boy seat now :)  We have also put away all of his sippy cups and I am happy to say we have not had a spill in several days.

Tommy is happy to finally be done with school, but is keeping busy at work.  We still don't have callings in our new ward, and with both of the kids in nursery we are able to enjoy our classes for the first time in years!  Tommy's parents are coming back to the States for a visit in a few days and the kids are excited to see Gigi and Abuelo for the first time since last June.  We are settling into our new community well and are loving our new house.  We are so excited to see what this year has in store for our family!