Happy Dance Time!!

Good morning, Chris-

I am pleased to share that you have been admitted to the Indiana University School of Optometry.  A formal letter will arrive soon, but I knew you would be anxious to hear the good news.  

I hope you enjoyed your visit to campus and have decided that the IUSO is the place for you! 

Congratulations!

Cindy

 

 

Cindy Vance

Director of Student Administration

IU School of Optometry

*** This means that we don't have to send him to Memphis, Chicago, or Texas! It also means that if he doesn't get into Pacific University he has already been accepted into a top school and one of his first choices! For me it means that he is a smarty pants :) They get over 600 applications each year and only have 77 seats in the program to fill out of those applicants. It also means a possible move to Indiana, which could be really neat and exciting, it would be a real adventure. There are so many places that I have always wanted to visit within a few hours of Bloomington, including lots of church history sites. All in all I am super excited, and I know he is super excited, and relieved to know that he is in a program and doesn't need to worry anymore!***

IU Pictures

Chris sent me a few pictures that he took of Indiana University. Apparently the campus is huge and has a lot of very neat buildings, here is a little selection.

Apparently the tall building on the left is their Campus Bookstore.

The building lit up on the left was something special... I can't remember what he said though :)

A few of these pictures are from their main campus walk, like the WSU Mall.

He is pretty sure this is just a lecture hall

Some Days

Some days and times in life seem really hard, and I think it is really hard for us right now. I am not trying to complain but I really need to vent, so bare with me.
We have a lot going on, Chris is starting his whole interview process which involves well money, time, and stress. The end results will be good I know, but it is hard for us. We are having to spend so much money that we really don't have to spend in order to get him to these interviews.
To go along with money, we are loosing one of the kids already in a week and a half. He was a BIG chunk of our income so this is going to hurt. He is too young to have when the baby comes though, and we let them know so that they would have time to find someplace, his age group is really hard to find spots for in this area. They found a spot a little earlier than we were hoping, so we have a huge drop in income on top of all the money being spent getting Chris to interviews.
Now not only am I loosing that income for the business but I am still going to be tied to the house 10 hours a day five days a week but am going to be making even less money.
More business decisions have to be made also, because we found out our lease is up at the end of May, instead of mid to late June like we thought. So that really throws the when to close question up a little further. This would not be as much of a question except that there is a new set of childcare licensing rules that go into effect in the beginning of April. We are going to have to spend time and money in order to meet the new law, but is it worth it when we are going to be closing at the latest in Mid May? To go along with this we have baby girl due in mid April. I am not going to lie, it would be much easier on me if I didn't have to worry about the daycare when baby comes. We are just trying to figure out if it is worth all the extra stress for the little bit of money we may get. The real issue here is that once we decide on a close date we could loose all the kids early like we lost the first one. How will we survive? How will we pay for a move?
So I have all that hanging over my head all day, this makes the little frustrations of my day seem so much more stressful. So there is nothing really terrible going on, the kids are just being kids, I am just at the end of my rope stress wise which kills my patience and makes me react too quickly to little things which don't really matter. My frustration really kicked into high gear today because Matthew took a super short nap, which meant I only got a 15 minute break, during which I was trying to get stuff done for Chris's trip, and since Chris has to head out to Spokane it is going to be a long evening too. See it is a silly little thing, but so frustrating that I almost broke into tears.I'm sure pregnancy hormones are not helping me relax any, and are probably a big factor in my ability to handle everything going on.
What I really need is someone to figure out how to handle the timing of the business closing, taking into account the factors I mentioned. We also need to figure out where we are going to be moving so I can start working on the new business plans for after we move, we are hoping to restructure and run a preschool instead of a daycare so that I can still teach but not be tied down for so long each day. 50+ hour weeks are really hard on me, and that is when I only have Matthew after work to worry about, now I have 2 kids to consider.
Anyways there it is the source of most of my stress, there is why I am tired, grouchy, and frustrated over silly things like toy buckets being dumped, whiny kids, dishes, short naps, children spitting, potty training, messes, laundry, packing, dinner....
Oh well I will feel better tomorrow, except I will be worrying all day about Chris flying across the country and making it safely to his interview in Indiana.

The Best Questions

The best questions always seem to come from preschool age children. Yesterday a little boy was asking me what was going on with my tummy. To which I responded that Matthew's baby sister is growing in my tummy. He looked perplexed and rather confused, after a few more questions, he finally got to the question I think he really wanted to ask..

"Did you eat her?"

Insomnia

So I have never been one who can't sleep, but for some reason with this pregnancy I have already had so many sleepless nights. I was sleeping pretty good again for the last month or so though. Tonight however I went to bed exhausted at 11:00 and was wide awake at 2am... Tried for 2 hours to fall back asleep.. definitely did not win that battle. So now I am up... hoping I will be able to go to sleep soon, if not tomorrow will be a very long day. At least it is Sunday, the day when naps are allowed :)

A Week Later

We were on the verge of giving up,

feeling defeated and beat up by an 18 month old,

questioning and second guessing my decision,

questioning the books I had read.

But then today!

He has started showing signs that he is getting it,

he is telling us when he needs to go pee,

we made some of it in the potty once!

He knows when he needs to go poop,

still scared to go on the potty though,

doesn't want diapers anymore,

cries when we put him on the changing table.

We will keep on keeping on,

if you decide to potty train with the same method we chose,

make sure you have a steam cleaner and a washer and dryer :)

It is a little messy... okay a lot messy!

Snow Day

Here are a few pictures to document the first big snow storm of 2012. It is still coming down and I imagine by tomorrow it will be mighty impressive. It is hard to tell in these pictures how deep the snow really is, but trust me there is a lot of it!

Let the Rib Kicking Begin :)

28 weeks

New Developments this week:

1. Feeling bigger

2. Increased back pain

3. The rib kicking has begun

4. Just plain more baby activity- Love it! 

Just a brief overview I feel like baby changed positions in the last 24 hours or so. I have only felt her down low in my tummy up until this point. Now I am definitely feeling her move and kick in my ribs, welcome to the 3rd trimester I guess!

He...

POOPED in the POTTY!!!! We celebrate every little victory in our house :)

A Must Read for Parents of Small Children!

This is a picture from Amazon hence the click to look inside. It is a really great book, an easy read, and very informative about the different methods of potty training. Most importantly will help you understand the evolution of potty training and what is actually supported by studies and what has just been opinions of a few people. Anyways it is a good read, if for nothing else than to keep you informed!

Here We Go!

So I jumped in feet first before I had time to back out. So far Matthew has discovered that he doesn't like being wet. He accidentally peed in the toilet while standing and it made a loud noise and startled him, so we have been trying to get comfortable on the potty again, he seems to be over that incident now though.
It is going to be a long process but I am prepared for that, and Chris is on board so that makes it easier. We are just hoping that he can learn control and what the different sensations mean, but until he figures that out we are prepared for lots of laundry and little messes. The goal right now is to let him learn and discover while adjusting to the idea of no more diapers without pressure or making him feel bad about accidents. At this point they are not accidents because he doesn't know how to control the processes yet.
Here is hoping that it will not take as long as it could, I am prepared for a couple of weeks to figure out how to control the muscles and understand what it happening, and then a few months to master the use of the potty. If it takes longer than that I will be sad, mostly because if he hasn't mastered it by the time baby comes we could be in for a very long struggle. Oh well we will see what happens. He is a smart boy and I know he can do it!

To Try or Not to Try? That is the question.

So I have been interested in the Montessori program since I started teaching preschool. There are many good ideas that I feel I could incorporate, and then there are some that I am not so eager to try. I recently have been reading about the Montessori method to toilet learning, and have been thinking a lot about trying it. They encourage cloth which we have/have used, and say to put them in regular cotton underwear when they are walking and 1 year. We are well past the one year mark (he is 18 months this Sunday) but I think he might be able to understand now. 

I am super hesitant to even start to try because I have heard if you start to early it will take them longer to learn and will be really hard. Also because people say boys train later than girls, and because I am worried people will think I am crazy for even trying to train my 18 month old.

I told Chris about these concerns and his response was that we are one of the few countries who waits so long to start potty training. So in response to his thoughts I have been doing research and he is right! We wait so long because kids don't feel they are wet in disposables so they take longer to be ready to potty train! We are like shooting ourselves in the foot, because disposables are super convenient, however they are expensive, and annoying and it is possible that we are adding years to the diapering process of each child because of them. Crazy thoughts huh??

Any thoughts? Am I really crazy because I am ready to go buy him some thick cloth undies and a few plastic covers and see what happens... We already have a little potty, he watches kids go potty, I have an almost 3 year old who may be starting the same process. It seems like as good a time as any to try.... but I still feel crazy and like I may be shooting myself in the foot. 

We have a steam cleaner and a washer and dryer though... maybe we can just see what happens.... ahhhh I don't know.

Warning: Complaining Ahead- feel free to not read this...

I have pregnancy sciatica and it is no fun but I really try to be patient with it and maintain it the best I can. Well today, today I am tired of it. Last night my back just started spazzing (not a word?) out and has been in a huge knot ever since. This means my whole right leg, hip, and low back are just killing me. Which in turn means that I did not sleep well last night at all, because anytime I would need to move or shift in my sleep I would wake up with shooting pain down my leg and up my back. Needless to say it was a long night and now I have to make it through my whole day exhausted and sore and go to a dentist appointment (yuck).... I think I will move to Australia :)

Anyways I warned you... it will calm down, it just needs time, but I am tired and grouchy and Chris is in the room sleeping, and Matthew is sleeping, and I am out here taking care of daycare kids... That makes me grouchy too, mostly because I would love nothing more than to actually sleep.

Names

I am apparently not as worried as I was with Matthew about keeping our name choices a secret. I think it is because I have learned to take opinions for what they are and work with them to our benefit.

Below is our list of names we like, we are having a super hard time with middle names, I am hoping for some middle name suggestions :)

  

1. Kelsey Ann (our favorite right now)

2. Madison - not sure because it is super popular..

3. Samantha - Chris really likes the nickname Sam for a little girl.

4. Alyssa

5. Avery

6. Caitlyn 

I know there are more but I can't find the list right now. 

Middle names? Thoughts? Suggestions?

I Love...

Being this boys Mom!

He makes my world bright and happy.

Hoarder?

So I think most people have seen the show Hoarders, or at least heard of it. Well the thought of being anywhere close to some of those habits terrifies me.

So in the last couple of years Chris and I have spent lots of time evaluating the things we need and those we don't need.

Also thinking closely about the things we hold onto because we "might" want them in the future.

 Well this weekend I have been on another get rid of it all kick,

and let me tell you it feels GOOD!

I love seeing things we don't use leave and having more space. Plus another bonus is the little bit of extra cash we make in the process.

Chris associates this most recent kick with a new baby coming and the possibility of a cross country move looming. 

I think he might be right,

but it sure is great regardless of why.

Interview

Chris is heading to Indiana at the end of this month for an admission/information day at Indiana School of Optometry in Bloomington, Indiana!

On February 10th he gets to interview at Pacific University also! These are the top two schools on our list so we are excited to have interviews set up and ready to go. Good Luck Chris!

 

26 Weeks!

It is hard to believe that I am two weeks away from the third trimester. My doctor considers the third trimester beginning at 28 weeks, some people consider it 26 or 27 weeks though. He says that it is 28 weeks because from that point on the baby is more than likely going to survive if born.

Tomorrow morning I "get" to have my glucose test done, as well as a few other labs, to check blood counts, iron levels ect.. With Matthew I had to take an iron supplement in my third trimester so it will be interesting to see if it is the same this time.

So basically I am kinda in shock that I am already this far along. I am excited to meet this little girl. She got lots of clothes from Grandpa and Grandma this Christmas!

Christmas Time!

This year for Christmas we headed home to Gig Harbor and spent it with family. We were able to take the week after Christmas off from work for a much needed vacation. It was a great week, I will post a few of the highlights from the trip with pictures below.

When we got to my parents house they had the Christmas Train set up on the front porch, and a Santa hat waiting for Matthew. He loved watching the train and listening to the music.

I love this picture of my sweet Matthew in his Santa hat!

In his new PJ's from Grandma, looking out the window at the lights, with his favorite toy - a fly swatter -

Christmas morning with his stocking

One of his favorite gifts by far. Look at that cheesy grin!

Christmas morning (afternoon) mess. Notice I am unwrapping a brand new set of stainless steel pans :)

Making the new toy box. Chris and my Dad spent our last weekend there making this.

The finished project! I love it :)

Not included were many many pictures. We went to Zoo Lights at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, which was so fun. In addition we had a Christmas dinner at my grandparents with my extended family. We also had a great time at a New Years Eve party at my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dale's house. Matthew made it until 11:40pm! I couldn't believe he lasted so long happily. It was wonderful to spend time with family and to have some time off of work.

On another note: does anyone know why blogger flips pictures? I am not sure how to fix it and it drives me crazy!