Garrett's behavior

Since the first day of school, Garrett has found it hard to behave.  I don't mean that he's malicious or mean, or even rude, the poor kid just can't seem to keep his hands to himself, his mouth closed or his butt in a chair.  I've spoken with his teacher multiple times, all at my request.  The 3rd time we talked, she gently suggested we talk to his pediatrician and the dreaded initials were spoken, ADHD.  I talked to a few people and as best I can tell, he's still a bit to young to test, he has to be 6, but I'm hoping at our meeting with the Dr that we can talk about options.  Neither Matt not I are thrilled with putting him on meds, I am hoping first to try adjusting his diet in some way.  Unfortunately, the first 2 appointments have been rescheduled.  I'm now set to meet with Dr. Schamms on Dec. 20.

It's hard to explain exactly what his behavior is like.  Like I said he's not mean, he's just unable to control himself, that's the best example I can give.  He'll get in trouble, the teacher will correct him, he'll do it again, she'll correct him, he'll do it again, he'll sit in time out and then do it again, where he'll lose a major privilege, one example was he had to stay in her eyesight for an entire recess.  She realizes he has to run so sitting by her side would not help, but he could only go to certain points on the playground and come back and had to play by himself.  It's hard for me because he gets in trouble at school, then come home and loses privileges at home.  I'd start to hate school too if my life was like that!!  If it's a chemical imbalance and he really just can't control himself then I truly feel bad.  If he's just being a boy and needs to be disciplined, then alright, I can live with that too. 

we've taken away prized toys, sent him to bed early, taken away tv time, tried rewarding him for good behavior, setting a goal to receive a toy for good behavior.  The best he's done i s go 4 days straight receiving a sticker in school, usually it's 2 days.  This past week, he didn't get a sticker even one day.  Mrs. Sowell is amazing and I love her as his teacher.  I think it was a good match, she's firm but gives him the hugs he needs to.  She has reassured me he's doing great academically and that's not even a concern for one second.  But, if he doesn't start figuring out how to sit still he's not going to be able to participate in reading groups or other thing, so I'm hoping we can resolve these issues before he does end up falling behind.

Elf on the Shelf

I loved the idea of the Elf on the Shelf last year, but honestly, I just couldn't justify buying one.  But, this year, I got one and I've been so excited about it!  I was going to wait until December 1 to bring him out, but Garrett is just having SUCH a hard time behaving at school so I thought it might help him a bit.  After school on Thursday, I sent the kids to wash their hands and I quickly set the Elf box on the fireplace hearth.  @ hours later, after their baths, I finally said, "Payton, Garrett, what is that?!?!"  So much for my great surprise, lol!!  Payton didn't really know what it was, Garrett remembered it from the movie right away.  We got him out and named him Charlie.  I broke from the "rules" and let the kids alternate holding him while we read the story, then Garrett carefully set him on the fireplace mantle.  I've had a ton of fun with him every night.  The first morning when they got up, he was taking a marshmallow, the second morning he was having a tea party with a beanie baby bear and this morning he was found peaking out of Garrett's stocking.  Hopefully I can post pictures soon.  Oh, and the second day he was renamed to "Red".  And, he has been a big help around the house, still not working at school though.

Santa Clause

I wasn't sure how Payton would react to Santa this year, but she seems quite excited about him!  We saw him at the mall the night before Thanksgiving and while we didn't wait in line to see him, she did wave and talk to him from the outside of the fenced in area.  She waved, said hi, then in her cute little voice said, "Santa, I would like a bike, with wheels".  Might have been the cutest thing ever!  Santa picked right up on it and said, "I'll make sure that bike has wheels sweetie".  We've now seen a couple Santa's and have an elf on the shelf, who is reporting back to Santa and every time, she says the same thing, "I want a bike. With wheels".  Why in the world does this child thing she would get a bike without wheels?!?!

Garrett, on the other hand, is very excited about Christmas and Santa.  At a birthday party on Saturday, Santa made an appearance and when Santa asked if he had been good, Garrett said, "no".  At least he was honest!!  And yes, I'll get to that more, but he has not been very good lately.

I normally don't go see Santa at the mall, but maybe this year we'll break tradition and wait in line and sit on Santa's lap.

Wacky Wednesday

Last Wednesday was a HORRIBLE day!  It didn't start out bad, work wasn't even bad, but from 2:45 on it was bad.  First off, we've been struggling with Garrett and lunches, not that he doesn't want to eat, but I keep packing him a lunch and then he buys it.  Well, on this particular day, I had packed him exactly what he wanted and told him not to buy his lunch, when I picked him up, he had bought lunch, so he paid $2.35 plus the money wasted on what I packed and had to throw away.  Matt and Garrett went for a bike ride, and I went to pick up Payton, when I got home, I didn't notice that Garrett's bike was sticking out a bit and I ran right over it!  My tire instantly deflated.  I'll admit I overreacted, I flew into the house in a rage and started screaming, Garrett went to lay in his bed and Payton went in her room and started reading (I felt bad for her, she had no idea what was going on, but instinct kicked in and she decided to hide out and read).  While putting the donut on my car, Matt discovered it was almost flat, so while I headed to the office to attend my class, he took the kids for air and to get Garrett a haircut (pictures were Thursday).  I thought well, the day can't get much worse.  Just as class finished up, Matt called, Payton had thrown up all over herself.  So, yes, the day got even worse!  We had to hose off the seat, she got a quick bath, I could barely hold her she smelled so bad.  I felt bad, all she wanted was a hug and she stunk so bad!  But, the good news is, we think she just got car sick, she showed no other symptoms and slept fine and was fine the next day.  I am hoping not to revisit this day for a long, long time!!!

Soccer

Garrett decided he wanted to play soccer, so I asked around and somehow got hooked up with College Station Soccer Association.  The nice thing is his games are at Veteran's park, which is about 2 minutes from the house, the bad thing is his practices are at Southwood Community Park, about 2 minutes from work.  So, every other Thursday, I fly out of work, drive across town to get both kids only to drive about 2 minutes from where I work.  But, that's what it's all about when you have kids, right?!?!  Yes, next year I will sign him up for a Bryan league, mainly because no one from his school is playing in the CS league, I hadn't thought about that!

He really seems to like it though.  I'm not sure he 100% understood what a soccer game was, but his first practice was Thursday and after about 10 seconds of being shy, he was off and running and had quickly made friends (PS - I'm so glad my kids aren't too shy!).  Practice was pretty uneventful, keeping Payton off the practice field was a bit rough, but she had fun just running around and Garrett definitely learned some new "skills". 

His first game was Saturday, the uniforms didn't come in until Saturday morning, so we had to go early to get him changed, and it was HOT.  I ended up getting sunburned watching, Payton was melting down, so her and Matt left at half time.  The kids playing had fun, but went through so much water, a mom had to run and buy the team more!  The good thing is they only play for about 5 minutes at a time, then every 15 minute they get a bit of a team break, add in the shoe lace and  "injury" timeouts and they rest a lot, lol!  They do not keep score, but I'm pretty sure the final score was 5-4 in favor of Garrett's team.  The kids really seemed to have fun, some of them got better as the game went on.  Only one of our players has played before so it's a pretty inexperienced team. 

It's a bit lower key the tee ball, only one practice a week and one game a week and the season lasts 6 weeks, I believe.  I'm just glad Garrett is trying something new and if he enjoys it, then that's all the really matters!

Mary Kay

Ever since I revisited my New Year's resolution post I've been thinking I need to try a bit harder to do things for me.  So, I ordered a Scentsy, such a small thing, but I can not tell you how happy it makes me to come home and click that on and have my house smell nice!  It truly is the little things that make me happy, lol.

I also decided to host a Mary Kay party.  I hosted one many years ago, when Heather was selling it, and it really was fun and I learned a lot.  The others who came seemed to enjoy the party as well.  One of the mom's from Garrett tee ball team was a MK rep, so I bought some things I was desperate for, and it took almost 3 months, but I finally hosted a party last Thursday.  I decided to do it at 3pm, I knew that would limit who could come, but that meant the kids wouldn't be home and Matt wouldn't have to make himself busy.  I invited quite a few people, a few people ordered things even though they couldn't attend the party.  The ones who ended up coming were mostly work friends and my friend, Stefani.  I knew 2 people were very interested in buying things, but to me, the cool thing was going to be learning some new tricks.  I forget that MK is first and foremost a skin care company, the makeup comes second.  The only thing she told me that I really had no idea about was that it is very important to use products from the same line.  So, face wash, moisturizer, etc should be all the same line.  I thought, sure, whatever, well, ever since Thursday I've been using MK products twice a day, to wash my face, an acne treatment, a day/night solution, an eye cream and a moisturizer and I'm not lying my face feels AMAZING!  It is so soft, my acne has completely cleared up and my skin is just glowing.  I realize MK is expensive and for that reason is not for everyone, but you use such a tiny bit of each product that it lasts a really long time.  So, to add to my resolution, I am going to paint my nails once a week and I'm going to make a tremendous effort to wash my face twice a day.

New Years Resolutions Revisited

I decided it was time to revisit my New Year's Resolutions and see how I was doing, so here goes:

1)Spend more time on me - This started out promising, I was going to paint my nails more, but found that it would chip within hours, so I got discouraged and gave up, until July when I visited my parents and my sister told me she paints her nails and the polish lasts almost a week!  I was shocked, the trick was not to buy the super cheap stuff, and to use a really good top coat.  So, when we got home I went shopping and bought 4 new nail polish colors!  I have since polished my nails once a week and I love it!  I did get my hair cut and colored once, and I've been keeping up with the grays since.  I plan on getting it cut about 2 more times before the end of the year. 

2)Be more content with what we have - I think I've accomplished this.  It's also helped with me going back to work, there's not a ton of extra money for buying things, but I'm not sitting around the house thinking about all the things I want, lol.

3)Do one home improvement/decorating project a month - again, I started out good with this and have gotten away from it, but I'm back.  I made a wreath for the front door last month and I've bought the paint for the hallways, I'm planning on painting the week I'm off from school, and then I'll tackle my picture wall, then Payton's room.  So I have lots of ideas, now it's time to implement them.

4)Go to church more - Huge fail here!!!  I still read the bible and I still spend time praying, but sadly I haven't made it to church on Sunday any more then in the past :-(  It's one of the only days Matt doesn't work and it seems to be more of a family time and I can't get us focused on going to church.  But, I'm not giving up!!

5)Be healthier - I'm afraid I've failed here too.  I do cook most of our meals, but I do eat out more now that I'm working and with my work schedule I'm struggling.  Most days I work 8-2 with no break, so I get a snack, but no lunch until after 2, when you eat at 2:30, you don't much want dinner at 5:30.  So, needless to say, I have not lost the 5 pounds that was my goal, I've probably gained 2 :-(  So, this is my new focus!

Second Day

Because I need to be to work by 7:45, Garrett was going to have to be dropped off about 7:15, where he would sit, supervised until his teacher got him at 7:30.  Matt wasn't too keen on this idea, so he's offered to drop him off at 7:30 and I'll take Payton to school.  In theory this sounds great, and I know there will be days when Matt will have to be to work early so there will be times Garrett will just have to go early.  But, I can count on one hand the number of times I have not dropped that child off for school, VBS, camp, anything.  It was harder on me this morning.  I knew I wouldn't be able to walk him to his classroom but I was fully prepared to park the car and walk him as far as I could.  Well, instead, I gave him a bug hug and kiss and he left with his daddy.  And the worst part is, Matt's been working hard all day and I have no idea if Matt walked him in or dropped him off!  I'm assuming he made it to his classroom because the school hasn't called me looking for him, but seriously, that has me more anxious then anything!  I think the hardest part about kindergarten is that I don't get to chat with his teacher everyday.  I've always made it a point to be very nice to all of my kid teachers and I love to chat and get a little rundown of the day, tell them how they slept, ate, or whatever.  I can't do that anymore and I'm not liking it!!  I guess this momma needs to give up a little control......

First day report

I was dying to go pick Garrett up!  I wanted to hear all about his first day.  Because of my long days at work and going back to school, we made the decision to have Garrett go to Powersports after school everyday and I'll just pick both kids up from the same place.  This is my short week and I had wanted to pick him up yesterday, but both the school and Powersports asked me not too.  They said everyone needs to understand, including Garrett, how the system works.  They didn't want me to change things up yet.  They wanted the "bus driver" teacher to know he rides a bus and for the Powersports driver and helper to recognize him and for Garrett to understand the system too, so I anxiously did homework all afternoon until about 4:30 when I couldn't take it anymore and we went and picked them up.  Matt wanted to go too.  The funny thing was, we've been going to Powersports for 2.5 years, but now he goes to a different area and I had to bring my id because no one knows me!  He came bouncing out just overflowing with excitement.  I wasn't sure he'd want to talk about it too much but who am I kidding, that kid likes to talk!  He told me everything.  How much fun he had, that they drew, not colored a picture, but drew 2 pictures, one was dinosaurs, the other was him and I, they had recess, he saw Keira at recess, they ate lunch and he forgot his water in the classroom.  I told him if he forgot it again, he could always buy milk, which resulted in him giving me an entire rundown of how you buy your lunch.  They talked about being kind to people, and they read 2 stories.  He said one girl was really nice but he didn't know her name.  He said one boy was out of control and when I asked what Mrs. Sowell did, he said she took him aside and said "no, no, that is not how we behave in kindergarten" and he went and sat down.  He told me he had so much fun and could not wait to go back.  I am so glad, it made my heart just swell yesterday and I couldn't give him enough hugs!

Ms. Reagan

Payton had a "first" yesterday too.  She is staying at Powersports, but she has a new teacher.  Ms. Devon was moved up to teach the 3 year olds.  They've been on the fence as to which class to put Payton in, but in the end she ended up in an older 2's class, so that means a new teacher.  Ms. Reagan was a teacher there before and recognized Garrett this summer, but we never had her as a teacher.  We missed Meet the Teacher night and she wasn't there in the morning so I was pleased to meet her when I picked Payton up.  She said to me "Payton is so smart", ok, now she's my favorite teacher, lol.  Honestly, I'm still up in the air on her, but I'm being open.  I have no reason to not like her, we just really loved Ms Devon and I'm sad she wasn't put with the 3's.  Payton had a new backpack, lunchbox and cup, so she was so excited to go to school.  There were new kids in her class and some old ones.  Ms. Reagan said she had a great day.  I got a rundown from Payton, "Ms Reagan my new teacher, Ms Tamara home sick, I got my clothes wet".  I guess she had a good day, lol!!  When I dropped her off in the morning, she clung to me like she always does, but then went right to the morning teacher.  I went to talk to Mimi for a second and remembered I needed to tell Payton's teacher something, when I poked my head in, she said "momma go bye bye".  I guess she was right, it wastime for momma to go bye bye.

First day of Kindergarten

Yesterday was Garrett's first day of kindergarten.  He was SO excited!!  I was too, I've always loved school and I know how much he loves reading and learning and I knew he'd love kindergarten.  I also know he was a little nervous, but so was I, lol.  It's funny, I'm not the sappy type, I'm just not.  But he has been at Powersports, with Ms Mimi for 2.5 years, so this was a big change.  He bounded out of bed, took a lot of encouragement to eat breakfast, he was just so excited/anxious/nervous, got dressed, brushed his teeth, wanted his hair down, etc. He couldn't stop talking.  Matt had already told us he wanted to go with me to drop him off, so of course, Garrett was excited about that.  We left a few minutes later then I wanted too, but I had already told the girls at work I'd be late, so I wasn't trying to rush us too much.  We got to school and I teared up!  Totally unexpected.  All the sweet people outside the school welcoming us and asking if it was his first day, it nearly did me in.  It was cloudy but yes, I kept my sunglasses on.  But, once we got inside all was good.  He was one of the last to his classroom so finding his seat was easy, he hung up his backpack, put his pencil box in his cubby and sat down to start coloring.  Mrs. Sowell had him come back over by us for a "first day of school" picture, and I was glad, it gave me a last chance to give him a big hug.  He said bye and we had to leave. So, I'm happy to report, there were no tears, from anyone.

Kindergarten

Is there anything as exciting to a little kid as kindergarten is?!?!  I'm not sure there is!!

Tuesday I had parent orientation at the school.  This was just for kindergarten parents, I guess they figure we have the most questions, lol.  It was just for parents and I could tell Matt wasn't too thrilled about going, so I let him off the hook.  It was short and sweet, we were there an hour, but it flew by.  The 3 kindergarten teachers and the principal talked us through everything we can expect.  Most of it was not a surprise, except that nap/rest time has been eliminated.  I know Garrett doesn't nap often but I think that rest time would help him, he'll just have to adjust.  The other thing that I wasn't expecting is that I have to pack a snack for him everyday.  Just one more thing to add to my list!

Garrett's teacher is Mrs. Sowell, she seems very nice, like the perfect kindergarten teacher, hugging people, laughing, lots of ideas, I think Garrett will love her.

Thursday night was meet the teacher, so we all headed up to the school together.  I forgot it was for the whole school so we were all taken back by the number of cars there, but the main crowd died down shortly after we got there, so it wasn't bad at all.  Just as I expected, as soon as Mrs. Sowell saw Garrett she hugged him.  He wasn't sure what to do or think and immediately asked if we could leave, but after I got him to relax a bit, he started noticing the room has a super hero theme and that there were books, and toys, and a whole bucket of dinosaurs.  He wanted to show Matt the library, he's super excited about checking new books out and the first thing he asked the librarian was if they had dinosaur books.  The cafeteria freaked him out a bit too.  I promised him I'd pack his lunch as long as he wanted, and if he decided he wanted to buy his lunch to just let me know and I'd make sure Mrs. Sowell helped him out.  I know all this is new and kind of scary to him, and I want him to know she's there to help him in any way she can.

I'll be dropping him off early, so we talked about that too, and after school he'll ride the bus to Powersports.  He seems excited about that, but I'm not sure it's sunk in that he won't be going to see Ms Mimi or even Payton, that he'll be where the big kids are.  I think he'll be fine with all of it by the end of the first week.  He's already told me he's going to be shy his first day.  I told him that's ok, most of the kids probably will be too.

I still can't believe he's starting Kindergarten in just a couple of days!

Lost/stolen purse

2 weeks ago, on Saturday, the kids and I went to Kroger for groceries and then Target for a little baby gift.  After that I have no recollection of my purse, until Monday morning when I realized it was missing.  Sunday early evening, we had cleaned out both cars and taken them to the self car wash on the corner, we vacuumed them out really good and washed them.  I swear I moved my purse from the passenger seat to the console, but it wasn't there when we went to leave for school/work Monday morning.  Imagine me frantically searching a very clean car and the inside of the house, I ended up giving up and being very late for work.  That night Matt and I looked everywhere for it, no luck, I searched again on Tuesday and decided it was officially gone, so I called our 3 banks (yes, 3!!) and reported all 5 debit cards lost/stolen, and the replacement fun began.  Thankfully I had just cleaned out my purse, so other then 5 debit cards, 4 check books and my license, SS card (yes, I know), the kids insurance cards and some punch cards for restaurants, oh and $33, I didn't really lose anything of too much value, the purse was also at least 4 years old.  It was just the headache of having to go to the banks, DPS and SS office to renew everything.  The banks were easy, we closed one account we never use anymore, the second bank I just called and she replaced the cards for me, the third I went in and the manager ID'd me and I got new cards on the spot.  I was told to go to SS first, but once there found out you can't get a new SS card without a picture ID, and since I had none, not even a work ID, I headed to DPS.  It was way out in the middle of nowhere now and when I got there and saw how many people were there I cringed, it was already 3:30 and I didn't want to sit there for hours.  I was there less then 15 minutes!  I have no idea how their system worked but only 3 numbers were called before mine.  The lady that helped me said there was a huge increase in wallet thefts recently and mine was probably stolen.  My new license arrived Wednesday and even though I had forgotten to change out of my scrubs it's not a bad picture!  I'm still in the process of replacing the insurance cards, library card, etc, but I'm slowly piecing it all back together.  Next, back to SS office, I'm not as worried about that now that I have my license.  This is the first time I've ever lost a purse/wallet, so I guess I should count myself lucky.  I just hope it never happens again!

Galveston

      We had a wedding on Saturday, in Galveston.  Matt's youngest cousin, Charlsie, was getting married.  I had never been to Galveston so I was looking forward to the trip.  We had originally planned on staying with some friends, but their house was at least 30 minutes away so we decided to see if we could get a hotel room.  It took a bunch of phone calls, but we ended up finding one we could afford.  It was off the strip and about 5 minutes from Matt's parents hotel and not nearly as nice, but in all honesty, it was fine.  It was quiet, we didn't have to worry about the kids sleeping and it was clean, it just wasn't fancy.  The first night, Friday, we waited for everyone to arrive so we could go to dinner as a big group.  There were a few setbacks with other people arriving so we didn't end up eating until 9:30, I think.  We had gotten the kids food earlier and I'm so glad we did!  We ended up going to the Rainforest Cafe, I've been wanting to take the kids there and I think they enjoyed it.  They were just so tired they weren't too into it.   Matt forgot to pack the pack and play, so I wasn't sure how bedtime was going to go.  Payton has never slept in a bed so I was a bit worried.  Garrett fell asleep rather fast, it was 11 by the time they laid down.  Payton struggled more, she tossed and turned a lot, but finally about 12 she fell asleep.  I woke at 5 with the sun shining in my eyes but thankfully the kids slept until 7.  7 hours really isn't enough for them so I was a bit nervous how the day would go!
     Saturday, we drove around a bit and found this excellent restaurant, the Mosquito cafe, it was our kind of place.  Everything was nice, the food as all made from scratch, the kids each ate a huge pancake and Matt and I enjoyed our breakfast.  They were quite a few streets up from the main strip and I remember asking Matt how far up the water from Hurricane Ike came up and then I saw on the wall a sign about 5 feet up that said water line.  I was stunned.  The lady said they had to gut the restaurant and start over!  After breakfast we met up with Matt's family and went to the Strand to wonder around. It was hot, the kids were tired and bored so I didn't enjoy it as much as I probably would have had it just been Matt and I.  After that we went back to Matt's parents hotel so the kids could swim, they had a blast doing that.  Garrett showed us how he can flip into the pool!!  I never did get that on video, I was amazed though!  After swimming a bit, we got some lunch and headed back for naps.  I think Garrett slept for 4 hours?  When he woke up he thought it was morning and wanted to go get breakfast, lol!  We got dressed and headed to the wedding.
     The wedding wa on the beach, it was a very pretty set up.  The grooms mom got in a very mild car accident on the way so it started about an hour late.  Prior to it starting there was a middle aged man wondering around in a very worn out speedo, gotta love beach weddings!!  As the ceremony was starting a storm was blowing in, it was crazy watching it build and blow our way.  We got to our cars just in time.  It never poured down rain but it did rain a bit.  The reception was also outside, other then it being very hot and very still it was a good time.  At 11:30, I told Matt we had to head home.  The kids were just done.  But, on our way back to the hotel I suggested we go walk on the beach, so we took a midnight stroll on the beach and the kids loved it!  Payton got knocked over by a wave and I thought she would freak out but she didn't, other then being soaked, she was unaffected.  Bedtime went easier, but the poor thing rolled off the bed at some point.  We were sound asleep and all the sudden we heard thump, "Wah", I jumped up and picked her up and she went right back to sleep.  I'm pretty sure she doesn't remember it at all, lol!!
     Sunday, we let them sleep in a bit, but then we headed to go back to the Mosquito Cafe, but the line was crazy long, we ended up at another restaurant, Casey's.  I would not recommend it at all.  We were not impressed one bit!  After that we went back to the beach, it was overcast and threatening rain again but we wanted to let the kids play in the ocean again.  They had so much fun!  I truly can't wait to take them back to spend more time on the beach.  Poor Matt, the kids and I slept the entire way home and he ended up driving! 
    In all, it was a great trip. Congratulations to Charlsie and Josh! 

Dinosaur exhibit

We had a wedding to attend in Galveston so on Friday we decided to head down a bit early and go to the Houston Museum of Natural History for their dinosaur exhibit.  We got a later start then we had planned, but Payton ended up taking a short nap in the car, so it worked out ok.  It was amazing!!  I've learned more then I thought I ever would about dinosaurs because of Garrett, but seeing them in person was something else.  They truly are enormous beasts!  Garrett had so much fun and I was amazed at how well he knew what all the dinosaurs were just based on sight.  He just went from one to another in sheer amazement.  We got some pictures but I'm sure they don't do justice to their size.  Payton was not as into it, she's 2.5 and her attention span just isn't there yet.  But, we managed to keep her busy and distracted and I think we all had a great time.  I think we could have stayed longer and checked out more stuff, but Payton had had enough and we still had to drive to Galveston.  I am glad we went, it was well worth the money!!

Photo shoot

On the Friday after we got home, I had made arrangements to have the kids pictures taken, of course it ended up being pretty hot, but I have to say, she got some gorgeous pictures of the kids!!  We did two different locations, one was an old white building and we also took some with trees as a backdrop, then we drove a down the street and found this cool old building that had been painted teal but the paint was chipping off badly and the orange brick was peaking through.  Garrett's shirt was orange and Paytons' dress was a brown zebra print with orange accents, the wall was perfect!  Hopefully I had attach some of the pictures so you can see.  I was definitely pleased with my decision to get their pictures done!

Michigan Trip

      On Sunday, we woke up and headed to the Kilpatrick family picnic, it was great seeing all my aunts and uncles, cousins and their kids and/or spouses.  The kids had a blast, after we hung out and ate we headed to the splash pad, and a rain storm blew in.  So we hightailed it to a covered pavilion and the kids enjoyed ice cream while it rained.  Then we headed back to our picnic site.  My kids were exhausted from the day before so after visiting a bit longer we headed home for some much needed naps.
    After their naps, we headed to Scott & Beth's new house for dinner with my mom's sister and my Grandma.  It was great seeing Scott's new house, it truly is gorgeous!  The kids had a lot more fun playing while we were able to visit some more.  The ride home was long, neither kid fell asleep like I had expected, instead they whined most of the way.  Bedtime was a welcome thing!!
     Monday morning, Matt and Dad got up and went golfing, Mom and Heather played with the kids while I finished a project I had for school.  After naps we headed out to dinner and then us girls went and did a little shopping while the boys headed home.  Payton made it through a few stores then was super bored, so she went with my mom and listened to music and then played on this playground the outdoor mall has.  It was much more of a relaxed laid back day.  It was also super hot!  It was hotter in Michigan then back home in Texas.
    Tuesday started out very hot again and with no real plans we opted to head to the mall where there is a carousal and other things for the kids to play on that would be inside and air conditioned :-)  After lunch we headed home for naps.  Matt and Dad left to meet Scott to play golf, and after naps, we headed to Scott and Bath's to swim.  Unfortunately, it was just too hot to swim so we just hung out and let the kids play some more. 
     Wednesday, our flight wasn't until later, it ended up raining so we moved the cars out of the garage and just let the kids play with chalk and bubbles.  The flight home was very uneventful other then Payton peeing about 6 times.  She did much better on the second flight, she was pretty bored though.  Flights are definitely when I wish she enjoyed watching tv more!
    In all it was a great trip home, we saw almost everyone we wanted too.  I did not get to see any old friends and we never did make it to the Pawn Shop to check it out, maybe next time....

Michigan Trip 2012

        I'll probably break this into a few posts, but to start, we flew out on Sat, July 14.  For the first time, I printed our boarding passes at home and thought maybe this would save us some time and trouble.  Sadly it did not work out that way!  We arrived at the airport parking with exactly 1.5 hours to go until our flight left.  It took exactly 45 minutes for the shuttle bus driver to get us dropped off at our terminal, yes 45 minutes!  We probably could have walked there faster!  The line at curbside was about 6 families deep and I was starting to get a bit anxious, after 15 minutes I cut to the front of the line and asked what our options were, only to be told there's a 45 minute cutoff to check your bags.  So, the curbside guy sent us inside to see if we could get pushed through anyways.  We walked inside to see about 500 people waiting in line.  I had a mild panic attack until I asked someone what we could do, she sent us to priority boarding.  There were only 5 people in front of us, but every single one of them needed help!!  By the time we got help, we had 20 minutes.  The lady was kind enough to notify us our only option was for me to drop the bags, leave Matt and haul ass through the airport with both kids and hope I caught the flight.  But, we turned the corner for security and found out there is no, "I'm super late for my flight line".  After not moving for 10 minutes, I went back to the same lady who told us, yes we were out of luck and our next option, our only option was standby at 4:30, it was 10 am.  I immediately burst into tears while Matt took the kids to the bathroom.  The lady barely apologized and gave me new boarding passes.  So, we spent the day wondering the airport, we probably walked a few miles, of course, I packed Payton's giraffe and paci so a nap was out of the question.  When I saw an attendant at our gate I approached her to ask what our chances were of making the 4;30 flight, she notified me we were at the top of the list and our odds were good.  It came down to the wire!  After everyone boarded there were 4 seats left, that's it, 4!!  I again burst into tears.  None of our seats were together but I figured no one wanted to sit next to an unsupervised 2 or 5 year old so I figured we could get someone to swap seats.  After some begging, we did get 3 seats together only to realize there was no 4th seat!!  Matt had no where to sit.  It turns out they were supposed to bump someone to first class but they had forgotten, so they reopened the doors and the gentleman right behind Garrett was lucky enough to get moved to first class and Matt was able to sit right behind us.  Then we waited, for 45 minutes on the tarmac!  Payton ended up having to go potty twice!  Poor thing was exhausted and excited and she just didn't know what to do.  She kept laying down on the plane and just crying for her paci.  Needless to say, it was a LONG flight.  Then when we got to Detroit for some reason it took a ridiculously long time for all the bags to be unloaded.  at that point I was just thankful our bags made it!
         We were supposed to have dinner with Grandma Kilpatrick, but we completly missed her :-(  Kids were exhausted, jack tried to stay up for us but couldn't do it.  Everyone fell into bed that night.

School

Well, it's official, I'm back to school!!  I had my first "class" last night.  I decided to go ahead and enroll at Kaplan.  I won't be able to get my degree from there and be an RD, but I can go there for a year and get my GPA up and finish researching which schools I want to go to, and I can apply in the spring and transfer in the fall, I should only have about 1 year at whatever school I go to, so this seems like the best choice.  I did lose a lot of core classes, my maths and sciences because I've been out of school for so long, but because all my electives transferred in, it still means I'll have about 2 years to go to get my bachelors, then I'll do an internship and my masters or my masters and then my internship, I haven't worked all those details out yet.  I'm very excited, but also very nervous.  I haven't been a student in well over 10 years and I've never done online classes so this is very new to me.  I'll take 2 classes every 10 weeks, with one week off, so I'll do 4 terms a year, at Kaplan, it may be different when I transfer.

The format at Kaplan is you have one seminar time a week, where you log into a virtual classroom and have a lecture for one hour.  Then you have one discussion post that has to be done by Saturday, and then you have to reply to 2 students discussion posts by Tuesday, the end of the week is Tuesday at midnight.  There are also some quizzes, some projects and some exams.  All the quizzes and exams are open book.  The discussion posts have to be about 100-150 words and include references, so you have to do research on the topic, not just bs your way through it.  One of my classes has a book and part of our assignments are reading, but the other class does not.

I'm taking Intro to Health Science, this is where I will research my degree choice and really see if it's a fit for me, how much will I make as an RD, what classes do I need to take, etc.  I wasn't sure what this entailed but now I think I'll enjoy it, I think it will help clear up some questions and help me decide where I want to focus my electives on, I"m thinking pediatric, but we'll see.  The second class is Food Safety, I'm pretty sure I'll be scared to ever eat out again or even at any ones house, but it's a required class for me, so I have to take it, lol!

I talked to Garrett about it a bit and I think he gets the general idea, that sometimes Momma will have to be on the computer and he and Payton will have to play by themselves, but both of my seminar times are at night and Matt should be home for those times.  My goal is to get my homework done while they are at school, that's why this job has turned out to be the perfect fit.

So, wish my luck there's no turning back now!!

Matt's Birthday

Matt's birthday was June 25.  For those that don't know, Matt, his mom, dad, brother and Father's day all fall in the same month.  It's kind of like a repeat of February!  Poor Lindasy, her birthday isn't until July :-(  But, because Matt's birthday was on a Monday, and we both had to work, we ended up having his family come to dinner.  I tried a new recipe for spaghetti in the crockpot.  I had to work until 5, and for some crazy reason, we ended up not leaving work until 5:45, it is the latest I've worked since going back to work, and it had to be on his birthday!!  Thankfully, dinner was in the crockpot, and all Matt had to do was make the pasta.  We had a record high of 106, so needless to say, our poor a/c unit was struggling, it was SO hot in the house.  The heat doesn't usually bother me and I was dying so I'm sure Mat's family was not enjoying it either!  It took forever for the water to boil for the pasta because the a/c was blowing right on the pot.  I think everyone enjoyed it.  I think it could have used a bit more spice, but honestly, it was very good and super easy.  For Father's day we had gotten Matt some new shirts, which he desperately needed, so for his birthday, we got him a new bedside lamp, which he's been asking for forever, a star wars tshirt and a new bathing suit.  I think he had a good time.  Funny how our lives have changed, no going out for a crazy, late night out of drinking and celebrating, I'm pretty sure we were in bed by 10, lol! 

We were lucky enough that Mat's parents watched the kids on Saturday night for us, and we went out to eat and had a couple drinks.  Matt wasn't feeling great and we were both exhausted, so we didn't stay out late, it was just very enjoyable to have a meal where I didn't get up 3 times to take someone potty and I could eat my meal while it was still hot and I didn't get heartburn from inhaling it.  Happy 36th birthday Matt!

Hunny's Birthday

I am WAY behind on my blog!!  But, on June 21, it was Matt's moms birthday, or as she's affectionately called around here, "Hunny".  She decided she didn't want to go out to eat, so we drove out to her house to join her for dinner and desserts.  The kids got her a really cute ladybug statue for her garden, nothing much, but Garrett & I loved it in the store and she helps Payton catch ladybugs, so we thought it was the perfect little gift.  We had a great time, and I think she enjoyed herself too.  Payton didn't quite get the happy birthday song part, she thought everyone was singing to her, lol.  So, Happy belated birthday Hunny!

Conversation with a 5 year old

I picked the kids up from school today and I asked Garrett how his day was.  This is what he said:

"I was super, duper good.  I took a nap.  Jeremiah pushed Payton down and made her cry, so he had to sit in time out.  Claire had peace signs on her bows and skirt, she tried to kiss me.  I'm not going to marry Claire, I'm going to marry Keira."

Lol!!

Garrett's eye exam

Last year Garrett failed the 4 year old eye exam and we went to see an eye Dr.  The apt was miserable, he cried a lot, we were there entirely too long and then, not having insurance, I broke down in tears when they told me how much glasses were going to cost.  What a difference a year makes!  We had to go to a different office, since the other Dr doesn't take our insurance, but I think it worked out great.  We went to Greene Eyes, and even though they told me they'd have to dilate his eyes, it turns out he's matured enough that he was able to do all the tests and she feels she got a good reading on him, so no drops were needed!  What a relief to me and him.  Turns out the exam was completely free and while his rx did change a bit, our insurance will cover the regular lenses and $75 towards frames.  We found frames we liked for $95 so it would only be $20, but I really want him to have the transition lenses like he has now and that will be $115.  So I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.  She did tell me they are getting a much bigger selection of youth glasses in on Monday, so we decided to wait and talk it over with Matt and then see what new frames they have next week.  We discussed reusing his existing frames, but they are terribly bent and if they break, we'll have to buy frames and lenses for full price.  If we get new frames and lenses, we have a replacement warranty on both, one time for the frame and twice for the lenses, so that seems pretty worth it, we just need to decide on the transition part. 

Payton at the dentist

I really need to learn how to post pictures from my phone on here!

I finally cracked under the peer pressure and took Payton to the dentist.  Everyone was telling me she needed to go at 1, but we didn't have insurance so I just figured I'd wait until she was 3, like I did with Garrett.  But my dentist, the dentist I work for and Payton's pediatrician were all pushing for her to get checked, so since it's covered under her dental plan and it wouldn't cost me anything I figured I'd give it a shot.  I wasn't sure what to expect, she's not the calmest child ever, and she's a bit shy.  But, she surprised us all and did great!  I called on Monday and got an apt for Tuesday, so we talked about it Monday night and Tuesday morning, then when I picked her up from school she just kept telling everyone "I go to the dentist", sweet child has no idea what a dentist was, so it was just too cute!  She announced to the receptionist that he was there to see the dentist too, which got us quite a few "she is the cutest thing ever".  I knew she wouldn't get any xrays and I remember at Garrett's first apt he just cried, so the Dr was able to get a good look at this teeth.  Payton climbed right up in the chair and opened up real big.  The dentist checked and she has all her teeth except one molar, which is almost in.  Then she brushed a fluoride treatment on her teeth and we were done.  I'm pretty sure it took Payton longer to pick out her prize then the actual apt did.  I'm not complaining, the Dr did not rush us at all, but there isn't much to discuss when your 2.5 year old has no issues.  The only thing I was surprised about was they want to see kids between 1 and 3 every 3 months, so they can put that fluoride treatment on and help prevent cavities.  So, we'll go back in September, then when she's 3, they'll attempt x-rays and a real cleaning.  She was so proud and announced to both Daddy and Stefani that she saw the dentist.  She's getting too big too fast!

Father's Day

I think Matt enjoyed his father's day, unfortunately, it ended up being a "working" day for him.  He decided to invite his family over for dinner, this was not my idea, it was all his, but it meant he had mow the front and back grass.  He also decided to change the oil in both our cars, this was all his decision.  I cleaned like a maniac Saturday evening so we could do whatever he wanted on Sunday, but he opted to wait.  We ended up running to Koppe Bridge for a quick lunch and then everyone dozed off for a few before his family arrived.  He made pulled pork, bbq sandwiches, it was SO good.  We kept it super simple and just served coleslaw with it.  Then had a cookie cake that Lindsay brought for dessert.  Afterwards, we hung out with our neighbors for a bit.  We got Matt some new shirts, Payton of course picked out orange, and Garrett green.  Unfortunately, the sizes I got were a bit too small, and when I went to exchange them they didn't have any more orange.  I don't think Matt was too upset, he's always been anti orange, but he loves Payton too much, I think he would have worn it for her.

Leg Cramps

I've gotten leg cramps off and on for almost 6 years now, usually at the start of summer and winter.  I don't know why I get them so bad, but they hurt!  And they don't just hurt when I get them at 3am, the entire next day and for a few days after, my legs are very sore.  But, I started wondering, why are they always only in my feet, shins and calves?  Why never in my thigh, or my butt, you never hear anyone say, Oh I had some bad butt cramps last night, lol!  And why never in your arms or hands?!?!  Yes, this is what I was thinking at 3am while my left shin and foot were tightened by cramps and all I wanted to do was sleep!!!

Well Visits

Now that the kids actually have insurance, I finally got them scheduled for their well visits, it took quite some time to get them in thought, so they were almost 2.5 & 5.5, but I knew neither one needed shots and I had no major concerns, so I was ok about waiting until the insurance had kicked in. 

Garrett's was 2 weeks ago, and his apt went fine.  The nurse checked his hearing and much to our surprise, he can hear just fine, lol!  Obviously he'll need to follow up with the eye Dr, but everything was just great.  Our only "concern" is that he still wears a diaper to sleep in.  The Dr talked to me about 3 different options, 1)an alarm system-when he wets the bed, the alarm goes off and wakes him and everyone else in the house.  I didn't love this idea, although it might have worked to night train Payton too! 2)a hormone pill-this is mostly for one time uses, like a sleep over where he might be embarrassed about having to wear a diaper but it doesn't solve any problem long term, plus the body can adjust to the dosage, so you have to keep upping the dose over time.  3)A drug called Amytriptiline- this one is an anti depressant, but for some reason helps stop them from wetting the bed.  It's biggest side effect is drowsiness, but since you give it at bedtime, that won't be an issue.  She suggested we try this for 6 months, it takes a while to build up in the system and he'll need to be weaned off of it.  None of these options sound very good to me, I'm going to do more research before we decide on anything.  I have noticed G complaining about the diaper in the mornings and he has lied a few times and said he's been dry and then I find the wet diaper somewhere, so I can tell it is becoming somewhat of an issue for him.  The Dr said that's the major motivator behind trying meds.  If the kid doesn't care, then you let it go, but when it starts to bother them, it's time to consider other options.

Payton's was this past Wednesday and she did great too, no issues at all.  At her 18 month checkup there was a bit of a concern about her speech since she was barely talking at all, but this time she was above average, so no more concerns there.  The Dr was also impressed that she was already potty trained, she's by far not the youngest, but she's a bit younger then most.  His only recommendation is to get her teeth checked out by a dentist, it's recommended at 1 now, so we're a bit behind, but who wants to take their one year old to the dentist?!?!

Next up, Garrett's eye's and I guess a dentist apt for Payton!

Back to School

I think I've finally made the decision that I'm going to go back to school!  My deep, dark secret is I never graduated from college, I was one class shy of finishing.  I took my final class the summer before I moved to Texas, I had already moved when my grade came in and showed I didn't pass.  I had run out of steam, and hadn't tried very hard, and it showed.  I begged and pleaded with the teacher to no avail, he refused to allow me to do anything but retake the class.  I did try to go to UT but it was just too daunting at the time.  I wasn't a resident and hadn't taken any classes in Texas, so it was more work then I wanted to deal with.  Then I got a good job, met Matt, and it just always sat on the back burner, but it's always bothered me that I didn't finish.  I tried again last summer to go to Blinn, but it was still just an overwhelming process, and with 2 young kids at home and us starting our own business, it was just not a good time.  Then I went back to work.  I always wondered why this particular job came along when it did.  It doesn't pay great, the hours are good, but it's in a field that I have little interest in, dentistry.  But, I think now I see why it was this job, at this time.  The hours are not full time, but I have to pay for full time daycare because 6 days a month the kids have to stay until 5:30.  And, the girl I work in the office with, is my age and going to the University of Phoenix, so she's been sharing her experiences with me.  Matt and I talked it over and we thought it might just work.  Since I do get out at 2 most days and I can't pick the kids up since Payton is napping, I would have the perfect opportunity to study from 2:30-5 or 5:30, when I pick the kids up.  I first just looked at schools that offered online classes, and nothing really sparked my interest, there was accounting and HR, but A&M offers both of those and I figured the market was already pretty flooded with those.  Then I realized what I really wanted is what I've done since college, Nutrition!  It's always interested me, I worked as a personal trainer for for a few years, I worked in a health club for a lot of years, and nutrition has always been important to me.  I also have a very close friend who is an RD and I love that her job is fairly flexible.  I do realize that A&M offers a Nutrition program, and I'm hoping that won't affect my chances to get a job when I'm done.  So, I googled online Nutrition degrees and found that Kaplan offers a program.  I called and spoke to an advisor who was SO extremely encouraging and helpful.  It felt like she wanted me to go back to school, vs the other times I tried where it seemed so hard.  It was a matter of days and she had me hooked, I got approved for a scholarship and we reviewed my transcripts and while I do need to retake a number of classes, it will be about 2 years for me to graduate.  And as she pointed out.  It may be hard to take a 300 or 400 level science class when the last time I took a science class was more then 15 years ago.  Then, I found out that the ACEND does not recognize a degree from Kaplan and I wouldn't be approved to sit and take the exam to be an RD, which is what I really want to do.  I was very depressed.  Then my advisor and I realized a couple of things.  1)Kaplan is in the process of being accredited, so in 2 years who knows if they would be recognized, 2)I will need, and I want, to get my masters, so I can get my bachelors from Kaplan and then can look at another school for my masters, that is recognized and then take the exam.  So, I sent out a lot of emails and found out that that is perfectly acceptable and has been done.  I am not guaranteed admittance to any of the masters programs, but they all do accept a BS from Kaplan, so it would be no different then if I went to their school full time.  So, I was feeling encouraged again!  So, after some back and forth, we decided I would just try it.  Kaplan has a 5 week trial program, you are considered a full time, fully enrolled student, and if it's not working for you, you can drop out and you are only out the enrollment fee.  The great thing is, the enrollment fee was waived the week I enrolled, so if it doesn't work, I've lost nothing.  Seems silly not to try!!  So, on July 5, I'll take my first class, wish me luck!!

Memorial Day weekend

Memorial Day weekend was extra nice this year because Heather drove in to spend time with us.  She made it in time for Garrett's tee ball game Friday night, which made his day.  It was her first ever tee ball game.  I'm not sure it knocked her socks off, but I know she enjoyed it.  Afterwards we ran to Koppe Bridge and had some burgers and let the kids run around.  The weekend flew by, much to fast.  We had a bday party for a 3 year old on Saturday, she opted to come with me since Matt couldn't, then on Sunday we had a pool party to go to, Matt cooked an amazing dinner of ribs and chicken, then Heather left and we went back to the pool party.  Monday we got up and packed some stuff and headed to Matt's parents for the afternoon.  We decided to just lay Payton down for her nap there.  She was exhausted and I"m pretty sure she didn't even move for her entire nap.  Both kids got to shoot Garrett's bb gun, and they played in the pool and just had fun.  We took some new play doh out there and both kids had a blast.  We had dinner with all of Matt's family and headed home for baths and bedtime.  All in all, it was a very nice weekend!

Preschool Graduation

I cannot believe Garrett is going to Kindergarten next year!  I had to leave work to go watch his pre-k graduation and it got super busy just as I was leaving so I felt horrible running out, and of course I was a bit late and the parking lot was insanely full, but thankfully they were running behind and I didn't miss anything!  I will admit I teared up when the kids came filing in, I didn't expect that, I'm the least sappy person I know.  But watching him march in with this huge grin on his face, I just got choked up!  All the classes had little performances they did, they did one song as a school then the 3 year olds, then Payton's class did Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Pat the Dough, Pizza man, which I'd never heard.  She did not do any of the arm movements but she sang everything, it was very cute.  For some reason she had no shoes on though, lol.  Then the 4 year olds went and then Garrett's group.  They sang 2 songs and then walked across the stage to receive their "diplomas", he could not stop smiling!  He also received a certificate for being a stellar reader, he read 31 books since January!  Garrett is so excited to start Kindergarten.  He will continue to go to Powersports until he starts school in the fall, so he was a bit confused.  He woke up on the Monday after graduation at 5:15 to go to kindergarten.  He is enjoying the summer program so far, he'll continue on with MiMi's reading class, he loves reading and I want to make sure he keeps up with it.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day ended up being a very nice day.  It started off a bit rocky around here, but turned around and ended on a high note.  We decided to go to the park after eating breakfast and we all just played, so that was a lot of fun.  After that we went to Home Depot and I got to pick out some new plants for the house.  I bought a new Hibiscus, I had one years ago and it ended up dying, I was pretty upset but then found out they only live 5-7 years and I'd definitely had mine at least that long, so I think it's time was just up.  We also bought a hanging basket for the back porch, which was getting burned up by the afternoon sun, so it now resides on the front porch with the hibiscus.  We also bought some yellow marigolds, Garrett helped me plant these while Payton napped and I have to say I'm impressed at how well they are doing.  Only one has died, and I"m honestly not even sure why!  After Payton's nap we headed to dinner with Matt's family and then home for a relaxing evening.  I love the flowers that I got and the fact that I can look at them everyday and be reminded of my children :-)  Both kids bade me cards in their classrooms, Garrett wrote his out all by himself and Payton's is a hand and foot print =, and everyone knows I"m a sucker for hand print art!!

Dentist

So, after months of trying, I finally got the kids approved and their insurance choices selected.  It all went into effect on May 1, once I knew this, I started calling and making Dr's apts for the kids.  For Garrett I needed a dentist apt, an eye Dr apt and a well check up, Payton just needed a well check up.  The dentist won for quickest apt, they got my in May 2, the eye Dr is June 6 and the well visits are June 13 and June 19.

Garrett's regular dentist didn't take his new insurance, so we tried out a new office, Element Dental.  I know someone who works there, so I figured it couldn't be all bad.  And it wasn't.  The office staff was all very nice, but every one was very young, or maybe I'm just getting old!!  I was a bit nervous when we first arrive, our apt was at 3, and there were 7 kids waiting in the waiting room when we got there, but we got called back a little after 3, so not bad at all.  It is not advertised as a pediatric office, but all I saw in there were kids.  The hygienist was great, she was super nice and it was obvious she had worked with kids before.  I thought the Dentist was the hygienist, she was SO young!  But, she was also really, really nice.  Garrett did have a cavity, I knew this though, he had the starts of one last year but we just could never afford to get it fixed :-(  She fixed the cavity and sealed a couple other molars, just to be safe.  Garrett did great, he didn't seem to mind anything, the gloves were grape flavored and the nitrous was bubble gum scented.  The thing he cried over?  The fluoride treatment.  The hygienist said it really does taste horrible, and Garrett wouldn't swallow for a long time.  At that one appointment we used up almost all his benefits, I have enough left for one cleaning, so as long as he doesn't need any more fillings this year, we're set. 

In total, the visit cost me $3, without insurance it would have been close to $800!!! 

Kindergaten Round up

Kindergarten round up was so fun!!  It was a week long here, we waited until Thursday to go, we figured it might not be as busy.  Stefani and Keira went with us, since Keira will be in kindergarten next year as well.  The school sent Garrett a personalized letter to come take a tour so he was SO excited about that!!  We were lucky enough to be the only ones that morning and since Stafani's son Louden already goes to school at Bowen, the principal let him give us a tour, all 3 of the kids thought this was great.  Garrett's favorite part was the library, lol!  They had 3 classrooms, so we were able to interrupt all three, the teachers were all very nice.  Garrett loved it all!  The principal did say they had record early enrollment this year, so to keep the classroom sizes manageable there will most likely be 4 kindergarten classes next year.  I know Garrett is so ready to go to school, he asks me every day how many more months until he starts.  I am so glad he enjoys school so much.  I feel like most kids do at this age, I just hope he takes after me and enjoy school a lot!

T ball

Wow, I'm not sure whether I like t ball or not, it's a huge time commitment!!  We started out practicing twice a week, then the week I started working we had opening ceremonies and ever since then we've had 3 t ball things a week, either practices or games.  They all start at 6, so on the weeks I get out of work at 2, this is super easy, but on the 5pm days it's a nightmare!  I race out of work to get the kids, his teacher is kind enough to change him and we have just enough time to eat something I've packed in the car and jump out for him to go play.  This has involved a lot of tears and too much yelling.  It's too much for him, he's tired from school and then has to race off to practice, which he doesn't really like at all, or to a game, which he does like.  But, he's usually starving by the time it's all over and usually pretty dirty and sweaty, so we race home and have just enough time to do baths and read his reading assignment and then he's in bed.  He complains he doesn't get to play and misses watching tv.  I'm not even sure he likes baseball, I think he plays because we've signed him up, but given the choice, he'd not be playing ;-(  Matt love it and is his coach again this year, so I feel bad that Garrett doesn't love it more.  You can tell the kids who love it, they want to stay after and hit more balls, they come running up at practice and quite frankly they're pretty good at it!! I hope he eventually decides he likes it, but if not I"m not doing this too many more years in a row!!

Daycare

Daycare-I knew this would be an easy transition for Garrett, he was already upset that he could never stay after school to play like some of the kids did.  I figured Payton would be ok since she's been going up there to pick Garrett up a couple times a week since she was born, but she would not be in the same room with Garrett and had never napped anywhere but home.  I knew from experience she would adapt, but I also was worried about her first few days.  And I was right, the first day she didn't nap at all, and her first week she had a TON of pee accidents.  About her 4th day there, we got out of work early, so I got them and brought them home and P took a 4 hour nap!!  But, 4 weeks later, she's fully adjusted.  She's having no trouble napping, no pee accidents since the first week, and hugs and kisses her teacher in the morning and when I pick them up.  And I see genuine love on her teachers face, she seems happy to see Payton in the morning and always has great things to tell me when I pick her up.  Plus, I can tell she's learning a lot, she's talking more and more, and yesterday, out of the blue, she counted to 10 unassisted and got about halfway through her alphabet, she was not doing this a month ago, despite my best efforts.  So, there are days I miss them terribly and thing I'm horrible for taking them to daycare and there are days I see it was best for everyone.  I often get off early enough that I can run errands and quickly clean the house before I pick them up and then I can spend time with them and my focus is on them, not me cleaning or dragging them all over running errands.  And, I have to time the pickup just right because Payton doesn't nap until 2:15, so I can't go between 2:15 and 4:15, otherwise I wake her up, so that helps me feel less guilty about not picking them up until 4:30 or 5.

Work

Work - It took me a couple weeks to decide if I really liked it there.  The hours are great, but I seemed to be having trouble with one of the co-workers, sadly, she was the one training me.  It all started out just fine and then she slowly started getting kind of mean.  I'm not even entirely sure how to describe it, but she would show me how to do stuff about 95% complete, so I was getting into trouble for not completing tasks, she was constantly talking and not working, I had to keep interrupting her to ask questions, and I was getting a lot of sighs and eye rolls.  But, she was also leaving, so I was determined to stick it out until she left and see if things changed.  About 2 days before she left, the girl I was going to be working with, Cindy,  pulled me aside and said she was really sorry I was being treated poorly, but she promised me it would be better in a few days and boy has it ever!  This week has been great.  Cindy has been filling in the gaps on the things the other girl left off, she's been extremely patient with my questions and has been showing me my mistakes and how to fix them.  No more me feeling like a complete idiot because I had entered something in the computer wrong.  I also have noticed I'm making a lot fewer mistakes, I think the stress and anxiety of my cranky coworker was making it hard for me to concentrate.  I'm sure the fact that I've been there a month is helping a lot too, I'm really getting to understand the insurance side of things and even competently answering patients questions.  Now, I just need to get up the nerve to ask about a raise.  I was told I'd be on the training pay for a short period of time, but honestly, the training pay doesn't even cover daycare, so if he doesn't give me a raise soon, I may have to quit and I really don't want to have to do that!!

April

The month of April was crazy busy for us!!  I went back to work (finally, some might say), both kids started going to day care full time, Garrett started t ball, and we went to Kindergarten round up!

Back to work

I've been back to work for a week, it's been an interesting week.  Thursday I worked 8-5, but we had 1.5 hours for lunch, so I came home, ate lunch, ran to 2 banks and picked up a check from a customer, so yes, I can work in an office and help Matt.  Friday I was off, since it was Good Friday and the daycare was closed, they told me not to worry about coming in sine it was such a short notice for me to start.  So this week was my first official week of work.  This week we work 8-2, but we don't take a lunch.  I've had to get very organized very fast.  I drop the kids off right at 7:30, then I fly over to work, they want us there at 7:45, but most days I arrive at 7:50 and I'm the first one there, so there's obviously some flexibility there.  But, the days are long.  I'm not used to not eating and drinking when I want.  We can go in the break room and grab a snack whenever we want, as long as there aren't patients waiting.  Some days this is fine, some days it's very busy and it's harder to find the time to snack.  But, after work, I help Matt.  I run errands, I send invoices, I collect checks, I run to the bank, etc.  Because Payton lays down at school right about 2:15, it's too hard for me to get there before she's asleep and since I'm paying until 5:30 whether I get them or not, most days I'll leave them there.  Garrett gets to play and Payton can nap.  But, today, today was rough, she's not getting her normal 2.5-3 hour nap, so that girl is tired at night.  This morning when I got her up, she cried, when I put her in the car, she cried, when we got to school she cried, and when I left her, she cried.  It almost broke my heart.  She has gymnastics on Thursday, so Stef sent me a text and said she was in a mismatched outfit, which means she had an accident and had an accident during gymnastics, and she clung to Stefani and didn't want to go back to her room.  I decided I was going to race over there and bring her home so she could nap at home, in her own bed.  She was SO excited to see me!!  And boy did she sleep!  I woke her at the 3 hour mark and by 7:30 she was asking to go to bed.  Of course, as soon as she's in bed, I have to make lunches for the next day and repack her backpack, and make sure Garrett has all his stuff and tonight I folded laundry, as well as ran to Target for diapers and then made invoices for Matt.  Am I doing anything any other working mother does?  I'm just saying, it's a lot.  I did get my first paycheck today, it wasn't much, but it felt good to be able to contribute to the household bills.  I know there's an adjustment period for all of us and I"m so grateful that we do work short days a lot and that means I can go get the kids if I want to.  It means not as big of a check since we never work 40 hours a week, but it means I'll have more time to help Matt and spend it with my family.  Plus Garrett won't have to go to an after school program very much at all, and that makes me happy.  So, while it's hard and I'm tired, I think it's a good fit for us.  But, yes, I miss my kids when I'm at work, I miss their sweet faces and their hugs and kisses and Payton's funny little quirks, but maybe I enjoy all those things a little bit more now since I don't get to see it all day anymore.

Easter Sunday

After the Easter vigil, I came home to Matt sleeping on the couch, and dishes and toys scattered everywhere.  I had to clean up, put together the Easter baskets and hide eggs, so I didn't get to bed until after 1, needless to say, I wasn't in much of the Easter mood.  But, when Garrett came in our room about 7 and said the Easter bunny had come, I fed off his excitement.  Payton woke at the same time he did, so we got her up.  Garrett ran right to the baskets, Payton ran right to the eggs screaming Candy, guess we know what she likes, lol!  I let them eat candy for a bit, then we cooked a nice breakfast and cleaned up the house.  Matt's family was coming for an early dinner.  I had cleaned pretty good on Friday, but the floors needed to be done and we needed to declutter, plus all the laundry had to be put up.  After we cleaned up, we took a picnic lunch to the park, we had a great time playing and swinging.  We came home and laid Payton down, then Garrett, Matt & I watched a little tv.  We went from a 4pm dinner to 6, to accommodate Brandon's family.  I won't say I wasn't a bit frustrated.  Matt's brother didn't want to get together with us at all and we decided on dinner to accommodate Lindsay and her boyfriend only to move dinner even later, because they didn't want to "be rude to his family".  Not sure how it wasn't rude to us, but whatever.  I really wanted an early dinner so the kids could get to bed early since this was the first full week of them having to get up so early.  As it was everyone didn't leave until after 8, both kids were in bed at 8:30, an our late for Payton :-(

Dinner itself was really good.  We had ham, fresh green beans, a cheesy potato casserole, rolls and a salad.  Then for dessert we had angel food cake with strawberries.  Nothing too fancy, but all very tasty!

I know I get frustrated around the holidays, I miss my family a lot, and it seems like pulling teeth to get together with Matt's family.  You'd think after 7 years I'd be used to it and let it go, but it really still bothers me.  But, we had a great family day and even managed to get a couple cute family photos, hopefully I can upload those later today.  Garrett and I also talked about the real meaning of Easter and he seems to be getting the concept of God and Jesus and all the stories we tell, so that was really nice too.

Easter Vigil

Saturday night, Lindsay was confirmed.  She had decided to covert from Baptist to Catholic, and all adults are baptized and confirmed the night before Easter.  Since it was from 8:15-11:15 at night, Matt stayed home with the kids.  I hadn't been to an Easter Vigil in years, but I remembered enough that it was going to be in the dark and long.  Lindsay's parents were supposed to save me a seat, but they were getting there about 7:30, I planned on arriving about 8.  But, when I got there, I couldn't find anyone!!  No one had their phones on and despite the family knowing I was coming, no one was even looking for me.  I was a bit upset.  I ended up sitting in the very back of the church by myself.  I just kept thinking how different our family's are.  If it was my sil, Beth, meeting our family.  I'm pretty sure my Dad would have been waiting at the door, or my mom or sister would have texted her to say, "hey, we're 5 rows from the front, on the left", or something along those lines.  And I'm pretty sure we'd all have had our phones on vibrate until she had arrived, in case she had any trouble finding us.  Matt's family made no effort to look for me and didn't seem overly concerned that I hadn't found them.  I really missed my family in that moment.

The service itself was fine, it was long, 4+ hours long.  It was quite beautiful when the candles were all lit, but it was dark for 90%of the service.  I couldn't see much, barely saw Lindsay actually receive communion, since I was so far back!  And for the first time ever, I left right after communion.  I was still frustrated about the seating and it had been 4 hours in a very uncomfortable chair, so after communion I made my way to the door. 

I'm glad I was there for Lindsay, but I do think my mood ruined most of the service for me.  I even cried at one point just thinking about how different our families really are.  My mom was texting me and kept telling me I was in church, I needed to ask God for strength and understanding, but it was hard for me to do.  I don't get how they still don't include me and Matt and I have been married for 7 years now.  It hurts, it really does.

JOB!!

I have a friend, Diane, who started working or a dentist back in September or so, Dr. Lasall.  She mentioned in passing one day that they may be hiring, since 2 girls in their office were pregnant, well, about 3 weeks ago, I stopped by to drop off my resume and just meet the office manager, turns out she liked me :-)  Last Sunday, the Dr called (the office manager is his wife) and we set up an interview for Monday.  On Monday, they both seemed to like me, but since I had no medical experience, they suggested I come in Wednesday for what they called a "working interview", a chance for me to see if it was something I'd like to do and for them to see if they felt I'd fit in with their office staff.  Both kids have school on Wed, so I thought that would work perfect.  Wednesday went very well, it is different from what I've done before, but also very similar, there's customer service in greeting the patients and answering the phones, but it's different because I don't know any of the codes used in medical terminology, but all 3 girls in the office assured me, I'd pick up on it pretty fast.  So, after my few hours on Wed, we all agreed, I'd start full time......the very next day!  I had to scramble to get Garrett moved to full time care and Payton signed up for full time care at Powersports, so sadly, Wed was her last day with the teachers at her old school, she really didn't understand that she was saying bye for good.

Thursday was a good day.  I woke up at 6, had the kids up at 6:45 and we were out the door by 7:15, wearing scrubs helps a LOT!  I even managed to get both kids hair combed, and styled, lunches packed, I even did the dishes and got dinner in the crockpot!  The kids were the first ones there at 7:30 and I was the first to work at 7:45.  We had a long lunch, 1.5 hours, so on my lunch break, I ran to 2 banks and picked up a check from a customer for Matt.  The good thing about this job is it's 8-2 everyday, except for every other week where we work 8-5, mon, tues, and thurs.  It's nice because I'll still be able to help Matt out but bad because it's not a full 80 hour paycheck.  But, it will include paid benefits for me, and we'll just pay the difference for the family and of course, dental care is free :-)  Unfortunately, they were the last kids piked up, but that will only happen 3 days a week, every other week, the rest of the time I can be there earlier, but I'll wait until after Payton's nap, so I can help Matt or get errands done.

The kids did great at school, Garrett was thrilled to be the big brother and was happy to help out with Payton.  His day wasn't much different, just longer.  Payton's was a lot different, new teachers, new friends, new school and a much longer day, but going up there so much to pick up Garrett I think helped the transition a lot.  Her teacher sent home a note saying she did great.  She did not eat a very good lunch and refused to nap, both of which are very unusual for her, but we all agreed she was just so excited and over stimulated.  Hopefully next week goes much smoother for her.  Payton is easily a 2-3 hour napper, so no nap was hard on her!  She was in bed at 7, and probably would have gone to bed at 6:30!  The hard part for me, is I'll never really see her teacher.  Her teacher is Ms Devan, and she works 9-2, before and after that she'll be with Garrett's teacher, Ms Mimi.  I trust ms Mimi fully, she's had Garrett for 2 years, and I got a nice report from her about Payton's day, but it's hard not actually seeing her teacher.  I forgot to tell them she naps with a diaper, so it may be good she never did fall asleep!  She stays dry a lot, but who wants to take that chance!

The job itself is going to be good.  The pay starts out pretty low, but he assured me he is very generous with his raises and once I start learning things he'll give me a raise.  Everyone in the office backed this up, so I am hoping I catch on fast so I can get out of their training pay!  The pay I listed he said was more then reasonable and maybe even a bit low.  So, while I won't be back to what I was making at Wells Fargo, I will be bringing home a paycheck, and it will feel like a raise when Garrett starts school in the fall.  I didn't want to turn it down, everything seemed so right, it all just fell into place, unlike any other job offer I've had this was a lower pay then many, but felt like it could really be something I'd enjoy.  They seem to set it up to be a career, not just a job.  There's also a 401k, which I feel is unheard of in a small office.  Not sure I see myself being a receptionist in a dental office for the next 10 or 20 years, but he said he doesn't either, he sees me taking over as office manager or being a dental assistant or even a position they haven't thought of yet.

For now, I'm just trying to get back into the groove of working.  Last time I had to be to an office on time, I only had one child, so this is a bit different, but not too bad.  And I'm very excited about the future possibilities!

O'Banion Easter

I'm a bit behind, but on Saturday we celebrated Easter early with Matt's family.  His cousin Kelley was in from Colorado with her 2 boys, so we took advantage of the extra family and all got together at Matt's parents house.  This year we opted to skip the Easter egg hunt at the library, there's just too many people and I don't enjoy the rush rush and then worrying about your kid taking off and losing them in the crowds. 

Matt got a last minute call to play in a softball tournament, so he started all the meat the night before, neither of us slept well, because he kept getting up to check on it, then he and Garrett left for softball, while Payton and I got dressed and then ran to meet a customer then ran to find rain boots.  Because of all the rain last week, Honey & PaPa's yard was a bit squishy, so my efforts to get Payton quite Easter sandals were in vain.

In all, the day was very nice.  Garrett played with Adam & Mitchell very well, Payton just hung out with whoever she wanted.  After we ate lunch, the kids did the traditional Easter egg hunt, I think they all had fun, even though by then it was easily 86 and very steamy out.  They ran around in their rain boots and collected as many eggs as would fit into the baskets.  I brought a very warn out Payton home about 3:30 and she napped for a very short amount of time, then we were off to a friends house for a party.  We were super busy on Saturday!!

This Saturday night, I'm going to watch Lindsay get confirmed, she's converting from Baptist to Catholic, so I'll be attending the Easter vigil from 8-11, at night, in the dark!  I have no idea what we are doing Sunday.  We talked about inviting Matt's family over for lunch or dinner and just kind of hang out and relax, but we haven't made much of an effort on planning that, so we'll see what we end up doing.

25 months

I know, it's weird to post about Payton's 25 month "birthday", but I feel like she's made a lot of changes in the past month, so I wanted to record things so I remember them.

The biggest thing is the potty training, yep, she is potty trained, she pees and poops in the potty, and seems to be staying dry at nap time!  It's been well over a week and I still put a diaper on her for her naps, but it's quickly dawning n me we may not need to do this for much longer.  Funny how different your kids can be!  Payton really potty trained in one day, Garrett wasn't peeing in the potty until 3, and he wasn't pooping consistently until 4.5 maybe, he drove me crazy with the poops!

She is also quite the talker now, she repeats a lot of what we say, but I've noticed her talking in complete sentences so much more lately.

She doesn't say again or another, she says more.  She'll say things like "more somersault" or "somersault more", instead of again.  of course, now I can't think of the funnier expressions she uses that are all jumbled up, but I'll add them as she says them.

She still loves her shoes, but now she loves taking them off and trying to put them on, her favorite shoes in the house are Garrett's, because they are big enough that she can put them on herself but small enough that she can walk in them and not be tripping all over the place.  She's outgrown almost all of her size 6 shoes, so yesterday at Wal-mart I grabbed a new pair of sneakers for her, and she refused to take them off so she penguin walked in them all the way to the register, she got quite a few laughs in the store.

She HAS to walk everywhere, the stroller isn't really an option unless I'm walking for exercise and going fast, and the shopping cart is  a huge fight, she will demand to walk "I walk, momma".  And she's starting to exhibit her temper when she isn't allowed to walk.

Yes, she is starting to show us her temper more and more.  She's not as bad as Garrett was, but she's still young, so we'll see where it goes.  Usually she's upset that she has to come inside or that she can't play inside my car, for some reason that is her favorite thing to do.

She's playing dress up and puzzles and loves to read and is pretending more and more with her baby dolls and her kitchen.  It's quite precious to watch her, because most everything she does is just mimicking or repeating us, and it's so heart warming to watch her sing to her dolls and rub their backs, because these are the things we do to her.

She is still a great eater, she'll eat most anything you give her, even things I sometimes think she won't touch, she'll gobble up.  Oh, and she loves to eat outside, it's warming up here so we've had lunch outside almost every day for a week, she's starting to understand that it's only lunch we eat outside, but for a few days she asked to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner outside, lol.

She is still not a cuddler, she does like to sit with you to read books, and while she may not always sit on your lap, she will sit right next to you and rest her hand on your leg.  But, forget rocking and singing songs at night, it's just not going to happen!

She's very polite, and it's always "thank you, momma".  And she'll say it for everything you give her.  We are still working on please.  Garrett barely says please without being prompted, it drives me nuts, I don't get why thank you is so easy for my kids but please is so hard.

And she's still a great sleeper, bedtime is later now that it's warmer and we are spending our evenings outside, but she generally sleeps 12 hours at night and naps are 2-3 hours depending on what's going on.  And yes, she stays dry those entire 3 hours!!

She is such a joy to us, she is very loving, she has to kiss everyone for naps and bedtime, and when we drop Garrett off at school she has to kiss and hug him, same for pickup.  She's starting to just randomly come over and kiss us when we are playing or working outside.

Oh, and her hair is still a mess, it's too short still for a pony tail (due to Garrett's handiwork).  The pigtails work, but her hair is so fine even the tiniest ties start slipping out by nap time.  She doesn't love having her hair done but she doesn't like it in her eyes, so she'll let me do it.  But, ties only, no bows, no barrettes, no headbands.  Yes, I have hair envy of some of my friends daughters hair, lol.  I know when it's long we'll fight over combing it, so I'm trying to enjoy it as it is.  It still has curl to it and is very blond, all traces of red a re gone.  Her and Garrett have almost the exact same color hair.  It makes me want to be blond again!!

Tired

So, this last week I found myself just dragging, I was depressed, sad, just plain tired.  I wasn't getting much joy from anything.  I do get homesick for my family, and I honestly just feel like I"m on an island all by myself.  Matt is and will be working a lot more hours and I can either go insane or fight my way out of the depression.  I will say, it was Matt who dragged me up and out of it.  I've been wanting to do "something", I had no idea what, but the daily grind of nothing has been wearing me down.  I'm constantly on edge waiting for him to call to run and do something for work, so I find I'm not even enjoying my kid time, I'm too stressed over money and him working and dwelling on how many hours it will be until I have an adult to talk to.  So, I'm getting back onto a project track.  Sunday I spent 4 hours, yes 4, weeding one side of our front flower bed, it was that bad.  For some reason I just kept thinking Matt was going to do it, I finally realized, I need to be doing it.  I do draw the line at cutting the grass, I don't think that's in any way safe with a 2 year old running around, esp one scared of loud noises, so I don't know when that will get cut, but somehow Matt's going to have to find the time for it.  But, I've decided I am going to paint the front door, make a wreath and start a garden. 
I originally thought about doing the garden in the front yard, but Matt decided we really need to tear out what's there and redo the rocks and bring in new dirt and mulch, it's looking really dated, so I was disappointed, starting a garden from scratch could be really pricey, but this morning I realized there's plenty of room under the trees in the back yard.  It is going to require serious weeding, but I think I can do it.  My kids LOVE being outside, so this way, even if Payton isn't helping me weed, we can be outside together and maybe my work will start rubbing off on the kids and they'll become interested.  I've got some ideas of what to plant, it'll be at least a week, it's going to take some serious work on that area to clean it up.  But, I'm hoping this gives me some motivation and something to look forward to.  I'm also hoping that Garrett will get involved if I let him pick out some things to plant.
My biggest issue is money, we never have enough, but I need to just spend a little bit here and there and hopefully it will not break the bank to do some projects and keep me feeling like I'm accomplishing something!

back to school

Payton has been off of school for 2 weeks, she had strep throat then we had Spring Break, so imagine her teachers surprise when I said she was potty trained.  She said, you mean you're working on it, I said nope, she is telling me when she has to pee and poop in the potty.  The teacher was skeptical, then about 11, I got a text, she had no accidents and had even told her she had to poop.  Yep, I have to say, I was surprised too, but in less then 1 week Payton is peeing and pooping in the potty.  I will admit the pooping is less consistent, but we've had 2 days in a row with making it to the potty on time, so I think she's starting to get it.
The director at Garrett's school noticed Payton using their potty and asked me about it, sadly she remembers how hard it was to get G potty trained, so she was impressed too. 
We do use potty's everywhere now and have even stopped by friends places of business just to borrow a potty, but that's ok with me.  She's been staying dry at naps a lot too and this I never expected at her age, could it be that easy?!?!?!

Potty Training, day three

I do not plan on posting every single day, but I have to brag about my little peanut!  Yesterday, was day 3 of potty training.  Tuesday night Matt said the kids and I would need to drive to Humble to pick up a sink for a job he was installing.  So, in the morning, I decided to put her in a diaper, it's about a 2 hour drive and I didn't know how she would do.  That girl stayed dry the entire trip out there, which ended up being 2.5 because I needed to go to the bank and the gas station, she peed in the store there, then stayed dry all the way home!  I am amazed at how well she is doing. 
We've had some pooping issues, not really issues, she just hasn't been going until either right before bed (in her diaper) or first thing in the morning (in her diaper).  Well, yesterday about 11:30, she was walking around McDonald's grabbing her boom saying poo poos, I had her sit on the potty there, but no luck.  Then after dinner, she started doing it again, she kept running back and forth in the house and saying poo poo's, and Matt & I kept telling her to put the poops in the potty, she even brought us a diaper and I decided to say no to that.  Next thing we knew she ran to the potty and pooped, but wasn't quite fast enough so it landed on the seat.  Gross I know, but the point is I think we're making serious progress there.  Her teacher said if she's pooping on the potty at home she won't need to wear a pullup to school.  We have a full week to work on this, but it amazes me to think that in only 3 days she might be potty trained!!  We'll see how today goes......

Potty Training, day two

Day two started off fantastically, I woke her up and we went straight to the potty and she peed, then picked out her own Minnie Mouse panties, and was quite excited.  Then it started, back to asking to sit every 5 minutes but not peeing! 1.5 straight hour of this and I thought I might go insane, so I decided we needed to run to the bank.  I put a diaper on her, just in case.  Then we stopped in to visit Stefani while she worked and I got a much needed adult chat in while the 3 kids played.  Then we came home.  I had her immediately sit on the potty because her diaper was still dry!  No pee, while I fixed lunch, she sat 3 more times, still no pee.  Then while she was eating, she asked to pee again, the second time, I had had enough and told her no, she needed to jut eat, and that's when she peed, all over her chair and the floor.  I, of course, felt like the worst mother ever!  I had her sit on the potty, apologized for not believing her, cleaned everything up, we finished lunch and i laid her down.  She slept 3.5 hours and woke up dry!  I was shocked.  The rest of the afternoon went great.  She peed right after her nap and then exactly 2.5 hours later started the "every 5 minutes pee" thing again, but this time, after her third trip, I told her if she sat still and peed we'd go for a walk, that didn't work, so the 4th time I promised a piece of chocolate, I also turned the faucet on.  I have no idea what worked, but she finally sat and peed, of course, she jumped up to check her progress about 3 times, but finally we had an empty bladder, so she got a piece of chocolate and we took a walk.  She then stayed dry until after her bath, when she asked to pee again.  Then she pooped in her diaper.  We are still working on putting the poops in the potty.  Since that took Garrett well over 1.5 years, I'm hoping to have a bit more success with her on that!  But, in all I'd say she's doing fantastically!!

Potty Training, day one

I'll admit it, I'm in denial and very gun shy about potty training Payton.  Garrett was a nightmare, took 3 tries and he wasn't potty trained until 2 weeks before Payton was born (he was 3), and didn't poop in the potty regularly until well past 4.  A NIGHTMARE!  But, lately, Payton has been more and more verbal about her bodily functions and all weekend, every time she peed or pooped, she immediately brought us a clean diaper to change her.  So Sunday night I did a bit of email/text research and decided to just go for it.  It's Spring Break, so both kids would be home all week and we had no plans.  Well, by noon, I was thinking I was all wrong!
When Garrett got up I asked if he would help me, he was pretty excited, so when Payton woke up, we made a big deal about it all, on went the panties and we sat on the portable potty, she was very excited, then proceeded to follow me into the office and peed on the floor, lol.  But, I knew there would be lots of accidents, I just cleaned it up, put fresh panties on and kept talking it up.  By nap time we were 0 for 4, she'd say she had to go, sit for exactly 1/10 of a second, then jump up and run off and then pee.  But, as the pee was running down her leg, she's shriek pee pee, so I took a small victory in the fact that she at least recognized what she was doing.  I did put a diaper on at nap time, I am not even remotely assuming she's ready for that, lol!  She woke up after a very short nap, quite hysterical, but dry.  Then the afternoon proceeded with peeing literally every 5 minutes on the potty and peeing about a drop.  I could not figure out how to get her to sit long enough to empty her bladder.We read books, we sang songs, we watched Elmo.  But every single time, as soon as the pee would start to come out she would get so excited she'd jump up to show us.  I finally had Garrett sit on the little potty and show her that you sit for a while and then we looked and saw how much pee there was, and I think she finally got it!  She finally sat and peed a bunch and then lasted at least 30 minutes before telling me she had to go again.  So, in the afternoon we had one accident, but she was literally peeing every 5 minutes!  No poops all day, so I was a bit worried about constipation, but I was hopeful she'd poop early in the morning while still wearing her diaper.
So, we'll see how day two goes!