The other day, I was filling out some paperwork to start the process of getting Cooper into some therapies and I had to go through a list and check all the behavior issues he struggles with. As I went through the list I noticed something interesting. Disrobing (removing portions/all clothing) Cooper – No, Ellen – Yes We are constantly finding Ellen naked around the house. We especially have to make sure to check on her after she’s fallen asleep because…
You know how most parents worry about their kids breaking all of their Christmas ornaments? Well, that isn’t really a problem at our house. The kids have been really gentle with the ornaments and haven’t broken a single one. But do you know what is a problem? The kids drinking out of the ornaments. Yes, you read that right. And it’s not like they’re dehydrated. No matter how many times I give them both full cups of water, I still…
Awhile ago we told Cooper if he learned to use the potty we would take him to see the movie Planes. I made a big sticker chart with two weeks on it thinking that would be all we needed (this was our third attempt at potty training, yet I was optimistic) and by day eleven Cooper had run up a huge tab of damages and I’d abandoned the sticker chart believing he would be in diapers forever. I’d even read…
Danielle, Noel’s sister, was in town on business and got to spend an evening with us. Ellen was taken with Aunt Danielle and kept bringing her books to read and even gave her hugs which is almost unheard of. Ellen has begun a rigorous training program. Noel and I went on a “date” to test drive cars since we’ve come to the conclusion that we at least need to start thinking about replacing our 18, going on 19-year-old car. I’m…
I never thought I would be one of those moms that would get teary-eyed when their kid started school. I could just blame it on how fast things moved when Cooper was offered an opportunity to go to preschool, but truthfully I’ve been on a downward emotional spiral ever since Noel found a way to melt my snow queen heart and it’s only gotten exponentially worse with the arrival of my children. Cooper had so much fun picking out a…
Last weekend we drove to Utah for a quick trip to see my sister graduate with a Masters of Social Work from the University of Utah. Logistically, the whole thing was a bit of a fiasco, but once it unfolded it was quite fun. We’d found a great deal on a rental car, that according to our calculations would actually cost less to rent and drive than to drive our 18-year-old car. (See what a difference fuel efficiency can make?)…
There is a lot that goes on in March. I feel like every time we turn around we’re celebrating something new. It keeps life exciting, but also means my house is in need of some serious post-celebratory-cleaning. Here’s a brief recap of what we’ve celebrated so far. A million birthdays, including our favorite little lady’s. Free day at the train museum. Cooper was actually a little overwhelmed by the huge trains, but really liked the model train display. Our anniversary….
After a visit to the doctor last week and a few days of antibiotics for the boy, the energy in our house is back up to 110%. It does my heart good to see these little people smile again, even if it means they’re back to their usual shenanigans.
I’m learning not to talk about children and sleep. More often than not, this topic of conversation makes me want to punch other people because their children sleep and mine don’t. On the rare occasion that my children are actually sleeping, talking about it seems to be bad karma because the day I open my mouth about it we have a HORRIBLE night. That said, I am not going to discuss my children’s current sleep habits, but I will say…
Cooper is starting to talk a lot more and one of his favorite words this fall has been “punkin!” The word is always said with at least one exclamation point. About a week ago, we picked out a couple of pumpkins at a local patch. Just last night, we finally got around to carving them. We thought about putting it off at least one more night when dinner was just one long whine-fest, but when we mentioned the word “pumpkin”…