Re-decorating..

Let me preface by saying that this is something I've been meaning to do for a long time, but because I knew how intensive the re-arranging of a room can be and how busy our afternoons can get, I've put this off for awhile. The opportunity, however, has literally been thrust upon us.

Grandma Gee(Tom's mom) decided to give us Collin's birthday present a couple weeks early. Collin's birthday is August 9th. She got the boys a very nice wooden bunk bed set, complete w/mattresses (and from what I hear, some Car-themed sheets). Collin has been, up till tonight, sleeping on a futon mattress(relatively flush to the floor) & Andrew in his crib, who knows how to climb out.

Took me a long time to figure out the diagram directions for 1 bed(small tiny pictures, not showing the pertinent info very well, and no written directions..wanted to prove to Tom that I could do it without his help since I recently fixed our car passenger door handle all by myself). Turned out well. I did need Tom's help for one stubborn bolt that apparently I couldn't get lined up right with a metal nut. It looks nice now with the bed all made and Collin sleeping in it, especially after I swapped the mesh anti-roll guard thing we used to have on Ivy's bed(since she doesn't roll off the bed anymore). Collin fell asleep long before I finished his bed, but Andrew is already totally jealous. Good thing there are two beds.

Now, to figure out where to move their dresser & how we're going to fit both bunk beds in the room, unstacked. Ivy's room is much bigger and there's only her in there. I do NOT want to move all 3 kids' stuff between rooms. Too much work. Besides, there's a couple reasons I can't/don't want to swap the kids' rooms. 1. Collin's room is directly across from the bathroom. Perfect for first thing in the morning stop to the potty. :) and 2. I've painted cars & jungle animals in the boys' room, and ivy vines in Ivy's room. I spent way to much time doing that just to repaint.

Oh..and pics definitely after I figure out logistics tomorrow.

New chapter in our lives..

Not just Collin learning to go potty, but other MAJOR changes happening in the near future. A change in church callings to give me a little break on Sundays, Tom is in the midst of job applying & interviewing(his job is over in November), Ivy starts kindergarten in September, Andrew will be starting speech therapy(1 hr/week), and I just found out that in less than 6 months Tom's Coast Guard Reserves unit will be deploying for 6 months.

All systems go..

I have no idea what finally clicked for Collin, but he is now using the toilet multiple times a day!! It's only been since Tuesday night, not ready for him to move to underwear just yet. This kid only needs the excessive praise. Not interested in snacks, stickers, etc. When Ivy was potty-trained she wanted Hershey kisses for going potty, which we quickly had to wean her off(she likes chocolate as much as I do).

The only problem is that Collin's not really telling me anymore and he will still go in his diapers sometimes when he's awake. He just takes off his shoes, pants & diaper in the living room and walks to the bathroom & hops himself up on the toilet till we do a quick double-take to realize this and run to the bathroom. Not a bad thing, considering he turns 4 in a couple weeks, but I just wonder about school or even church, when I'm not with him.

Tailbone update...

For those of you who might be wondering, my tailbone is back to normal now, after about month. Just in time for me to start going to a Pilates class thru the community center. I was afraid that I'd have to get a refund on the class, since the tailbone episode started after i paid.

Older pics

Finally getting around to downloading some older pics off the camera. These are from beginning of February 2008, 1 or 2 days before my sister Alisa finished her mission. She served in the California Arcadia Mission(just a little north of us), and her mission president gave her permission to let us spend her whole day with her on the last Sunday of her mission. That was awesome, we had soo much fun! I was in a really rough spot emotionally, and the visit was a great pick-me-up. The pics are from after the missionary devotional they had that night.



Alisa, Tom, Collin & Ivy



Ivy & Alisa



Alisa, Tom & Collin



Andrew & Alisa(1st time they met each other)



Andrew & his Auntie




Alisa, Tom & one tired Collin



Sister Hann(Alisa's last companion) & Ivy



Ivy LOVED Alisa's companion(waiting patiently to talk to her).

Wedding bells in the air..

Congrats to my brother Aaron getting married next month & my sister Alisa around the end of the year! We are so excited for both of you!

New look

After spending probably way too much time on it tonight (after the kids were in bed), I think I've found a layout and look to the blog that I am rather pleased with. The banner personafies us soo well. Andrew is a bottom-less pit, Ivy loves attention, and Collin is wiped out from working 30 hours each week(between his special ed preschool & afternoon therapy)--that's not including time that I make him use his words & replacement behaviors in the morning before the bus & after therapy.

Here comes the tooth fairy(again!)

Ivy just lost her second tooth on Monday(thankfully, before swimming lessons), and the tooth fairy visited her. Ivy felt rather jipped in the morning though. The tooth fairy brought her a quarter this time. For her first tooth, she was brought a quarter, dime, nickel, and penny. Tried to explain to her that the first tooth was special, and that's why the tooth fairy brought her more that time. I don't know that she bought that, but I told her the tooth fairy usually brings a quarter, like when I was a little girl. That seemed to satisfy her. Looks like she will be visited again tonight by the tooth fairy. A 3rd loose tooth just came out this morning.

Happy 8th Anniversary

Tom,

Loving you

is the most natural thing

in the world for me,

and all the little things we share--

the daily talks,

the understood silences,

the trust and comfort

of knowing we have each other

to come home to--

keep our love

changing and growing

and alive with all the promise

and wonder of sharing

our days and nights together.

On our anniversary

and always,

I love you

and the special life

we share.

Thanks for a great 8 years! Looking forward to spending the rest of eternity with you.

Funny Ivy quotes

It's true that kids say the darndest things. We save the funniest things Ivy has said, in the past year, on the computer.


June 2007.

“Trash Monster, you can eat my crayons, but not my room.” (I had threatened the "Trash Monster"--aka black garbage bag--would eat her stuff if she didn't clean up. She wanted to leave a message for the trash monster--unknown to her, on my cell phone voicemail)

September 3, 2007.

“Daddy, where are you going?”, asked Ivy.
“Crazy," replied Tom
“Daddy, you go crazy, and I’ll finish the puzzle.”

September 4, 2007.

I was helping Ivy to clean her room, and said, “Put those things in the right places.”
Ivy replied angrily, “I want them in the WRONG places!”

September 5, 2007.

Ivy said “Mommy, I just want to do a hula-hoop dance,” while trying to do a hula dance (which she sometimes refers to as a “Huwaii dance”)

September 7, 2007.

“Mommy, I’m going nowhere fast!”

December 15, 2007 :

“That car almost hit us,” Ivy said.
“Yeah, we should go kick him, now,” replied Tom.
“Can’t. Our car doesn’t have a kicker.”

June 27, 2008:
“Do you want to be a teacher when you grow up?”, asked one of Collin's therapists.
“No, I want to be a Hula Dancer,” replied Ivy.

8 years ago..

It was exactly 8 years ago today that I took out my endowments(yes, the 4th of July. Columbus does their fireworks on the 3rd, so the temple was open on the 4th). We will be celebrating by going to a session at the Newport Temple on Saturday, while the kids are watched by Grandma & Grandpa Gee. In 4 more days it will be Tom's and my 8th wedding anniversary! It sure has gone by fast. Here's a look back at some of our engagement photos.

As you can probably tell, we both don't look like we've aged much in 8 years. Maybe we'll enjoy that in 10-15 years from now.

Collin

We saw the specialist for Collin yesterday. It went well overall, and we now have a plan for him. I feel bad for him though. The next couple days he's getting a major cleanout, and mostly on medicine, jello, juice, and popsicles for the whole day (except dinner). I bet he might be a little less picky come dinner time, which is good since it's supposed to be pretty bland :)

This weekend, we'll be starting Collin on a daily prescription and playing around w/different fiber options to see what he will actually eat.