What relief looks like

There are significant birth defects in my family history...mostly heart problems.  Doug's family has a history of heart disease.  Between the two, I have wondered if there's a reason why we have a difficult time having kids...perhaps our genes are destined to have issues.  :-)

My last two ultrasounds showed a small abnormality in the heart that my OB sees quite often and it usually just "goes away" on the next ultrasound.  He thinks it's just because ultrasound technology has improved so they are seeing more detail.  It looks like a 'bright spot' in one of the chambers.  After I mentioned my family history, he sent us to a pediatric cardiologist for a fetal echocardiogram of our little baby's heart.  He said it was only because of my family history.

I didn't think I was anxious.  I had felt that every thing was fine.  I didn't think I would feel so much relief when the doctor told us that her heart was completely normal for this stage of development.  It was then that I realized that I had been a bit nervous.  I couldn't help but snap of photo of myself on the way out of the hospital with a big smile on my face.

Go Elyssa!

Doug's niece, Elyssa, has had a fun year of basketball for our family to enjoy.  We've been to 2 games with the kids and they loved it (besides the loud buzzer noise...) so when she was going to the state tournament, we couldn't help but go and cheer for her.  When they won the semi-final game and were headed to the championship game today we knew we had to be there.  Her team is fun to watch and Elyssa is so talented.  

We drove with Michelle, Erika, and Nikki to the game in some snow.  Doug was calm and collected, as usual.  

We were thrilled when she won!  Sydney wanted to tell her "good job" and give her a high five and take a photo with her.  (all her requests)

It was so fun to cheer together.

Sydney and Ethan loved all the attention from their cousins, aunts, and uncles.  If they were every bored or over-stimulated by the noise, they were quick to ask to go to the potty though.  Ugh.  I got my workout taking them back and forth from the bathroom SEVERAL times.  Next sporting event, we're rationing water even more.

Playdate

There is something so great about getting together with a fabulous high school friend and having our kids play together.  It makes me feel young and old at the same time.  :-)

We had a blast with Chenae and her kids this morning and had a little lunch before coming home.  They set up a tent in the living room and played games in it.

And Ethan found dress up clothes, namely dresses, for him to wear.  He immediately wanted me to turn some music on so he could watch it 'twirl'.  

I'll be both happy and sad when he grows out of this phase.

Crackers in the wind

Spring is in the air.  We can feel it.  It's close.

It was so warm in the car today that I found myself rolling down the windows.  I remembered that the sliding door windows roll down and let Ethan and Sydney take in some fresh air.  They were in heaven!  I had given them some graham crackers while we drove and they both held them up in the 'wind' and kept repeating, "my cracker is in the wind".  It was the cutest thing.  I had to snap a photo to remember the moment.  I am so in love with them and realizing they are growing up so fast.  It's bitter sweet.

Valentine

We returned home tonight to a Valentine left for E&S from Aunt Michelle.  They were thrilled with their treats and their headbands.  I can foresee hours of entertainment in their future.

Rexburg bound

My siblings and I have often gotten together President's Day weekend in the past 4 or 5 years.  Doug wanted to join us but opted to take time to work on his dissertation.  I was really bummed to leave him behind and wanted to go as a family, but we also had enough room to bring my sister and all of her kids in our new 8-seater van.  

We made sure to bring the potty seat and it was utilized by everyone but me and Tiff's baby Avery (still in diapers).  

We had so much fun that I took very few photos.  We stayed at my sister, Katie's house where they have just moved back in after an extensive remodel.  It was beautiful.  On Sunday, we went over to Michelle's house.  I sat downstairs with my sisters chatting and went upstairs briefly to see all the men and older boys staring at the computer screen.  It made me laugh.

My niece Shelly was the highlight of our visit.  E&S are slightly obsessed with her, mostly Syd.  She talks about her regularly and I drop Shelly's name in important moments such as potty training: "Shelly likes dry pants".

We did a lot of sitting and talking which I miss a lot.  I love my sisters and their families.  My brother-in-law even posed while talking.  Thanks Aaron.

Ethan and Sydney were in heaven with so many cousins and so many playmates.  And we had NO ACCIDENTS (until packing to leave, but I'll call that a fluke).
Cousins Grace, Carter, Ellie, Shelly, Sydney, and Ethan.

Cousins after church Sydney, Shelly, Ellie, Emmeli, Ethan, (back) Derek, Caleb, and Cameron

Macey got a big sick while we were there and Tiffany was so cute cuddling her that I had to take a photo.

We had so much fun that Tiff and I are trying to figure a way to go again before we add one more child to our family and then do not have enough seats for all our kids.  :-)  Thanks for the trip Tiff!

What the mice?

No photos here.  I was too scared to take any.

We have mice.  A LOT of mice.  We discovered some droppings in our front coat closet last week and cleaned it out that night.  Well, yesterday I spotted tons of droppings.  It seemed like everywhere I turned there were more signs of mice--

Our nightstand drawer (next to Doug's head where we sleep)...creepy!
Ethan and Sydney's old dresser that will be used for baby #3. Their old clothes were in there still.
Under the kitchen sink
In a linen closet under a container of crayons I pulled out to make valentines

All in one day!

I found by nap time I was screaming at Ethan and Sydney for anything they were doing.  I lost it when I saw that they had gotten into their old dresser and were wearing clothes from those drawers! I called Doug. I couldn't figure out why I was being so impatient with them and knew I was just blowing things out of proportion a bit.  I wondered if it was them, or me being pregnant, but then realized later it was the anxiety I had over the MICE!

Doug came home and was my knight in shining armor. I am paralyzed by mice.  It's embarrassing.  Doug cleaned up all the mess and it took him several hours.  He said they had nested in our nightstand drawer in an old homemade hot pack filled with corn.  It was a food supply and a bed!  Yuck.  He put out poison and glue boards and I was amazed that I could actually sleep.

I had big plans for this morning, Valentines Day.  I made a pancake breakfast (Doug had to leave too early to enjoy it) and ate with E&S.  I then told them I would watch a movie WITH them...a big luxury.  I usually use their time watching a movie for me to workout, shower, or make dinner.  During the Lion King, I heard a mouse squeal, almost scream, and thrash around.  My heard stopped and I tried to figure out where the sound was coming from.  I finally realized it was the kitchen and knew I had just seen an empty glue board in that cupboard 30 minutes ago.  I died.

I called my sister, Tiffany, who told me to come over.  I was embarrassed to admit that I had not showered and was not even fully dressed...this meant running back to my room (the mice lair) and getting dressed, putting on shoes, and getting shoes on E&S.  It seemed too much.  I was tempted to sit on the couch all day and not leave.  Ethan then asked me for a drink of water and I told him, "not right now."  His water bottle was the in the KITCHEN!  He whined and said he was thirsty and I told him, "in a minute."

I realized I couldn't stay on the couch because they would eventually need food.  I could still hear it screaming and thrashing around.  It would stop for a few minutes and then freak out again.  I thought I would throw up.  Tiffany said, "just turn on some music so you can't hear it, run fast and get out of there!"  I hung up and spent a few minutes mustering up the courage.  E&S were oblivious, thank goodness.  They were enjoying "Hakuna Matata" or something.

I was out of the house in a matter of minutes and my mom agreed to dispose of the mouse just after 2 pm.  I arrived home at 2 pm and E&S wanted a snack and ran around the kitchen like a crazy lady for about 15 minutes until my mom arrived.  My body immediately relaxed when I saw her pull into the driveway.  Pretty sure my nervous system was a wreck after living in 'fight or flight' for 24 hours.  My mom took care of the mouse (which was still alive squealing and dragging the glue board around the cupboard). Only it's tail and hind legs were on the trap so I am told.  I didn't even look.  My mom put some poison under the cupboard, cleaned out my dryer vent that led outside because it was stuck open due to lint that must have been there for a while.  She was amazing. My mom has guts like no one I've seen.  Thanks mom for coming to my rescue.

Happy Valentines day mr. mouse.

Our homemade valentines

I am not naturally creative.  I steal other people's ideas.  Pinterest was made for me.

I found this idea on Pinterest and loved it!  It took almost no time.  We used some finger paints (in an attempt) to make hearts with thumb prints on the hands.  We made the hands and cut them out Monday, painted when Doug got home from work that night, and assembled Tuesday. We stuck some in the mail to some family and friends.  It was so fun.

Really?

While we sat eating dinner, Ethan picked up Doug's laptop and put it on his lap and began attempting to log in.  Good thing we have those passwords...

Dance Party...finally

We finally were able to celebrate Ethan and Sydney turning 3 years old over two weeks ago.  We are so happy to be healthy (and potty trained!) to celebrate.  We got Ethan and Sydney a matching lava lava and sarong in hopes that Ethan can dance in some masculine 'skirts'.  He still wants to wear Sydney's dresses to dance because they 'twirl' better.

Sydney was terrified of birthday candles.  She talked about it hours before family arrived--that she didn't want to blow out the candles.  She always covers her ears when she is afraid--of anything.  She was blowing and covering her ears but kept backing away.  She's so adorable.

Ethan blew out the candles for both of them.

They received a few fun gifts.  The Merrills made them some puzzles and games to play and Uncle Kyle and family gave us passes to Discovery Gateway.  We are so excited to take them.

I can't believe they are three and potty trained.  Something about this combination makes them seem so much older all-of-a-sudden.  Not sure how we feel about that.

Peeking inside

It is so amazing that we can 'see' our baby before she arrives.  We confirmed again today that we are having a girl and she is so active!  The ultrasound tech began being a little frustrated that she wouldn't hold still long enough for her to take measurements.  That is consistent with my experience yet again!

We also saw that she is my child--flexing for the camera.  Doug has caught me flexing in front of the mirror before...  I love muscles.

I am going to have a fetal Echocardiogram in a few weeks to make sure a little spot they see on her heart is normal.  My doctor said it's most likely nothing (like 99% chance it's nothing) but he wanted to double-check given my family history of birth defects of the heart.  I am confident everything is fine, until I let myself think about it for too long.  :-)

Potty training

It happened.  Today is the day I took on what has seemed to be impossible.  POTTY TRAINING.

My friend Shanna mentioned a book that her entire family loves for potty training and was kind enough to loan it to me along with some "potty dolls" as I call them.  They are dolls that actually are 'fed' water and 'pee' in the potty.  I read all 175+ pages in about 24 hours and ran to the store for a few supplies Monday night and decided that Tuesday was the day.  

Apron with pockets

Potty treats

A list of people who would be thrilled that they use the potty

Arrangements for Ethan to spend the morning (at least) at Tiffany's house while I worked exclusively with Sydney

Lots of exciting drinks (my kids were thrilled to have a bottomless supply of chocolate almond milk and juice boxes)

Oversized underwear (borrowed, yes I am cheap)

Sydney and I hung out in the kitchen for about 3 hours.  We didn't go into any other room.  I taught her to use the potty, empty it herself, wash her hands, and take care of any messes.  We 'practiced' as the book recommends when she had an accident (only 2 of those) and taught the doll how to the use the potty as well.  Sydney was so afraid of the potty that I sat on the ground and hugged her for about 20 minutes before she went once!  My sister posed as Minnie Mouse on the phone and my dad as Mickey Mouse so she could share the good news with her favorite celebrities.  Her face lit up when she heard Minnie's voice telling her what a great job she had done.  It was the only thing I could think of to get her over her terror after she'd first peed.

I was shocked when she went 3 times on her own and emptied the potty chair and washed her hands without ANY prompting from me all within 3 hours.  She was amazing.

Ethan came home and went straight to the kitchen while I chatted with Tiffany.  I then realized what he would be doing and laughed and said to Tiffany, "I am sure Ethan is in there drinking all of Sydney's special drinks.  Ethan would drink all of his meals if I let him.  I had to urge Sydney to take sips of drinks for those 3 hours and Ethan downed all of them in minutes while I updated Tiffany on Sydney's progress at the front door!

He instantly wanted 'in' on the action at 3 pm and was in underwear and doing great by bedtime.

I kept track of all of Sydney's potty checks, accidents, and successes.  It was SO helpful to know a history of how often she needed to go and know when to prepare for an accident.  I had to snap a photo of my chart before throwing it out because it was so important to her progress.  I love this book.

They didn't do well that night, so we are in pull-ups at night right now until I can get up the courage to try again.  They've had a few accidents here and there, but are doing really well.  I am glad I did it, but I am ready to get out of the house!

New: the blanket game

Kayla's husband, Shane, is a genius in our house.  He came up with the blanket game that we have played several times already since being home from our Colorado visit.  It's simple:

1. make a pile of pillows 

(make sure there is nothing behind the pillows that could cause injury)

2. loosely hold a blanket up in front of the pillows

3. kids run and tackle the blanket onto a pile of pillows 

(you can even encourage being creative and running in silly ways or tackling with a summersault--the possibilities are endless!)

4. prepare yourself to be tired of holding said blanket because this is fun forever

5. get ready for your kids to be tired and think you're awesome all while staying indoors!  

Score one for mom and dad!  Thanks Shane.

Going back home

Saturday came so quickly.  After working out and showering, we took a walk outside to feed the hundreds (literally) of geese and ducks in the pond across the street from Kayla's house. We wore the kids out and E&S went down for a nap while  I packed and cleaned up.  

Kayla was a fantastic host.  We had a great time.

This plane ride went well, except that we landed in fog, so it seemed that we were about to land and the pilot pulled up very suddenly and we made another run at the landing.  It made for a very long flight--especially since we couldn't listen to music, have our tray tables down etc. for about 30 minutes.  Brutal.

One highlight was that they were given security badge stickers from TSA in the Denver airport.  They LOVED those! We got to talk about eagles and watched a few videos of the bald eagle before we took off.  Denver airport was amazing!