Here comes trouble!!!!

Baz is galloping into the terrible twos, but not because of tantrums. He's just getting curious and mischievous. Over the weekend, we had to start keeping the bathroom doors closed at ALL times. Why? Because his new favorite pastime is using the cup that holds the toilet brush to scoop water out of the toilet and spill it on the floor- eeeeeewwwwwww!!!! He also loves to flush the toilet and unroll the TP, but I can live with those- not the play with the brush and cup- ugh.

We had to break out the drill this morning when he figured out how to close (and lock) Anya's door. For some reason, the little hole in the middle of the handle wouldn't unlock it, so we had to actually take the knob off to get in. Luckily, Baz was happily playing on the other side of the door- that could have been a nailbiter if he was hurt or screaming!

Anya's poops

Anya has lately started telling me what is happening with her poop just prior to its arrival in the toilet. For example, if she has some farts, that means her poop is telling jokes inside her. Last night, her poop was finishing eating its dinner so it wasn't quite ready to come out. I really don't get where this is coming from, but it sure makes potty time interesting!

Preschool video

As promised, here's Anya's musical debut....I got tired of fighting with Movie Maker, so you'll have to skim through if you don't want to watch all 7 minutes of 4 year olds singing!!!

Best TG and Bday ever!!!

I would like to thank everyone who helped us to have the best Thanksgiving and birthday party ever!!! From start to finish, this long weekend was just flawless. As far as I can tell, everyone had a great time at Thanksgiving dinner, Anya's party, and the party at our house!!! I'm working on uploading the pics from the party and maybe some video, too...stay tuned!

"I had a good day"

Anya thoroughly enjoyed her bday....from the moment she woke up until she fell asleep. She loved her Spiderman bike as well as her Princess Wii game, costume, and Color Wonders book. She also loved her blinky Princess cowboy boots- they really are adorable! Her show at school was fun for all of us- including Baz. He loves her classroom and got the chance to play there for over an hour!!! After playing at Nana and Dada's house for a bit, we had some bday 'za and called it a day.

I'm so excited to have the cleaning "crew" come to scrub our house tomorrow- Merry Christmas to me!!!! (and all the people staying here this week- lol!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANYA!!!!!

I can't wait to see you enjoy your special day(s)!!!

4th Birthday eve

Wow- 4 years...how on earth did that happen? It's funny because I remember my mother telling me about what she was doing x years ago on my birthday. After a few years of this, I kinda knew to expect it and almost felt like I remembered being born. Well, I'm definitely falling into the same pattern. I asked Anya several times today "Do you know what I was doing 4 years ago today?" (My labor with her was about 24 hours and she was born at 1:50 am, so most of it was on the 19th). She's very excited about her bday tomorrow, as well as all the festivities in store for the week. Her first round of presents will come in the morning, when she'll see her Spiderman bike and open the gifts we got for her. She'll probably continue to get presents throughout the week as she sees different friends and family members and then the finale will be her party on Sat.

I'm so excited to see her school's Thanksgiving show tomorrow. She gets to introduce a song and I asked her if she'll be too shy to say her line in front of a lot of people and she said yes. I told her I'd wave to her to let her know it's OK and she said that would help. I'm guessing her one little line is going to turn into no little lines when she sees all the people!

Pictures

So now I remember why I haven't taken both kids to get pics together solo since Anya was 6 weeks old. It turned out just fine, but it was a little hairy at Sears when both kids had maxxed out on their good behavior!

We got to the mall just before Santa started so I figured we'd squeeze in a pic with him before our appt, but we were 5th in line and the camera broke after the 3rd kid. Rather than wait forever and learn that it wasn't going to be fixed at all (would be my luck), I left the line to head to Sears. Santa was super-cool and made sure to tell me to wave when we came back and he'd skip us to the front of the line!

Of course, when we got to Sears, they were down a camera, so we had to wait about 20 minutes, but it wasn't bad because the kids happily played with the toys and other kids there. The problems began when I tried to sit Baz down with Anya for some pics. He almost completely refused, making for a very un-fun photo session. We got some nice ones of Anya and I had to sit down with them just to get him in them, but at least it's done. The upside of being alone
with 2 crazy kids was that I got practically no pressure to buy tons of pics, so I didn't end up spending much.

We did get pics with Santa, too. The line was very short so I didn't push my luck trying to cut in front, even though Santa said he'd let us. Of course, Baz screamed, but I fully expected that. Anya happily chatted with Santa and told him what she wanted.

Here are some of our pics from today- don't be surprised if any show up in a Christmas card!

Spiderman Bike

So we've decided that Anya wants/needs a bike for her 4th bday. We show her some circular with a lot of kids' bikes in it and what does she focus on? Spiderman. Hmmmm...now I really don't want to impose gender stereotypes on her, but Spiderman? In a year or two, she's going to realize the difference between boys and girls bikes and be REALLY unhappy that she has a boy's bike. OTOH, if she's set on Spiderman this year and she doesn't get it, she'll be devastated. And I can't get her to change her mind for anything- she won't even look at bikes in the store (she insists on her Spiderman bike...period). Ideas anyone?????

Let the holidays begin!!!!

With one short week to Anya's birthday, it really feels like the whole holiday season is about to begin. First is her bday and her school's Thanksgving show on the same day, followed by the real turkey day on Thurs. Then, her party on Sat. Not too long after that is Christmas and New Years. THEN, we get Disney.....wahoo!!!! Of course, I haven't done any shopping yet, but I'm not worried about that- even if I had bought something for everyone already, I'm sure I'd still keep buying things, so this is really a money-saving task!

We had an Operation emergency today....the game is being kept in Baz's room, which was where I happened to be reading bedtime stories to ANya tonight. Luckily, George had just come home, but was in the midst of emptying his bladder when Baz made the mistake of trying out the game. He lifted up the lid, at which point Anya began covering her ears and clutching me for deal life. He then managed to pick up the tweezer thing and touch it to one of the sensors. He then remembered HIS mortal terror and ran away like lightening. The problem here was that the tweezer fell in a position that it was propped up in one of the little slots as the buzzer went off. There was no way I was getting up to extract it, so the 3 of us were calling for George to come save us. Thankfully, he came to our rescue pretty quickly, but it was touch and go there for a bit! I'm hoping that was enough to teach Baz that he hates that game and to leave it alone. Anya seriously freaks out when the game is even mentioned!

Operation

For some reason, George dug out our Operation game this weekend. Anya, who fears nothing, is TERRFIED of this game. It's really amusing because Baz is curious about it and ran around saying "ocean" every 15-20 minutes. Once we opened up the game and set off the horrible buzzer, he immediately said "all done" and ran away. Anya won't be anywhere near the game at all....if it's in BAz's room, she's in the family room. It's so funny to see this kid who's afraid of nothing be so completely terrified by a silly game!

4:30am

I can't muster up much to post today- Baz was up at 4:30 for the day. I let him cry for close to a half hour and tried to fake him out in his room, but he was just not having it. Once I gave in and let him play, he was happy as a clam. Of course, HE got to take a 3 hour nap today.....I got to go to work, do a little shopping, unload from the day, make dinner, make beds, put away laundry, clean up from dinner, bathe the kids, and pack up for tomorrow. I'll be surprised if I make it to 8pm! Thank you Prison Break for becoming stale- I won't feel bad about sleeping through it!

Welcome home Zac!!!

We've known that Zac would be coming to live with my parents, but we thought it woudn't be for a few more weeks, but he was discharged today and is en route to the Poconos as I type! I know the whole family is so excited to have you around regularly now! I hope your trip out and transition to new living quarters goes smoothly, but I imagine after spending so much time in the hospital, anything will be nice, right? We all are excited to see you this coming week as well, but don't expect to rest- these kids are busy!

Preschool woes

Today, Anya had an "incident" at school. Not big enough for a call or anything, but when I picked her up, her teacher told me that another kid put her "in jail" and that she cried for quite a while. Now, this teacher is nice enough, but seems to be lacking a bit in that uber-sweet quality that most PS teachers have. No biggie usually- Anya doesn't seem to mind and the assistant definitely DOES have that quality and makes up for the teacher. So Anya's version was that the kid pushed her into the block basket and held the lid down. She started crying and once she got out of the basket, she was afraid of the other kids in the class. It's hard to get a great idea of what happened, but by bedtime tonight, she was already talking about her friends at school (including the one who trapped her) so hopefully that's the end of that!

On a better note, I got several RSVP's for her party- all yesses!! I'm so excited for her and I hope she's having a good day for the party so she can really enjoy it. Also, we have to pay for 12 kids minimum, so the closest we get to that, the happier I am!

Forehead kisses

Both kids are very affectionate- Anya insists on hugging and kissing almost everyone when we come or go- but Baz has picked up on forehead kisses. He hasn't gotten the whole puckering thing yet, so his kisses are a wide-open mouth, usually with lots of drool, so it's a good thing that he now wants the top of my head to kiss! He loves to hug, too and usually puts his head right on my shoulder as soon as I pick him up.

Fun day

Today was just a fun day. After crashing SUPER early last night and only having to get up once with Baz, I didn't have to get out of bed until almost 6am! I first heard him fussing around 5:30, but since it wasn't terrible screaming, I ignored it as best I could until 6. In my pre-mommy days, 6am would NOT have been a great wakeup time, but now I'm thrilled with it! Both kids woke up happy and cooperative and George even let me get my workout in before he left. I'm such a happy camper when I can get my exercise over with early- I can then really start my day (coffee, etc- if I eat or drink prior to exercise, it's barf-city).

Before lunch, I managed to plan the rest of the day, do the usual cleanup stuff (empty dishwasher, fold laundry, make beds, pick up toys), organize the kitchen drawers AND shelves (this has been bothering me for weeks) and deal with the papers, etc (has also been nagging me). Once Baz went down for a nap, I had time to read stories to Anya, play with her a bit, and even take a shower!!!

We had a nice trip to the park after lunch (although it was cooooooold) and both kids played with the 2 little girls brave enough to endure the nippy wind. Dinner, bath, and bed also went smoothly. It was just a nice day and I felt like I accomplished all of my goals and even had a little time for myself.

I am no longer a fan of "falling back". I used to look forward to the extra hour of sleep...no longer. Today was day 3 of Baz getting up at 5:00am. I swear these kids have little clocks ticking in their brains- as soon as I hear him calling me, I look at the clock and it's 5:00 on the dot! Anya does the same thing, but thankfully it's usually 6:00 or even 7:00. I think it's daddy's turn to get up with him tomorrow- this is enough already!

Eureka!!!!

After weeks and weeks of spending Anya's entire swimming lesson chasing Baz around and around the waiting area, I finally figured out the trick. I took George's recommendation (yes, I am giving you credit for this one!) and brought in the portable DVD player. Not only did I not have to chase him one bit, but I didn't even unbuckle the stroller seatbelt!!! I think I made another mom's day too since her DD joined us in watching Little Einsteins so we all sat quietly. Once again, I know that one time does not a pattern make, so I'm just going to enjoy the relaxing swimming lesson I had tonight.

In fact, there must have been some good karma floating around me all evening because Anya "toned down the crazy" and was a pleasure to be around. She's been incredibly difficult for the past few days- testing our boundaries and limits on EVERYTHING and it's getting old. I was not looking forward to an evening of chasing Baz around saf-t-swim followed by feeding, bathing, and wrangling 2 kids by myself and I was so wrong. They cooperated- both ate well, got in and out of the tub, got dressed, and listened to stories without a peep!

Now if only Baz would adjust to Daylight savings- I tried to let him CIO it bit when he was up at 5am, hoping that maybe he'd go back down. I have to give in after 15-20 minutes when he got so desperate to get out of his crib that he stopped calling for mommy and daddy and just called
"Anya, Anya, Anya" over and over.

Happy Birthday Uncle Donovan!!!

We all hope you're enjoying your birthday Don!!!! Enjoy your visit to the Poconos! We're looking forward to seeing you for Turkey day!!!!!

Fun day out!

The kids have been cooped up for the past 2 days (more or less) so I knew we had to take them out today top burn off some steam. The problem was that the weather today was miserable and we have negged the indoor park for a while after Anya's horrible tantrum last week. So where can we take 2 small children to run around inside for a couple of hours? The answer is Dave and Buster's. And it worked out fabulously! We first went to the arcade and played games (and looked at the bright lights) for a while, then hit the restaurant. Our timing was spot on.... we had no wait at all,but shortly after we had ordered, ALL of the tables filled up.

Moments after sitting down, Baz started his usual antics- running around and doing anything but sitting. After 4 years of parenting, I finally came up with a great restaurant activity. They have these giant paper cups to hold your tickets, so I dumped out our tickets and had George empty his pockets. Our newly made up game of "Put the change in the cup" kept Baz happy for quite a while. When he tired of that, we played "put the sugar packets in the cup"...I added some sound effects and it kept him busy until the food came! Forget the crayons and DVD players, etc.... we'll be sticking with "move a bunch of small objects into a container" game from now on!!!

All of us ate together (in fact, Baz took the longest to finish eating) and we headed back to the arcade to finish off our tokens. I'm still amazed at how great a time we all had and how pleasant the kids were. It really helps me to see what the post-infant and toddler times will be like and look forward to having kids that we can relate to. Not that I'm wishing away the baby time- that has its own joys- but there are definitely lots of fun times to come!

Congratulations Zac!!!!

Yesterday was a very momentous day for our close friend Zac. After several years of having an esophagus completely closed by blisters from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), Zac's had a successful dilatation and was able to drink a can of ginger ale!!! Hopefully this is the end of tube feedings and the beginning of a somewhat normal diet! Shortly after discharge from the hospital, Zac will be moving in with my parents and will be around for our family functions! We can't wait to see you again!!!

Anya's loves

It seems that Anya has several "princes" already. She and Carter have been best buds since she started at Colleen's and now there's Dylan. I've been told by Dylan's mom and grandma that she is a very popular topic in their house! Of course, when I asked Anya about her boyfriends today, she denied having any. Those boys are just her friends, but someday she'll marry her prince (who she hasn't met yet). Go Anya!!!

Siblings

It really is heartwarming to see how close Anya and Baz are becoming. Thursdays when my parents are here are a weird change from the norm because Anya comes with me so she can go to school while he stays at home. This leaves Anya and I with an empty seat in the van, which is jsut kinda odd. I imagine it's weird for him to have the house to himself, too. In fact, he woke up VERY upset that neither mommy,daddy, or Anya was there. My mom said that he actually put his arms down from the "pick me up" position when she went in to him after his nap when he "only" got Grandma! He got over if pretty quickly, but shows how important we are to him! On the ride home, I was talking to my mom and Anya asked for the phone. She didn't want to talk to Grandma or Pap-Pap, but her baby brother! She started baby-talk and asking "do you miss me Bean"? and reassuring him that she'd be home soon.

Anya told George that someday Baz would be her prince and they would be married-ummmm, she's gonna regret saying that someday!!! They are very affectionate with each other, too. They're generous with the hugs and kisses in general, but they eagerly offer each other kisses before bed, naps, etc.

Yay Halloween!!!

We had a fantastic Halloween week...I already posted about our first attempt at trick or treating, but the subsequent attempts more than made up for that failure. Monday was fun because when we visited Sandee's house, Kayci came with Keila and Anya had a ball playing with her. Tuesday was costume party day at school. Anya wore her Cinderella bunny outfit and had a blast playing with her friends at school.
After school, we dressed up for Trick or Treat Street at the local high school. Anya continued with Cinderella bunny and Baz became Eeyore. The HS kids clearly had fun decorating the classrooms in different themes and made it a fun time for the little ones. Baz was pretty confused by the dark halls and flashing lights, but didn't get scared! They also had a "haunted house" which was very tame, but Miss Scared-by-Nothing was terrified of the "trapdoors" on the floor. These trapdoors were just pieces of cardboard duct-taped to the floor, but they sure scared her! They even had facepainting, so it was most definitely a hit!

Wednesday brought GramPapPap and Halloween! We had significantly fewer T or T ers than usual and they started later than usual. Anya insisted that we all join in the festivities, so all of us put on our costumes and went trick or treating. This only consisted of our cul-de-sac and the adjacent street, but there was plenty of candy in their bags!

Anya distinctly remembered the "skeleton house" from last year. This was a house with a small plastic skeleton that talked and lit up when you went near. Why this scared her, I have no idea, but until we actually went up to that house and she saw just how benign the skeleton was, she got over it quickly!

Baz also took a little time to warm up to Pap pap once his face was painted. He never cried or ran away, but he refused to go to him and wanted to be nowhere near him. I have to admit- with the hat, cape, and face painting, he did look a little scary! After a while, Baz got over it and saw how silly we all looked and he did warm up to Pap pap.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with all of this candy!