Home for Sale

Many of you know we are in the process of selling our house, and that we've moved into our new one! I thought I would at least document that here on the blog for posterity...


It's been a weird journey. We thought we would have sold by now since the other houses in our neighborhood have sold very quickly. But after a month and a half and about 20 showings and 3 open houses, no offers yet.


For those of you who have never seen our house, our realtor arranged for a virtual tour. Just go to http://www.206orlando.com/ and click on "virtual tour" to "walk through"our home.


In the meantime, here is a picture of our new house.


We've been slowly getting it in order. The hardest part is decorating! I have NO talent for that whatsoever. Many of the rooms need new paint and window treatments, and the kitchen and bathrooms need cabinet hardware. Doesn't sound like much, I know, but with two small children I have less energy to do home improvements than I did when I was pregnant (some of you may remember me telling you stories of installing toilets and vanities while I was 5 months pregnant. All in good time...

Like Father Like Son

I looked out our patio door yesterday, and this is what I saw...

9 Months

For Kate's 9 month birthday she went to the doctor. She had been recovering from an ear infection the previous week, but after a full round of antibiotics one ear remains infected. This will put her at four ear infections in three months. The doc said we ought to think about the possibility of putting tubes in her ears. Not fun, but we have had our share of sleepless nights due to her sickness, and she of course has not been happy either. If this surgical procedure will keep her healthy, then I'm all for it. Right now, we are treating this infection with a different antibiotic, and if she gets another one any time soon, she'll be off to the ear, nose and throat doctor for the procedure.

Other than ear aches, Kate is CRAWLING! And very well, too. She is even pulling herself up to a standing position. It will only be a few more months till she starts walking, I'm sure!

Kate is also TEETHING. In addition to her two bottom teeth, she has three upper ones coming in, and a third bottom one. All at the same time...ouch!

Time is going by so fast...On the one hand, I can't wait till she's older so she can do more, explore, try new things. But at the same time she is so cute right now and can't disobey, talk back, or fight with her older brother. Everyday, I constantly remind myself that a year from now everything will be different, and that I need to cherish both Kate and Ethan TODAY, everyday...

Happy 5th Anniversary

June 5th marked 5 years of marital bliss! To celebrate, we got a babysitter to watch the kids while we took a picnic lunch to a nearby state park and spent the afternoon biking and canoeing...

We couldn't believe how wonderful it was to be alone! And quiet! It was a refreshing two hours of just us and nature. We decided that this should be our annual anniversary celebration. It costs practically nothing, and being outdoors is probably the one thing David and I really do like to do together!

It's been a wonderful five years of marriage. And it's just the beginning, I know! I wonder what lies ahead.

Chicago Getaway

Our two days in Chicago were exhausting! Remind me never to go sightseeing at the end of May...LOTS of school field trips! I don't think I've ever seen so many school age children in one place before. By that, I mean Shedd Aquarium and Navy Pier. My fatigue is probably the reason why I have so few pictures! Some highlights from the trip...


Our lovely view from the apartment we rented. Right on Michigan avenue across from the Museum Campus.

Goofing off after naptime...

At Buckingham Fountain.

Back home in Normal enjoying Grandpa Cuesta's homemade mango smoothies. He brought several Philippine mangoes grown on his Florida farm. Yum!

Kate, try this

A video of Kate trying to feed herself a Mum Mum "rice rusk" (whatever that is). I apologize for the abrupt ending of the clip...my camera malfunctioned!

8 months

Kate is pretty close to crawling.

She continues to expand her culinary palette!

She sleeps from 8pm to 5am, nurses, then goes back to bed till 7:30.

She takes two, sometimes three naps

She is really squirmy! She could barely sit still for me to take these pictures!

Here is the typical progression of her movement when I put her down on her quilt. She is usually sitting in the middle of it, in this case with Ethan watching a video.

Then she slowly makes her way BACKWARDS...

Pushing up...then falling down, ever so gradually moving backwards...

Until she soon finds herself on the kitchen tiled floor!

Up on all fours. It won't be long now till Ethan has some real trouble to contend with!

Our $40 Vacation

Yep, that's right.

For $40 dollars we spent two nights and three days at Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Resort in Utica, IL next to Starved Rock State Park.

"How is this possible," you may ask?

TIMESHARE PROMOTION.

"Oh no! You didn't fall to prey to those blood thirsty sales reps pushing over-priced, useless condos and "amenities" that you'll never use?"

No, we didn't :)

This past January we went to the annual Kids Expo in our town where we signed up for this promotion: 2-nights at Grand Bear Resort and their indoor waterpark. The only caveat? Sit through a 90 minute presentation to learn about vacation opportunities through Silverleaf Resorts. We couldn't pass up the opportunity, considering hotel rooms at this resort average about $150/night depending on room and season. So we took our chances. I don't think we would do this again, since our 90 minute off-site presentation ended up being a 4 hour excursion! But we were able to enjoy the waterpark and some hiking at Starved Rock. Here are the pics!

On our way home we stopped for lunch at a local drive-in. David was surprised to find that I had never been to a drive-in before. The waitress didn't come out in roller skates, but everything else was definitely old school!

It's a Bug!

This is what we do on sunny days while Kate takes her morning nap. We go outside and look for creepy crawly things... That day it happened to be a caterpillar.

Just for fun

A slide show of recent pics of Kate and her tiny toy box

(http://www.slide.com/r/RnVxvUhz0D8UCV8eYspJ7S8VEI4tUH7T?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original)

Playtime with Kate

Ethan's favorite pastime is trying to make Kate laugh. We love to watch. Now you can, too! Enjoy this clip...

The Neighborhood Gang

The nice weather has brought out all the kids on our block. We have children ranging from 6 months to 16 years!

It's wonderful to go outside and see the kids playing. I don't know what it is, but it totally warms my heart. For the past couple of days Ethan has played with the boy next door, Jaden, who is 5 years old. He's also played with the kids two houses down from us, Naomi (5) and Daniel (7). Ethan LOVES to hang out with the older kids!

All this has made David and I very sentimental and nostalgic about this neighborhood. You see, in about one month we'll be moving to a new house! We're only moving a few miles away within the same town, but we will be sad to leave some of Ethan's friends behind. Jaden is also moving in about two weeks! Our neighborhood has experienced quite a bit of turnover as houses have been selling rather quickly. I guess it's our turn, huh?

We found a lovely house to call our new home. More details on that later...

Sent From Above

I like to think that God sends me little gifts.

Yesterday, still recovering from whatever cold/sore throat I had, I needed to go to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. Though I woke up, with a foggy, dull headache I needed to get some food since our fridge and cupboards were bare! David was done with classes and so he was able to stay home with the kids. I quickly got myself into the car for an hour or so of "me" time (if you can call grocery shopping without the kids "me" time!).

As I was standing in the dairy aisle contemplating what butter to buy, blowing my runny nose and rubbing my dry, itchy eyes, an old man further down the aisle said to me smiling, "I saw you yawning just a few minutes ago back over there. Rough night?" I chuckled and proceeded to tell him that I was sick, and my 7 month old was sick, so we were both up several times the previous night.

Such a little thing to strike up a conversation. I would never believe it, but it's so true about that whole "smile" thing, and how it's a wonderful gift to receive. This old grandpa began to share a little bit about his children and grandchildren, and after those ten minutes I had laughed, connected with a generation so far removed from me, and walked away forgetting that I even had a headache.

Thanks, God, for lifting my spirits and making me feel better!

Potty Training STINKS

For the past month we've had a second go around at potty training Ethan. I hate it. I can't believe how much I hate this.

We've tried a few approaches. In January we attempted the "one day approach", pumping him with juice and salty snacks while letting him run around in just cotton underwear. The philosophy behind this is the more he eats and drinks, the more opportunity he has to go, and in 5 hours you can get your kid to use the potty chair. While this did indeed give him the urge, he did not like peeing on himself. He did not like sitting on the potty either. As a result, he would withhold. Oh, the pain he was in! He would only relieve himself in his diaper at naptime or bedtime when he could finally relax. I mean, this was causing some serious physical issues! He could really hurt himself, I thought. We ended up trying this approach for one week. While he did go in the potty a couple of times, the longer we trained the more he withheld. It was terrible. We decided we needed to back off and regroup.

Three months later here we are. We decided we needed to take a more laid back approach, focusing on giving him a positive attitude about the porcelain throne. We decided to put away the potty chair and just use a cushioned seat on top of the real thing (Ethan is so tall that none of the potty chairs we found seemed big enough for him). How about a reward system? What kind of rewards? Do we force liquids and salty snacks on him again, or just make sitting on the potty part of his routine? We decided to just incorporate it into his routine, use training pants to avoid messy accidents, and make a rewards chart where he put stickers everytime he successfully uses the pot.

We've been doing this for about 3 weeks now. He's still sometimes negative about the toilet, but at least we can get him to sit there. And the only times he has used the toilet was when we put him there ourselves and let him sit there for an extended amount of time (like 30 minutes!). We read books, sing songs, and lately we've put his portable DVD player so he can watch a video. This is REALLY sad, but we just don't know any other way. We say to ourselves, "If he could just eliminate in the toilet once, he'll get it!" No. Not really. I don't think he's made the connection between the physical sensation of "having to go" with actually walking over to the bathroom and using the toilet. Our only comfort is he knows how to pull down his pants and training pants.

I don't know how long this is going to take, but according to everyone I've talked to, it takes a long time. And it takes patience. I thought I was a patient person, but this experience has definitely challenged me in that area. Truth is, I don't have patience at all. I really wish someone else could do this for me. David has taken most of the responsibility for this, but I'm the one who spends the most time with Ethan. It is work I must do.

I know Ethan WILL learn to do this one day. I just need to remember that this, too, shall pass. And perhaps a year from now I'll hardly remember blogging about this...

7 months

Where has the time gone?? The month of April flew by, and I'm sorry to say I never got formal 6 month photos taken of Kate!

In the past month she has gotten two teeth, learned to roll over, got her second cold and second ear infection, and weighs just over 20 lbs. She and Ethan "play" together a lot, and the older she gets, the more interactive the two of them become. It is so fun to watch.

The biggest challenge is her eating and sleep schedule. I'm sorry to say that it is quite erratic. With Ethan I was such a stickler about his schedule, but with two kids it's so hard to impose the same standards. She often misses a morning nap, or gets a very small one because Ethan inadvertently wakes her up, or I'm just busy and insist on getting out of the house--even if it is with two kids. Lately she hasn't been nursing well either, probably due to her sickness. But this is really hard for me because without a set routine and schedule, I can't set my own routine or schedule for the day.

With her sickness this past month her nighttime sleeping got messed up as well. She would wake every two hours on the dot--probably due to discomfort of her ears and/or throat. To comfort her and put her back to sleep I would nurse her. All that eating during the night might be another reason she's not eating so well during the day. All this being said, we are almost past it. She is on the mend, and we are working hard at flipping her schedule. But the best part of this past month is that Kate began taking a bottle again! And she takes it from me! Usually breastfed babies refuse a bottle from mom, so this was quite the breakthrough. I think she probably prefers the bottle now, though she will nurse from me a few times a day. With this switching back and forth I will have to pump and make sure I keep up my supply. But hopefully this will afford me some time away from Kate for some much needed breaks.

I always put Kate on her back to sleep. Here is how I found her one morning after taking her morning nap. On her belly!


And here are the two misfits causing trouble :) It's so fun to see them interact and laugh together. It's going to be crazy in this house when Kate gets mobile!

Splish Splash

Kate's tub time...a video medley of our favorite little girl:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r919MaxeI2U

Easter Day

Since Ethan's birth we've kind of started this new tradition of an annual Easter photo. Here is our attempt to take a nice family snapshot on the couch. You can see more photos of Easter posted on my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76190&id=610621963&l=b0da8af55d

I like this one of Kate and me...

An Easter Egg Hunt

This was probably one of the most chaotic kids events I'd ever been to...

There's a church in town that was hosting an Easter egg hunt...over 30,000 eggs, plus free lunch, and prizes to giveaway. What we thought was a "hunt" ended up in a blood bath!

It was a free for all, grab as many eggs as you can in 5 minutes! They blew the whistle and tens of kids with their parents ran out to the field and picked up as many eggs as they could. And that was only the 3-4 year old kid division.

Poor Ethan...I pulled him through the crowd, trying to get him to an open area with some eggs, Kate strapped to my body in a sling. But before Ethan fell, he did manage to grab one egg, while all the other kids around him snatched the others from beneath his hands. David found us in the crowd and finally took Ethan to the other side, where he could gather some more eggs for his bucket. Not as fun as I had hoped...

Ethan had lots of fun with his friends Cooper, Asher and Kayela, BEFORE the hunt started though. It was sort of like a playdate outside. It was good to be outside and expend some of that energy from being cooped up in the house yesterday, a rainy Good Friday.

Maybe we'll just host our own egg hunt next year!

6 months

Kate had her 6 month check up today, and she is doing great! 19 lbs, 1oz, which puts her in the 94th percentile, and 26 inches long, which puts her in the 52nd percentile for height.

She laughs a lot now, and sits up fairly well, though we need to spot her still. She doesn't roll over yet, but she kicks her legs so much that she often ends up in a different spot when she's laying on the floor. She eats 5 times a day, and sleeps for 6 to 8 hour stretches in the night.

We've also started her on solids. For the past three weeks she's tried three different cereals, and we're now starting her on veggies. Her first one was squash, and she REALLY liked it. Finished the whole jar!

Speaking of chomping...her two bottom teeth have come in, which has made nursing her much more painful! Kate, mommy's not a chew toy!

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

March 31st marked Ethan's 3rd birthday! In lieu of a big "to do", we had a family celebration at home with pizza, cake, and presents, of course. Here is a video recap of our lunchtime celebration. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN1llkwUKIg

Ethan trying out his new t-ball set from Aunt Gayle and Uncle Randy...


The next day, his friend, Kayela came over while her mommy went to a doctor's appointment. They came with a little gift for Ethan--his very first game, Chutes and Ladders!

We had a small window of opportunity (a few hours of good weather) to set up Ethan's new sand and water table from Grandma and Grandpa Cuesta. He had lots of fun digging his new Percy train in the sand. Thanks for the train set, Grandma and Grandpa Snyder! It's a great addition to Ethan's collection!

Happy Birthday, Ethan! We love you so very much. Everyday with you is a blessing! You are growing so fast and we can't wait to see what this next year brings. You're our number one guy!