Ready for Greenville

Brent and I have just come back from a nice week in Greenville, SC - they now blame us for the snow and I hope the weather hasn't worn out our welcome. In any case, the week was very productive. We now have a moving date - May 23rd we hit the road! I'm super excited about this later date as it means we can have the kids birthdays before we go and it give us even more time to get the house sold.
We also have a new place to live - for 6 months at least. We'll have a 3 bedroom apartment that's actually bigger than our current house, so that'll be nice. The complex has 2 pools and I know the kids will enjoy that. We also interviewed 2 pediatricians - they both seem nice and I'll have to pick one for Sofia's 15 month appointment. But, we are very sad to be leaving our current practice - they are wonderful and totally in-line with our way of thinking.
Finally, we enrolled Will in preschool. I was totally stressed about this for some reason, but feel really good about our choice. I called about 12 preschools and only 2 of them had part time programs - I really wanted something that was 2 days a week for a half day. And, to top it off, none of the public school programs had anything for a 3 yr old; they start at 4. So, we ended up visiting the 2 that had programs I wanted and we're really happy with the one we picked. They have a music program once a week, which I know Will will love, and lot of space for playing. I think it'll be a great experience for us all.
We were also able to roam around downtown Greenville a bit more this visit - they have such a cute downtown with a lot of different restaurants, bars, and shops. We discovered the downtown river walk area, where I think we'll be spending a lot of time this summer. There's a splash pad area (with a train, no less) for Will to enoy and a children's garden, and lots of walking space. I can't wait to explore it more and really get to know the area.

Adventures in Potty Training

We are working on potty training Will. This is like the 14th attempt (ok, maybe not really that many) and it's starting to go pretty well. Most days, Will agrees to pee in the potty and he's decided that he likes "Daddy's potty" better than his little one. That's more than fine with me. Normally, after he goes, he gets 2 M&M's as a reward. That's been working pretty well, and sometimes he even forgets about a reward (which is great).
So, I'm now trying to move on to pooping in the potty - with the hefty bribe of a train when he succeeds (he got Gordon the train for peeing in the potty for a whole day). I think this may have confused him though - I got him to sit on big toilet and he'll happily read 2 or 3 books there while "trying." But, now he thinks that every time he goes (even just for peeing) that he has to sit AND that he gets a train just for trying.
He's also parlayed "trying" into extra stories and prolonging nap time - we'll try before he heads in for his nap, and then, not 10 minutes later, he's saying "Mommy, I go poopy." So, I change him and start the nap routine all over again. Little stinker! I'll report more on our "trying" as it comes along.

Nap? I don' need no stinkin' nap!

So, we're on day 2 of nap-fighting . . . for both my children. It's been great fun! And, while I've been told to expect this with Will, getting it from Fi is quite another story. I think she just really wants to be like her big brother. And, while he may not think he needs to take a nap, I beg to differ. He's quite a bear in the evenings if he doesn't get a nap - especially since he still wants to stay up until 9:30.
So, here's the scenario from yesterday - it's about 2 pm (normal nap time for everyone) and I get Fi to sleep without issue. I head downstairs to play with Will for 15 minutes (and tell him he only has 15 minutes). When play time is up, he starts screaming and screeching (he could put a horror queen to shame!) and, he wakes up Sofia. So, I try to ignore her while I convince him to read a book. Didn't work (shocker!) So I put him in bed, grab her, and lock the gate to keep him in (I know - I'm such a mean mom). He calms down, but Sofia's not ready to drop back to sleep. After 30 minutes of trying to get her settled, I decide she'll have to try crying it out. I put her in the crib, grab Will and read 3 stories. Put him back in bed, but she's still up. (Doesn't this all sound like fun?)
So, I decide to try something new - I put them both in their room, awake, and see what happens. Honestly, it was hilarious! Will's talking to Fi, she's "talking" back to him, and they are both having a laugh riot. And, after everything, so was I. After an hour (I needed the sanity break), I went back in. I read to Will and got him to sleep, grabbed Fi and rocked with her to get her to sleep . . . So, everyone's all tucked . . at 4:45 pm. Ugh! This is when I'm used to them waking up, not going to sleep.
So, we figure even with waking them up that we're in for a long night. We were right - 10:30 bedtimes anyone? It was a little better today (less chaotic) - late nap times but at least we had a normal bedtime. Thank goodness! I'm hoping this trend does not continue - the grandparents may not babysit prior to naptime if this is what's going to happen. Guess we'll just have to keep you posted!

Fun Kid Stories

Story #1 - We had "Parenthood" on in the background while getting Will to sleep last night. He saw the scene where Steve Martin's kid wins the baseball game and Martin does a celebration dance. Will jumps off the couch and starts imitating him - it was perfect! It was so funny - he was laughing and "dancing" and we were cracking up.

Story #2 - Sofia's become much more mobile in the past 2/3 weeks and is now going gangbusters in the walker. Will was chasing her up the hall and she was running away, laughing like crazy. Then, she turned around and chased him into the kitchen - still laughing. It was too cute!

I need to write these as they happen, as I had at least 2 more and now I can't remember them. Oh well - I hope you enjoy what we've got for now.

Baby's Day Out

So, Tuesday was a balmy 59 out and sunny. I decided the kids (and I) needed a change of scenery, so we went to the zoo. Now, we go to the zoo at least once a week in the spring/summer and we have been missing it. Will was really excited - we tried out the "stand" part of our Sit N Stand stroller. It was awesome! Will was able to jump off and on as he liked to see the animals; I didn't have to worry about him standing up in the regular seat and trying to jump out while I was pushing him. The animals actually co-operated too - we got the see the new baby giraffe up close (so huge - I had no idea they were that tall); I finally found the monkey house (after all this time) and we tried to see the new baby ape, but his mommy was hiding him while she slept; and the polar bear was swimming over our heads (the polar bear is probably my favorite). Sofia liked everything so much that she fell asleep by the end.

After that, we went home, and Ann and baby Sylvia came over to play - very fun! Sylvia's so cute, and I'm so excited for Ann and Jason. We took Sylvia on her first outdoor stroller ride. Unfortunately, the sun had gone away, and it was cooler with more wind than we would have liked - it was short lived stroll. Oh well - it still felt great to get together and get out. Hopefully next time, we can all go to the park and hang out.

Let's Get Started

Hello! Welcome to my first "official" blog post - the other ones were for testing and venting (as you can tell). The blog will be under construction for a little while but this is a good start (I think). I hope everyone enjoys reading this and hearing all about our family.

We are getting closer and closer to having our house on the market - the upstairs looks beautiful with the crown molding, fresh coat of paint, and new carpet; you can finally walk in the office (trust me, we haven't been able to do that since we moved in) and it looks great. Just a bit more to do. A super huge thank you to our families for all the help!

We're getting closer to making SC our new home as well. We found an apartment complex for our temporary housing, and I think I finally have some pediatricians to interview the next time we head south - I'm just getting stuck looking for a preschool. There are just so many options and I can't find opinions/reviews on most of them. So, that's my latest adventure on the web.

I need to get some more of the office put together before the kids wake up, so this is all for now. Thanks for reading!

Highly Annoyed

So, it's 1:30 am and I'm totally annoyed with this blog, but determined not to be beaten by it. I want to have my picture on the left and text on the right in the header. Can I get it? Nope! I can either have the text or the picture on the correct sides, or both of them overlapping on either side. Maybe if I sleep on it, it will come to me . . .