Dance, Round 2

After work Thursday, I picked up the girls and took them to the studio to sign Katie up for a 2nd year of dance class.  She's moved up to a new age group and will be taking ballet/jazz with 5-7 year olds.  She'll have the same teacher, Ms. Lisa, so that's great.  Ms. Lisa is soooo patient with the younger set.  We love her!

In fact, Ms. Lisa was helping to run registration, and she had hugs for all of us as I did the paperwork.  She is thrilled to have Katie back in her group for another year, and filled us in on some of our friends that will be moving up to the new class as well.  Should be exciting!  Classes don't start for a couple weeks yet, but I know Katie will be ready!

HIDA Scan Update

This morning I had my HIDA scan as part of my gall bladder diagnostic.  It wasn't nearly as bad as my co-workers made it out to be!  I got to remain fully clothed (hooray for no little gown!), and I didn't have to drink any goo (it was injected).  That's pretty much a win-win in my book.

I laid down in the CT machine for about an hour as the goo made its way to my gall bladder.  They monitored me onscreen the entire time as I dozed a bit.  Then they hooked my IV port to a drip of an enzyme that stimulates digestive processes/bile production, and I continued to lay there as that went through my system.  That was really the only uncomfortable part -- bloating, cramping, and a general blech-type feeling.  But it was only 15-20 minutes of that, and then I was good to go.  Results will be at my doctor for my follow-up next week.

I really didn't feel hungry for several hours, which was kind of bad since I'd been fasting since 6pm for the test.  I forced myself to eat a snack and then most of my lunch, but I really felt a little blech all day.  I'm looking forward now to watching a little TV and then going to bed!

Fingers crossed for my gall bladder!!!

Warm and Cozy

Maybe it is the air conditioning, maybe she is crazy...  at any rate, Katie is ALWAYS complaining about being cold around the house.  We got tired of her dragging her Dora fleece blanket around the house, making it hard for her to use the bathroom as she was burrito-wrapped in that thing.  I found a better solution:

BATHROBES!!!

Apparently it is not bathrobe season at our local Target, or at the mall...  I eventually found these on clearance at www.target.com, and couldn't be more pleased with them.  They only had one size, but that was OK, because it fits Katie perfectly and is still a little long on Natalie.  They are extremely plush terrycloth robes, have the belt stitched on the back so we don't lose it, and have cute little pockets.  The girls love them, too, so you can't beat that!

Pirate Party

Our friends had a pirate party today for their birthdays!  Charlie turned 5 and Jack turned 3, and their family always hosts a joint party since their birthdays are in the same week. 

We started off by making pirate hats for all the kids (and there were a lot of kids there!).  Then we played outside, had lunch, played inside, and eventually went on a treasure hunt out in the yard.  They actually ran the treasure hunt twice, once for Captain Charlie's team, and once for Captain Jack's.  At the end, the boys each had to fight off a pirate (their dad in full pirate garb -- I wish I had a picture of that!) to get the treasure to share with their friends.  How fun!

And that was over 3 hours worth of party.  Natalie was exhausted, Katie was pretending not to be, and we were just sort of ready to go home.  So we left before the pinata and cake, but the girls didn't mind too much.  We had plenty of fun playing pirate the rest of the afternoon and evening at our house!

(Please ignore the stupid look on my face and concentrate on those fierce little pirates!  Or my rockin' new Bondi Band!)

Where Has This Week Gone?

Thursday already, and I'm not even sure where the week went!  Here are some miscellaneous updates from around here:

I went to the dentist Monday and was praised for the level of cleanliness I achieve without an electric toothbrush.

I went to the doctor yesterday to discuss recent test results.  I need to work on my diet and exercise for cholesterol purposes, and I'm being sent for a HIDA scan to further investigate my gall bladder.  Stay tuned!

Katie got a bee sting yesterday during water play, so Colin picked her up early.  It's on the bottom of her foot and gave her some trouble last night, but she is A-OK today.  But oh, the drama...  Katie is not a good patient, so there was plenty of drama to go around both before and after she was picked up early.  At least we found out she is not allergic to bee stings!  That's a good thing.

Work has been exciting with the selection of a new engineering consultant to start working for us on October 1.  I had plenty of stress going into that process, but am relieved of it just in time to be burdened with more stress due to my work on the Climate Action Plan committee. 

In addition, we reorganized so I now supervise 2 people!  I previously supervised 0.  So we met with them on Monday to go over our new structure.  And I think we're gonna be OK. 

Can't wait for the weekend -- more basketball, and also a pirate-themed birthday party to attend for our mateys Charlie and Jack.  Should be fun!!!

SWELT Update

A while ago, I talked about our weight loss challenge we are having at work, SWELT (Solid Waste Employees Losing Tonnage).  We're running this until the end of August, so I figured it was time for an update.

I'm consistent.

I have fluctuated between 142-144 the entire time.  So, while I'm not really losing anything, it is holding me accountable in terms of not overeating and not gaining anything.  Most people are in my boat, but unfortunately, some people aren't even doing this well!

In the lead we have Crystal, with about 12 pounds lost, and Cindy closing in on her.  Great job, ladies!!!  We'll see who ends up being our biggest loser.  :)

The Kind of Fishing You DON'T Like

It wasn't my first trip into the toilet (see HERE), and probably won't be my last...
Much like Katie at that age, Natalie has a habit of taking a little toy with her into the bathroom to play with as she's sitting on the throne.  Last night, she had a little pink flipper from her Dora the Explorer bath toy.  And soon it was gone.  Much screaming and crying ensued until I pulled her off the toilet to examine the situation.  It was sitting at the very very bottom, like almost ready to go into the piping.  And it was turned so that the flipper's toes were pointed toward us, and the foot opening was oriented back into the piping.

The girls cheered me on and encouraged me to stick my hand in and grab it!  Uh...  no.  Not into a basin filled with pee-water, and not that far down toward the piping.  I have a possibly irrational fear of getting my hand stuck in that little opening, and I wasn't going to take that chance!

But I knew what I could use!  I raced down to the garage, grabbed our little long-handled grabber-tool, and raced back upstairs.  The girls were hovering a little too closely, so I was having trouble concentrating and kept shooing them back.  I kept them busy by tasking them with making a giant toilet paper pad for me to set the flipper on once it was retrieved.  After a few attempts, I was able to drag the flipper a little bit out of the pipe, and finally able to grab its foot opening and triumphantly pull it out of the toilet!

Way to go, Mommy!!!

I washed and disinfected my grabber, then washed, disinfected, and re-washed the flipper.  Although the girls were still a little afraid to touch it even though I knew it was clean, they were VERY HAPPY I saved it from the great beyond.  Dora can still use her 2 flippers, and we are all happy about that.  :)

New Fence!

Colin has been working tirelessly to complete a new fence on the west side of our backyard, plus new gates on both sides near the house.  Here is the old fence, saggy, icky, and gaping at the bottom to let in neighborhood cats:

Colin set new posts, then demolished the old section of fence:

And finally, the new fence!  Each picket set by hand.  It looks great!  We are so pleased with the work he did.

And with the old fence removed from the backyard and properly disposed of, we have lots of room to play again.  Hooray!!

Lizards and Bondi Bands

Saturday was the second game of the season for our basketball team, the Lizards.  We're once again with our friends Gavin, Ethan, and Jacob, and Jon was added to our team after the season began.  We love Jon!  He has Down Syndrome and was with us 2 seasons ago, so it is a pleasure to have him on our team again and watch his improvement.  The kids did really well.  I was really surprised by Katie -- after she took her first shot, she tried to make sure everyone else on her team had a chance before she took another shot.  How great is that?  It's the total opposite of how most kids in this age group act.

And, due to some majorly bad hair, I was rockin' my new American Flag Bondi Band during our game.  (What?  They don't have a picture of that pattern on their website anymore while I'm writing this???)  I also bought one with music notes on it, as well as one each for Katie and Natalie.  Score!  We love wearing them!

Overall, it was a very nice weekend.  We'd been stuck inside over the July 4 holiday weekend, so we were thrilled that it was sunny and not too terribly oppressive so we could play outside both Saturday and Sunday afternoon.  We had bike rides around the block, took turns swinging, played in the sandbox, blew bubbles, threw the frisbee, and had some batting practice out in the sunshine.  THAT's the way a weekend should be.  :)

Poop Update

It has been a week since Natalie's teachers took the new approach of just leaving her be when she needs to poop.  It has also been a week since we brought out the sticker chart for Natalie to celebrate her successes.


And in the past week, we have had NO poop accidents.  Every single bit of it has gotten in the toilet, and that's what I've wanted all along!


I talked with one of Natalie's teachers about it this morning when I dropped the girls off, and she was just amazed.  She smiled and said, "I had no idea that all we had to do was give her some privacy.  Have you tried this at home?"  I smiled back politely and said, "Yes, that's what we've been doing all along."  I'm glad her teachers finally caught on to that, even if it took Ms. Sheena to nudge them in that direction.


Colin is a bit concerned that Natalie is trying TOO hard to earn stickers.  She will often poop 3 times a day now.  Only one of them will be of any significance, so we suspect she is forcing herself to go in order to get more stickers.  But it's hard to say.  And I can't *not* give her a sticker when she is in fact making it to the toilet...  Suggestions?

Anyway, I just wanted to give an update on our situation.

Have a great weekend!

3-Day Weekend Rainout

Or, "Thanks a lot, Hurricane Alex"!


(I don't know if our rain was due to Alex, or just the way it worked out, but I have no problem blaming the hurricane for our miserable weather.)


As you can guess, not a lot went on around our house since it poured pretty much the entire weekend.


Saturday


With basketball and swimming both cancelled due to the holiday, our morning was wide open!  The girls and I went to the Y so I could work out.  We then came back home, watched cartoons, and played dress-up most of the morning.  In the afternoon, we'd been invited to a birthday pool party, which was cancelled due to the weather.  Bummer.  We strung beads for bracelets and necklaces from a princess beading kit Katie had received for her birthday, did our Target shopping, had supper at Applebee's, and just relaxed around the house.


Sunday


Of course, we went to church, where we played our AWESOME patriotic music!  We were also thrilled by the return of our friend Kay to church.  Kay is undergoing cancer treatments and is the woman who recently needed all the platelet donations, so it was pretty great to see her out and about.  After lunch and the girls' nap time, we went to Colin's parents' for the rest of the afternoon and for dinner.  It was still raining the entire time, but we did get the girls out on the back porch for a while to play with some new bubble wands that Colin's mom had bought.  We had burgers and hot dogs, all the trimmings, and homemade frozen custard for dessert.  I thought the homemade chocolate ice cream from last time was fabulous, but this frozen custard beats it hands-down.  Way to go, Poppop!


Monday


The girls and I went to the Y again to work out, then we went to Target and filled our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child (our church collects shoeboxes in July for this mission activity).  We were originally invited to a pool party in the afternoon, which was (surprise, surprise) called off due to weather.  Getting stir-crazy from so much time around the house, Colin and I took the girls to Gator Fred's after nap.  Thank goodness!  Time to let them run around like wild maniacs and burn off some of that energy!  We also ran into our friend Ethan and his dad over there, so the girls were thrilled to play with someone that they know.  Colin and I were thrilled that they were able to get some exercise and have some fun, and not spend the entire day in front of the TV.  We stayed until it was time to cook supper, then returned home, ate, and relaxed.  The girls played nicely in their rooms until it was time to have a bath and get ready for bed. 

And now I'm ready to relax and read and get ready for the short week at work...  Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend!

Happy 234th Birthday, America!

Image from http://oceanofconsciousness.wordpress.com

What better way to celebrate the birthday of our great nation than with some patriotic music at church?  This is the awesome thing about being in church orchestra, being able to liven things up with some John Philip Sousa!  We played:

The Liberty Bell March
God Bless America
America
The Star-Spangled Banner
America the Beautiful

Woohoo!  Which is what one lady in the crowd shouted out during the second service as we finished the National Anthem.  Gotta love it!

I LOVE playing this music, and my family will tell you I practiced my Sousa diligently so that I would kick its butt, not the other way around (which is what our trumpets were suffering from).  It was actually the July 4 service at church 6 years ago that inspired me to join the orchestra there.  I'd heard them perform a few times, but when they threw down some Sousa, I knew this was the group for me.  And I was right.

 So, Happy Birthday to the United States of America!  Here's to many, many more.

Out of Spite

If you're potty training your child (or have been through it), you know there are triumphs and setbacks, but certainly, never a dull moment.  We are definitely experiencing this with Natalie!

She's caught on to going pee in the potty like a champion.  We still have a bit of a problem with #2, though I am proud that she does very well making it to the toilet at home.  She doesn't always do that at daycare, though, much to her teachers' frustration.  Colin and I found out this week that they are anticipating the time of her daily constitution, putting her in a pull-up, and then changing her back to underwear after she's done her business.  I talked to her teachers about it, because at home, we only use pull-ups for naptime and bedtime, and I don't want Natalie to get the impression that it's OK to consciously use them for poop (trust me -- our neighbor Gavin would only poop in a pull-up until age 4, and I don't want to go through that with my own child).  They continued to put Natalie in a pull-up, so I talked to the center's owner about it.  She agreed with me that we need to provide Natalie with consistency and encouragement in her bathroom routine, and she instructed the teachers to heed my wishes.  This was met with reluctance, and an accident by Natalie yesterday, but I am happy that they are not letting her depend on the pull-up.

So this morning when I dropped the girls off, I got pulled aside by Ms. Sheena.  She teaches the 3-year-olds, has a LOT of experience in helping kids transition to potty superstars, and also has her class on the playground at the same time as Natalie's 2-year-old class.  She shared with me her observations:  Natalie's teachers are hovering over her, hounding her, trying to make her potty every 5 minutes when she really doesn't have to, and just overall making her angry.  And then when her teachers stop bothering her, Natalie walks off and poops in her pants, almost to spite them because she is so frustrated.

Can you believe a 2-year-old would poop out of spite???

I found this hilarious, but also quite plausible.  Natalie knows her body's signals -- she just doesn't always make it to the bathroom quickly enough.  If her teachers are harassing her, I wouldn't doubt that she is pooping just to make them mad.  Ms. Sheena said she hoped I didn't mind, but she has offered some words of advice to Natalie's teachers to try and make this go more smoothly for all of us.  Her advice to them:  BACK OFF.  She really thinks the teachers should relax and then try to re-establish a new, less pressured relationship with Natalie and the toilet.  And I agree.  I'm so glad Ms. Sheena shared this with me, because I had no idea they were hovering over Miss Natalie like that.

With that, plus the recent introduction of the sticker chart to track her progress, I am fairly confident Natalie will be a potty superstar (#1 AND #2) in no time!!!