Bagel Fridays

On Friday, Joey attends a Kids Day Out program from 9:15 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. After I drop him off, Dani and I run errands. One Friday morning, we stopped for a bagel. Now on Fridays, as soon as we drop Joey off and I put Danielle in her carseat, she says, "Go have a bagel, mom?". So this has become our weekly routine. I extremely enjoy it. This is one of the few times where it is only Dani and I and it is fun to see her little personality shine and how much she is growing into a big girl.

Today, while we were waiting in line for our bagels, she went and picked a table out for us all by herself. (It was two feet from where I was standing). Then, I went to get my Diet Coke and Dani says to me , "I stay here, mom." She stayed at the table and waited for me to get my coke and bring it back to the table, grinning from ear to ear.

Last night while I was at Bunco, I received a phone call from Dani that she had peed and pooped in the potty. She was very excited. This morning when she got out of bed, she peed in the potty. So after grocery shopping and bagels, we took a trip to one of my favorite stores. When Joey was about 2 1/2 years and we were in this store baby shopping for Danielle, he fell in love with a dinosaur bank. I bought it for him. Totally by fluke, the next day we began potty training with it. He got to "feed" the dinosaur each time he went on the potty.

It worked so well for Joey. (Mike and I gave him about $100 in change!) I explained it to Dani this morning and showed her Joey's bank. So we went to pick out a bank for her. Here she is with her new kitty bank that she chose all by herself. As soon as she got home, she pooped in the potty and got to "feed" her kitty! Hopefully, this will continue as I know she is very young to potty train.

I am enjoying my kids being a little older and a little more independent. They can play together now, have conversations now, wrestle (usually initiated by Dani), and walk without a stroller or being held. However, part of me is sad to be leaving the baby days behind. There is nothing better to me than a little cuddly snuggly cooing baby. Luckily, I have several friends still having babies, so I can always snuggle with their little ones.

If you would like to contribute to the Danielle potty fund, please email me for our address! just kidding! Wouldn't you know that I would have children that want money and are not thrilled by the stickers or M&Ms most mommys hand out for going in the potty??!

Danielle Marie turns two!

Dani turned two on February 22. It is hard to believe that our baby is no longer a baby! On Saturday, Feb 21, she had a birthday party at Olympiad Gymnastics, where both she and Joey have gymnastics classes. At the side is a photo of some of Dani's friends that were at the party. (Dani is standing in front in the unitard with the two pink stripes. Joey is to the right of her in the blue t-shirt and what looks like a rainbow on it).

Dani had 15 kids at her party between the ages of 5 months and 12 years. Everyone had a blast going through the obstacle course, jumping on the trampolines, jumping in the block pit, and just running around. We hired a photographer to come for her big day. She took over 300 pictures! Of course, I am not going to post all of those here, but the photos are great and she has a website you can visit to see Dani's party pics. http://www.jillarnoldphoto.com/ look for the tab labeled "Parties". Click on it and you will see something similar to "Danielle's 2nd birthday". Click on that and you will be asked for a password. The password is Dinah.

Bethany and Jacob (my sister Karen's kids) came with my mom and dad to the party and that was a very special treat for my two. The four cousins don't get to see each other much, so it was a very special day that they were able to join us for Dani's party. Grandpa posed with his four grandchildren. Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera in hand when Grandma (my mom) posed with the kids.


One of my best friends has a five month old baby who Dani calls "Baby Chubba". Dani just loves him! She was so proud that she got to hold him at her birthday party. When I tried to take him from her, she said very firmly, "NO!" and held on tighter. Baby Chubba weighs 20 pounds and Danielle weighs 23 pounds, so if you think they look about the same size in the photo, that's because they are!

(By the way, Dani did not come up with this nickname on her own. My friend told Dani that they call the baby "Bubba Chubba" and from there, Dani came up with "Baby Chubba".)

There have been a few warm days here and there and the kids really like to go to the park to play. One of our favorite parks also has a paved walking trails and horses. We take a picnic lunch and enjoy being outside. Here is a photo that Joey took of Danielle and me on one of our park outings:

And now from the retro files....this blue McKendree College sweatshirt that Dani is wearing is mine. No, we don't wear the same size! ha ha This is a shirt that my mom saved from my baby days when my dad attended McKendree College.

Okay, well, I need to go, as usual, and referee (why do my kids fight when I update the blog??). I just heard Joey yell, "Dani, never mess with me!" This doesn't happen at anyone else's house does it??

Thankfully, Mike is a great daddy and will be staying with the children tonight while I go out and play Bunco with the girls!

Enjoy the weekend. We love hearing from everyone!

Joey Meets a Famous Author

Not much has happened since the last time I wrote. I am busy taking the kids to gymnastics, swimming, preschool, and going to MOPS. We are finally pretty well adjusted to our "new" schedule that began in January.

On Wednesday, February 4, our church had a guest speaker, the author Dr. Mary Manz Simon. Dr. Simon wrote a book that I purchased when Joey was a baby. This book is well used and well loved in our home. Some of the pages have had to be taped back in. The book is called "Little Visits for Toddlers" and it is short devotions to do with toddlers. What I really like about this book is that most of the devotions require some kind of action (jumping, twirling, etc) while you are reading it, and it keeps my kids interested.

Mike and I were laughing because this is the ONLY children's book we own that the kids fight over! We let each of them pick a devotion before bed and sometimes arguing and crying ensues over who gets to pick first.

Dr. Simon gave a talk on "Parenting in Pop Culture" and it was very interesting. One of the comments she made was this: Children read emotions even before they read books. She talked about how children are growing up faster in today's society. Even though a preschooler can operate a computer, does that mean that same child will not throw a tantrum? Sometimes, we, as parents, forget that children still go through developmental stages. Dr. Simon stated: Children are not in a race to the finish line. We cannot rush God's timeline for child development.

If you would like to know more about Dr. Simon, her website is http://www.marymanzsimon.com/ and she has a blog http://marymanzsimon.wordpress.com/ . She also has a radio show called Front Porch Parenting.

After the lecture, I had Mike run to childcare and get Joey so that he could meet Dr. Simon who wrote the book that he calls "Toddler Stories". We had brought our copy so that she could autograph it. Below is a picture of Joey and Dr. Simon.

At the end of January, our church started a new service called "Family Live". We went to the pilot service and it was awesome! Think VBS type worship service. The music was all kid oriented and there were about 10-15 preteens and teens on stage dancing. There were also skits and a message by one of our pastors. This service has really stuck in my head and I am looking forward to the next one at the end of February. This service was on gratitude and Pastor Ryan talked about keeping a gratitude journal. We have implemented this at our house and at dinner time, we write down one thing we are thankful for that day. Joey understands the concepts and is thankful for friends, Jesus, God, etc. Dani doesn't always have something to contribute, but her submissions have been those of an almost 2 yr old: her baby, her pacifier... I hope this is a tradition that we can keep up for many years. I think it will be fun to look back later and see what we were thankful for when the kids were small.

The only other thing that has happened recently is Joey woke up Tuesday around midnight vomiting. He was out of commission all day Wednesday. He couldn't believe that he had gotten the flu again. The poor kid is on about his third round since fall. Today, we skipped MOPS because I wasn't sure how healthy he would be. He woke up and was wanting to get out. So it was nice enough we spent some time at the park and grocery shopping. I am keeping fingers crossed that it passes by the rest of us.

I want to leave you with a quote, out of the mouth of babes:

We are sitting at the table getting ready to eat dinner and Danielle farts. Joey says to her, "Did you backfire?"

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. The things kids come up with!

Until next time, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and we are doing the same for you.

A Matter of Perspective

We got the snow the weatherman had been promising. (The above photo is trees in our yard). I got up with a big sigh hoping that Mike would have the day off work. No such luck! I immediately thought to myself, "if Mike isn't home, that means I have to take the kids out to play in the snow." Big sigh....I am not a winter weather person. I would much rather spend time on a warm, sunny beach...well, that won't be happening anytime soon.

The kids have had breakfast and I am getting dressed. On my dresser mirror, I have posted the following quote:

Forgive me Father,

You gave me the perfect gift of right now,

but I threw it away hoping for a better gift later.

As I read that quote, I realized that was exactly what I was doing. By summer, Joey will be 5 and Dani will be 2 1/2. Do I really want time to go that quickly? NO! So I ran into the living room and said "Hey kids! We're going outside! Let's get dressed." Now, Joey knows I don't like to go in the snow and it is a Daddy activity, so he was pleasantly surprised. We got on snowsuits, snowboots (Joe's are a size too small, they're from last year!) and I even got them to wear gloves!

Dani looked like that kid in the movie "A Christmas Story". She looked like a stuffed tick and if she fell over, well, I don't think she would be able to get back up. She was completely adorable!

Remember how when you were a kid and we got so much more snow and it was so much deeper than it is now? I realized as I'm watching Dani that it is a matter of perspective. The snow is almost to her knees! I don't think we get less snow, I think I am just taller now!

I got a little exercise shoveling the sidewalk and part of the driveway. At least then Dani could walk around. She decided to make the best of the situation by sitting on the front porch and drawing with chalk.

Joey enjoyed digging in the snow, pushing his dump trucks around and just running. The kids were completely enthralled, happy, and not fighting! What a great gift that I almost didn't take advantage of! We were out at least a half hour; maybe longer. I'm not sure how long it took to get those snowsuits on.

Now we're back inside, toasty warm. And guess what? The kids are arguing! Doesn't that just figure??

This week's happenings

This week on January 22, Danielle turned 23 months old. It is exciting to see all the new things she can do. At the same time, I am sad to be losing my baby. I have been cleaning out all the baby items from our house: bottles, bottle warmer, crib mobile, baby food processor - it all has to go! Our home is cozy and we don't have room to store all of our memories. I do have tons and tons of photos. If only I could find more time to scrapbook....

Anyway, January 22 was a fairly warm day so we headed out to what Joey refers to as "Goo Park". In the spring, the cottonwood trees leave sappy stuff all over the playground equipment, so because of the "goo", we now call this place "Goo Park". Dani went down the big slide all by herself. Joey was close behind her going up to the slide to make sure she didn't fall.

Also this week, Dani and I took a trip to the mall. She fell in love with the Elmo underwear. Dani loves Elmo. She uses the potty sporadically right now. I have been telling her that she will be a big girl when she learns to use the potty. She decided to wear her Elmo underwear right away when she got home. As you can see, it makes a great hat!

Yesterday, it snowed. Not much but one time the snow started coming down pretty good. The kids just HAD to get out in it for a few minutes. Joey grabbed a dump truck to push around. Dani decided to try and catch snowflakes on her tongue. In case you're wondering, yes, my children do own gloves. They just opt not to wear them. Plus, they were only going out for about five minutes. It is really supposed to snow later today. We are expecting 3 - 7" the last I heard. I would rather it be 80 and sunny, but the kids do enjoy the snow, so we'll get our snowsuits on tomorrow and go out to play IF the snow really does come.

Last evening (Sunday) we took a trip to the Magic House. It was a private event fundraiser for the preschool where Joey currently goes one day a week. It was so nice. Not overly crowded. The kids could actually try out all the different activities. We have been going to the Magic House every year around this time, so we always have our picture taken in front of the big wall of Skittles. Then, Dani and I really got wild and tried out the electromagnetic ball. Doesn't our hair look great?

Those of you who have known me a long time (like in my college days) know that I always wanted my hair to stand up like this but it never did. Finally! I got the punk look I always wanted!

Here's hoping everyone keeps warm in all the nasty weather that is supposed to be heading our way this evening. Will post snow photos as soon as we get the big storm!

An update for Aunt Charlotte

This post is especially for my lovely Aunt Charlotte who lets me know whenever I see her that I just don't update my blog often enough (unlike some of my cousins...).

Being a stay at home mom, I don't know why I cannot find the time to update more often; I am here all day just watching TV and eating chocolate, right? WRONG! So wrong!

We started a new schedule at the beginning of 2009 and the kids and I are still trying to adjust! We were so used to leisurely mornings,and now we have places to be at least three, sometimes four mornings a week. I know, don't you all feel sorry for us? This is quite a change for me as it means my babies are growing up and have lessons and activities.

So our schedule is now like this:

Monday morning - gymnastics (both kids)

Tuesday morning - swimming lessons (Joey)

Wednesday - usually a free day HOORAY!

Thursday morning - MOPS (mothers of preschoolers)every other week

Friday morning - preschool (Joey)

Let me just say that I am not good at change! This is our third week into our new routine. It is certainly better than the first two weeks that were filled with morning tantrums trying to get everyone out the door.

My favorite incident: I needed to put stuff in the car and warm it up, so the kids stayed in the house. Dani was having a HUGE fit! When I came back inside to get the kids, Joey tells me that he had told Dani to be quiet and she hit him. I told him that was terrible! Joeys says, "So I told her, 'Danielle, in this family, we don't hit! So I hit her back!" All I could do was laugh. He has the basic concept but the urges of a four year old to reciprocate in kind. No harm done and we were soon on our way!

So, let's see. Here are some recent photos. The first is Dani and her Godmother (and cousin)Claire. We went shopping one day when Claire was home from college on Christmas break.

The next photo is Dani with one of her favorite characters, Bob the Builder. Hey, if anyone sees any Bob the Builder stuff let me know. All I can find these days is Handy Manny, which my kids don't watch. When Joey was little, we had a lot of Bob the Builder clothing, shoes, etc. I gave them away when he outgrew them and now I am kicking myself because Dani loves Bob!

Here is a photo of Joey at his first swimming lesson. Joey is standing on the right side waiting his turn to go in. It is taken through glass so it is not that good. Parents aren't allowed on the swim deck during class. I am so proud of him. Yesterday was his third lesson and he was jumping into the deep end, going under, bobbing back up all by himself. His class is three kids and one teacher. They do not use swim belts or life jackets. Yesterday, his class spent a lot of time just jumping in the pool and going under. I do not like to go under water, so I am glad that he is learning how to do this and will not fear it like I do.

Finally, a big step for Mommy. Dani got her first hair trim. She had lots of wispy little hairs everywhere that would not stay put and she was starting to look like she had clown hair. I took Joey to get his hair trimmed (he did not want it cut short, says it keeps his head warm!). While we were there, I asked Dani if she would also like to get her hair cut, and she said yes. So here she is with our stylist, Carol. Dani just sat there and didn't move. Don't you just love the pacifier in Dani's mouth?

We hope all of you and your families are doing well. Keep in touch! We love hearing from everyone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I find it hard to believe that the holidays have come and gone for another year!

Joey and Dani are lucky kids in that they got to open presents THREE times; once on Christmas Eve with the Marchand clan, Christmas morning when Santa came, and Christmas afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house (my parents).

Here are some photos of Christmas Eve with Mike's family:

Danielle checking to see if Uncle Rick has all his teeth. He had just checked her mouth to see how many teeth she had!

Dani cuddling with Aunt Cheryl and Joey cuddling with Aunt Kathy

Joey and cousin Brett

Christmas morning, Mike and I woke our kids up (yes, you read that right!). Joey and Dani are NOT early risers, usually they sleep until 8 a.m. every morning. But, we had lots to do and places to go, so we got them up at the unheard of hour of 7 a.m. Mike and I were excited that Santa came and wanted to see the looks of joy and excitement on our kids' faces. Here they are sitting under the tree right after we got them out of bed.

Some of the presents that Santa brought were a monster truck, pinball game, fishing pole, Cars matching game for Joey; a baby doll, doll stroller, Bob the Builder tool belt for Dani.

Santa brought me a new waffle maker and Mike got a new coffee maker!

After opening gifts, we got in the car and headed to my Aunt Charlotte's house for the annual family Christmas gathering. My dad has a large family and it is always fun to go and see aunts, uncles, cousins, and meet all the new babies! We have a gift exchange there; a "rob your neighbor" kind of game where you never know what gift you will come home with. A lot of the gifts are homemade (okay, so this year, I contributed a non-crafted fiber optic Moose!) One of the most wanted gifts is Aunt Wanda's quilt. Every year, Aunt Wanda makes a quilt for the gift exchange. This year, I came home with it! For all of you that were at the exchange, and did not come home with it, here it is on my bed and it sure is warm and comfy!

After the family party, we went to my parents' house where the kids (and Mike and I) received more gifts!

Grandparents are wonderful! This is where Joey and Dani received the gifts that they were most wanting.

For Joey, an electric train and Dani got the "bike" (tricycle) that she has been requesting since before Thanksgiving!

Danielle had more fun than she could stand for the day, (no naps!) and ended up cuddling on the couch with Grandma.

Mike had the entire week off work -he goes back tomorrow :( and it was a fun time for all of us.

New Year's Eve was spent at home eating popcorn and ice cream! What a celebration! The kids were in bed by 8:30 and Mike made it til 11:00 and I made it til 11:30, so none of us were up to ring in the New Year. Now, to start working on those New Year's resolutions, which I will tell you all about another time...