Our Adopted Cat, MeowMa

I have always loved cats. Dave has always loved cats. Lizzie and Julie love cats.
So why has it taken us this long to get one? Because I am deathly allergic to them! A neighborhood stray wandered into our backyard and Lizzie got so excited saying it was her stuffed kitty, Meow's, Mama! Then she just started calling it "MeowMa." It was all skinny and begging so we gave it a little food. And then it just never left. MeowMa now has her own cat food, collar, bed, and food bowls. We have officially adopted her. She's a great outdoor cat that gets to come in for pets every now and then. She loves the kids and puts up with alot of mauling. I was taking a picture of the girls and she just plopped right in front.


I will never be able to take pictures with just the girls again. The cat is always around and always wants to be the center of attention. At least someone is dying for me to take pictures of them.

An outdoor cat is a pretty low key pet I must say. I don't even have to feed it. Lizzie feeds her twice a day all by herself! She loves having something to take care of and occasionally boss around.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! Couldn't let the day go by without posting a tribute to my husband, father of my children, best friend, confidant, and super hero. Had to throw that last one in there for Lizzie- her and Daddy talk about super heroes alot, lately. He really is a super hero though. And since its Father's Day I am going to reveal his Super Daddy Powers:

- Freezing Time
How else could a guy manage a new dental practice, teach early seminary every day, help around the house, complete DIY home projects, spend time with his wife, and still have time to play with the kids from the minute he gets home to the minute they go to bed?

- Super Strength
I'm pretty good at opening my own jar of pickles. But, there are just those times when you're out and about and both little girls are desperate to be held. This is when Daddy defies human strength and picks up one girl in each arm, carries the diaper bag, and then asks me to hand him all five of the grocery bags that need to be transported to the car.

-Pheromone Manipulation
Haha. Jk- I won't go into that :) He is one charming guy though.

Potty Trained!!

She's potty trained! She's a big girl now! Lizzie is very proud of her new accomplishment and loves to tell anyone who will listen. Its been a long hard road for both of us. (Not that long but when you're cleaning up accidents every 10 minutes every single day seems looong.)

I realize the topic of potty training doesn't appeal to all, but I definitely need to record this milestone so I don't forget what I've learned the next time around!
Challenges/ Solutions:

Not interested in potty/ Lots of potty propaganda. Demo potty skills with her fav animals. Big girl talk, movies, books, peer pressure (your friends and cousins use the potty!)

Fear of elimination and holding it too long/ encouraged ALL elimination at first even if it wasn't on the potty (only used this tactic first couple days to overcome fear).

She got sick with stomach flu symptoms/ put potty training on hold. We stopped all training for a couple days til better. It was ok to take a little break and go back to diapers for a while. She got right back on the horse when we started again.

Not wanting to go on the potty- She would actually run, hide, and try to pee into the air vents, corners, or closets/ this was after conquering her fear, midway through the process. Incentives were used big time- candy, and dollar store prized for successful potty time. If there was an accident- Love and Logic methods used. I'd say, "That's too bad. Next time you should use the potty." Then I would take away one of her "potty treats" and take back a potty prize I had previously given her.

The best strategy that I learned: Drop the pressure, incentives, and punishments in the beginning. Just encourage and help her to know this is a normal process. No pressure. Fun. Then, as she gets the hang of it and starts to disobey or regress, stronger incentives and punishments are needed.

This picture was taken right in the middle of her "refusing to go on the potty" phase of the training. She actually turned all the way around and crammed herself into the corner so that I couldn't take a picture of her.

This picture was taken right after bribing her with candy. She's sucking on a jelly bean. My potty training and photography training philosophies are very similar...

Then, after a long hard week of being stuck in the jail cell that is our downstairs bathroom, my charming husband brought home these beautiful roses. It was very sweet and thoughtful of him!

Busted!

I know Lizzie so well I can predict her mischief before the thought even enters her mind.
Lizzie's a smart girl. She hears or sees something new just once and it sticks with her FOREVER.
A elephant Lizzie never forgets.

I found a 2 minute potty training propaganda movie on YouTube and showed it to Lizzie. It encourages being a big girl. Big girls use the potty. Big girls wear underpants. And big girls pour their own cereal. Really?! I obviously didn't preview the movie before showing it to her and then it was too late. The seed was planted. I knew she would eventually end up trying to sneak into the pantry to pour her own cereal just like a big girl. (Despite the fact that she knows better than to get into the pantry by herself.) Visions of boxes and boxes of cereal being dumped all over the kitchen floor are dancing in my head.

A week later out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of Lizzie tiptoeing to the pantry with a small "play kitchen" bowl in hand and before she even opens the door I run and get my camera because I know exactly what she is doing and why. I am so amused at her predictability that I now want to catch a picture of her caught in the act: Pouring her first bowl of cereal like a big girl. And here it is! (Fortunately, there was no mess. She carefully grabbed it out by the handful.)

I told her she could have Fruit Loops if she shared with Julie. And she did- in full 50/50 portions! She doled them out one at a time, biting each one in half, and giving the other half to her little sis. Julie was very appreciative.

Connell Family

It was just the best time having the Connell Family stay with us over the Memorial weekend. We were surprised and shocked to have such a warm sunny day, despite the forecasted rain! So we scrapped our original indoor plans and headed out to the zoo!


Ethan and Tegan were so much bigger than the last time we saw them! Those two are true opposites but both so cute and sweet in their own way.


The kids loved the zoo, of course! Since its so early in the season the animals were very lively and entertaining.

The "Wild Little Girls" exhibit was particularly fun. The ropes didn't provide much security so I snuck a couple lil animals home with me!

It was sooo funny to watch the girls when we went into the bird room. The budgies were flying around and would randomly land on your hand or shoulder. Julie loved it. We only had to stop her from squeezing the life out of the birds a couple times. Lizzie on the other hand was terrified. I had to carry her while she clung to me for protection. I really wanted to get a picture of Julie with the birds, though, so when I set Lizzie down she actually went into the duck and cover position. She wasn't crying but she was going to make sure NO birds landed on her.

That day at the zoo it was the Tiger cubs' 1st birthday! The tigers were very active, pouncing, and playing. They were even handing out cupcakes to celebrate the occasion.

We ended our big day at the zoo at the new kiddie playground area. We made sure to squeeze every last ounce of energy out the kids before leaving...

...Then, we raced home, set the kiddos up with a babysitter and headed out for some adult time! It was nice to catch up with Steve and Krista, hear what they've been up to and just have a good time!

The next day we just took it easy. They came to church with us and we spent some more time outdoors enjoying a second day of sun. Lizzie just adored Ethan and was very excited that he was willing to play with her (despite their age gap). She talked about him for days after they left- so cute.

We headed to a nearby lake and walking area. We even got some bonus entertainment. Apparently, there was a mini boat racing event taking place. We always have such a good time when we get together with our dental school buddies. We will definitely have to do this more!

The Girls Go Camping

Its been a little while since we have gone camping. Dave and I love camping but we were very leery of the idea of camping with two small girls. Our friends, Erin and Jason, invited us along with some other friends to enjoy some backyard camping. The perfect way to start the camping season- a little trial to see if it can actually happen with small children.

All the night activities were fun- building a fire, roasting hotdogs, smores, etc. The kids loved it and all went to sleep really well. All was well...until 3AM when we woke up to the sound of rain and soaking wet blankets. The tent was leaking from the top and Lizzie was leaking from the...well, lets just say she had been drinking ALOT of liquids that day since we have been potty training. She was wearing a diaper to bed but it still didn't quite do the trick. Needless to say, we drove a couple miles home and finished the night in our beds.

It was a good time with good friends but thank goodness we were close to home. Chris and Heather went home early soon after we left. Steve, Kim, and their two dogs, on the other hand, enjoyed a long peaceful night's sleep. (Their tent even had a doggy door!) Oh, to camp without kids seems much like the comfort of staying in a five star hotel to me now!

10 Months

"Julie, Julie, Julie, do you love me?" Her eyes just light up and her whole body starts to bounce when you sing these lyrics to her. This girl is always bouncing, dancing, speed crawling, standing, or cruising around these days. She is now very mobile. And watch out...

She is trouble for sure! This past week I have been busy potty training Lizzie so Julie has had ample opportunity to get into trouble. At one crucial point (right when Lizzie had gone #2 first time) Julie was trying to play with the big toilet so I ushered her quickly out of the bathroom only to have her speed crawl straight over to the pantry, grab a bag of popcorn kernels, and dump them allll over the kitchen floor then continue to spread them. Baby proofing you say? I barely know what that is. Lizzie was not huge into exploring. Not a problem. Until now.

She has grown and learned SOO much in the past couple months. 9 months has been a huge learning window for her.

Month 9 Achievements:

Crawling

Pulling self up

Standing

Cruising

Waving Hello

Signing words: "More" and "all done"

Saying 3 NEW WORDS!: Mama! Dada! and Uh-oh!

"Mama" was the FIRST word she ever said!! She has actually been saying mama for a while but it hasn't been clear if she knew what she is saying until recently. She will hold her arms out to me and say "Mama!" Then a couple weeks later, Dave really worked with her and got her to say "Dada!" And last of all, "Uh Oh!" , no surprise to me that this would be her first word (besides mama/dada). I say "Uh Oh" all the time to her and a couple days ago she just parroted it right back at me! She loved saying it over and over again. It was very cute to hear her say it- clearly and with pointed emphasis and emotion...hehe. She's very good at mimicking her mom.

Her little squinty eye smile in the pic above always makes me laugh. Its not her natural smile- its the smile she does when she is trying to copy my facial expression. Sometimes I give her an overly exaggerated smile and squint my eyes at her when I baby talk.

Jewels- you are growing up too fast. Please slow down.