Potty training adventures with Gwyn

I know it has been AWHILE since I blogged.  Life with kids and ministry and a job and homeschooling.  Life.  That is it.  I would rather play with my kids...or read a book...or watch a great TV show...than stare at the computer.  Anyway, I just could not, not share this with my blog girls.  This one is for you Aly and Annie.  I miss being able to share these stories with you at the park...

We recently dedicated our sweet Gwyn which basically means we prayed over her life with close family and friends (pictured here Aaron and Emily-friends so dear they seem like family) and committed to raising her in the knowledge of Christ and pouring His love and ours into her.  She is the most precious, soft little soul and she has completed our little family.  We love her, but life with a 21 month old is always a crazy mix of pure joy and pure...hmm read on.

Gwyn is potty training, and doing well as a preface.  She usually only has about one pee accident a day and never poos in her pants anymore.  She is even dry at Disneyland or on drives to LA.  I am impressed.  But, she has a milk intolerance that makes her gassy and constipated.  We are usually so careful, but this week a bit of cheese slipped through and she ate it.  The next day she was upset at her bowels and trying to poop.  We let her roam with no pants to allow easy access while we were cooking dinner after a long day.  She was kinda whining and we were kinda not paying much attention.  Not a good thing cause next thing I know she is calling Poop! from her room.  I go in and she is squatting in front of her dollhouse dropping the biggest log ever.  I look at her red face and see defeat.  She is mad at herself, so I don't make a big deal, grap a wippee and lysol, pick it up and we take it to the potty, talk about how it should go in there and NOT on the ground and flush it bye-bye.  I go back to dinner prep without dressing her.  I figure the danger is gone and a little naked time is always fun.  She comes in the kitchen and "cooks" at her play kitchen.  THEN, after a few minutes I hear the Poop! call and look over to see her STANDING in her own poo.  She didn't just drop one...she stepped in it!  Ahh!  Adam and I were SOO excited to have choosen parenthood at that moment.  Aggie held the dog back (Peyton the dog is famous for eating the poo-good times), while I held Gwyn in mid-air.  He went and got the wipees.  We wiped her down.  Sprayed HER feet with lysol.  Picked up the poo.  Wiped up the smashed poo.  Lysoled the ground and mopped with antibacterial soap.  THEN, back to dinner prep.  Good times, hey?  Adam and I joke that maybe we should have waited even longer (we waited 5 years) to have kids.  It surely is an adventure.  Especially the poop part.  

Tea with Gammy (and big girl Gwyneth)

We took my mom to her first tea house experience this last week for her Christmas present.  She loves tea, has a teacup collection from her mom, and has tea parties every time the girls go over for babysitting.  Our day at the tea house was a perfect day.  The weather was sunny and nice.  We weren't rushed.  The girls were all fancy and felt pretty.  We sat at a pretty table with pretty tea sets and yummy, girly food.  Agatha had impeccable etiquette and manners.  Gwyneth ate quietly and didn't break anything.  My mom got to enjoy her girls and a beautiful tea.  It was everything I dreamed.  I wish everyday of parenting was this shiny.  Today, on the other hand, was back to reality.  Homeschooling in PJs, messy house, tons of chores, busy outings with late arrivals, pee pee accidents, a minor burn on my 1 year old's hand, screaming for two and half hours afterward (yes, you read that right-she was inconsolable), late bedtimes and work on the couch late into the night instead of sleeping.  Each day brings its own color and my world is rainbow.

Side note:  Gwyn is not a baby anymore!  She does flips at her Little Gym class, goes pee and poo on the potty, communicates with ASL and verbal words, sleds down huge hills in the snow on her own inner-tube, makes valid jokes and knows she is funny, refuses high chairs and sits on a normal dining chairs and even has a preference toward purple everything (what to do with all the PINK hand-me-downs from her big sister-RIT dye here I come!).  I am excited for this next stage of toddler!  Gwyn is precious.

Fall Fun

Fall is a fun time to be a kindergartner-or maybe a kindergarten teacher! There are so many fun themes to teach on and since we are homeschoolers-so many fun field trips. We have gone on sooo many but these two were really fun and Fall picturesque.

We went to Tanaka Farms pumpkin patch and I love the big black wheelbarrows you get to take through the patch. We all got the perfect pumpkin and are going to carve them tomorrow night at our annual pumpkin party while sporting out tye dyed jack-o-lantern tees from Family Fun.

We also went to an educational farm called Centennial Farms on the OC Fair grounds. They had all the traditional animals, crops and red barns. We saw a cow get milked and pet chicks. It was GREAT!

I hope you are getting out there in the community this season. As much as the short days and change of weather bring on my seasonal sadness, I do love the outings and colors and walks of autumn. Having a 5 and 1 year old are a fun time to be a mommy. I will cherish these memories forever.

I know...where have I been?

I really hate that my blog has said "I have so much to do!" since August 16th! It is just that with homeschooling a 5year old and taking care of a 1 year old I have little time to sit like an adult at the computer. And what time I do have I am working...for River Springs. I barely get my personal email checked or glance at facebook. But, I love blogging and reading so here I am.

We have been up to so much fun stuff with homeschooling! I figured it out and we are doing like 8 field trips a month! And with regular outings we are out in the community alot. We have gone to Disneyland with cousins, gone to football game fore Adam's cousin at which Agatha was invited on the field to cheer with the cheerleaders (so cute), Legoland with the Foors (we sorted over 1000 legos and graphed them by color and type for a follow up to that one-whew!), a Family village festival on cultures, the San Bernandino Museum with the Foors, the Huntington Library/Art Galleries/Gardens with the Speirs, a pumpkin patch trip with The Grove Homeschool Group, the Riverside Museum for dissecting owl pellet and making clay scat (poop-yes it was fake) of types of animals, Riley's Farm for apples and colonial farm life tour with The Grove group again, the Chinese Moon Festival and Chinese Food (the pic), and on and on. We are having so much fun.

Aggie is really learning to read and write and I am so proud. She reads to Gwyn all the time and Gwyn can't get enough of books. Aggie is doing great things at Gymnastics and did a flip on the uneven bars that even I was impressed by! She is so curious and really becoming a lifelong self lead learner which is a big objective with me for homeschooling. She and Adam especially dive into subjects with such fervor and have done projects on pee and volcanoes and other fun ideas.

Gwyn loves Farm animals and says more sounds than words at this point. She is a non verbal communicator and has no problem getting what she needs with grunts and facial expressions! She starting using the sign for thank you and it is so cute. She is kinda potty training and is so proud when she is successful. She has starting smiling like this picture when we say "say cheese" and is really becoming a little person. I love to watch her bouncy little trot as she pokes curiously around the house. She is very meticulous about art and already draws her version of the family and dogs (which she loves).

Life is good-but I am really trying to find a balance. I have so many hats at this point. I know I should get rid of one-but which? I like each one in its own way. I just wish I was slower. I wish I had more time-but don't we all?

Gwyn is 14 months!

This is for all the distant friends and families. Gwyn is beautiful. She is walking now and making jokes and laughing and talking (a little-though she understands everything we say) and doing fingerplays and doing tricks like answering "How old are you?" and rock on and high five and pound. We love her.

My happy girl

Gwyneth is just so smiley (and aren't her shoes cool? Thanks Pappa). I had dreams about her while pregnant of her smiley and blonde and bouncy...and that is just how she came out. She loves to snuggle hug my mom, bounces in my sling to music and at any excitement, smiles at everyone and just always has a look of curiousity and amusement about her. She is so curious in fact that she is into everything (and swallowing bits of dried glue that choke her, turn her blue, make mom do the himlech, scratch her throat so she coughs blood, be rushed to the ER with no diaper on and then turn out fine and smiley again at the fact that they gave her mashed potatoes to coat it so she could poop it out...crazy story-hey?). But she is beautiful and I am so glad God gave is Gwyn.

A weekend of Gwyn

Agatha went off to my in-law's cabin in Running Springs for the weekend to play in the snow with Grandma and Grandpa (and do four homeschool assignments-homeschoolers never stop, do they?) So, we got Gwynie all weekend. Now, we missed Agatha, don't get me wrong, but it was so nice to concentrate on soft, cuddly Gwyn. I layed on the floor with her for hours, we ran errands and I was able to stop and nurse whenever she needed, we went on outdoor walks at the drop of a hat, life revolved around her naps, things had a nice, peaceful rhythm. She has been battling teething and possibly a cold (hard to tell the difference sometimes) so we have had humidifiers and peppermint/eucalyptus oil going, nose suckers and saline nose washes. Good times-but it has been nice to have only one to concentrate on. She broke through the top two teeth, so now she has four. And her GERD is getting better! We have been on every other day meds for two weeks and plan to go off completely in a week or two if all stays peaceful. Ahh-peaceful. It has been so quiet! I even had time to organize and load up our new garage with Adam. Never with two-never!

Family update...life keeps of rolling by

I have been caught up with life and work, so here is a family update for all the fam out there...

Gwyn is eating fingerfood now...she never wants our help anymore. She crawls all over the house and is the cutest thing ever. We have even left her with my Mom at our house for a couple two hour dates. It is amazing how fast you can get in and out of the car with no baby!

We started homeschooling after the holiday break and whenever we do piano Gwyn crawls under the bench and puts her head against the piano...another musician on our hands? She loves rhythm.

We had dinner at Taco Station with Mark, Angie and Nolan Lamberth. It was so nice to catch up with such sincere friends. And only Nolan could entice Agatha into a cowgirl dress up instead of a princess-but it is still pink!

We went to the snow in Running Springs with the Foors. I love Emily. No one else would pay admission with me just to be a part of the fun when really we each went down the slope only 3 times and spent the rest of the time nursing, rocking and appeasing our infants who where not excited about the cold, wet snow that reflected bright light in their eyes. Ahhh, infancy!

Aggie had a blast riding with Haley and Noah. I miss the five families-with out of town moves and starting school our old tradition of Snow Day has been reduced to two instead of five.

Adam taking his turn with Gwyn so I could hit the slopes. We took her down twice. She was not impressed.

I threw Holly Rodrigo a baby shower. She is due on Feb 22 and looks amazing. She has gained the perfect amount-of course- and is glowing. We "went green" and played games like "change the cloth diaper" and "think of 10 ways to go green with baby". We even ate off our compostable "paper" products made from corn and sugar cane. It was fun and I got to catch up with old friends like Keri Quesada who came with her 3 week old baby and wore zip up jeans...at three weeks. Can we say WEIGHT LOSS ENVY?

We had dinner with the Reids...who we love and whose daughters are clones of ours. Can you even find Aggie in this picture? Bryan and Cristi are so laid back-the girls made a sleeping bag clubhouse in their master bedroom walk in closet all night. I love them!

Aggie had her ballet/tap/gymnastics show day at The Little Gym. She is doing so well. But, more than anything I noticed her empathy. She was so concerned about any kids who got hurt or were too shy and ran to their parents. So much so that when I caught her eye I had to redirect her to do the steps again. I love how much she cares.

Katie and Hannah came with a flower for Aggie. They made her day. She adores the Boone girls, so do I. Thanks Stacey. We got you on email, when is the blog coming?

Lots of friends and family playdates and visits in the last couple weeks. I got my hair cut...I had work meetings on my own (Adam took Gwyn)...the garage still has no door or window...the christmas lights are down this year (thanks Scott Ellis)...I finished the old set of Learning Records and now have another set to write...life keeps on rolling by...

Here comes Gwyn

My little Gwyneth is on the move. She officially started crawling on New Year's Day when Adam enticed her across our 8 foot rug with baby cheetos every foot and a half, but today she really broke through. She crawls from room to room, goes from crawl to sit and back again, chases my mom's dog (who is fabulous with her), has found the outlets and pulled the cords out, and has started to gain real speed. It is a whole new world. Yey for Gwynie.

Yay, for Le Leche League!

Gwyneth recently staged a nursing strike-Adam said he could imagine her with a little picket sign crawling around with a grouchy little look... She is getting some teeth on the top (I figured out after lots of parenting detective work) and refused to nurse from 10am yesterday until we had success at about 8pm! I was bursting to say the least-since she is only 7 months and nursing is still her primary nutrition every 2-3 hours. It was horrible...I would lay her back into position and she would wail this horrible yell I have never heard from her, or she would just put her mouth on and look at me sideways with no latch-on and then sit up crying, or she would bite me and cry immediately from guilt...nursing has always been a beautiful bond between me and my babies and a way I bring comfort and intimacy as well as nourishment to my girls, so this was heartbreaking for me. I worried (since she is eating solids twice a day now and moving on to finger food) that she didn't want it or was weaning. I had to wean Agatha at almost 2 years old-because I wanted to stop-not because she did-so I was not ready for these thoughts. It was hard, and I realize I may need to prepare myself for Gwyn to move on before I am ready. But, I knew it was too early to move on now. I pumped, I gave her some in a bottle (should have used a cup and no artificial nipples I realize now) and she sucked it down. AHHH! What was wrong? SO, finally I called my LLL Leader, Rebecca Konegen, and she is my lifesaver. She has saved me from three nursing catastophies with Gwyn and I owe her some crazy big attachment parenting points! She told me to take a bath with Gwyn and try to nurse in there with the skin to skin, comfy atmosphere. I have to admit it seems wierd to those who have never birthed or nursed-but it worked! (As did the admittedly wierd suggestion of boob soaking in a sink of hot water for mastitis/clogged milk duct, among other helpful things she has told me) Yay for LLL! Yay for Becky! Yay for Gwyn who is now nursing again, gently and with a little pain, but nursing!!! Double Yay for Gwyn who is also crawling now. She started on New Year Day and has now started to really get around. SO many big things happening in her little life-it is no wonder a nursing strike was staged!

Fall colors in January

This is for all you northern CA/Oregon people that complain that we have no Fall in Riverside. Just come over to my house in January and I'll have plenty of fall raking and jumping for you to frolick in. I know it is late, but beautiful just the same! The girls had so much fun jumping (Agatha) and eating (Gwyneth) in the leaves. My real motivation was to finally have some dry stuff for my compost mix!!!

Her laugh is so pure enjoyment! She said, "Mom, this is just like in a book!"

I have had to swipe many leaves from her throat! They can't taste good!

PS. I know I have missing from blogdom for like a month-I'll post some of the things when I am lacking in material later-but things have been crazy with my CLAD classes and every waking moment that hasn't been mommy duty, social outings or Christmas stuff has been my 12 units. But, I finish today!!! Hooray!

Dinner and a Show

Friday we went to Disneyland with the girls. Gwyn is beginning to explore the world so much and she was so fun. We went to the Pirate Island (Old Tom Sawyer Island) and she LOVED the foliage. Her arms were continually outstretched from the baby carrier to try and grabbed leaves as I walked the paths. I let her grab a couple and she pulled them off and carried them around with her, inspecting them with great enthusiasm. She sat straight up on Small World, holding the front bar, and watched with open mouth (with drooling spilling down her chin) in amazement. She also loved the Tiki Room-but it was time to nurse and she was hungry and tired...so she would nurse a little and then pull off, turn around, watch the show, nurse a little, watch, nurse a little...it was like dinner and a show! Babies are so sincerely interested and curious-it is a beautiful thing.

GERD on its back!!!

Here is my beautiful baby girl on her back in a bed! She is almost 6 months and I think her GERD is getting better. She has gotten too big for her swing and has started sitting up. We don't want her to fall out so we transitioned her to her co-sleeper yesterday. She is doing so well. Aren't babies so beautiful when they sleep? And all that change combine with cutting a tooth (her first came in yesterday) and managing a cold with a cough. Crazy all the stuff going on with her sweet little body and she still smiles. Wish I were the same way!!!

what a cute suit!

We are in Indian Wells this week on vacation (the reason for the catch up in posting!!!) and spending lots of time by the pool because the weather is perfect and hot. We borrowed this adorable suit from Sofia Lance because we didn't have one that fit Gwyn. Is this not the most adorable thing? How did I miss this one at Old Navy!?!

Stinks to be second born

Gwyn loves the bath nowadays. She plays this game where she splashes with all arms and legs in hopes that she will get her bather wet. When she does she squeals with delight. But, I have to admit that we don't bathe her everyday...or even every other. Her big sister had horrible diaper rash if we didn't bathe everyday, but she was also our only charge. We try to give Gwyn the same treatment as sister had in so many respects, but on this one we fail miserably. Poor Gwyn, other than having a funny older sister to idolize and entertain her, it stinks to be second born.

Gwyn, the rider

Gwyn is ultimate connoisseur of baby carriers. She loves to be in on the adult action and would rather unload the dishwasher in the Bjorn, take the clothes off the line in the Moby, vacuum in a sling than any excersaucer out there. All babies like to be worn, but with her GERD I think she does even more. She is so content, happy and observant up there. Her ultimate day would be: sleep, nurse, change a diaper, ride, nurse, sleep, bath, ride, nurse and a little more sleep. She is my little rider. But, wow-my back gets tired.

Crying in the Carseat

Gwyneth hates riding in the car seat...we are growing and not every time in tumultuous, but many are. Hysterics, choking on saliva, choking on burp, giving herself heartburn, making mommy cry cause I can't pick her up and fix it. It isn't pretty. But Aggie is such a good sister. She calmly leans across and holds Gwyn's shaking fist through it all. She says "I feel bad for her, I don't want her to feel alone." My sweet girl.

Some Kind of Professional

I had a harried meeting today! We forgot to give Gwyn her GERD meds until 4 hours late so she was uncomfortable, arching, whining, grunting and urping chunky loads of breastmilk all over me in a work meeting today. The meeting was at a bookstore and I had no table which today seemed annoying even though I usually don't. I had to wash my hair today, but had no time to blow dry so it was a frizzy mess. I had time only for mascara which I made sure I wore so as not to get the comments-Oh, you look so tired! I am still in my chubby clothes (because I am still chubby) and my shirt was too big and my pants too tight. Neither really matched my shoes. Her kids thought the burps and drool were yucky and a bit disgusted by it. I tried to conduct myself in as professional a manner as possible, but with all these variables I felt a mess. My job is great because I can bring my kids to some things, but today that seemed a mistake. I tried to be professional when presenting my information, and luckily the parent is a friend as well...but I couldn't listen to her kids read with mine yelling in all our ears and I just felt rushed. Oh, and Gwyn pooped half way through so I had to leave early to have time to change her before picking up my preschooler. Holy Moley-a millennium woman with so many hats. I don't feel like I wore any ONE of them well this morning.

My little Orca

Gwyneth has begun to voice her frustrations-good for her. She has a funny, Orca-like squawk that goes with this face. It comes out whenever anything frustrates or bores her-so quite often! I did it back at one point today and she stopped for a second, looked me in the eye, and started at it again. Her personality is fun. I can't wait to get to know her as she grows. PS. I take my infants everywhere and this noise is really great in the middle of a lecture, or women's bible study, or business meeting, or lunch with a friend, or...you get the idea. Really great!

Sisters

I am always "protecting" 4 month old Gywn from the craziness of her four year old sister Agatha. But, judging from this picture I think I need to lighten up. I need to lighten up about lots of things, but that is beside the point. I think I need to let their sisterly adoration blossom under my watchful eye. They are beautiful together.