yippeee...plus a cute story

First things first...David and I paid off my car today...YAY!!!!! This is uber-exciting for me. Thanks to an unexpected tax refund we were able to pay it off almost a year and a half early. What a fun day!

Now on to the next cute toddler story...
Julia no longer takes naps so she gets really bored when Elizabeth naps and I attempt to get something accomplished. Today, I was trying to clean the kitchen which always starts with doing the dishes that I have negelected all day. So I'm loading the dishwasher and Julia is climbing in it, taking out the silverware and putting random toys in the bottom (it's always a trick washing the dishes). Obviously, I feel like a broken record while trying to clean. I sound something like, 'Julia, get off of the dishwasher please. Julia, don't take the dishes out please. Julia, toys don't go in the dishwasher. Julia, stop licking the dirty forks...that's icky!" Well, this persisted for an uncertain period of time. Then, I suddenly noticed all the dishes had made it into the dishwasher and hadn't come back out. This was my cue to check on Julia and when I looked down, I see her sitting on the edge of the dishwasher, arms folded, head bowed, mumbling quietly, 'Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for our food. Thank you for blessings....Thank you for day....Thank you for blessings....ummm....Thank you for this day....
Clearly she got stuck. I had to help her finish. But seriously, how cute is that?

early milestone?

Everytime I take Elizabeth to the Dr. I get the same story. It goes something like...'she'll probably start walking long before Julia did. You know, just to keep up with her big sister.' or 'I would expect her to reach most milestones early because her big sister is so close to her age.' My response in one word? Poppycock. Elizabeth was months older when she began walking (I promise Ill post videos soon) than was Julia and the rest of her milestones have been pretty much spot on. The one early milestone that elicited the title for this post deserves some explanation. In all actuality, I didn't realize this was a milestone at all, but since both of my children have done it (independent of the other's knowledge) I'm calling it one. When Julia reached about 26 months and I was considering that it was probably time to lose the bink (read pacifier), she made that decision for me. You see, I would put her to bed at night with our normal routine...bink, blanket, and some poorly tuned vocals by me. Then one night she discovered that if she threw her bink across the room, she wouldn't go to sleep. Well, that's all it took to put me over the edge. Bink was gone by the end of the week. Now, Elizebeth is only 16 months old and yet it seems that she is cognitively manipulating me beyond her age. Three nights this week I've put her to bed (bink, blankie, and poorly tuned vocals) and within minutes she's screaming and I'm crawling under a crib to find just one of at least ten binks that exist in this house but can never be found when they are truly needed. Now, I'm actually a proponent of pacifier use. It's one of my lifesavers and breaking the habit only takes about a weeks worth of determination. But is it really time already? I really like being able to keep her quiet when I need to (like during sacrament) with a small silicone plug. Maybe it's a coincidence? Maybe I'm naive? Only time will tell.

a new game...

Thanks to a recent article in Parents magazine, Julia and I have a new 'game.' The article highlighted the benefits of yoga with toddlers and in the effort to have more productive time with my kids, I decided to give it a try. Julia LOVES it!!! We use a pink mat and now she asks multiple times a day: Can I play the pink game? It's a hoot and good interactive time. I'd recommend it to anyone. I couldn't find a link to the article but it was in the April 2009 issue and the article was "Yoga for Two" on page 131. Check her out...wish I was that flexible!

Toddlers make life funny..

Besides the fact that holidays are more fun with toddlers, they make everyday life more humerous as well. This morning Julia woke up crying/whining. She's had a cold lately so I expected her to complain that her nose hurt, she needed water, or something similar. Instead the conversation went something like this...

Julia: whining, crying, etc.
Me: Julia, what's wrong? What do you need? Tell me in big girl words so I can help you...(this is pretty much my automated response for whining)
Julia: (In a whiny tone) I need....pause....I need....pause....I need a new haircut.
Me: laughing hysterically at 6 am.

who knew it started so early

Living in Southern Illinois has definately had its perks. Since approximately 99.927% of my immediate and extended family live in the area, playdates are ALWAYS available. Conveniently, my oldest brother and his wife were polite enough to give birth to a little girl just 6 weeks before Julia was born. This works out just famously now that they are old enough to really enjoy playing together. We've been able to have this cousin (Jenna) over the last couple of days. They have LOVED this time. But there is a downside to every up, I guess. You see, Jenna and Julia are relative novices in the appropriately timed use of toilets. So, when they get so excited playing, accidents happen. Having babysat more than one child in training during my younger years, I knew exactly how to deal with this. I set a kitchen timer. Every 30 mintues, it rings, we sing POTTY TIME, and off they both go. This method is thanks to Cynthia Welch who was potty-training Chelsea when I was her babysitter. (We still have the training potty so one uses the big potty while the other uses the 'little' potty). Now, they are adamant about going together and if that wasn't witness enough of their gender-specific behavior, once they go, I can't get them out of the bathroom! Seriously, 20 minutes just to 'peedle.' It's insane. Why do women (at any age) insist on accompanying one another to the bathroom? (As adults, this seems only to happen when 1. stalls are present, and 2. when in a public setting). And why on earth would we want to spend 20 minutes in there? (Again in adulthood, this time is more often spent checking hair, running eyeliner, and random blemishes). And who knew this could start at age 2?!

so...the update

I really thought I blogged about this previously but apparently, I've just repeated the story by mouth a hundred times. I've had several questions so, here goes...

Last year, we decided that I would apply for a physician assistant program. Last fall I was accepted to SIU's program which meant that David wouldn't have to quit his job or his business (which he was willing to do if we had had to move somewhere else for school - props to him). PA school is rather pricey and being an Illinois resident reduces my tuition by about $25,000 per year. It seemed worth it. So, the girls and I moved to Murphysboro IL last month. My commute went from 1 1/2 hours at 6 am to 20 minutes at 7:30 and I live next door to my sitter. Unfortunately, David has to be a Missouri resident in order to keep his job at the police department, so we currently have different addresses. While this has generated a myriad of strange looks of sympathy and more than a few questions, our marriage is actually quite good. We miss each other a ton and the girls (well...Julia) ask for him all the time. On the plus side, we actually appreciate the time we get together now as opposed to just taking it for granted.

So, that's the whole story. Hopefully that clarifies. And hopefully I'll have more interesting posts in the near future.

back among the virtual living

When moving to Illinois over a month ago, I generously agreed to let David keep our home computer in Missouri for business purposes. I did this because I knew I would have to get a new laptop for school by May and figured I'd just get it early and there would be no issue. Well many of you may know that I have the spending habits of a miser and I find it very difficult to convince myself to spend that much on something that isn't necessary yet. Well, school starts in 6 weeks so I've finally put my procrastination bug behind me and I've taken the plunge. Not that this post is particularly exciting, but it feels good to be among the bloggers again. I feel like I've been tapped out of your lives lately. Now, onto the more exciting stuff.

ELIZABETH IS WALKING!!! This is really exciting for me since this milestone seems to be coming a tad late (especially since everyone tells me that she will reach these milestones faster 'just to keep up with her older sister.') Well, we've missed that deadline months ago. My comfort was knowing that she had the ability, she just has the stubborness of her father (sorry honey). It might come from my side a little too... Anyway, she will run anywhere as long as she's holding my hand but when I let go, she yells and sits. It's a clear tantrum. But a couple of nights ago (of course while I was in the other room) she stood up by herself and walked across the room. At least that's how David swears it happened. I trust him... And I trust that someday, I'll see it too.