January 23rd - 28th

On Friday night, I got some much needed girl friend time as well as time to scrapbook. Tina, Sandy, Mel, Melissa, and Shanna were able to make it. The kids loved having everyone around, especially Madison. On Saturday, we went to Jana's basketball game in Ripon. They won by 30 points, and Madison loved watching Jana play.

On Sunday, we went to church and welcomed our interim rector. Our part-time pastor, Father Ed, has become our interim pastor until they find a replacement for Father Ian, who retired.

Monday, Madison had gymnastics in the morning, and then we went to a play date at Mel's house. In the evening, we had a parent-teacher conference at Madison's school and found out she has mastered almost all the skills for her age.

Wednesday night, Lisa, Madison, and myself went to Jana's basketball game at Lawrence. They won by 30 points again!

Kids say the darndest things!

One of the reasons I started this blog was the capture the funny things our kids say. Well this morning was one of those times...

As I was loading Madison into the car, I told her to "duck" so she won't hit her head on the car frame. She said very innocently, "Momma, I am not a duck. I am Madison." How cute!

What was I thinking!?

For those of you that are parents, I am sure you have those "What was I thinking!?" moments. My moment yesterday was when I got to daycare and noticed that I had Madison put her boots on instead of shoes, which meant she had no shoes at daycare. So, I trekked back home to get shoes before heading off to work. Winter has been so long, snowy, and cold that Madison wears her boots whenever we leave the house, except for daycare where she needs to wear shoes. I guess everyone is entitled to a mix-up every now and then.

Winter Germs Update

An update on my post from Saturday... Noah got much worse on Sunday. His bpm (breaths per minute) were between 70 and 80 all day. He was wheezing very heavily, and he kept having coughing fits that sounded like he was gasping for air. As the day progressed, he didn't improve, so we called the nurse and took him to the ER. We found out in the ER that he was getting plenty of oxygen (thank god!), but he did have RSV which had caused bronchitis. We were sent home with a nebulizer to help open up his lungs and loose up the junk in them. With RSV, they say around the fifth day is the worse and then things start looking up. We are figuring Sunday was about the fifth day of the virus, and he has improved immensely since then. He has improved enough that the doctor has given the ok for him to go back to daycare today. We hope this means the end of the road for this illness.

A Sucess on the Potty Training front

Yeah! Last night before the kids took a bath, Mike asked Madison if she had to go to the bathroom and she said "Yep", which usually the answer is always NO. The next thing we know she had a BM in the toilet. We were so excited! She hadn't had a BM yet yesterday, and we were on pins and needles hoping it would end up in the toilet. That was the highlight of my day!

Potty Training Update

Madison was doing great keeping dry, however she was having problems with BM. Her BM was coming on really fast and loose, and it would always end up in her pants. So, we went back to the pull-ups for a few days. I decided yesterday that the only way she is going to learn is by wearing underwear all the time. Today she did great staying dry all day at daycare but had an accident when she got home from daycare. I realized that I am the nervous one and worried about her being in underwear. She doesn't feel the same anxiety I do about her being in underwear when we go places. I reminds me of when we took her nuk away. We were so nervous about how we were going to deal with it, but it was no big deal to her. I guess I will have to stop worrying and hope this means the end of diapers.

Winter Germs

I have taken a hiatus from blogging for a few days, because I have been dealing with a lot of sicknesses going on around here. Wednesday night both Madison and Noah kept waking up all night with colds. To make matters worse, Mike was also up with a queasy stomach that turned into stomach flu. On Thursday, the kid's daycare was closed due to extreme cold. Their daycare also has a day school. If the schools close for the day, so does the daycare. I think the closing was a blessing in a disguise because it gave the kids as well as Mike a chance to recover. Madison has almost completely recovered, but unfortunately, Noah has kept getting worse. He didn't sleep well Thursday night either, and he spent the entire day on Friday in my arms. Last night, he could not sleep laying down, so Mike and I took turns sleeping with him in the recliner. He started a fever last night, so we knew it was time to take him to the doctor. We found out this morning that he has an ear infection. He also has such bad chest congestion that his breathing is right on the border of needing oxygen. We tried a nebulizer treatment at the doctor's office this morning, but it did not help. Since getting him on amoxicillin, he has actually played a little bit today. However, his breathing is still fast. It makes me a nervous wreck, and I am sure I won't sleep well tonight because I will be listening to his breathing. I think things can only get better now that he is on amoxicillin.

Snow blower

Mike and I decided that this is the year we were going to invest in a snow blower. Mike got some gift cards for Christmas, and the rest of the money was coming from my year end bonus. We were so excited after Christmas to go out and buy our snow blower. We trekked out to Home Depot only to find out that they were completely sold out of snow blowers. A week later Mike heard from a co-worker that Home Depot was restocked. This time we called ahead to find out they had the model in stock that we wanted to buy. Even better they had a refurbished model for 33% off. We were so excited we went right out and bought it. Then it didn't snow for a week. We figured it might not even snow the rest of the winter since we just bought a snow blower. Mike got his first chance to use the snow blower on Tuesday morning. He made four passes on the driveway and the snow blower quit working. Unfortunately he couldn't get it back started, but fortunately our neighbor came over and finished snow blowing our driveway for us. So, last night Mike took it back to Home Depot to find out what was wrong with it. There is a problem with the motor, but Home Depot isn't authorized to work on it so they pointed us in the direction of an Ariens dealer. Tonight Mike took the snow blower there, and we will see what happens from here. I am willing to give the snow blower one more chance. Otherwise it is going back to Home Depot for good.

Puzzles

Madison has been obsessed with building puzzles since a week before Christmas. She always liked building puzzles, but now she chooses to build puzzles whenever there is free time at daycare and all the time at home. She has mastered the wooden board puzzles and has moved onto 25 piece puzzles. Both of her daycare teachers have commented to me that she has exceptional puzzle building skills for her age. Mike always says she is exactly like me, so I guess she has an engineering mind just like her mommy. The only exception is I HATE building puzzles.

Gymnastics

Last Monday, Madison started a new session of gymnastics. This session will round out a year of gymnastics, and I am shocked how much she has changed and learned in a year. We decided to start her in gymnastics a year ago after going to the YMCA Family Nights. At the family nights, all she wanted to do was be in the gymnastics room for the entire 2.5 hours. When she started gymnastics, her feet would not leave the ground when she jumped. She was also afraid to jump into the pit of foam and instead would sit down and slide herself in. The first skill she mastered in the last year was the balance beam. She can walk front ways and sideways. She is also not afraid to go on the high balance beam, which is a big accomplishment to me since I hate heights. On the bars, she is able to hold her own weight while her teacher moves her in a tuck, pike, stradle rotation as well as do a 360 on the bar with her teachers help.



She loves to walk across the uneven bars.



We also usually have an obstacle course each week. She loves climbing and usually passes up all her friends on the course. She has mastered climbing the ladder, whether is be on an angle or set flat between two blocks.



But her most favorite of all is jumping on a long trampoline, and at the end of the trampoline, she jumps into a pit of foam.

Potty Training... and the rest of the weekend

On Friday, Madison asked me to wear underwear. I was so excited she wanted to wear them, because if you have asked me recently, you will know that potty training is a very frustrating subject for Mike and I. Madison has been using the potty for a long time, yet she does not tell us when she has to go. The only time she goes is when we put her on the toilet, so basically, Mike and I are trained to put Madison on the potty every few hours. Unfortunately, my excitement faded as Madison kept wetting her pants if I didn't put her on the toilet. It made me realized that maybe she doesn't understand when she has to go yet, because she would tell me she had to go after she already went. She was very excited to wear underwear all weekend, so hopefully soon she will understand when she has to go and start telling us.

As for the rest of the weekend, we had a wonderful time tree hopping with our immediate family, grandma, and aunt on Saturday. However, tree hopping was the official end to the holidays. I started putting gifts away last night, and today the tree and decorations came down. Madison enjoys holidays just as much as I do, so we are already getting excited for Valentine's Day. We picked up two pairs of socks for her to wear, and we will soon start making hearts during our art time.

My First Post

So I have decided to start a blog with the new year. There are a few reasons I wanted to start blogging. First, I have enjoyed reading my friend's blogs and it helps me keep up with what is going on in their lives. I also want to have a way to document what our family is up to and the cute (and not so cute) things our kids do from day to day. I love scrapbooking, but sometimes I forgot why I took the picture by the time I get to putting it in the book. This way I can document things on more of a day to day basis. With that being said, here are some things the kids were up to today.

Now that Madison is older, she really enjoys helping me cook. This morning she helped scramble the eggs.

Madison has quite the imagination. One of her favorite things is to "put someone to sleep" by covering them up with blankets. Today Dad was the victim, and she decided to crawl in with him after he was all covered up.

Another favorite it to build a house, which our friend Dave introduced her to. Thanks Dave!

Noah is trying very hard to crawl, and he can scoot himself backwards. Last night, he rang in the new year by backing himself into a wall.

Ok, time for bed. That is all for my first post!