At the Close of February

Happy end of February, another month closer to giving birth! Let me tell you, I am ready for that big day. I may not have a single stitch of blue in the house, and we still have to get a new crib, but I'm already slowing waaaaay down. The house has become messier, the girls are a bit slimier, and I'm needing at least three 15 minute naps a day to keep functioning (of course I don't get three naps...) I still have a little under three months to go! In my third trimester, this little guy is amusing the family by kicking and moving quite frequently. I think we have another Gwen coming! Woohoo! Anyway... This kid is quite a mover. I roll over in the middle of the night to snuggle as close as I can with my husband man, and Logan gets kicked in the back over and over again. I can't wait to meet my new baby! My sister-in-law just had her baby boy last week, and it made the whole having a new baby become more of a reality for me. Now I'm super excited, not just nervous to have three kids.

Enough about me. Here are some things that happened/are happening in the past couple of weeks:

As I said, my sister-in-law gave birth to an adorable baby boy last week. His name is Greysen. I haven't had a lot of time to spend with him yet, since the girls have colds and so do I now (of course), but here are some pictures we managed to snag while we could.

This pic of me is horrible (half my head is missing), but it's the only one I have of me and him. 

Greysen! So far I think he's a healthy mixture of the two parents (though, a tad more like Ronnie) but he'll change very fast in the next couple of months. We'll see!

Phoebe getting a closer look at her cousin.

Gwen was looking at him, but then got in trouble for trying to climb in...

Grandpa, Greysen, and Logan's thumb!

Auntie Maci with her first nephew.



Hopefully, these colds that we've had off and on since Christmas (no exaggeration) will clear up and we can spend a little quality time with the family soon.

My own children are going through some changes. Last night, we converted Phoebe's crib back into a toddler bed. She didn't sleep the entire night in it since she's not sleeping well with a plugged nose, but she loves her new bed.

Gwen loves it too. She wanted to sleep in it with her sister, but Phoebe would have none of it. I don't blame her. The both of them are awful to sleep with.

As a lot of you know, my three and half year old has still yet to make a thing in the potty. (On the floor, toy box, and table - yes. Potty - no.) We've become pretty frazzled around here, trying everything and anything to get her to go, but she's stubborn. (She started saying, "I don't NEED a Buzz Lightyear. I'm done with the potty!) We've finally had to go the messy method, which I'm not thrilled about, but we've become desperate. We told her that Walmart ran out of daytime, size six diapers. At first, she said she would have to wear size four like Phoebe, but we wouldn't let her. She's in her Elmo panties in the day time. Absolutely no diapers. No matter how many messes I have to clean up, I'm going to get that girl over this fear and out of diapers! I can't have three in them once Isaac is born! Heck no! So the super goal is to have BOTH my girls out of diapers by the time their brother shows up. Right now, we're concentrating mostly on Gwen, but Phoebe sits on the potty a couple times a day. She makes us sit her on the potty, because she got into the phase of stripping off her diaper and happily running naked through the house. I've been cleaning a lot of pee off the floor... But we're determined!

Determined, I tell you!

How He Plays with Mr. Potato Head

While I sat with my visiting teachers downstairs, my husband played with the girls in their bedroom so we could have peace and quiet. Well, play time with daddy is very different than play time with mommy, apparently. When I put them to bed that night, this is what I found:

Eyes in one ear hole, a nose in the other, and armpit hair! My husband: the imaginative genius.

Phoebe and Valentine's Day

This past Sunday we celebrated Phoebe's 2nd birthday! I feel like we've had her forever, so it seems like she should be older. Maybe it's denial - another year of 2?!  She had no idea what a birthday was, even though we kept telling her all day that she was now "Phoebe 2!" (Whenever we ask her what her name is, she answers "Phoebe 1!")  I tried to make certain things for her special that day. During the girls nap time, Logan and I had blown up a bunch of balloons, so when Phoebe came downstairs, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She has a passion for balloons. When Gwen came down to join her, they made up their own game of catch and played for a good hour while I finished prepping for the party. We had a fun party with the whole family which greatly excited Gwen. She was talking about seeing everyone for days. But as soon as they arrived, Phoebe naturally clammed up and wouldn't say a word. In fact, she clung to her daddy for a while until she got used to all the attention. (My girls are such opposites, it's unreal.) During the party, she opened up a bit more, I think. She loved every gift she got. She's been playing with them nonstop for two days straight, and hasn't gone back to her "old toys" yet. Maybe this means I can pack up more of their stuff. I hate all the clutter!

We certainly love our precious, petite Phoebe. She brings so much laughter to our family and does something new and hilarious every day that gets us talking. (This morning, for example, she woke up at 6:30, and instead of crying, she yelled out, "Mommy! Help!! I'm awake!") I can't imagine our family without her. She completes us perfectly.

Yesterday, for Valentine's Day, we didn't do much since we did so much the day before. But the girls did get large stuffed Valentine's Day animals which thrilled them to no end. I presented them at nap time, almost as a bribe to keep them in their room. Didn't really last long, though. Phoebe was sure Gwen would steal her "doggy pup" and kept screaming whenever she got close. To make the day even more special, Logan got off work super early to take an assessment for a potential job, so we were all excited to have him home hours early. Because of the lack of rest, Phoebe was out by 7:00. I prepared a late dinner out of habit, but when Gwen saw her beans and cheese in her bowl, she said, "I am NOT eating" and left the table. Today we didn't fight with her, so Logan and I had a little dinner date in our own kitchen. Then the girls went to bed, and we cuddled on the couch and watched some Psych. It was a good day.

I didn't take many pictures at the party, but here are a few in case you didn't see them on facebook.

The birthday girl! Two years old, can you believe it?

Posing pretty with her daddy. I was very proud of Gwen for not ripping Phoebe's presents open as soon as she saw them. Then again, we did bring them down when she was miraculously passed out on the couch.

 Clinging to daddy because there were people in her house. She's wearing an adorable Minnie Mouse hat her grandma made her. She was getting jealous of Gwen's homemade Grandma hat, so she got her own too!

Opening presents. She kept that hat on for a long time.

She loves puppies. She was enthralled with her walking furry puppy.

This pic is kinda blurry. But it shows how nicely Phoebe can share all her toys!

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day with their special ones!