The Crafts

Matt left this morning around 5:30 and won't be home until 10:00 p.m. And he will be gone all day tomorrow (Saturday) too. So when Kate woke up at 6:00 a.m. I knew I had trouble on my hands. First off, I was still in bed. Secondly, when she wakes that early it usually ensures a crabby day. I jumped out of bed and caught her in the hallway, told her it was still night time and put her back into bed. BUT, she pleaded that she had to go potty. Is it a ploy so she can get up early for the day? Am I shooting myself in the foot by denying her the opportunity to potty willingly? Which would you have chosen? Put her back in bed and pray for a few more minutes of sleep for both of you and a guaranteed shower for you? OR let her get up so she can use the potty chair but risk dealing with a crabby kid for the next 48 hours all by yourself?

Below are a few pics of the house the day we moved in and the house today. Enjoy!

One year ago we moved into this house and we love it still today. We have completed lots of minor changes to make the house our own but the unique character and architecture is still the focus. I can't count the number of times Matt and I have individually said we love our house over the last year. I sometimes have to shake my head when I realize we are really living in our 'dream' home.

Kate is in process of mastering the fine art of stalling...namely naps. It all began today when I said good night for the afternoon nap and she announced she had to potty. I worried it was a false alarm but thought I must test out her claim. We ran to the bathroom and results were produced. I was so proud. But of course that meant she deserved her reward. She chose to indulge herself in an Elmo computer game. Shortly thereafter I took her back upstairs for nap. Again as I was saying goodnight she announced the need to potty. I fell for it. We ran to the bathroom and instead of pottying she cleaned her 'diwty toes' and needed a 'neeew pull-up.' I again took her back to her room and had to return to that same bedroom about 5 more times. Once something important fell out of bed and she needed me to pick it up. Uh-huh. Then I heard books hitting the floor. And finally she ran out of her room and announced she had pooped in her bed. Thankfully the pull-up wa

Each day Kate incessantly chants "PARK, PARK, PARK" until someone gives in. Lately she spends 95% of her park time on the swings. One of her new favorite moves is swinging on her tummy and dragging her feet. I think she likes to get her toes as dirty as possible. Gotta love her!

Whew! My second post of the day. I guess it has been a blog-worthy day. I meant to write about this topic in the last post but was overwhelmed by the after lunch events. From the moment Kate wakes up until the moment she goes to bed she is asking to go outside. This morning she hopped into bed with me around 6:30ish and her first word was...OUTSIDE! We got ready for the day and quickly headed out. We went for a very long stroller walk, played at two different parks and walked to the grocery store and back...all within a two hour time frame. As anyone who has ever been pregnant before can attest, I was tired. But I regained my energy thanks to a very special tool...PBS. In fact I am so grateful to the benefits of PBS television that I want to write a letter to them. Most of their fan mail reads like this: Dear PBS Kids, I love Clifford and Sesame Street. They are my favorite tv shows. Thank you for showing them to me everyday. I drew a picture of Elmo. Will you please show

Kate has been asking to drag out the blow up swimming pool for weeks now. And after lunch today I finally did so. She insisted she wear her swimsuit despite the fact we were just going to clean the pool first. I tried to explain this to Kate and she grabs me, looks me straight in the eye and says "Me put on suit and hop in pool now." Okay. So she puts on the suit, we grab some cleaning supplies and I get to work on the pool. Shortly after cleaning it we fill it up. Kate wants in. But it is cold so she wants out. Then she decides she MUST get back in. Then she wants out. I hustle inside and run a pot of hot water through the coffee pot. While waiting for the hot water Kate insists she stand in dirt. I inform her that her feet will get dirty, but she does it anyway. After 30 seconds of dirt standing she wants back in the pool. "The dirt on your feet will get in the water." She climbs in anyway. Another 30 seconds later she is upset because the water i

I am having a mini-celebration. Well, not quite, but I thought it was worth mentioning that this is my 200th post. Wow! I have typed a lot of stuff, eh? Around 20 of those 200 posts were a countdown to us moving into our new house. And just think, it has been almost one year to the day that we have lived here. So much has changed with the house. We have painted almost every room, remodeled the bathroom and recarpeted. We also decided to add another kiddo to the mix. One year can really bring a lot of change. Thankfully, all changes have been positive...and let's pray that continues.

After some serious downpours, Matt and I dressed Kate in her boots and let her run. She jumped in puddles, tried her hardest to splash us and (with Matt's permission only) rummaged through puddles looking for...well...I guess dirt. She really enjoyed herself and we had a great time watching her act like a true little girl. I can't wait to dig out the wading pool and sprinkler once the temperature reaches 80 degrees. She is going to have so much fun!

I told my mom about our Monday potty drama. She encouraged me to keep a pull-up on Kate and sit her on the potty chair every hour or so. Today she pottied on the potty chair three times!! Celebrate good times, come on!!

I have been preparing for Potty Training Day for just shy of a week now. Actually, I've probably been anticipating this day since the first time I had to change a poopy diaper. Kate knew this day was coming and she seemed genuinely excited. Which probably also means she had no flippin' clue what I was talking about. The moment Kate awoke, I gave her a big hug and we head straight to the potty chair. After some tears (Kate only), lots of books, hugs from Elmo and Cheerios she finally went potty on her potty chair. She was thrilled. Danced, sang and boogied her way to the living room to watch Barney; the grand pottying prize. But between 8 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. she had 4 accidents and zero successes. That girl pees ALL THE TIME! So I have come to the conclusion that her bladder is not yet ready for potty training. I dug out a diaper for her bootie and she happily pooped as soon as we got to the park. Glad she wasn't wearing big girl underwear for that!

Matt surprised Kate and me with a vacation last weekend. After weeks of mysterious clues we finally hopped in the car and arrived in Elkader . We have been talking about visiting Elkader for over a year now. Elkader is a very pretty community with lots of quaint shops. Plus they have an Algerian restaurant, Shera's , that we have been aching to visit. After a little shopping and lots of eating, Matt hands me a paper with the address to our hotel. I then learn we are not staying in Elkader but rather traveling to Grand Harbor Resort in Dubuque . As soon as we arrive I take Kate inside to see the water park . Kate was under the impression we were going to a pool, but Grand Harbor is much more than a pool. It has several pools, three water slides , lots of squirting water features and a giant bucket that dumps water on you every 8 minutes. Kate eyed that water park , jumped from my arms and ran full speed to the first pool in sight. "Me go in pool NOW!" Sadly I