Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Potty, DIYing, gorilla

Somehow it's the middle of March already, although it feels like the middle of May. Beautiful weather lately! The girls and I were outside yesterday afternoon for a while - I was trying to take apart a pallet (future DIY project) and they were drawing with sidewalk chalk while Roman finished his nap. You know it's nice outside if I'm willing to be out there
I've been thinking of tons of things lately that I wanted to blog about. But do you think I can remember any of them right now? Lol. Of course not. I'll do my best as I go though...I don't want these years to go by in a fog and not have any way to remember them!
Arianna has been having some difficulty with going potty lately. It's so frustrating because I KNOW she can do it. But instead of going to the bathroom or telling us she has to go, she just runs to a corner and does her business (both!). I feel like I've tried everything, and she's just so stubborn. Right now she's had a few good days, but Sunday was the worst because she pooped in her underwear while we were at the park before church. It was so messy, and of course I didn't have any wipes for some reason. Ugh. Anyways, if she goes all day staying clean and dry, she gets a cupcake (we're saving them in the freezer). And I also took away her new pony undies, and she'll get them back when she stops making messes. She knows all the right answers, and knows when she has to go. I just don't know what's going on with that girl.
Other than that, she is so joyful and sweet most of the time. Lately she's been asking everyone "are you happy" over and over, all the time, even if it's obvious we ARE happy, but especially when we're upset about something (like a potty accident...). It's so sweet and insightful, that I feel bad that we react the way we do. But we do our best to assure her we still love her, we're just sad about her accident, etc. But she asks Marissa and Roman too, and me and Dan at the most random times. It's so funny, and now she knows it. She's talking like crazy, and it's hard to believe we ever had any worries about her language development. She even read the words "cat" and "dad" the other day by sounding out each letter then smushing them together. I was shocked, and really didn't help her all that much. It's so reassuring that she's not behind and is so smart already!
We have officially decided to homeschool Marissa. We haven't registered or done any of the "official" stuff yet, but I have a feeling we need to do it soon. It's still very overwhelming to me, but I'm excited to see how it goes. Marissa is also excited about homeschooling, and I think it'll go well once we get into a swing of things. I'm also excited to design a beautiful playroom/schoolroom space in the basement I've spent probably way too much time on it, but it will make a huge difference to me as the "teacher" if the space is soothing, pretty, organized, and functional. IKEA here I come!
Last week Marissa asked for a real cell phone for her birthday. She said "Antonio has one" and that "he's in charge" at his house. Lol. We told her that it would definitely be a LONG time before she ever got her own cell phone. But it was pretty funny.
Roman is beginning to talk like crazy. He says "bear" everytime we go in his room, because the giant bear is on the bed in there. He mainly just says the "b" sound, but it sounds different depending on what b-word he's saying. He's so stinking happy, and has started to know exactly what to do when I want to take his picture. He grins at the camera so well, even though it doesn't last very long. But today he started doing the squinty grin, and Arianna is still stuck in that phase too. Lol, should make for interesting Easter pics in a few weeks here!
I had some time off work (end of the month wrap up in the office), so Dan helped me put up a cool shelf in the laundry room. We installed some 2x4s on each side of the washer/dryer nook. I had found some sliding closet doors for free off craigslist, so Dan cut one down to size with his table saw, I painted it, and we slid it right over the 2x4s. It makes a huge table surface for folding laundry, and it's about an inch above the washer/dryer tops, so it doesn't shake like crazy whenever they're on. I've got many other plans for the laundry room, but not as much time to work on it when I have "work" to do. I also spent a lot of time on my wall plaques that I'm painting. They were dollar store floral 10" square plaques, but I painted them all white, and then each one gets a different geometric design. I'm imitating some wall stickers I saw on someone's blog that they bought at Home Goods (We just got a new one - I need to go!), but I could never find them to buy for myself. They've turned out really well so far, and I love looking at something I created out of ugly stuff! It's made me addicted to craigslist though. We recently made a good chunk of money off stuff on craigslist, so I've been obsessively checking it every day to see if there's anything I could use/change/make for cheap. The hard part is deciding if it's junk or something I can work with. Haha!
We're going to Disney in June with the in-laws, and we haven't told the girls yet! We'll surprise them sometime before we start packing, so they know they need to be excited! But I've already been thinking ahead and researching everything possible about the trip, from flip flops (for me), double stroller/single, sunscreen and anything else I can think of. I'm very excited about it, and I know the girls will love it. I'm a little worried about how Roman will do just because 18 months is a hard age, but the adults will outnumber the kids, so I'm sure we can handle it! It's overwhelming to plan though, which is why I'm starting early!
I think I've covered just about everything I wanted to, except for Roman and the gorilla. One Valentine's Day when we were in college, Dan bought me a stuffed gorilla that plays the drums and sings. Marissa used to be terrified of it as a baby. We recently found it in our closet, and discovered that Roman was also terrified of it! It was hilarious, because he'd point to it, but then snuggle up with us like it would eat him or something. But after a while of that, suddenly he decided he loved it! Now he points to it, goes "eh, eh" and grins like a fool when we turn it on. He carries it around upstairs, and puts his fingers in the mouth as it sings. Yesterday he even imitated the singing and I swear he said "ooooohhh yeah baby" just like the gorilla does. I love that boy, and this age!
Well, I finished this early, so I still have some "naptime" to myself. Hmmm, laundry...or pinterest