julia's shower day!

Too tired to type after a long, hot day of bridal showering for Julia. Watching someone open so many presents is a lot of work you know!

The beautiful bride-to-be... she wears bright colors better than anyone else I know!

Julia and her two sweet (albeit slightly forgetful) Grandmas, Louise and Mary.

Andrew's Auntie Jan hosted at her lovely home... can you tell she doesn't have little kids?

Gifts, gifts, gifts!

A gift shipped all the way from North Carolina, from our mutual sister-in-law, Stacy.

Studying recipes from the Bride & Groom Cookbook.

Just 7 more weeks 'til the big wedding day. We're all very excited... and someone (me) is just a teensy bit anxious about an all-day (no nap included) formal family affair with a 2-year-old.

She'll do fine.

Repeat 100 times.

spring dance recital

This weekend so far has been all about Avery's big dance recital. The studio where she takes lessons puts on a big show once a year to showcase all of their dancers (well, all the dancers over the age of 8). This was Avery's first year being a part of the show (after 4 years of going to watch it) and she was thrilled. The group has been rehearsing weekly since February and just about every day this past week. This has made Avery extra-tired, which in turn has made her deliriously silly and ridiculous. I think if she could sleep for 2 days straight now, she just might.

{Apologies in advance... the performance doesn't really start until 0:18, but I can't edit videos on this computer. Avery's the first dancer on stage on the right; hopefully you can follow her from there because they all look the same!}

* * * * *

Just in case the video didn't suffice:

On the way to the first show.

Avery & her dance partner/friend, E (big sister to E and E... coincidence?).

(Blurry) Curtain call!

After the second (final) show tonight, the Voodoo Doughnut truck magically appeared with FREE donuts to celebrate their 6th anniversary! Who doesn't love doughnuts? Certainly not these three:

And the best part of all? That sweet little surprise got us out of a promised trip to DQ...

alarming

There's a big part of me that thinks I'm a horrible person for even thinking about posting this post, but at the same time, I feel like kind of a hypocrite for (without intention) only posting about "the good stuff." Not that this is all that bad...

Although Cayden was potty-trained during the day within a couple weeks of turning 2, he's still not consistently dry overnight. He's been wearing pull-ups each night since age 2, and they are usually wet in the morning. When he was 4, I thought there must be something seriously wrong with him, until I started quietly asking around his preschool. Little did I know, every single other boy in the class (not an exaggeration) was also wearing pull-ups to bed. Why nobody ever talked about it, I have no idea. As if it reflects badly on the parent or something.

So we just continued on as normal, assured that he would grow out of the problem and learn to recognize the signs that he needed to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. At his 6-year check-up, I talked to the doctor about it. She said there were a couple of options, but that in her opinion, neither of them were really recommended and/or all that effective until the age of 7. Sure enough, he turned 7 with no signs that the issue was going to resolve itself, so we headed back to the doctor.

It turns out there are 2 options for bedwetting. Medication can be prescribed that works on a daily basis, but has absolutely no long-term benefits (i.e. it won't teach the child to recognize that they have to get up to go to the bathroom). It's not recommended for consistent use (but I can't remember why now), rather just as a back-up plan for sleepovers or camp, etc. The second, more common option is a bedwetting alarm.... which we are currently trying out.

This particular $60 contraption is available by phone order only (other models are available online but the doctor assured us that this one was worth the phone call) and could be confused as a form of torture at first glance. It was has two metal clasps that are attached to the child's underwear in a certain spot at bedtime. If/when that certain spot becomes wet, it makes the alarm go off with an obnoxiously loud buzzing noise. When I hear it, I'm convinced every time that it's shocking Cayden but he swears that it doesn't hurt. Ideally, the loud noise will A) wake the child up, B) make them stop peeing at that moment, and C) eventually teach them to respond to the sensation of needing to pee.

We are 6 days into this new experiment, and we've definitely had mixed results. The first night the alarm went off, it did stop Cayden from peeing (he literally had one tiny drop in his underwear) but it was nearly impossible to wake him up. [This is the boy who slept through 30 minutes of a defective smoke alarm going off at a beach house we were renting.] But each night since then, he's been waking up more and more on his own when the alarm goes off. Hopefully he will soon wake up completely with the alarm and be able to get himself to the bathroom. Baby steps.

But on the flip side, I think using this alarm is making him feel worse than 5 years of pull-ups ever did. Since many of his friends were also still wearing them, he never was embarrassed or self-conscious about needing them at night. Since he's had the alarm, though, he seems so discouraged each night he's not dry (he's slept through the alarm and wet the bed 2 times, not surprisingly both on days when he was extra tired--a correlation we've noticed for years now). He asked me today how long it will take for the alarm to work, and I can tell that he hates wearing it.

I know most of the people who read this blog have younger kids, but if anyone has any experience with these alarms or medication or even hearsay from other people, I'd appreciate any feedback. You can even comment anonymously if you'd like (although believe me, I'm in no place to have judgment on the topic)!

wordless wednesday #28

just because this is the only baby book she's got...*

...I feel it's very important to note that Josie peed in the potty for the very first time today! She told me she had to go so I took off her diaper & dress and then forgot all about it, assuming she was bluffing (which she often does). A few moments later she came back and told me the potty was broken. When I went into the bathroom, there was pee (lots of it!) in the potty and Josie was trying to get the bowl out. Luckily it was "broken" and she couldn't get it all the way out!

(In the interest of full disclosure, Josie has peed on the floor 3 times since the miracle of 3:30. Oh well... progress is sometimes slow, but it's still progress.)

*How freaking illiterate am I???  [The original title of this post was "because just this is the only baby book she's got..."  I only noticed the error when the comments were emailed to me.  Someone needs more sleep!]

191 pictures condensed down to 15

We headed out to the gorge yesterday for a picnic and a short hike with Darren, Christie, Henry & Beauty the Wonderdog. We started out at Wahkeena Falls where we ate and watched the kids play in the creek water (and maybe drink a little bit of it, parasites and all).

Avery basically doggie-napped Beauty for the whole afternoon. She was in heaven and has told us no fewer than 25 times since then how much she wants a dog for her birthday.
[Unfortunately for her, that is not about to happen.]

Yum.

Splash!

Boys {heart} sticks.

A belated birthday gift for Miss Josie from Monsieur Henry.

We get this same picture almost every year. The kids seem to get bigger each time though.

Dads, Kids and Dog.

Got sunscreen?

Yep, still in love with Beauty.

Henry tries to squeeze through the bars while Josie goes for the "over-the-top" method of escape.

Just a-swingin'.

Cayden loved every second of the trek. Definitely his kind of thing.

Return Trail (just o.5 miles back to Wahkeena Falls--with two toddlers in tow, it took exactly 23 minutes).

Some random cool-looking flower.

I suspect Henry is used to having his picture taken.

4 years ago today

I'm not sure how 4 years could have gone by so fast, but here we are in 2009 and Avery is a soon-to-be fourth grader... no longer the cute, camera-shy little 4-year-old preschool grad. In fact, we're just a year away from her little sister (the one who was still 2 years away from being born when this picture was taken) heading back to the family alma mater, assuming our very favorite teacher sticks around!

I'm a Big Kid Now, by Josie

For some reason, it kind of freaked my parents out that I could hoist my leg up over the side of my crib and start to pull myself up. Wimps. They decided it would be safer to get me into a toddler bed. When it was set up yesterday, I immediately jumped in and loved it! That part was no surprise to anyone, but when I actually went to sleep in it without any fuss, that apparently was a bit of a surprise (Avery & Cayden took a long time to adjust to their new bed. Wimps.)

This is how my room looked before:

And this is how my room looks now. I'm a big kid!

b.f.f.

I'm not sure the feeling is 100% mutual, but Josie has a new bestest buddy, E. E is almost 2 years older than Jojo (although they weigh the same amount and can swap shoes, as evidenced by the above picture) but Josie is just enthralled by her. She copies her and talks about her all the time when she's not around.

As a fellow 3rd child, I suspect there's a tiny part of E that enjoys having someone look up to her and follow her every move. I'm sure she will tire of her little tag-along friend soon, so Josie intends to make the most of it while it lasts!

first bbq of the season: done and done

Hamburgers: check
Brats (hiding on the upper shelf of the bbq): check
Hot Dogs: check
Corn on the cob*: check... and yum
Propane: check (but not an ounce** to spare)
Good friends to entertain the kids: check
Great company for us: check

*We tried several methods of corn preparation (totally bare, minus all the silks only, minus some of the husks only) because I couldn't remember the best way to do it. FYI, apparently all methods work just fine.

**What is the unit of measurement for propane?

the five best words ever

Yesterday was a rough day (no coincidence that I posted a lot on here... trying to ignore everything/one else around me!). Josie's had a heck of a cold and she spent the whole day whining, from morning 'til night and every moment in between. Her sleep has been all messed up (she's been falling asleep at night better but waking up a few times during the night and still getting up early early early), although I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the cold or just one of those lucky coincidences!

Today I got the chance to spend a few very welcome hours away from her (thanks, Mom!) to enjoy a birthday breakfast with my dear friend Becky (Happy Birthday to Sarah as well!). Although Josie seems a lot better today, I was gearing up for more whining once we set foot in the door a few minutes ago. Being at home seems to bring it all on stronger, don't you think?

But, much to my surprise, she graced me with a wonderful gift... her way of apologizing for her atrocious behavior yesterday, I'm sure. When I asked if she wanted lunch of water or a book, she simply replied...


(wait for it, it's good)...


"I READY FOR NAPPING TIME."


Ahhh, yes. No argument from me on that one.

will perform stupid human tricks on camera...for bread

My very favorite part of Josie's version of the alphabet: "Now I know my ABCs, H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P."

art show... again

{I know time is going too fast when I can remember posting about these same events last year like they were just yesterday.}

Another day, another evening event at school. Seems like we're there at least two evenings a week throughout the spring. This time it was the Art Show... same story as last year (too lazy to retell all the details). Here are some blurry pictures of the artwork Avery & Cayden chose to display last night:




Just like last year, Avery signed up for a 10-minute slot at the piano,with a few more lessons under her belt and several more songs in her repertoire. This time she brought along her violin-playing buddy, Elizabeth, to do a duet of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (and her little sister to distract both of them by banging on the piano keys... sigh). Listening to 2 eight-year-old novice instrumentalists trying to stay in sync after just 10 minutes of practice can be a bit hard on the ears at times... but trust me, it's worth it to see how cute they are.

* * * * *

And this is how Miss Crazy decided to show up last night. Avery's slippers (as in, they're made for a 7-9 year old) and her "dancing skirt" (aka: tutu), which always ends up inside out. Can you tell she's into dressing herself these days? Can you tell she's two?

wordless wednesday #27

busy tired cranky

Life's just crazy right now. I must sound like a broken record, but it's true. Luckily as school dwindles to a close for the year, things will slow down dramatically.

Avery has just 2 weeks until her big ballet show... which means of course that the rehearsals are getting longer and more often, but it also means that she's that much closer to being done with them altogether!

* * * * *
Cayden has about a month left of baseball, which is just fine by me. Honestly, that has been my least favorite of either of the kids' activities, by far (on the flip side, it's been one of his favorites). The practices are fine because I can just drop him off but the games are ex-cru-ci-a-ting. They're long and frankly pretty freaking boring unless Cayden is up at bat, which is about 0.05% of the time. His team is made up of kids ranging from 6-9 and just between you and me, 9-year-old boys are butts. Mine won't be of course, but these particular ones sure are.

* * * * *
And then there's Josie. Josie who used to sleep from 7pm-7am every day, give or take a day or two here and there. On Saturday night, she decided she didn't like that plan anymore. Avery had 3 friends spending the night, which sometimes makes it hard for Josie to fall asleep, so it wasn't a huge shock when it took her until 9 to settle down. She wasn't upset the whole time, but we definitely had to keep going in to check on her and calm her down. First she'd want water, then she'd want a book in her bed, then she'd convince us that she needed a new diaper. Of course she topped it off by waking up at 6 Sunday morning... because it's only logical to get up an hour early when you went to bed 2 hours late?

Apparently, it was not just the friends in the house that threw her schedule off, because the same thing happened again last night. But this time it took her until 9:30 to go to sleep and she was up today at 5:55! Anything that starts with a 5 is crazy talk, people. Even if it ends in :55. Both days she has thankfully gone down for an extended, earlier-than-normal, nap... but it's not been enough to counter the lack of sleep overnight. She has been cranky and clumsy (which leads to more falls than normal, which leads to more crankiness, etc.). It's been a long day.

{Oddly enough, I looked back at blog posts from a year ago (I had heard on the news that this time last year, we were in the middle of a big heat wave that I didn't remember at all--another reason why everyone should blog... you never have to remember anything yourself!) and wouldn't you know it, Josie was having a hard time sleeping then as well. I think it might be time to break down and look into room-darkening shades. I hate to do it, but...}

* * * * *
We're off now to another thrilling baseball game... one that will no doubt run extra long because of this glorious weather (which, by the way, has been spectacular--finally something I can't complain about).

Update: Apparently if I gripe enough on here, things turn around sharply (which is a dangerous precedent!). Cayden's game was awesome. There were only 8 kids (and zero 9-year-old butts) and everyone kept hitting and hitting, so they made it through the batting order 3 times. Cayden got two hits and scored both times (not on his hit, but on subsequent hits by teammates... I'm not sure what that's called). Since the weather took a serious turn at exactly 5:45, they only played 4 innings, which surprisingly took just 60 minutes (on Saturday it took over 2 hours). Then when we got home, we put Josie to bed and she went right to sleep! Hallelujah. Looks like I could have made it to my Bunco game after all. Oh well, a quiet night at home doesn't sound too bad either.

parenting a pre-pre-teen

I went to a parent lecture/discussion last night at school on the topic of raising pre-teens and adolescents. Although I don't usually walk out of these lectures with any new ground-breaking, life-changing information, it's so helpful to have good advice reiterated over and over again. As someone pointed out last night, if we hear it enough times, surely we'll be more likely to do the right thing when we're in one of those "heat of the moment" moments.

One of the most crucial things the speaker really stressed (which really struck a chord with me since I also have younger kids) was how important it is to make lots of "deposits" into your child's emotional bank while they're young... because there will be lots of withdrawals when they get closer to the teen years. A child with good self-esteem and a strong bond with his or her family is much less likely to seek out other, potentially harmful, influences. She reminded us how special one-on-one time is for children of any age. Which reminded me that we'd made a pact to schedule more of that for Avery & Cayden... and then the spring sports started and that plan went out the window. But it's never too late to do better, right?

I was glad to hear this expert (a social worker for the school district) tell us that it's excellent for kids to be involved in lots of different activities to keep their brain stimulated... because I'm convinced our kids are naturals at that! They never want to give up on one activity to try another one out and never seem to find an absolute "favorite" activity that they like more than the rest. I asked her how you know if it's become too much and she said that it will usually become too much for the family long before it's too much for the kid (100% true for us), and that as long as the kids are enjoying themselves, it's all good. So that was kind of a relief because it's something that I've fretted about before (I can't help it; I'm a natural born fretter-er).

Several other parents were discussing specific issues their kids were going through (issues with kids of the opposite gender, getting caught in some significant lies, etc.) so I left feeling like everything here is going just fine, thankyouverymuch. Avery is definitely in a beautiful little bubble with her set of friends at the moment but I will relish that for as long as it lasts. No catfights (well, no major catfights), no boyfriend/girlfriend drama, no interest in sneaking behind our backs to watch R-rated movies. Ah yes, life right now is good. Ask me again in 2 years and I might have a different answer, but for now, we've got it pretty good and for that I am thankful.

wordless wednesday #26{that's half a year, folks!}

"the portland play"

Today Avery's whole grade (all ~100 kids) performed in "Portland--The Musical," a play that spans 200+ years, running through the history of the city. Several schools in Portland put on this play each year (paid for with Run for the Arts money), usually in 3rd grade. Avery's been looking forward to being in it for 4 years now! She was cast as the "American Schoolgirl," saying goodbye to her Japanese-American classmate who's being sent off to an internment camp during World War II. How's that for uplifting?!

Avery refused to sing her solo for me at home so this morning's performance was the first time I'd heard it all the way through. I thought she did a great job... all that singing in the shower must be paying off!

Some pics from the evening performance: