Again.

You guys. She did it AGAIN last night. She totally peed on the toilet again! Afterwards, I was more prepared and immediately gave her an M&M for being awesome. Shortly thereafter, I went to take her off and she started FREAKING OUT MAD. I put her back on but that wasn't it...she started pointing like a banshee at the M&Ms on the sink/counter...oh dear.

Hadley loves chocolate more than her paci. Almost. And may shove me out of  the way someday to get it.  This is not the only occasion where she's had a meltdown over chocolate. She's like the fat kid at the candy store about it.

This morning, I let her try peeing on the toilet again since we had an extra minute or two and she was down with it, (she didn't go) but while waiting, I saw a light go on in her little mind...and she turned and pointed at the M&Ms with a sense of urgency only reserved for pregnant mothers who realize they need to go to the hospital b/c they're having a baby immediately. Sorry, hun, those are only reserved for little girls peeing in appropriate places. ;-)

Hadley peed on the potty!!

And it will likely be the last time she goes for another month. That's how this works, starting them so young, right? Long story short, we've started with her much the same way we did with Morgan - offering her the opportunity to sit on the (soft) toilet kid seat if she wants, encouraging it a little more during natural times to use the bathroom (after naps, when she wakes up in the morning, before bath time) and offer her a toy or something to keep her busy and sit for a minute or so. Eventually, they finally go and when we make enough big deals about accidental potties, Morgan, at least, got it and was trained early.

I always maintain that we got SUPER lucky with Morgan. Luck + Got it kid = early potty training.

SO, we're trying it again with Hadley. No chronic diaper rash like with Morgan, but if she's interested, why not?! She likes seeing what Morgan and I are up to and is starting to want to do the same things we're doing. Anyway, we shall see where this leads and for now, I'm pretty pleased with a first go!

A few other Hadley "I can dos/haves!" -

• She has 8 teeth and is chewing on her fingers/back gums constantly. No molars yet.
• She walks and walks quickly (not running), loves to go around the kitchen table, and enjoys being chased. 
• She is increasing her signs and is trying to imitate what we're saying a bit more. It's still fun to hear "uh ohhh" from another room, though, until you find out what the uh oh is. ;-)
• Hadley LOVES BABIES (toy). She can almost always be seen carrying one around along with a bottle to feed it. It's adorable. She loves them. 

There's more, but my brain is cold and I need to move on before falling asleep, getting stuck watching the Parenthood season finale, or wait, just got stuck watching Parenthood. Morgan is doing fabulous things and is really getting her /k,g/ sounds in the medial/final position. It's awesome. She continues to be our smarty pants in more ways than one - like smarty smart and smarty-ass. ;-) Some days are better than others but she's more smarty smart than the other kind. She is also sweet and really misses her daddy while he's gone this week for the first time in about 7 weeks. We really heart her. I asked her the other day what she wants to be when she grows up and she maintains she wants to be a doctor. Tomorrow, I'm sure it will be animal rescuer, followed by something else great and fun. 

More soon. We're so lucky to have these little girlies.

Oh, before I forget, because I don't want to forget this, if you give Morgan a thumbs up while she's singing in the front of church with all her little Sunday school friends in an effort to maintain her attention and keep her from swinging on the communion railing, she will give the entire congregation a thumbs up 5x while singing and smiling, like they are the best congregation ever. Love her. She makes me smile. Her teacher said that during rehearsal, Morgan started conducting the music with the conductor (the kids sang with the adult choir) and kept going and going until she finally looked around and realized that none of her other kid friends were doing this too...and stopped. I guess it was hilarious, as I'm sure it was. 

Dare I even mention it...

But so far we've avoided the worst of the flu that's been going around. Adam had a pretty nasty cold, Morgan is getting over hers, and Hadley is in the middle of hers, which means next week at this time I should be a gross mess. Fingers crossed hard - we don't like barf at our house and I may cry if we all take turns.

It's time. I'm done. I'm so done carrying this baby weight around and it finally hit me that I'm walking around in someone else's chubby body instead of my own. Last Monday I finally took action and at least went with eating better/less/etc to make things happen that way. I'm trying to get in some working out but that's not been the easiest, as it never feels like it is for me. There's always something to clean/pack/play with instead of working out. And it's COLD outside which makes running seem like torture. A good friend mentioned taking the girls to the Y-care or whatever it's called, but quite honestly, it terrifies me that they'll get sick from other kids or behaviors or hurt from other kids - I know these are all ridiculous (except the sick - that's totally legit in that setting) so I don't know how much I'll use that. Our sitter once even mentioned dropping them off at her house before going to the Y so as to avoid the germs they might pick up there and bring to daycare...plus there's just not that much time in a weekday during kid awake hours. We shall see. I'm excited for this summer when Morgan can hopefully ride her bike more reliably (and not into the river or something) so we can go to the riverfront for run/bikes while Hadley hangs out in the jogger.

Long story short, I'm on the wagon and ready to lose. I was so sad to realize that I was down to about +6 pounds from pre-Hadley-pregnancy at one point this summer and then just lost it and got back up to (embarrassed to say this!) about +10-12. Right now I'm sitting at +10 which is -2 from last Monday. On my way. Done waiting to buy clothes until I'm "my size" again. Look out, summer 2013.

Speaking of 2013, I wrote something up for work the other day and put "2013-2014 school year" which blew me away - I can hardly understand that it's going to be 2014 next. That seems like forever away (and kind of is, almost a whole year).

EDIT!! I almost forgot to mention - we're about to welcome a new person into our (extended) family today! Our nephew, Chase, is almost ready to join this world as my sister is in the hospital, in labor, and likely ready to push any minute now. So excited for a boy in the family! He has no idea what he's coming into...dolls and bows and princesses...oh my. :) Can't wait to meet him! 

Ok, back to life. Carry on.

Tall Beer

I get these emails from www.babycenter.com telling me what kinds of fabulous things my baby should be doing and the educationally relevant things I can do to encourage this growth (almost all of which I know, I need to stop getting these emails) when my most recent one said that I should try doing some things to reconnect with the hubs. Then I thought, hey, when's the last time we went out on a date? We should do that. A quick text, sitter, woo! That was easy. A call to the hubs asking if we had anything going on Saturday and the first thing he said was, " The Packers play Saturday night."

I know. I sighed internally, too, but in his defense, at the time of this question, he didn't know I was looking to spend alone time with him at an eating establishment after "hours" - you know - when it gets dark in winter at 4:30pm. ;-)

So I decided to embrace this need to watch football b/c let's face it - BK (before kids), I really enjoyed watching Packer games, too! So...I decided we'd go out for dinner someplace they had the game on and we could drink to our hearts' content (well, most of the way there for one of us, someone had to get us home, I guess) while hanging out and being Adam & Liss again. And maybe have conversation about other things than "quick! grab that crazy sharp knife the waiter just put in front of Hadley!" or "Morgan, watch your milk, honey..." or "Hadley! You may not put xyz in your hair..."

We left the girls Saturday night (turns out Hadley didn't fare so well ... good for about ten minutes, tears like crazy, milk/bottle refusal (yes, she's still taking her bedtime bottle, leave me alone)), and early bed. Fine by me! She slept late the next morning. Adam and I went to Applebee's for the first half of the game where we ate a little too much and drank a lot too much and then headed to a bar close by that we've been meaning to try out (HA HA HA, try out a BAR, we're so crazy ::sarcastic font::) and watched the second half and the Packers stomp the Vikings out of Lambeau. We had a really great time talking, laughing, just being us again. We needed that. All couples do and we don't do it enough.

So cheers for Parents' Night Out and hopefully it happens again sometime soon...I sense a nice birthday dinner coming on in the next month. ;-)

Christmas in WI 2012

So last year, in 2012, we had Christmas...I know, it's odd to blog out of order but meh, that's how I roll sometimes. It's gonna be long (just like our Christmas break!) so hang in there unless I change my mind and cut it short.

So I posted about Thursday (Dec 20) being a snow day and voila! Friday also turned into a snow day! Joy! So I sent the girls to Mary's in the morning so they could wiggle and play all over before the long car ride and I could get the rest of the packing done. I had anticipated some extra time b/c we were told a 2-hr delay was coming for sure the night before, but then the day off, woo! So pack pack pack and we had a good trip home. It was nice to leave around 1:30 and have all that time to get there without feeling rushed and hoping the girls slept a little in the car. No need - we got there just in time for some play and then bed.

Saturday brought running errands and decorating for Hadley's 1st birthday party. (sorry - for now please reference Facebook for awesome pics related to this entire post.) She had a great party (thanks, Grandma Sherri & Grandpa Al for hosting...again) and received perfect gifts. It was equally exciting b/c she totally gets this whole present thing and stayed with me and helped until they were all opened. The last one she opened was a teeny Disney Princess Rocking Pony and she tried to ride it before it even was out of the box. Hadley was OK with the cake but didn't make too much mess. Grandpa Al tried to encourage her but meh, it was better with the cupcake at home on her actual birthday...until she saw Grandpa Al eating cake while sitting on the floor 15 minutes later and decided to help herself to almost the entire thing by hand. Cake mess complete. It was a great party and we are thankful for all who could join!

Sunday was Christmas at my mom's with just our family and then her giant family. We hadn't been to that (giant) Christmas in about 6 years b/c it was always the weekend before we came home and we just couldn't make that trip twice in less than a week ... then add tiny kids to that mix...it wasn't going to happen. We were thrilled to see everyone and I was especially glad to get to see my cousin and her family for the second time in a month after not seeing her since our wedding. Morgan struggled with sneaking cookies but still has truth serum running through her veins (I don't know where she got it but it's REALLY handy!) so she told me flat out that she and her cousin were sneaking cookies after I questioned the chocolate ring around her mouth...stinker.

Christmas Eve morning, we went to my stepmom's house for brunch and gifts with her and my siblings/kids. Morgan was THRILLED to get her Cinderella carriage and horse and was eager to see if Santa remembered to bring her the Cinderella doll to go with it later that night/Christmas Day. Hadley fell in love with her Disney Princess Castle as soon as we opened it in Iowa and both girls play rather nicely together with it. Both girls received nice gifts (again, as did Adam and I) and I was starting to worry about how we were going to get it all home...little girl toys can be rather large just like little boy toys! We went home to rest up and prep for Santa (cookies, reindeer food, etc) before heading to church. Then it was a quick stop at Adam's aunt/uncle's house before heading to our final Christmas of the day for the Schmidt side. Between the two family stops, Morgan ate about 523.6 cookies and was WOUND FOR SOUND. She literally ran laps around their house until it was time to open presents and even then it was open, run, open, play a minute, run, smile for picture, run, try to steal cookie, run. More thoughtful gifts including an amazing table/chair set for the girls that is not only beautiful but will last them well until they are 8 or older and something we'll hang onto forever b/c of the quality. While Adam was setting up Hadley's pack 'n play, Morgan noticed what he was doing and started crying her eyes out b/c she was tired, too. They both went to bed although Morgan got up once and decided she was ready to play more...I don't think so, sweetheart. We got home late but it was so nice to see the whole family again....love those Christmases.

Christmas Day, Morgan actually slept in a bit and I think was up around 7am...late for her. She saw that Santa had come and did very well leaving the presents and just playing with other new ones she'd received. Princess Hadley slept and slept (the start of something beautiful in the mornings...she now sleeps until at least 7:15 or later if we let her) and finally I had Morgan open her Cinderella doll from Santa so she could see that he did, indeed, read her wish list and bring her something she really wanted. I can't remember if we finally woke Hadley or if she woke on her own, but when she woke up, she chose to lay against Adam and have her presents brought to her to be opened while lounging. After she woke up a bit, she was a little more into it. ;-) Then breakfast, playtime, get ready, and head to Appleton to my brother's house for the Seefeldt family Christmas. The girls LOVED the time with their cousins and we enjoyed seeing everyone since it's always so hard to see them living so far away (sad face). Nap time was a big fat fail for both girls so we left at 3:30 so they could get some sort of nap in the car. Success. More Christmas time with family at Al & Sherri's and big Christmases were over. I can't tell you how much we cherished all that time home with family. (Steph, I'm sure by now you know I mean you, too, when I say family.)

The rest of the time home was spent running errands, visiting others, a trip to Chuckie Cheese, a wonderful visit with Steph and her family (and alone time for the two of us! AH! I can't tell you how important that was and how much I miss her...it almost hurts and we need more of this somehow...) and then we decided to stay one more day b/c we were having such a good time and Al & Sherri are gluttons for punishment (we take over their house and they are so helpful...). ;-) The girls got to go sledding (Hadley on a teeny tiny slant, not really even a hill, at A&S's house and Morgan at a giant hill in Mishicot - only 2 crashes...), we saw more family and had a little time to relax before leaving. Hadley struggled big time with some bowel issues on Friday but after 2 hours of Adam running around in a snowstorm to get "poo-inducing" items, she was feeling better before going to bed and MUCH better on the ride home Saturday... ;-) PS. It MUST be noted that the dual DVD player that Santa brought the girls was KEY to this ride home being a WINNERSUCCESSAWESOME for me since I have been dubbed "girl entertainer, snack provider, toy hander-backer, calmer, reacher for anything they throw too far" on long rides. Hit that one out of the park, Santa. It wasn't even that Hadley watched it non-stop, b/c she didn't, but it definitely provided entertainment from the hold toy 30 seconds, chuck it, get another toy, immediately throw it, repeat...so that didn't happen at all until the last 20 minutes, which I can totally handle.

We were able to get a fair number of gifts in our car along with two kids and two dogs, but Al & Sherri are bringing the rest in a few weeks (Christmas again! Actually, this isn't such a bad deal - then the presents are spread out a bit and I feel the girls will enjoy them more). We were so very blessed by thoughtful gifts and enjoyed seeing others open theirs from us this year instead of from afar via Skype like last year. The time we got to spend with family was priceless and we value that time more and more each year being so far away. I'd die if we were a flight away, I swear. We are also in the process of trying to figure out dates to go down to Florida to visit Adam's aunts and kids and it's looking good for mid-March if the dates work out on their end and Adam can get semi-decent flights. Someone mentioned it would be approx. 20 hours for a drive to which I maniacally laughed and said we're flying, see ya there. Hopefully it all works out b/c this girl could use some Florida sunshine. ;-) Thanks, everyone, for the wonderful Christmas. We are truly blessed!

Preschool ... are you serious?

We just signed Morgan up for Preschool for the fall of 2013 yesterday. That's 8 months away and while it seems odd to sign up your kid for something they're not going to get to do for such a long time, sign up started today (I thought I had more time - a few weeks!) and we wanted her somewhere we felt she would be comfortable and challenged. After much (quick!) thinking, we went with Happy Time Preschool in Muscatine which is actually located in our church (Grace Lutheran) although I'm pretty sure not run by it. I think Morgan will be very comfortable here since she's already going to Sunday School there (although she might be a little confused at first why both of her "schools" are in the same place until she's gone a few times to each) but wow. Huge first step for parents with growing girls. Now, if we could only figure out transportation...just our luck - none of the PreKs bus 3 y/o kiddos unless they're in special ed and need bussing. We'll figure it out...

And just like that, no more wood stove.

I'm way late on blogging about the holidays and whatnot, I know. BUT, seeing as how we came close to losing all our worldly possessions last night (save for my car, purse, and Hadley's basketball she somehow grabbed in the semi-chaos that was us evacuating) I feel the need to blog about this first.

So...yesterday was my last day off and I had the girls at home, fire going, almost all day save for an hour or so when the girls were at Mary's and I ran errands (I'm pretty sure I'm getting an iPhone5 for my bday, yeah!). The girls were good, we had fun, and then their witching hour before dinner began (you know, I'M STARVING and WHY CAN'T YOU HOLD ME AND COOK AT THE SAME TIME?! Joy, let me tell you.). After dinner, I just needed some me time so Adam took the girls downstairs while I cleaned up the kitchen to relax (reference Monica Geller). I was just putting the last dish in when Adam called me to come downstairs.

Somewhat annoyed (what could they POSSIBLY need now, I was almost done...) but equally curious at his tone of voice, I went downstairs to see what was going on. I quickly realized that there was WAY too much crackling in the woodstove pipe (what we now know is the super illegal, shouldn't have EVER passed inspection/code/anything pipe) and it was extremely hot (the pipe - the fire in the woodstove looked normal). Shoot. Chimney fire? We weren't sure but Adam choked out the fire from the woodstove end and went outside to look at the roof/chimney...only to find sparks flying out. For you non-woodstovians, that's not good. Or normal.

I started to freak out in my head but put on my big girl pants and removed all the super flammable dirty laundry from under the hot hot horizontal-going-to-fall-and-ruin-my-washer/dryer-start-my-house-on-fire pipe. The girls started to get curious about why we were running around doing unusual things so I took them upstairs while Adam looked for the number to the fire dept and I texted my dad (the fire king of all woodstoves). Adam went outside and looked again at the roof and told me I needed to take the girls and the dogs to Jason and Julie's.

Now, if you know Adam like I do, this guy does NOT freak out about anything (unless I'm out of line and freaking out about something for hours...he gets a little antsy about that, I suppose). Kid falls down stairs, fine after being checked? He's moved on (or at least looks all cool and smooth on the outside). Tire flat? Meh, fix and move on. It's how he is. He moves on quickly and well. SO, to have him tell me to pack up the kids (ie. coats on, maybe footwear) and throw the dogs in back of the Highlander and go meant that he was seriously concerned and I should probably freak out by jumping up and down crying in a snowbank outside. Thankfully that last little bit didn't happen and after a frantic "We're coming!! FIRE!!" phone call to the Gregory family, we were on our way and Adam had called 911 with a fire truck on the way (it ended up being 2, actually. See pictures on Facebook since I haven't had time to figure out my picture issue on here yet).

While the dogs hung out in the car and likely barked at the firemen for an hour, the girls and I hung out at the Gregorys (thank you thank you thank you, guys, for letting us interrupt your life! with company over!!) and Adam helped the firemen at our house. Some things we learned were:

1. Our woodstove is super illegal. Well, not the woodstove, that's a nice piece of work and would be expensive to buy. The hookup to outside? ILLEGAL and totally unsafe. The pipe went straight up out of the woodstove, 90 degree turn to a 6-8' horizontal pipe, and then another 90 degree turn up out the roof. We often wondered about this but it passed home inspection so...what do we know? I'd like my money back now, please, bad home inspector.
2. The woodstove is no longer connected to the grand outdoors. We have a big hole from our laundry room to the open outside and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before some idiot bird falls down the hole and we have him trapped in there sitting by the towel that is preventing the outside from coming in at the moment. The dogs will think this is the grandest thing ever and will likely never leave the laundry room when this finally happens. New Brittany Spaniel vertical jump records will be made.
3. Adam said the firemen chucked logs on fire out the door into snowbanks outside. He also said that when they took the super illegal horizontal pipe off to also be thrown in a snowbank outside, it was GLOWING hot and very much on fire. 
4. We learned that our chimney sweep we've used for the past 4-5 years is a moron who might not really know what he's doing. I'd like those $500 back now, please, thankyouverymuch. 
5. Our entire house now smells like we had a campfire in the middle of it, which I suppose we sort of did. Minus the marshmallows and s'mores. Bummer.
6. I am so very thankful that I didn't see most of what I've mentioned already, as my anxiety was kept to a moderate amount after the firetrucks arrived. They used huge fans to blow all the smoke out of the house so we didn't have to breathe it all in. The Wilton Fire Dept did a great job and we are indebted to them for their help.
7. I couldn't believe how clean they left the house. After 10 firemen traipsing through my house, I expected mess/footprints/debris galore but instead, it was minimal and cleaned up quickly. 
8. We won't be having fires in this house as long as we live here, even if the guy they recommended to come look at it and see if we even COULD legally/safely connect it again figures out a way to make it happen.
9. Our heating bills are going to skyrocket. 

 Things I am thankful for and proud of:

1. Morgan did extremely well when we told her there was an emergency (she understands this) and we had to leave NOW. She got her boots on, was in a good (not scared like mom) mood, and followed directions well. Since she didn't see anything really scary, she thought the whole thing was pretty neat, actually. We came home about 5 minutes before the firemen left so she got to talk to them and see their trucks from the outside. She got a teddy bear and Adam got a Wilton EMS bottle of water. I got a Hadley to hold. :) 
2. The Wilton Fire Dept. Excellent work, boys. And thank you. And please don't be so far away from our house next time b/c 25 minutes sort of seems like 25 days when you're hoping your house isn't burning down.
3. Great friends who took us in even though they had family visiting and fed my daughter another dinner b/c she acts like she's never been fed before if someone else is eating.
4. I'm beyond thankful it all went down like it did - It happened while Adam was home AND he was in the basement - I had that thing burning all day and it could have flared up any time and I was never down in the basement (except to watch Cinderella with the girls - that's right, I forgot) but it was almost perfect timing, if there is such a thing for this sort of adventure. We were able to give the girls their baths, get to sleep in our own beds in our own warm, functioning house, and everyone and thing was ok. 
5. I'm thankful for Febreeze and Wall Plug Ins. Hopefully we'll stop stinking soon if you have the honor of smelling our house any time soon. 

So now we find someone to cap the hole on the roof to avoid the idiot bird issue (or worse yet, furry critter!) and see if we are able to hook the woodstove back up for resale purposes. Adam will have to have a fire when I'm on the other side of the country b/c as far as I'm concerned, I'm done with them at this house. It could have been so much worse - thankfully it wasn't. Thank you to the outpouring of support and offering of help on Facebook last night. Lots of thankful prayers coming from the Schmidt household....