Thanksgiving 2008

What a week! Courtney is supposed to go to the gym on Thursday nights, but because this Thursday was Thanksgiving, we took her to the class on Tuesday night. There were only 2 other kids in it. She was the youngest and she is still pretty new at this whole thing, so she is still learning how to do their skills. Two of the skills they had the kids learn and work on was climbing up bars on the side of the gym wall and crossing the monkey bars. Courtney was having a hard time grasping the whole one hand at a time thing on the monkey bars. The My Gym lady was holding her and she would let go with both hands at the same time to move on to the next bar. Funny!

Wednesday was a busy busy day! The owners at work, including Hubby, made the executive decision to close at noon on Wednesday. Nice! So, at noon Hubby and I headed up to Whole Food for our Thanksgiving feast fixings. We ate some lunch to build up our energy before we wiggled our way through the crowds!!! It was CRAZY in the store! But we were able to get just about everything we needed! I only had to stop at another grocery store to pick up 2 more items.

After that we went to get my car. We had dropped it off that morning to get new tires. The tires it had were HORRIBLE in the snow last winter. So, in order to support my NASCAR friends, I got some Goodyear Triple Treads put on it. Ok, I didn’t really get the Goodyear’s to support NASCAR; I got them because Consumer Reports rated them top of the line for all weather tires. I have to say, they are dang pretty! Who knew a tire could make me smile? Is my life just that sad that I get excited about tires? Still, I looked at them again today and smiled and thought “man, those are some nice looking tires!” Sigh…..

Hubby went home and started prepping food for the next day. I went and ran some errands I have been wanting to do, but hadn’t had time. I also wanted to get them done before the craziness of the holiday shopping started.

That night our friend Rick came over for dinner. Not sure if I mentioned it before or not, but he had been working for this aircraft company in Denver for something like 10 years. When the economy started to go horrible, they closed, and he lost his job. Then the rumor mill started saying that a Russian company was going to invest in it, which they did and after he had been out of work for a couple months, he got his job back. But then, about a month ago, when the stock market really started to dive, the Russian investors pulled out. Result was that he lost his job again. So, he is currently unemployed again. Courtney adores him, so she gets a huge kick out it when he comes over.

We also bought his motorcycle from him about a month ago as well. Now Hubby and Courtney both have a bike to ride!

Hubby stayed up late Wednesday night. He put the bird on the smoker at midnight. Next morning we started cooking about 9am. My mom and Dad arrived just after 10am. Which was great, because then they could distract the kid, so I was able to be the sous-chef. We ate a huge, yummy meal about noon. After we stuffed our selves full, Courtney went down for her nap.

While Courtney was napping we put up the Christmas tree. By “we” I mean Hubby brought it up from the basement, and he and my mom put it together, then my mom and dad decorated it. I sat on the couch whole time drinking wassail. Don’t worry, the wassail was non-alcoholic. Hubby also took down our large blow up turkey in the front yard and replaced it with our blow up Santa riding a motorcycle. So, in one fell swoop we went from Thanksgiving to Christmas!

I am pretty much done with my Christmas shopping! I am waiting for a few packages to arrive to wrap, but other than that, I am just about almost done. There are just a few things I need to go out and get still. Maybe tomorrow but I sure wasn’t going to go out today! Sorry, but I don’t get into that whole Black Friday thing. I also avoid shopping on my birthday, too crazy again!

We got snow Thanksgiving Day! We got a few flurries during the day, but then that evening it really started to snow. We got probably an inch. It made for super slippery driving for those crazy people who were out before the crack of dawn shopping. By the afternoon the sun had melted most of the snow. I got up a few minutes ago and looked out and apparently it’s snowing again! According to the weather man it’s supposed to do this off and on through Sunday.

We are currently a household of 4 dogs. Greg and his fiancée Tania went up to Blackhawk for the holiday. All their kids are in NY for the holidays, so they were able to go and have a grown up Thanksgiving. So, Romeo is here to play. Bristol really likes playing with Romeo because Romeo plays with him and isn’t bossy and pushy like Maggie. For the first hour that Romeo was here, it was crazy while the two of them ran around and got all the playing out of their system. Now, he is just like another dog in the house. They will pick him up on Sunday.

My mom bought these snow boots for Courtney that are white with princesses on them. She is now HOOKED on them. We can talk her out of wearing them around the house all the time, but when we leave the house, forget it. She is going to wear her boots. The other day she insisted on wearing her boots in the car to daycare but I told her we had to bring her shoes and put them on once we got to daycare. But for the last few days when we run errands, she insists on the boots. Some battles you just don’t pick.

THEN my mom got her a Santa hat and gave it to her yesterday. Now, whenever we leave the house it’s her boots and her Santa Hat she has to wear. So, tonight we went to Walgreens with boots and a Santa Hat on. She took the hat off before going in the store, but she was trudging around Walgreens in her boots! She’s pretty cute!

So, the pregnancy is still going smoothly. I have been going through a lot of days this week where I don’t feel the baby move most of the day. Then late afternoon I start to get a little panicked about it. But then that evening she starts to move again. I know I drive Hubby crazy, but it drives me crazy! Hubby swears I went through this when I was pregnant with Courtney too. I don’t remember that, but that’s not saying much. Now if we ask Courtney where her sister is she will reply “in mommy’s belly”. It’s pretty cute.

Well, I am off to move laundry and maybe watch a movie!

Such a girl

We have such a girl on our hands. Last night I was clearing out her shoe bin of her shoes that no longer fit her. She discovered a pair of red boots in the bottom which she pulled out and announced she wanted to wear.

I said “I am not sure they will fit you, but we can try them on”. So, I put them on her feet.

I asked her “how do they feel?”

To which she promptly replied “they look good!”

Almost Thanksgiving!

Another week come and gone. Another week closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas! This past week Hubby was in DC teaching, so it’s been just us girls at the house.

I am still not overly happy with the Zebra room at Courtney’s daycare. It still feels very chaotic in there most of the time to me. But, Courtney likes it. And her potty training is advancing really fast, so hey, maybe it will be okay.

Thursday night I took her to try a class at My Gym. If you aren’t familiar with My Gym, it’s a “gymnasium” for kids 6 weeks to 13 years old. They hold classes for different age ranges, and they have all kinds of play equipment for kids. They are nationwide and apparently worldwide too! (http://www.my-gym.com/)

So, we headed to our 6pm class. The teacher, Mr. Joe, was telling me at the beginning that most kids don’t participate in circle time the first time so not to feel discouraged if she doesn’t. But Courtney jumped right into the first circle time! And she did everything the teachers did! She loved it! They start the hour by doing free play, then a circle time with some songs and movements. Then more free play, then an activity, which they had little square boards on wheels that the kids laid on and we pulled them around using a hula hoop. Then more free play, then they pulled out swings they hung from the ceiling, then free play then more circle time, etc. They also do about 5 minutes of social time where the kids play and the adults leave the floor and let the kids do things on their own. She did really well during that too.

I was shocked when right in the middle she came up to me and said “I need to go potty”. So, I took her to the potty and sure enough, she pottied!! Later that night, her diaper was dry when I changed it, so she is obviously figuring this whole potty thing out!

The class gets over at 7pm, which is her normal bedtime. After the class I had to stay to fill out paperwork to get her enrolled, so she was starting to fall apart while I was doing that. Thankfully the gym is not far from our house and it’s only about a 5 minute drive. So, as soon as we got home I put her to bed and she was out in a matter of moments! Next time we should be able to leave right after class, so that should help with the bedtime stuff. It’s close, but as long as we don’t stay much past 7pm, she should be able to hold it together.

She did so well! She participated in everything! And she had a blast jumping on their trampoline, jumping in the ball pit, and riding on their little train. She can’t wait to go back! She kept saying “we went to Gym’s house”.

After I put her to bed, I spent the evening doing my accounting homework. Do I know how to have fun or what?! I only have 3 more class sessions left and I am done with Accounting 1!!! It sure would be a lot more exciting if it was Accounting 2 that was almost over so I didn’t have to ever do accounting again, but it’s not. So, next summer I am going to have to suffer through Accounting 2. BLECK. But it feels great to have all my accounting homework done for Tuesday! Now I don’t have to worry about it!

So, this time of year, in this economy is really tough for me personally. What I mean by that is that I know that there are so many families that are struggling just to make ends meet, let alone have a large meal or purchase presents for their kids. There have been food drives left and right, and I have always been trying to donate to them.

Courtney’s school just held a drive; I donated about a bag of dry and canned goods to that. At work, a few months ago over the summer, I initiated 3 collection boxes at the office. 1 is for our Office Assistant’s husband in Iraq, 1 is for the Humane Society, and 1 is for the local food bank called Care N Share. All of us who work in the office pick stuff up, just an extra item or two when we are at the store to throw into one of the boxes. Then Kim sends the stuff to her husband, or we take the other boxes to their donation locations.

Last year we adopted a family at work. We have done the same again this year. We have adopted a family of 5 that needs help. They asked for things like sheets, pot and pans, jackets, shoes and coats. We will go shopping for them and then wrap all the gifts.

Also we have an annual friend’s dinner at Christmas time. We have instituted that everyone that attends brings a pair of kids PJ’s and a book and we donate that to the Pajama Program (http://www.pajamaprogram.org/). Just a few small things we try to do to help those in need. But to me, it sure doesn’t feel like much. I sure wish there was much more I could do, especially in these economic times.

Well, Hubby is finally home this afternoon, so I guess we will all go and spend some quality time together as a family. Hope everyone is well!

So, yes folks, we are pretty sure we are having another girl. Not 100% sure, but pretty sure. We have mostly started to call “it” “she”. I will feel much better with confirmation one way or the other in a month.

Well, we had Veteran’s Day off from work, so we took Courtney to day care and spent the day cleaning. Except for the part of the day where I had to go to school and take an accounting test. Which by the way, I got a 96% on! We got a lot of the stuff cleared out of the baby’s room. Now we have several trips to make to Goodwill. And I have to take pictures to list some things on Craig’s List. But we can at least see most of the room! And once I get all Christmas presents wrapped and shipped out, or delivered to where they belong, we can finish clearing out the room and then move furniture out. THEN we can start to move baby furniture in.

Yesterday Courtney went in the basement with Hubby to do something. She saw the baby swing that we had pulled out. She asked what it was. Of course once she heard it was a swing she wanted to sit in it. Hubby explained to her that it was for her new baby sister once she gets here. Fast forward about an hour, we were walking around REI and she starts saying “where’s my baby sister? Where’s my sister?” Not sure if she thought we were going to be purchasing her baby sister at the store, or it finally hit her that she was going to actually have a baby sister. But it was pretty cute.

She has transitioned rooms at day care officially now. On Friday morning I took her in and opened the door to her old room. She refused to enter and said she wanted to go to the Zebra room, her new room. The teacher said I could go ahead and take her down to the Zebra room. She spent the whole day down there and is now officially a Zainey Zebra.

I guess as usual I am not happy with the transition. They are supposed to be transitioning out 4 of the oldest kids next week. But for now, the age gap is pretty big. They have 24 month olds up to 30 month olds. At this age range, that is a pretty wide span and really is a big difference in size and abilities and such.

When I walked in the room on Friday afternoon to pick her up, there were a LOT of kid in the room and it felt very chaotic in the room. I hate that feeling. I don’t like the idea of little Courtney being stuck in a room that just has chaos in the air. AND while I was standing there trying to gather her stuff, one of the larger kids just walked right up to her and pushed her down. Courtney had just been standing there not doing anything! Thankfully the teacher saw it too, and made the other kid apologize to Courtney. I also walked over and told Courtney to tell the girl how that made her feel, but she still isn’t great at using her words. Plus she was pretty stunned. I walked out of there with that sick feeling in my stomach that I hate. That feeling of: maybe I should just quit my job and stay home with her. However, that is not very realistic for us, so hopefully next week goes smoother.

Other than all that, things are pretty much the same around here. Hubby was allowed to purchase himself a new laptop for work, so he has a new MacBook Pro. He just got it Friday and has spent every possible minute on it since it arrived. One of these days I am going to have to start hiding his power cord while he is home.

Well, I need to go and spend time with the kid and work on laundry. Hope everyone is well!

New Bed

Well, big news around here recently is that Courtney got a new big girl bed! Last weekend we went out to find her a new bed. With the baby coming in a few months, we wanted to use the crib for the new baby. So, we wanted to switch Courtney as soon as possible so she didn’t feel misplaced by the baby.

We took her to a furniture store to look for beds. We told her where we were going and what we were looking for. She runs into the first store we go in, stops in the middle of everything and says “where’s my new bed?” It was very cute. She test drove several beds.

But we moved on to another furniture store. At the next store she found a bed she loved and we found a bed we loved, but they were different beds. Unfortunately this is one of those situations where the parents win. But, it didn’t really matter, once the bed we picked out was delivered, she was so excited to have a new bed it could have been a spaceship and she would have been excited!

It was delivered on Wednesday this past week. Our plan was to read to her in her new bed but still put her to bed in her crib until Friday night. That way, if the first night didn’t go smoothly, it wouldn’t be a huge deal because of the weekend. But, do you really think that happened? Once she was in her new bed, she was in her new bed and refused the crib.

She stayed in her bed without getting out until Sunday nap time. Nap time on Sunday she finally figured out she can get out of the bed when we aren’t around. She also knows how to open doors now. So, we had to stay nearby and put her back a few times before she finally stayed in bed and went to sleep.

So, we currently have both beds in her room. Our plan over the next few weeks is to get the other bedroom that is currently a disaster area, cleaned out and to move the crib and rocking chair into that room. This will make an easy transition for Courtney as well.

We have just been amazed at how easy the switch was! She was a little cranky after her first night in her new bed, but we haven’t had to go into her room at all overnight since she has started sleeping in it! She doesn’t stay in one spot, or even the right way like most people who sleep in a bed. She is still all over the bed.

Saturday we went and tailgated and then went to the AF game. We do this once a year with a group of friends. It was really stinking cold this year. It really made me wish we had an RV! But, we toughed it out. The game was against Colorado State University (CSU). It was a pretty good game and for the first time in the last several years, I stayed until the very end. I usually give up early and go back and eat more food at the tailgate spot.

Courtney stayed with Nana and Papa for the day. When I dropped her off, it was like ‘Mommy who?’ when I tried to say goodbye, which is the opposite of what happens when I drop her off at daycare. But, at least I know she loves being there! Apparently they played all day and had a wonderful time. I picked her up about 8:15pm, so she was pretty off schedule. That always causes major crankiness the next day, but its okay once and a while!

Other than that, life has kept us pretty busy with work and school, etc. Daycare is getting ready to move Courtney up a room to the Zebra room. She is currently a Rowdy Rhino. I am glad they feel she is ready. It’s just tough on me as a mom to see her growing up so fast! They are transitioning her into her new room this week, and then next week she will be over there full time.

Here is a cute picture of what happens when I let Hubby do her hair:

Well, our office is closed today in honor of Veterans Day. I have an accounting test this afternoon, but I need to use this morning to start clearing out the baby’s room! Hubby took Courtney to day care, so this will help speed up the process of cleaning!

Happy Halloween 2008

As you know, we moved Courtney to a new daycare somewhat recently. Our last daycare didn’t celebrate any holidays, or birthday, or anything. Our new daycare actually celebrated Halloween! So, Courtney went to daycare in her costume yesterday morning. She didn’t wear it all day, but it was sure cute seeing all the kids dressed up that morning! The parents were invited to come back at 4pm for a Halloween party. They had a parade of all the kids so you could see everyone’s costume. All the parents brought something to the party, we brought sliced cheese. There were cupcakes, cookies, fruit, drinks, and more. After the parade, they let the kids dig in. Courtney had part of a cookie, part of a cupcake, some cheese, juice, and fruit. Yes, they were plying them with sugar just before we take them home for the evening to go out and get more sugar.

We came home and ordered pizza. After pizza we finally headed out to Trick or Treat.

Courtney survived her first Trick or Treating. We went to our neighbors’ house across the street first who she knows pretty well. Of course we couldn’t get her to say “Trick or Treat” but she said please and our neighbor had a nice bag all done up for her. Ms. Lisa (the neighbor) wanted to get some pictures of Courtney, so we were hanging out while she took some, and kids starting coming to the door in droves. Courtney would see the kids in masks and get scared. She kept saying “scary, scary” and crawled up in Daddy’s lap.

We moved on to another neighbors' house and she finally said Trick or Treat! Then we started walking the other way from our house and there were kids everywhere! Between the darkness and the masks and costumes, she was scared to death. We hit one more house, and our mailbox to pick up the mail, and headed back home. She ate a lollipop while she watched us hand out candy. After eating a KitKat and becoming very chocolaty, I dipped her in the tub and Hubby put her down for bed.

We had several friends over. Our house tends to be a gathering spot on Halloween for some of our friends who wouldn’t see many Trick or Treater’s at their own houses. So, they handed out candy while we were out with Courtney. It was such a warm night, we had LOTS of kids. The past few years we have felt the numbers dwindling, but the warm weather brought them out in droves. It started to naturally quiet down about 8:15pm so we shut off the lights and brought in the pumpkins. Then we pulled out the cards and played a game of Phase 10.

Overall, it was a very Happy Halloween here, I hope it was for you too!