Potty Time

That's right, folks. We're finally turning our attention to that potty that Ela got when she turned two. We've actually done a little training before now, but never very seriously. No one ever told me that potty training is as much about training Mommy (and Daddy) as it is about training the child. Not only was Ela not motivated, her parents weren't especially motivate either. Plus there were tons of reasons not to mess with it. Between getting a new sister and moving, Ela's had plenty to adjust to in the last year. So the potty training took a back seat. But not any more. When Ela joins the three year old class at her preschool, she has to be trained. She loves preschool. I love preschool. This is suddenly important. So we started getting serious, just in case it took a really long time. I decided that Thursday was the best day of the week to start because we don't have to be anywhere between Thursday and Monday. This left us four days to get good at this whole potty thing. We've been talking up big girl underwear for practically a year now, so I just pulled out some and put them on her. Timing is, of course, a challenge, but so far we've been very successful! Each day we last a little longer without an accident. And yesterday, she even left the house without incident. As I type, it's been twenty-four hours since her last accident. I think she might even wear big girl pants to Church tomorrow. If that goes well, may be she can even wear them to preschool! The most annoying part of all this is the sitting around the house. It's only been two days, and I'm already dying to get out of here! I want to hit the gym, or go shopping (which I usually hate). Anything to just leave the living room. But Ela is terrified of public bathrooms, so we'll sit tight for a bit longer until she can be trusted for the occasional long stretch. My diaper bag will need repacking: only one size diapers, but spare bottoms for our big girl for awhile. I'm so proud of my big girl!

Settling In

Over the last few weeks, we've gradually been settling into a routine that will be the norm for the next year. It was my intention to find us lots of activities and to start into them as quickly as possible so we'd be too busy to spend much time missing Zack. I think I've accomplished that. For my own sanity, I joined a Bible study, and I was delighted to discover that our new church has a bell choir, so I'm ringing again, which is nice. Then, in order to combat my tendency to eat when I'm sad and to reclaim my body from my girls, I joined a gym. I wanted to do this in DC, but here it's actually affordable, especially since childcare is included in the membership. So swimsuits should be slightly less scary this summer. Ela goes to preschool twice a week. I want to get her going on either a piano lesson or dance class too, and we started doing story time at the library, but they took March off, so we'll have to get back next month. Lily doesn't have any activities of her own yet, but she's learning to like story time at the library and is getting used to the childcare center at the gym. The new house is starting to feel like home. Ela still calls it her "new house". I haven't found any part of it I really don't like yet, which is a very good sign. It took some work, but we got the car into the garage, and that was super exciting for me. Both girls have napped in their car seats in there while I've been inside getting things done. And not hauling groceries through the rain is a really nice perk. I've also fallen in love with our patio out back. Ela loves being out there, and I can be anywhere downstairs and watch her as she plays in her sandbox or gathers pine straw or draws with sidewalk chalk. Ela also loves that she can let Dory in and out. I have to be careful to lock the door when I go upstairs or she'll just let herself out one of these days. Of course the bedroom wars started up again when we moved, but Lily is almost sleeping through the night again. Ela seems to like her new room, but still tries to sneak in with me in the night. She had a really bad dream the other night, and now she knows the magic words to get into my bed. I need to get her a new bed to replace her current one, since it broke in the move and is currently propped up on books. In the mean time, I'm not encouraging her to sleep with me, but I'm not declaring a full out war yet, since it'll just get worse when the new bed comes. Zack, for those of you who are curious, is still in country for a little while for training. He seems to be enjoying learning about a new branch of the military. It certainly keeps him busy! I might get to see him one more time before he goes abroad. I'm at least confident that we have everything under control here. Time to start looking for adventures!

Ela is Three

That's right, people!  Ela turned three this week.  We celebrated with a trip to the zoo, which was lovely. I also gave her a little interview that I hope to make a yearly tradition. She was playing with a lot of her toys as she talked to me, so her focus was not entirely there, but I think that makes it all the more entertaining.  Here are the questions and her responses:

What is your name?  My name is Ela.
How old are you?  I am three.
What's your favorite animal?  My favorite animal is the cow.
Who is your best friend?  My best friend is the cow.  The cow is my friend.
What's your favorite thing to do? It's the firemens!
What's your favorite color? Blue
What's your favorite food? Chicken
What's your favorite book? My favorite book is the Kookaburra! (I see a Kookaburra!)
What makes you happy? A bear makes me happy.
What's the best part of your birthday?  Cupcakes after dinner!
What do you want to be when you grow up? (at this point she was playing with a firetruck, and had lost all interest in talking to me) The fire's got your finger.

Ela's Birthday Party

We threw Ela a birthday party last weekend so that her daddy could be there for it.  He left for his big adventure on Sunday, so on Saturday, we got the family together for a low key celebration.   Our intention was to hold it at a park near our house, which would have worked great on Thursday or Friday when it was in the 70's.  Saturday dawned windy and cold, though, so we went over for a little while to let Ela play...

...and then we went back to our house for lunch, cupcakes, and presents.  The cupcakes were decorated by Minjee, who did a super job as usual!

Ela had a great time hanging out with all her grandparents, her aunt Minjee, her great-grandma, and cousin Daniel. We were glad we could put something together for her so that Zack could be a part of it.   This weekend if the weather is more cooperative, we might head out to the zoo on her actual birthday.  I can't believe she's almost three already!  Where did the last three years go?

Sick Day ... Or Two...

I have heard many Navy wives complain that the minute their husbands go on deployment, one of the kids gets sick, or something breaks. In our case, we apparently decided to get those things out of the way before Zack actually left. We took a lovely trip to Winston-Salem last week, and on the way home Wednesday night, I could feel myself getting sick. I don't get sick often, but by the next morning, I had a fever and a serious sore throat. I figured instead of letting one of the kids get sick, I was taking one for the team.

This was especially annoying to me because I had a job interview on Thursday.

I don't like to take medicine even when I'm not breast feeding, it makes me loopy, so I settled for a regular dose of tylenol and a lot of liquids to get me through the interview. I blamed the cold for the fact that I thought thr fridge smelled funky. By evening, I thought I was feeling better. I was on my way home from the interview when Zack called to inform me that the fridge was the same temperature as the living room, and a lot of our food was bad.

Guess it wasn't the cold after all.

We called the landlord that evening, and he gave us the numbers for several appliance services that could help us, but none of them were able to come check it out until at least Monday. We didn't worry too much because we were planning to eat out a good bit over the weekend anyway.

Saturday was our anniversary, and I was determined to be well enough to enjoy it. I spent most of Friday holding very still and trying to feel better, but my body was not willing to work with me. I could do a passing imitation of a well person, but it hurt to swallow and I could barely taste the food anyway. I couldn't even muster the energy to put on make up, but we picked a little Greek place to go to and we went out.

We dropped the girls off at the grandparents' house for a sleepover and had a predinner drink. That's how I discovered that wine all but eliminated the sore throat. Armed with this knowledge, I had a good dinner and a very pleasant rest of the evening.

Sunday, my throat surrendered. I spent all day trying to eat lunch and failing miserably. I was all set to go to the doctor except that I dont't have one here yet. Thankfully, by Monday I was starting to feel better. Then there was just the small matter of living without the fridge, which makes cooking all but impossible. The guys didn't show up to fix it until this afternoon, so we'll be really glad for a real meal tomorrow, and Ela will be happy to have milk again.

Here's hoping the drama is done for awhile!

Snow Play

Last weekend, we headed up to Virginia for what is becoming our yearly skii trip. Due to the crazy warm winter we've had, it was Lily's very first experience with snow (which the resort could barely keep on the ground). 

She was clearly unimpressed.  I think she might like it better when she's able to walk. 
Ela, on the other hand, was delighted to be back in the snow.  She remembered the "green sled" and wanted to go down the hill with Mommy first thing.  I happily obliged.   As it turned out, one trip down the sledding hill was enough for her, and then she was ready to revisit a few of her other favorite parts of the play area:

Making snowballs was her favorite part this year.  I still couldn't talk her into wearing her gloves, though.

We played for a little while, and headed home when a misty rain started falling. We met Zack back at our rooms and tried out the swimming pool. It was quite the popular place to be, since the weather was iffy for skiing. We had a good time watching Ela work up the nerve to play in the water while Lily took an extended nap.

In the evening, I got to leave the girls with their daddy and try out the tubing area, called The Plunge, with my sister, her boyfriend and Mom.  They have a hill set up with lanes for the tubes to slide down, and with the weather so warm and a whole day of tubers come and gone, it was a little icy and a super fast ride when we arrived.  We had a great time flying down the mountain. 

So it was yet another fun trip.  We're already thinking about how it will work next year.  Will Ela be old enough (or evening willing) to try skiing?  Will Lily enjoy the snow?  We can't wait to find out!

Bath time in a Navy house

The other night, Ela took a bath at her Grandma's. When bath time was over, I was patiently instructing her to pick up the bath toys one at a time. I pointed at the little yellow barge that was floating in a corner of the bath.

"Okay, Ela, now pick up the boat."

Ela looked at me with a very serious face and replied, "It's not a boat, Mama, it's a ship."

Zack would be so proud.