Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.....

Here are some of the changes that I have noticed since we have moved.....

We were in the backyard today.....we heard horses neighing, (not trains, or traffic)

My nearest neighbor (as of right now), about 100 yards away.(not next door)

The nearest gas station is not pre-pay, they just assume you are going to pay after you pump your gas (they also do not have the swipe your credit card at the pump option).

The best pizza place that I have found is the City Stop, same place you can get gas, pizza, hamburgers, they have a full breakfast and lunch menu as well, you can get just about anything. (and they have the largest selection of Monster Energy drinks I have ever seen!)

The "city" we live in has one four way stop sign, and one flashing red light.

Nearest fast food restaurant........get this 4.5 miles!!

Nearest Starbuck.....6.8 miles (I even googled this one)

Nearest Walmart......6 miles

Drive to drop the kids off.......about 1.5 minutes(not 40 minutes as before)

Drive to work after dropping the kids off.....10 minutes (not 1 hour)

We see A LOT more cows than we do people.

It is QUIET!!! you can hardly hear anything, really it is almost eerily quiet.

The people are super, super nice. I have met nearly ALL the parents at "new school" and they are all great!!

Ahhhhhhh such a great place to live!!!

Busy (sort of) weekend. By our standards our weekend was a little busy. Friday I got to leave work at noon and went and picked up a few things to entertain the kiddos in that backyard. I got them some smallish rubber balls, some sidewalk chalk, and a princess kite. We had a blast. We played outside all afternoon. (Breanna has slept with her ball every night since then)
Sat Jay’s mom, Sean, and sister Jessie came over and hung out. We cooked out hamburgers. Sunday Jay other sister Kelli and her fiancé Nick came over and we cook out some fajita’s, I made some Pico de gallo, and queso. WE had a good time! Breanna and JJ were certainly entertained and very tired by the time their heads hit the pillow Sunday night.

On Sunday we had an incident that has never happened. I was sitting in the recliner with JJ and we were watching Baby TV (great channel) and Breanna got mad at me for something walked over and bit me on my foot. Let me tell you it wasn’t just a bite, she broke the skin on my foot. Needless to say she went strait to time out. When I went over to talk to her and reiterate that it is not nice to bite and it hurts I asked her if she was ready to get up, she said “no, I sit time out”. Apparently she got the message.
I was really trying to make her understand that what she did was wrong so later in the day I asked her
Me: “What happened to Mommy’s foot?” (pointing to the area of the bite)
B: “ohhhh myyy goooodness JJ bite Mommy” (nice try little one, pawn it off on your brother, she even added genuine concern for good measure)
Me: “No, JJ didn’t bite Mommy, you bit mommy”
B: “Mommy I kiss it make it all better”
Me: “OK, but you can’t bite, because when you bite it hurts people and it makes them sad”
She kisses my foot
Me: “Thank you for making it feel better, now are you going to bite anyone again?”
B: “yeaaah” (you can tell she got the point can’t you)
Me: “no you can’t bite it hurts”
B: “ok yawnna don’t bite” (yawn-na is what how she says her name)

As for her younger brother, he is now attempting to speak actual word and put some of those words together. He tried to tell me the other day that he wanted his ball that was in the car when I picked him up. I think I understand it because I am his mommy because it actually sounds like this.

JJ: bah
Me: you want a ball
JJ: me, me bah cah
Me: you want your ball that is in the car?
JJ: me, me bah cah
Indeed his ball was in the car. Such a smart little man!! =)

It was this warm outside yesterday.....

**edited my mommy....a girl has to keep somethigs private. =)

It is going to be one of THOSE days.....

Maybe it is the time change, maybe it is that my children are slowly sucking the brain right out of my head, all I know is that today is going to be one of THOSE days !!!


Today, I woke up late, had to fight with Breanna to get her to wear something other than Dora swim shoes to school. Then this happened.


I got to work and decided that I needed one of these

so I got my 50 cents and went into our break room. Mind you I would most always have some ice water, but our ice machine in the break room is broken, so if you want water it is warm tap water (yuck). So anyway I went in and deposited my quarters into the machine and it rejected one of them sending it strait to the change slot. Hmm funny, so I went back to my office and got a different quarter. Went back in and again, the machine would take the first quarter, but not the second. So I decided maybe it was just my quarters, so I popped my head into the nearest co-workers office (which my boss was in too). This is how the conversation went.......

Me: Do you have a quarter I can trade you for, the Coke machine doesn't like mine.

Boss: hmm that is sort of funny.

Co-worker: Sure here.

We trade quarters, I go back and get the same response from the Coke machine, takes the first one put rejects the second. So back to the co-workers office I go (boss is still in there too)

Me: Well that didn't work it didn't like your quarter either, ya know it is funny, it is taking the first quarter, but always rejecting the second one.

(at this point co-worker kind of smirks and laughs a little)

Boss: Doesn't it only take one quarter to get a coke out of that machine.

Me: ummm yeah

So I walk back into the break room deposit my one quarter and get my Diet Coke. Walk back by the office and boss says "It's going to be one of those days".... Now we have been in this office for almost a year, and the Coke's have always been sold for 25 cents.

Then I call my Dad, talk to him for a little bit about various things and he says

"You might want to call the trash people tomorrow morning and remind them to pick up your trash."

(I have had a HUGE problem getting them to pick up my trash at the new house)

Me: hmm today isn't Thurs, I put the trash cans out this morning thinking today was Thurs. In fact I told Jay last night to remind me that today was trash day.

In fact today is not Thursday, it is Wed. (go figure)

White Rose Blooming (2 Months)

Sorry to steal the title from Nathan, but this is the most moving and touching video I have seen in a long time. I am going to go and post it on my myspace page as well. Just to remind everyone of the miracle of life and the gift of organ donation. I have been a registered organ donor since I was 16 and got my first drivers license because I thought that it was the right thing to do. I have never known someone who has received a transplant. I know that if something should ever happen to me and I was able to help someone else I would want to do it with my whole heart. Please watch this and think about it. Wouldn't you like to give someone else the gift of life.......

http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/2008/03/white-rose-blooming-2-months.html

or here at....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhFCmWVErD8


To me everytime I hear this song I will think of Tricia, Gwyneth, and Nathan.
God bless you.
Please take the time to register yourself as an organ donor, you never know the blessing you could instill in another.

Sesame Street Live

So I need to start with I wasn't really sure that Breanna would get Sesame Street Live, and I was terrified that she would be scared of the larger than life charters that we were going to see. Turns out all my fears were completely opposite of what actually happened. Now I forgot my real camera in the car so I had to take the pictures with my phone. So they aren't the greatest pictures but you will get the idea.

We were seated in row 4 center stage (on the floor of the arena) so we got to see everything up close. I have NEVER seen Breanna so taken with something. The show was 1.5 hours long (do you know how hard it usually is to keep a 2.5 year old focused for that long) she didn't take her eyes off the stage the entire time.She was in an Elmo trance. She LOVED every minute of it. She sang danced, waved, and tried to talk to the charters. Here are the pictures sorry again for the quality....

Breanna getting geared up for Elmo Grows Up

The stage before the show began

Before the show began

During the show, she was in an Elmo trance

This is how close we were

We had an added bonus to the show for mommy. We knew that some of the ladies that I work with and their girls were going to be there (Mandi and Jacee, Jennifer and Katie, and Kara and Hailey). During intermission we found out that two of Breanna's friends from "new school" were there too (Morgan and Danielle). Also during intermission Breanna and I got up to go and get Breanna a drink and I heard someone say"Amanda!!" I couldn't believe my eyes, it was Natasha and her little girl Niyah. I worked with Natasha when I first moved here, and I haven't seen her since she left Fleming. (almost 3 years ago). I think when we last saw each other Niyah was almost Breanna's age (and Breanna wasn't even a thought in my head yet). It was such a nice suprise for me. Natasha was sitting only 2 rows behind us. We talked and got caught up. We e-mail each other about once a month or so, so we weren't that far behind, but it was soo good to actually see her face to face.

So Breanna and I both got something out of the day. She got to see Elmo and his Sesame Street friends up close and personal, and I got to see one of my friends up close and personal!! =)

A sneak peak at our weekend.......

That is right I am taking B for a girls day out to go and see Elmo!! We have fantastic seats on the floor, center stage!! It could go one of two ways:

1. B will LOVE going and watching Elmo and dance, sing, and have a great time.

2. B will be terrified of the larger than life Elmo and will scream, cry, and I will have to coax her into staying.

Lets hope it is #1, I will let you all know Sat night how it goes!

Want to make your heart smile

Go to Nathan's blog and watch his post from this morning......
Go here:
http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-child.html

Such a beautiful moment for that family (and the rest of us, that stalk their blog).

How could it be a bad day when it starts out......

looking like this...........

Gotta love the sunrise!!

For Nichole

I don't know if any of you ever see the comment part of my blog, but I had a comment from Nichole about the "who does my kid look like" post below. She wanted me to test Breanna's face against my face and Melissa's face. So I did and here are the results.......

JJ Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Breanna Looks like...

Someone heard me complaining.........

Ok so as you know I have had a bit of a problem with the weather lately. The changing temperatures have driven me nuts. Well someone heard me complaining and decided to make things a little more interesting around here. Here is what has transpired in the last 24 hours:

Sunday during the day: a little windy, warm nice morning and early afternoon, temp about 70, kids can go outside and play in the backyard.

Sunday evening: More wind, stronger winds, rain (buckets of rain), sometime between 7:30 and 8:00pm our tornado sirens go off not once but twice. There are a strong line of thunderstorms that produce tornadoes coming through the area. There is power flashes and damage close to downtown OKC (hence the sirens).

During all of this our satellite decides to go out. So we have no way of knowing where the tornadoes are. I called my mom and dad to tell them to call us if we needed to take shelter. Thankfully our satellite problem only lasted a few minutes.

Seriously last night I think I saw the most lighting I have ever seen in my life. I went back to get the toys out of the yard that the kids had been playing with and actually got scared and ran back inside. It rained and stormed most of the night.

Monday morning: Get the kids up and moving, we are ready to head out the door. I get them into the garage, open the garage door and there is a blizzard outside. Literally lots and lots of snowflakes. As of now it is still snowing outside. We are suppose to get somewhere between 1 and 6 inches of snow today. Right now it is 35 outside, we have gone from sunny, and 70 to 35 and snowing. uggghhhh.

Here is a picture from yesterday. Breanna and Scout looking out the window. Breanna would talk to Scout and then Scout would bark at Breanna. They ran from window to window looking outside and "talking" to each other. There were no storms at this time, I wouldn't let Breanna near the windows once all the storm started there is to much construction going on in, to many things that could be flying through the air and hit the window (the winds we between 40 and 60 mph).

From cold to Warm Weather all in one post.....

“It was a little cold but
live 2 ride / ride 2 live”

That was the e-mail that I got from my dad this morning that accompanied the pictures above. Sometimes he just makes me smile and laugh.
First a little cold………I think when you are wearing (reference the fist picture) a Russian fur hat it is more than a little cold.

Again, it makes me laugh often when I see my dad all geared up in his Harley gear getting on his motorcycle. I am not laughing at him mind you, but at the fact that the man who has been my father for the last 30 years has (I wanted to say changed, but I don't think it really has been in a change in the person that he is) transformed into the Harley owner who in his own words “ live 2 ride / ride 2 live”. I am glad that my dad has found a hobby (hmm maybe hobby isn't the right word, I don't think you go out in the cold cold weather for a hobby), something he enjoys so much that it is worth getting out in that cold weather to do. Apparently from the looks of picture 4 and 5 he isn't the only crazy Harley owner in our area!! Love you my biker Daddy!!

Now to the warmer weather....yesterday afternoon was one of the most beautiful afternoons we have had in a LONG time. It was almost 70 outside, the sun was shining, the wind that we have been having the last few days had calmed down. So after I picked up the kids and got home we all went out into the backyard and I let them run around and play. They had a great time. We stayed out there for an hour (it was dinner time after that). The had a blast. they ran around and played with each other and the dogs. I tried to get some pictures, but it is hard when they are running in separate directions the whole time.

J soaking up the sun

B saying "picture mommy"

B being shy

ready to go to new school

One last thing for today, I wanted to tell Nichole and Michael to have a great time being back in Texas! Soak up some of the warm weather and sun. Good to have you back on this side of the "pond". =)

My 100th post!!!! yeah!!!!

Have you ever looked at your two (or how ever many you have) children and wondered how could two kids who have the same parents be completely different? As for their looks mine are pretty similar, blonde hair, blue eyes other than that they really quite different. Here are some examples of what I am talking about:

B: longer legs shorter torso.
J: shorter legs longer torso.

B: will stay up all night and sleep all day if you will let her.
J: is in bed every night by 7pm or gets cranky, up by 7am.

B: had a little bit of a mean streak in her.
J: no mean streak to be found.

B: when she eats pizza will pull all the cheese and toppings off and eat them and will leave the bread.
J: will pull all the toppings off and eat the bread.

B: will sit anywhere and plays by herself, will talk to her dolls, toys. Pretty content.
J: will not sit by himself, is constantly following someone around wanting them to hold and talk to him.

B: more cautious, doesn’t climb on a lot of things, like to be more stable on the ground
J: will climb and try to get on top of anything that is standing still. If you walk out of the living room and walk back in 10 second later he will be on top of something.

They have these things in common though, they both love to read books, dance, sing or be sung to, play outside rather than inside, and get lots of hugs and kisses.
I am glad that they are their own little people and are different, but sometimes it would be nice to be able to go to bed early or get up a little late. =)

Another weather post.......

Notice anything slightly familiar with this picture. except this time there are two 20 degree weather swings in one week. From 60 to 40, and so on. I am tired of having a nice day then having it follow with bitterly cold days.



Notice the wind speeds. Now, I can tell you I know this is Oklahoma where the winds come sweeping down the plains, but read this conversation and you will know how extreme our winds have been.
Jay called me last night when I was on my way home, he was already at home:

J: Have you heard anything on the news about the weather?

Me: yeah there is suppose to be a cold front coming through again tonight.

J: Did they say anything about tornado's, because the wind is REALLY bad.

Me: No nothing about tornado's, it is too cold. Just suppose to be a cold front.

Mind you Jay has lived in Oklahoma most of his life (with the exception of a few years in Texas), and he thought last night we were going to have a tornado!!

Can you help Stephanie??

Participants Needed!!!

My name is Stephanie Capshaw, and I am a pediatric occupational therapist and professor in the Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Texas at El Paso, a doctoral student in Occupational Therapy at the University of St. Augustine, as well as a fellow adoptive parent of a child adopted from Guatemala (whew!). I am interested in looking at the prevalence of symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) in children adopted from Guatemala. I am looking for parents of children who were adopted from Guatemala and whose children are now between the ages of birth to 3 years old, regardless of whether or not they have been diagnosed with SPD or demonstrate symptoms of SPD.

If you would like to participate in this study, please email me your name, address, and child’s date of birth. I will mail you the research instrument with a pre-paid return envelope. Based on the results, I will be happy to make recommendations for a consultation with an occupational therapist in your area, should the results warrant such a recommendation. Strict confidentiality will be maintained at all times throughout the course of the research project unless law requires disclosure. A random code number, rather than your name, will be used to identify information you give us. Only members of the immediate project staff will have direct access to this information. Reports at scientific meetings or in scientific journals will not include any information which identifies you as a participant in this study. Your research records, just like any hospital records, however, may be subpoenaed by court order or may be inspected by federal regulatory authorities.Please feel free to pass this invitation to other adoptive parents from Guatemala.Thanks so much!Sincerely,Stephanie Capshaw, MA, OTRDoctoral Candidate, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences(915) 747-7269scapshawotr@hotmail.com

Fellow bloggers, would you mind posting this, or something about this with a link to my blog, on your blog? Thanks!! :>)

Potty Training Problem...........

So my little love Breanna is 2.5 years old and I think it is time to get out of Pampers and into big girl panties.

Breanna wants to wear panties, but the problem is I can't get her to go to the bathroom in the potty. I have tried books, bribed her with stickers, candy, and the lure of the elusive panties. Nothing will get her to go potty. Not even the Dora potty seat. She says she wants to go potty, but nothing ever happens.

I have spent hours in the bathroom with her, showed her how, and as soon as I get her off the potty and put her diaper back on she goes in the diaper.

How can I convince her that using the potty is the right thing to do? Any suggestions? Really I mean it advice from anyone and everyone is appreciated!!

On a better note........we can now flush our toilets and take a real shower. They got the sewer line fixed yesterday!! YEAH!!! Breanna has seemed to have recovered from her weekend cold/fever.

Here are some pictures of the kids from last week playing in their new backyard.

Our weekend..............

Tax return reject by the government(breanna's ssn is being used on another tax return)............BAD.

Breanna running a fever and laying around all weekend.......BAD.

Sewer line running from our house to the sewer broken........BAD.

Mom and Dad coming to our new home to have a Sunday dinner of smoked brisket, baked beans and sun dried tomato and basil pasta.........GREAT!!!

Thanks to Mom and Dad for bringing a little sunshine into our weekend!!!

Paw-Corn

That is what Breanna calls popcorn. Every night we have a little mommy/daughter bonding time. We sit on the couch and share a mimi-bag of our favorite paw-corn. the Kettle Korn is her favorite, it is a little sweet. We talk about her day at school...usually the conversation goes like this:

Mom: Did you have a good day at school today:
B: yeah

Mom: Did you learn a lot?
B: yeah

and so on.




Last night we were in our back yard and someone was driving around looking at houses on one a motorcycle. Breanna said "I see Gan-dad" (Grandad).
I said "no that isn't Grandad, that is someone else on a motorcycle".
B: No Mommy that Gan-dad Harley
Mom: No Grandad is at home.
B: Mommy go find Gan-dad.




Finally something from this weekend. My Mom and Dad were watching the kids on Sat while we moved, and she sings a song with Breanna to help her learn to spell her name. When I went to pick up the kids, my mom said Breanna can spell her name. She has sung the song and can spell out her name. she then attempted to get Breanna to sing the song. If you know anything about my little Breanna you know she likes to sing on her own time and most of the time not on command. So my mom said well sing it to her and see if she will sing it back later.
So we got in the car and headed toward our new house and I started to sing the song to her, she promptly started yelling at me "no mommy, gran-ma's song" I said well don't you want to sing it with mommy? "No mommy that's gran-ma's song"
So I got shut down. No song, apparent'y that is a song only gran-ma can sing with Breanna. =)