Kinder Garden

Any sort of blog update has been a long time coming. I keep putting it off and putting it off. I have no idea why.

Lots of happenings in the Gore house this year. It's useless to try to play blog catch-up, so I'll just jump right in...

With a new year just around the corner comes lots of questions about where to send Grace to school next year. Public schools are way too crowded for my liking, private schools are way too expensive for my liking and homeschool just isn't an option for us. Bleh. The whole thing makes me stress. I've been looking into several options and will be attending a few school open-houses over the next month or so. Hopefully that will bring some sort of light to the subject. For right now, I'm just trying to hold tight to every.single.preschool.memory. I can't believe Grace will be starting kindergarten next year.

Because she is a major planner (hmmm, wonder where she gets that?) and likes to have plenty of warning about things to come, I've started to talk about school next year. She was actually quite upset that she wouldn't be going back to preschool next fall. We talked about it and I tried my best to get her excited about kindergarten next year. I told her she would meet a new teacher and all new friends. We could have her new friends over to our house to play, etc.

She just stood there looking at me and I could see the wheels turning in her head as she processed everything. I was so afraid of what would come next.

Would she be upset that none of her friends would be in her class next year?

Would she be mad that Chloe could go to preschool and she couldn't?

Would she be sad that she wouldn't get to have the same teacher next year?

After processing everything in her head, she turned to me and said, "Mom, will there be flowers in that kinder garden?"

Priceless.

Poop

I have never had so many poop conversations until I had kids. Seriously. No one tells you before you have children that your babies eating, sleeping and pooping habits will consume you.

Well, I have big poop news and scary poop news.

First the scary.  Last week I ended up taking Chloe into the doctor because she had black poops for about 5 days. When we got there, her doctor ran a quick test and discovered blood in the poop! Not good. Her next question was what really scared me, "Has Chloe thrown up blood or anything that looked like coffee grounds?" Of course, the answer was 'No' but at that moment I realized the seriousness of the situation. She had bleeding in her stomach.  Our pediatrician sent me down to the hospital lab immediately to have a blood draw and prepared me for the possibility of taking Chloe to the Children's Hospital that day pending the blood draw.

I started to freak.

I kept thinking, "This is how every parent with a terminally ill child starts out. First things are totally normal until one little thing happens and doctors find a major issue." I was so scared. Started praying and crying immediately.

Our pediatrician also prepared me for the trauma of a blood draw on a todder. In case you're wondering, they draw blood the same way as they do on an adult, expect you have to physically restrain your child while they scream in pain and horror. I'm not sure who it was harder on.

Thankfully, the blood draw came back fine so we didn't have to head to the Children's Hospital. The poop tests came back normal as well. Nothing viral or infectious about the bleeding in  her stomach.  Our pediatrician's assumption was some sort of lactose/dairy issue brought on by the combination of Chloe being so sick for the month prior to this happening and the fact that we changed her milk from whole milk to 2%. Apparently, the lower the fat percentage the higher the lactose. We took her totally off dairy and put her on an acid blocker to allow her stomach to heal. It was the right thing to do. Within 2 days the bleeding stopped in her stomach and poops were normal. Praise God!

Then another poop miracle happened. Chloe potty trained herself! I mean, totally by herself. Seriously. Because we are moving in a month, I decided not to even bother trying to work with her on potty training, even though I knew she was ready. She only sat on the potty once a day after her bath. That is Grace's post-bath routine that Chloe wanted in on.

One night I heard Aaron clapping and cheering for her because she peed.

That was on Tuesday, by Friday she was using the potty 6-8 times a day and I never changed a diaper. WHAT?! She's in Pull Ups now and loves it. She still has some little wet accidents but hasn't pooped in her diaper/Pull Up for 3 days.

Her favorite thing is to pee 3 drops, use 800 sheets of TP and then wave as she flushes the potty. Ha! It's a good thing we buy TP from Costco :-)

We are so proud of you, Chloe!

Pride

As a parent, there are certain things your kids can do to make you swell with pride. Usually these are their 'firsts'.

The first "I love you."
When they share with other kids.
When they learn to pray.
When they kiss you without being asked to do so first.
When they can put their shoes on by themselves.
When they first try to write their name.
Of course, pulling up on furniture, first steps and potty training also top the chart.

I had another 'first' with Choe yesterday that was one of those moments. I gave her a snack bag with some Oreo mini's to occupy her during a long bout of running errands. She had never seen an Oreo before that day. Needless to say, she LOVED them. I was full of both laughter and total pride to see her unscrewing the top and eating all of the frosting first before devouring the actual cookie part.

Atta Girl!

I have arrived

I had one of *those* moments this weekend. You know the type. It's the moment you realize you've reached a milestone. You're living the life you always dreamed of. You are THERE.

Only a parent would understand what I'm about to tell you.

I took both girls to the neighborhood park this past weekend to play in our approximately 42 minutes of sun. It was beautiful. I loved the fact that the wiggles were being worked out. But what happened next brought a HUGE smile to my face.

Are you ready for this????

I SAT on the park bench and WATCHED both girls play. That's right people. I was one of those parents who could take their kids to the park and WATACH them play. No helping Chloe climb up to the slide, no holding hands while she got situated and didn't have to catch her at the end. Both girls chased each other up and down the play structure. I actually SAT IN THE SUN, had a little bit of 'me time' and thought "I HAVE ARRIVED!"

Clothing Optional

I just can't keep clothes on this girl. She's constantly yanking her shirts and pants off, regardless of whether or not the house is warm. Luckily she hasn't figured out how to get the diaper off yet.

BTW, Chloe just turned 18 months old. EEEK! Where did the time go? More about that in another post.

Rainbowey

Graces latest venture is dressing herself.

I love it, for the most part.

It saves me about 10 minutes each morning trying to help her pick out clothes and then put them on, although some days it doesn't quite go as planned. This was one of those days, but I let her wear the outfit anyway. This is what she picked out and wore to preschool this morning.

She kept telling me, "Mom, I'm so rainbowey" She was so proud of herself

Hello, My Name is______ (cont.)

Yesterday, Grace insisted on being called Diamond. Today, it's Star. I predict Rainbow will be in our near future.

Picking Grace up in style

One of my absolute favorite things to do during the week it walk to pick Grace up from preschool. It's only a 7 minute walk, but is actually faster than driving if you count the amount of time it takes me to get kids in/out of car seats. I love being out and about strolling thru the neighborhood and strolling back home chatting with Grace about all the things she did that day. We usually hit the highlights which include: what they had for snack, who she played with, if she went down the 'fast slide' that day and what her classroom job was.

This week, Chloe and I headed out in style, sunglasses and all. This girl loves to accessorize, so when she realized she had sunglasses of her own she refused to take them off. I think it's a good look.

And for those of you following Grace's daily name change (see my last post), her new name is "Diamond". I have no idea where she comes up with these!

Hello, my name is ____

Grace's imagination has been in full swing lately. I love it. I love listening to the random, imaginary things she comes up with. Most of them have something to do with horses, princesses, rainbows and hearts. After all, is there really anything better in life?

I don't know if it is because Valentines Day is in the air, but lately she has been obsessed with hearts. I always ask her what she dreamed about last night and her answer has been, "Hearts, mom. Because harts are the best" Her bouncy horse is now named Heart. Starting yesterday, she also informed me that her name is now Heart. If I call her Grace, she quickly corrects me, "No mom, my name is Heart." She also loves referring to herself in third person (probably the result of watching too many hours of Elmo's World). Most of our day is filled with her saying, "Mom, Heart will do it." or "Can Heart help?" or "Mom, Heart has to go potty."

I'm sure she'll be back to Grace next week, but for now her name is Heart.

Being a Stay at Home Mom is.....

I was talking with the lady who does my hair not long ago about being a stay at home mom. The first thing she asked me was, "So, is your house always clean since you're home all day?" Ha! If only! Then it dawned on me, I probably had the same assumption when I was working (and before I had kids). I laughed as I explained to her that the reason I'm home is so we can do fun things together that ALWAYS inadvertantly trash my house (playdough, glue, cook together, build forts, etc)

It is a vicious cycle of getting my house 100% trashed and then having enough time to get it 80% clean. Cut to the next day with my 80% clean house...we trash it again by making pancakes together in the morning and then finger painting, etc. Again, I only have time to clean up 80% of the mess (at best), so I'm left with a 60% clean house. The next day, we do it all over again. I think you get the picture. By the time the weekend hits it looks like a bomb went off. I find beads from Mondays art project still under the table, my cell phone in the laundry basket (courtesy of Chloe, which she most likely did when I was busy cleaning up our bead art session), socks under the recliner, one kids shoe in the laundry room (the other one is still missing), etc.

Man, these little creatures really can make a big mess while I'm still busy trying to clean up the mess that just happened. Sigh. I often think my house would be cleaner if I worked full time, that way we'd only spend a few hours a day in it as opposed to all day.

Before I became a stay at home mom, I would day dream of being at home with my kids in a perfectly clean house (because after all, I was home ALL DAY), with something in the crock pot for dinner, kids involved in activities while I quietly watched from the sidelines. HA! Oh, and by the way, I always seemed to be showered/dressed/makeup on in these daydreams. How wrong I was.

So to set the record straight, being a stay at home mom is....

• Being there for your kids from the minute they get up till the minute they go to bed


• Leaving dirty dishes in the sink to go play My Little Ponies for the zillionth time that day because you know eventually your kids will want nothing to do with you.


• Never peeing alone and usually eating 2 of my 3 meals while standing.


• Taking 30 minutes to cook a box of Mac and Cheese because your kiddos want to put on their own apron, pick out their own spoon, pour each ingredient into the bowl, mix it with the personally hand picked wooden spoon and spoon it into their own bowls.


• Leaving the house unshowered because you decided to let your kids in bed with you to make a fort and play under the covers instead of send them away while you take a shower.


• Mid day walks/tricycle rides thru the neighborhood the instant it stops raining.


• Turning the task of loading the washing machine into a 3 person job because everyone wants to help.


• Building memories with your kids all day long.


• It really is the most rewarding job in the world.

That said, I love my girls and being home with them, love afternoon nap time and am starting to accept the fact that my house will always be a wreck, my life will always feel unorganized and it will always take 3 times as long to get something down when you have little helpers around.

Life is all about the journey....

Art

We are knee deep in wet, soggy, grey Oregon winter. This is always the hardest time of year for me since I really like to get the girls out doors as often as possible. Cabin fever doesn't really sit well with any of us.

Luckily, we all love to craft. And equally as lucky, Santa seemed to know that and brought us some wonderful items for all of our art projects. At least once a day, the girls find themselves busy with some sort of sticker - playdough - paint - markers - glue project. Often times, one project contains a little of everything. Hey, whatever makes them happy!

Grace loves to paint birdhouses. You can find these things at Joanne Fabric for $1. Money well spent! Green is her favorite color, as you can probably tell. This project really lives on. Once the paint dries, she heads outside to fill the house with sticks and leaves (bird bed, of course) and then chooses a perfect spot to hang the house in one of the trees in the back yard. Good times.
Chloe refuses to be left out of anything. I mean ANYTHING. Painting is also one of her favorite art projects. This is so much work for me since it usually involves being stripped down to a diaper, paper taped to the high chair and a good 20 solid minutes of clean up which always includes a bath for at least one child. Oh well, this is what staying at home is all about!

Somehow she actually managed to paint both legs and the underneath side of both feet. Also notice the paint around her mouth. She must suck on the paint brush when I'm not looking because her entire tongue was blue. Oh well. Crayola paints are safe, right? RIGHT?

If I could carry her with tongs to the tub I would.

A few other random pictures of the girls. Here is Chloe and gang watching Sesame Street. This girl loves all things Sesame, especially Cookie Monster (or Coo Coo, as she calls him)

Grace has really come a long way with pretend play. It's so cute to see her come up with story lines for her animals. Usually she is playing My Little Ponies ALL-DAY-LONG. I don't have any pictures of her doing this yet because I always get roped into playing with her. She loves these horses. It's adorable. I just have to keep telling myself that. Mostly because it's true and partially because I am so sick of playing My Little Ponies.

Grace also likes to play with the stuffed animals that she sleeps with. She decided to play restaurant one morning for one of her favorite customers "Big Caterpillar". Apparently Big Caterpillar enjoys chips. Then again, who doesn't?

That's all from our house!

It's like having your own chef. Sort of.

I feel the need to blog about myself today and one of the greatest Christmas gifts I have ever received.

First, a little context. The best part of my morning is a piping hot cup of coffee. It's what gets me going and is like a little treat that I get just for hauling my sleepy booty out of bed. I find it especially important to start your day with coffee when you have little kids in the house. Rarely do I actually get out of bed when I want to. So, it really is my morning treat.

Since Aaron doesn't drink coffee (I know, how is this even possible???) I usually get up and make it myself. My old coffe pot was HORRIBLE. It was the best coffee pot $9 could buy and only kept coffee luke warm. Not good. So, Aaron decided to buy me one of those super nice coffee pots that you can set a brew timer and actually wake up to the smell of coffee. Kinda like that old Foldgers commercial...sing with me now "The best part of waking up is Foldgers in your cup." Kind of like that, but totally better because I don't buy crappy Foldgers coffee.

I must say, coming out of my room to the smell of hot coffee in the morning is nothing short of AWESOME. It's like having your own chef...well, if your expectations of your chef are really low and you only expect her to make coffee.

Chloe is 15 months old

Chloe actually turned 15 months old on Dec 12th, so the fact that I'm actually doing this post during her 15th month of life is nothing short of a miracle!

We had her 15 month appointment recently. She is healthy and tracking at a great rate. She was 22 lbs 3 oz (30th % - she really dropped in weight once she started moving), and 33 5/8 inches tall (actually off the growth chart on height. Somewhere around 100+ %! Where did she find the time to grow that much???)

She only has 5 words right now that are actual words (Mama, Dada, Grace, Cookie - as in Cookie Monster - and Thank You) but she thinks she says much, much more than that. She picks up on the "S" in every word and ends up just pointing at things and saying the "Ssss" sound. Technically, she's not that far off when talking about the words she knows, such as: cheeSe, ShoeS, juiCe, treeS, SandboX, etc. You get the idea. Who knew we used the 'S' sound in so many words?

It is so hard to believe that in a few short months I will have a 1 1/2 year old. Seriously, where did the time go? It seems you just concentrate on making it thru the first year with your sanity in tact and then want to freeze frame life after that.

Chloe, you are growing up too fast! We love, love, love you!
Love,
Dada, Mama and Zace (as you would say)

Well, that went by fast

I'm convinced that time never moves faster than the first year of your babies life. Not that you actually realize it at the time! I compare it to a really busy day at work. You have your head down working like crazy and all of a sudden it's lunch time. Then back to work and before you know it, it is time to head home for the day. Crazy busy but in retrospect, time just flew by. And so went 2011 at our house. It was our first full year with 2 kids and I think we were well into the year before I finally started to find my stride as a full time mom of 2 little ones. (I think I'm still working on this! Something tells me it's a never ending task and I'll feel like I have it mastered by the time they go to college...and not a moment earlier!)

Some highlights of the year were 1. Going on vacation with the kids. Perhaps I should clarify, we brought major backup in the form of grandparents. I highly recommend it! It was only a short week at a beach house, but I'm making the executive decision that it was, indeed, a vacation. 2) Seeing all of Chloe's firsts...first steps (at 9 months), first word (dada), first time she waved, her first tooth (which took its sweet time actually breaking the skin.) first birthday. 3) Watching Grace find her stride as the 'big sister'. I'm convinced this is what she does best. She loves Chloe and prides herself in being a big helper. I love it and am so proud of her! 4)Grace's first day of preschool. The list is endless.

Last January seems so far away. I have one kiddo in part time preschool and a walking, somewhat-talking toddler now. Last year at this time I had a 3 month old and a 2 1/2 year old. Amazing. Oh how things have changed.


December

November

October

September

August

July

June

May

April

March

February

January

Such a blessed year. We love you so much, girls!