House update

The house is really taking off. They poured the foundation this week, and in a matter of days we went from nothing to a completely framed house, with a roof!

Still in diapers

I always forget to post the pictures until I'm halfway through and they go to the top, so here are a few aquarium pictures from our spring break last week. We had fun, and Ziva especially loved the sharks and turtles.

Well, the potty training was a bust. You may have already guessed that since I posted nothing about it all week. We tried a couple different times, but neither time was very long, and both gave me the impression that she genuinely may not be ready yet. Although, she turns 3 a week from today, so I will be pushing her along. :) I got a book from the library that I've heard great things about; I just need more time to read and process it before I dive in, so I'm hoping to read it this week and try again on Saturday. *fingers crossed*

One reason it didn't work out so well was that mid-week I went to Arkansas for the funeral of a dear friend's mother. You can read all about her remarkable 3-year battle with cancer on her blog http://vickidees.blogspot.com/. The funeral was a pretty amazing celebration of her life and such a gripping reminder of God's love for us and what that can (and should) look like in our lives.

Spring Break = Operation Potty Training

Ah, today is the first day of spring break. Yes, I did bring home a lot of school work that I just couldn't catch up on, but I'm not thinking about that now. I'll put it off until Sunday.....don't tell my kids. :)

And since I have a whole week home with Ziva--and it's the last week home with Ziva before Zoe arrives (a little surreal!)--I am determined to get our little princess out of diapers and into panties. To say she has been reticent is probably an understatement. She shows strangely mixed signals of being ready and of not--hiding when she's going #2, insisting she's not wet or poopy when I ask about her diaper, wanting to wear panties, NOT wanting to try on the potty....I just don't know what's happening in that little head. And I don't really have a game plan or know what I'm doing, but it's do or die time. I'll try to keep you posted with pictures and funny stories (as they are just bound to happen), and hopefully by the end of the week I will report back with total success!

Anecdote from Target

This morning Ziva and I were shopping for some clothes at Target. As she was looking through a pile of t-shirts, I accidentally bumped into a rack and knocked several shirts to the floor. I heard a little gasp and then Ziva said in a partially horrified, mostly scolding (and completely hilarious) tone of voice, "Mommy! You have to be careful! I love you very much and I don't want you to trip!"

Ultrasound #2

This week was a busy baby week. I had a normal check up, my glucose tolerance test, and a 2nd ultrasound to check out my low lying placenta. Check up was good and I passed my GTT (hallelujah, I don't have to drink that nastiness again!) although I do have to start taking iron supplements. I'd much rather that then be diabetic, so no complaints here. The ultraasound was a little tricky....apparently my placenta is somewhat mysterious. The tech had a hard time telling for sure where it ended, so she called in the radiologist, and since he was not the same doctor who read my first ultraasound report, he couldn't tell either without having something to compare it to. So, I still don't know if my placenta is too low, but neither of them thought it was. Zoe is still breech (breach?) though, so if she doesn't flip at some point, it really doesn't matter because I'll have to go c-section anyway. I've heard lots of people say that there are a lot of perks to having a c-section, and the scheduling factor is awfully appealing even now, so I know I'll be fine either way.

Probably more exciting than all that.....they started work on our house this week! Monday my friend Renee texted me a couple of pictures of the builders starting work on the footing. It's not much to show on a photo, so we're waiting until they get some plumbing in, or something more than just lines of concrete in a bunch of mud, but nonetheless, it's exciting! It's great having our friends living right down the street so they can keep us updated without us having to drive over every day when there may be nothing new to see. We've started buying smaller furniture and things for when the house is ready, little bits at a time. We just can't wait to have our own house with room to invite people in and see how God can use our house and our availability for Him!

And now I'm off to clean this little apartment. I am a wee bit worried that as bad as I am at keeping this place clean, a bigger home just means more mess. But I keep telling myself that A) there will actually be a place for everything in a real house, and B) I will care a whole lot more when it's actually MINE. We'll see.

10906

That's our new address....or will be, once our house is finished. If you haven't heard yet, we are building a house, and we're hoping it will be done in May. We're REALLY hoping it will be done before Zoe arrives. (Which reminds me, I don't think I ever announced on the blog that we're having another girl! Zoe Kaitlin will make her debut just as we are packing, closing, moving, and finishing school. We like to do things with style, you know. And as much insanity as possible, apparently.)

This shot is from early in January, the first snow we had. Doesn't compare to what we got over the last few weeks, which I unfortunately didn't capture on film. But if the almanac is right, I will get a second chance this winter, as there is supposed to be an even bigger snow storm sometime this year. Joy.

Here's a picture of our lot. We got a great spot that backs up to a water reserve area, so we have a nice view and no one can build behind us.

Our building permit and address! This just went up this week.

And this is Ziva's new big girl bed. She's had it for probably a month now (maybe a little more?) It's super comfy and a "real" big girl bed...none of that toddler stuff anymore. She has taken a few tumbles, and she prefers to sleep on top of the quilt instead of under it, but all in all it was a great transition and she likes it. The only down side is that when she's supposed to be taking a nap, she inevitably spends an hour + reading books since they are in such easy reach. It's too much temptation. Friday we had to stay home because she was sick Thursday night, and after the third time I went to tell her to stop reading and go to sleep, she said "But Mommy, I'm just not good of that." She seems to have developed a belief that if she says she's not good at something, she magically will be off the hook. If only it were that easy. :)

And this is the new storage unit we got to replace her old toy bins. These are great because A) they're just so cute, and B) all the toys stay hidden, instead of piled up in open bins in an unseemly manner. So Ziva's room is all set and ready to transfer over to the new house....we're working on the rest of the house slowly but surely.

Funny story

Today we took Vince to the doctor. He's been sick for weeks and turns out he has a sinus infection. While were waiting in the lobby, Ziva attached herself to an older couple who "took our seats" when I was up at the check-in window and Vince had to run back to the car for something. She was talking to them non-stop and had the lady read her book to her. Right as Vince returned and I was finishing up at the window, we heard her ask the lady "Is that your baby?" while pointing to her stomach. Oh. My. Fortunately, the lady just laughed and said, "No, I'm just fat." I'm not sure how to teach the subtler social dos and don'ts to a 2 year old. After the couple was called back to their doctor, we tried to tell Ziva it's not nice to ask people other than Mommy if they have a baby in their stomach. The guy sitting across from us started laughing, and he said the whole thing was really funny, especially because it wasn't his kid. So we had a funny moment to pass the time this morning.....we were laughing about how you always hear about people inappropriately asking someone if they're pregnant, and now we are those people....or at least her parents!