Delayed

So... Greg was supposed to arrive back in Austin this morning at 10:30 am. It's now almost midnight and he's asleep in Atlanta. Hmmm, you may think. How did THAT happen?

Apparently there's some new airport mumbo-jumbo terminology called Ground Stop. The 6 am flight out of Albany had an issue which started a domino effect of missed connections. Atlanta is Greg's third location today. He was stuck for the majority of the day at Washington Dulles in DC. What a mess. He was offered a stand-by ticket into Austin or a confirmed seat into San Antonio originally. Then, a different agent was able to route him through Atlanta into Austin on a different airline. Add in some weather delays and another "ground stop" and there was another missed connection in Atlanta. There was one later flight leaving Atlanta -- but it was already delayed as well and wouldn't arrive in Austin until about 1:30 am. Oy.

So... hopefully tomorrow morning after 24 hours in airports, Greg will board a flight to Austin. Who knew it would take this long to get home from the bar exam? Thankfully this all happened on the way home and NOT on the way up to Albany!!

Opinions

At our new house in Toledo, Wren will have her own room! So... I'm shopping for her nursery decor. I've narrowed it down to two choices and I'm looking for your opinion.

Thanks to my dear friend Jhana -- little Wren has a wooby in Alexander Henry Starling Blue fabric, backed with a yummy buttery yellow minky fabric. I loved the fabric so much, I had two baskets made for Wren's room out of the material. I'll use them on the changing table to hold diapers and other essentials. I wish I could afford a fully custom nursery out of the fabric, but alas... it'll have to be one of the two following choices. :)

The first option is MiGi's Cherry Blossom in Lilac. It looks like THIS, but in Lilac instead of Pink. You can kinda sorta see the color HERE. I have the nursery set that includes the quilt, bumper, crib skirt and sheet -- but I'm not sure I'm sold on the pattern.

The second option is Pottery Barn Kids' Hayley Collection. HERE You can see it best when you click the View Larger link which will open a set of photos.

Any opinions?? Which do you like best?

So Close

I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for Greg to call and say that the bar exam is OVER! Can I get a halle-freaking-lujah! This has been an intense 2 months to say the least! I'm looking forward to the return of my husband.

Congrats to all our friends that recently received diplomas just as heading out to their respective bar exams. Well done folks. :)

Wren's Baby Naming

Better late than never... here are the videos from Wren's naming ceremony.

A Great Day

Today was a great day. Just an all around great day.

The morning started off with everyone in a generally good mood. Atticus played, Wren ate, breakfast was cooked... everyone got dressed and then we headed over to the Mason's house. Other than the kazillion mosquitos (I mean really - do mosquitos serve any purpose in the grand scheme of the universe?) we had a ball. Eleanora and Atticus were so freaking cute today. They were blowing bubbles (well, Atticus kept trying to eat the bubble wand), they were playing in the sandbox, they were running around the yard, they were pretending to nap in the middle of the living room, they were playing in a band (E on piano and A on the guitar), they sat at the table and ate lunch -- they were just happy and giggly toddlers. It was just a fantastic morning. Wren was a trooper through it all -- but she was not a fan of our time outside! (Even with the mosquito net over her carrier..)

On the way home, I told Atticus that when we got home we were going to do three things: change his diaper, read a book and take a nap. I repeated this several times as we were leaving and again in the car. When we got inside, I asked what we were going to do first and he said "diaper". Rock On! He followed me to his room and with very little fuss - we were able to get ready and settle down and nap. Halle-freaking-lu-jah! Wren went down for a nap and I chatted with an old friend for a while, did some laundry, uploaded a ton of pictures to Picasa, cleaned the kitchen a bit, and just when I was about to close my eyes... Atticus woke up. :) Atticus helped me move the laundry to the dryer and we climbed the steps the garage apartment behind the house so he could say hi to Otto, the puppy next door. To make the day a bit sweeter, Atticus was full of new words: tractor, pizza, computer & Otto! Four new words in one day! I've always heard that once it clicks, it clicks...

Today also happens to be Wren's 2 month birthday. Yeowzers. Two months? How did that happen? I actually failed to get her picture with her puppy on her one month birthday - OOPS, but hopefully we're back on track now. Her schedule is also getting a bit more predictable which is nice. Let's hope it stays predictable!

Greg is plugging along with his studies. He's actually requested to stay away one additional day since he's getting so much done. I'm thrilled his studying is going well - but ugh... I'm ready for him to come home. Of course, I agreed to let him stay in Dallas one more night, but it hasn't been easy to do this alone. I'm in awe of the millions of women (and men) who successfully handle parenthood single handedly! Shoot, I'm in awe of any family that manages more than 2 kids!

Well, it's after 10:30 pm and I still need to fold the laundry, get everything ready for "school" tomorrow, take a shower and finish cleaning up from dinner. Tomorrow is another busy day - I'm helping out at Atticus's daycare from 8:30-10:30 am, an exciting trip to the dentist around lunch time and then a much needed trip to Costco and HEB. Fun times...

On your mark, get set, GO!

Transitions

Atticus is growing up so fast... although we've had a couple of rough morning drop offs at daycare this week, he's managed to nap all week without "wooby"! This is HUGE. Granted, the minute I walk into his classroom to pick him up he says hi, gives me a hug and then promptly asks for wooby, but the fact that he's been able to nap without it I think is a pretty big accomplishment.

I've been toying with the idea that the paci gets lost in the move to Ohio. I'll let him hang onto the blanket portion of wooby for sleep - but I'd like to get away from paci... But, the move may be stressful enough as it is - should I torture him further by taking away his comfort item?

His evaluation this morning with ECI went well. It's a shame that we'll be moving in 2 weeks, but hopefully the coordinator here can help with the transition to Ohio. She's trying to find the reciprocal program for us there in Toledo... The therapists we met with this morning felt that we should start with communication and possibly some sensory and speech therapy. Atticus isn't terribly behind which is good news and is actually ahead of the curve in some areas. His fine motor skills are apparently quite good and the fact that he goes up and down stairs by himself one foot at a time is good too. All told, it was a good visit and I've already gotten some tips on how to improve communication and some of the sensory items. I know some people have a fear of having their child labeled in the school system if they've been "tested" or have had physical/occupational/speech etc therapy -- but I've decided if it helps my child get the most out of his day and he's learning better coping mechanisms for frustration and communication, then I'd rather he get assistance now and not worry about labels that might or might not affect him in 3 years...

Potty Deconstructed

Well... we've got all the pieces to potty training, just not in the right order. Here's a run down of how tonight's events went:

1. Atti says "poop".

2. I ask if he needs to go and remind him that poop goes in the potty.

3. Atti runs off to the bathroom and returns to the living room carrying his potty.

4. I ask if he needs to go and he says "no".

5. Atti goes to the front door and looks out trying to see Dadu and proceeds to go poop (in the diaper).

6. I remind Atti that poop goes in the potty and that we need to take shorts off to sit on the big boy potty.

7. Atti removes shorts.

8. Atti reiterates that he's gone poop.

9. Atti sits on the potty and looks up at me with a pleased look on his face.

10. We saunter back into his room, I change his diaper and ask where the poop goes and he runs off to the bathroom to show me the "big potty".

I suppose I'll take the small victories... we're on our way I think. I'm trying the no/low pressure training at the moment. I figure he's got enough on his small plate with the upcoming move, a new school, a new sibling, etc -- I don't want to push him and scare him off!

Comings and Goings

Wow. We've been pretty darn busy since the last update -- lots to tell y'all about!

We've been to playgroup over at Diane and Eleanora's house. Atticus has also started saying Eleanora... we've only heard it a couple of times, but he gave me a big ole smile when he said it. :)

Saturday, July 3 - we headed over to my cousin's house for her daughter's 4th birthday party. Atticus had a blast with the balloons (I think he set the majority of them "free" towards the ceiling) and ate his body weight in watermelon. He also chased Zoe, Paige and some new friends around the house. :) That night, was a treat for me. I met up with my friend Angie (who's a nurse at our pediatrician's office) and another long lost friend, Christina and her family. I hadn't seen Christina since high school graduation just over 17 years ago. CRAZY! We met up at Mozart's for some music, coffee, and catching up. It was a great night out for me.

We had a wonderful impromptu playdate with the Wallace Family on the 4th of July. It was wonderful to see my dear friend Jeanne - even for a couple of hours and catch up. Atticus had an absolute ball playing in their backyard. I was impressed watching him assert his independence climbing the ladder and going down the slide! I had actually entertained the idea of letting Atticus stay up late to watch fireworks, but after some outside playtime - he was wiped out. Atti even asked me if he could go to bed as soon as he got out of the bath. We had just sat down to read a story, when he wiggled off my lap, went over to his bed, looked at me and said "nap". He was pooped!

On Monday, July 5, the kids and I packed up and went to meet Diane and Eleanora at the Dino Pit! I can't believe this was our first trip there -- it's sooooo cool! Of course, by 10:30 it was already starting to feel like a steam bath outside. We headed indoors where the kids checked out some indoor fossils and a cave. Atticus ran in circles (literally) in and out of the cave. There was a minor rock throwing incident - and a time out in the middle of the Austin Nature and Science Center, but overall a good time.

At the end of the week, I packed up the kids and headed to Plano to visit my folks for a few days and give Greg some quiet study time. Everyone is ready for the BAR prep and exam to be OVER! It's definitely been stressful. We ended up staying one extra night in order to give Greg just a little more time. While we were in Plano, Atticus kept showing more and more signs of his growing independence. He now takes his shorts off (and tries to pull them back on) by himself and he tells you "NO" when he wants to do something/anything by himself. He kept picking up the phone at my parents house too -- and when we asked who he wanted to call, it was either Milo, his friend from school (pronounced My-O) or Uncle Shawn (pronounced "Hawn"). He's in a "guy" phase lately - and if given his choice between Mom or Dad, it's going to be Dad, between Bubbe and Pops, it's Pops, etc. So Uncle Shawn coming over for a visit and coming to dinner with us was a big treat. Another treat -- and this probably makes me an awful parent, but what the hey... I let Atticus try a sip of my margarita at dinner. I dipped the straw into the glass about an inch or so and let him try my drink. He loved it! Figures -- he likes lemons and salty things, so it makes sense that he'd like the margarita. :)

We also took a quick trip to Buy Buy Baby while in Plano. I wanted to purchase a harness to use on the upcoming flight to Ohio. It's called CARES. Atticus will be over 2 years old for our fight to Ohio, so he needs his own seat. I don't think I could keep him in my lap now anyways!! I also don't think he'd sit very still in his carseat for a couple of hours, so I began researching alternatives. I came across the seatbelt/harness strappy thing which I think will work like a charm. Given our recent fascination with buckles - I figure we've got a good 30 minutes or so of entertainment built right into the harness!

As a side note - my engineering toddler has already figured out how to unbuckle his sister's car seat! Oy!

A few other firsts from last night... Greg brought home the activity mat for Wren from the storage unit. I had it set up in the living room when Atticus got home from school. When Greg asked him who used to use the mat, he said clear as a bell "ME". I was pretty impressed. He then proceeded to crawl under the arches to lay on the mat while proclaiming "under". Pretty awesome!

Well -- I think that pretty much gets everyone up to speed. It's been a busy couple of weeks. There are some new photos up on Picasa and more to come...

Photo Shoot Pictures

I've uploaded the photos from Wren's photo shoot. Yay! Thank you Megan at Little Grasshopper Photography!

Wren's Photo Shoot

Lemons

I've got a lot of lemons. I think this weekend I'll make some virtual lemonade for just about everyone I know. :-)

Sigh...

This morning started out fairly well. Wren slept in until just after 8 am, Atticus was pretty cheery and ate all his breakfast, yada yada... then it was time to leave the house. Greg opened the front door and the rear passenger tire on the Audi was flat. Ugh. Thankfully, our wonderful landlords have an air compressor in their garage. Greg could feel the nail in the tire - so we determined that Wren and I would head over to Good Year while Greg took Atticus to school and then headed south to catch the remainder of his class. The store manager at the Good Year on 41st (over by the crazy HEB for you local folks) is named CJ. He's a really nice guy and quite helpful. He sold us tires for the Infiniti about a year ago... but anywho, helped us out again today. Murphy's law was in full effect however. The nail was in the side of the tire and the tire couldn't be patched. So... you're never supposed to just replace one tire anyways, so I knew we were in for at least two. But wait, it gets better! Because the wagon is a quattro all wheel something or another the tread on all tires has to be within a certain measurement of each other or else the car's transmission gets all wonky (my translation of what CJ told me). CJ called Audi and spoke with them and it was determined that we could do 2 new tires instead of 4 BUT... since these were the original tires on the car (and apparently Greg was planning on replacing them all later this fall anyways) we opted to just replace all 4 tires with the same kind that we put on the Infiniti. Don't ask me what they are -- something with an eagle. :-) One of the nice guys at the shop drove Wren and I home so we didn't have to wait at the shop all afternoon and he'll come pick us up later this afternoon. CJ laughed and said the tires we needed were of course not in his store and he was getting them "shipped" up from San Marcos.

So -- the plan is to get new tires and book the moving company this afternoon. An expensive day to say the least. Oh... and call Molly Maid again and ask if their repair guy can come look at the floor.

The good news of the day? Wren's photos are ready from her shoot with Megan of Little Grasshopper Photography. Yay! I'll definitely post some of our favorites later tonight and then I'll order the birth announcements. Better late than never, right?