Holiday Traditions Begin

It's starting to become obvious to me why traditions are fun with kids. I'm usually a no fuss celebrator which means I do as little decorating and cooking as possible. This year, we were in Austin for Halloween with my family. I had blown off the idea of carving pumpkins with the justification that the kids wouldn't know any differently. Husband insisted on jack-o-lantern making, and I'm glad he did. Kate was enthralled.



Trick or treating was a blast even if we only made it to four houses. Cousin O was a reluctant bear. Bean was a "rojo bee" (otherwise known to us as a lady bug), and Squeaker was a "regular bee." At one point, the girls sat down right outside someone's front door to evaluate their loot.

Dewars and 2-pack Pregnancy Test

9/9/2009 ~

So today I'm starting the journal of pregnancy #3. Posts to remain unposted for some time until we're out of the closet.

Let me start by saying we've talked about having 3 kids. We never ruled it out. But today we were surprised. I love that pregnancy and childbirth are two of the last great surprises in life. With the plus sign on the pregnancy test, a whole new future has begun.

I have no idea how pregnant I am. I haven't had a visit from Aunt Flow in quite a while, and I'm chalking that up to irregularity. Some of my recent body change symptoms include: flare up of a fungus-y rash, low back pain, a yeast infection, and a hopefully benign cyst on my hip. Until today, I was attributing these symptoms to a variety of things other than pregnancy. Now I'm not so sure...

We've been half joking about potentially being pregnant or potentially being in menopause for the last couple of weeks. Since Aunt Flow's been gone so long, Husband asked me to get a pregnancy test last week. Which I took. And it was negative. After having all these new symptoms today, I had strong urge to take a test. There was one left in the pack. So during dinner, I took it. Plus sign!



After dinner, I went out to get another 2-pack of tests. Husband asked for a bottle of Dewars as well. Craziest shopping cart I've ever had.

Progress?

So much has changed in our house in the last month.

Squeaker is walking. Completely. No crawling. Check out her moves and the 37-year-old nightgown she's wearing. I think it was mine when I was a baby. Nana, do you remember it?



Squeaks is also using a utensil when she eats. And she has a bowl that suctions to the table because she throws anything not attached to the table on the floor. Between trying to eat with a spork and using the silicone "ramp" on the bowl as a catapult, there's way more airborne food at her end of the table (see spaghetti photo in Happy Birthday blog below).

Bean announced on Sunday that she wanted to wear big girl panties. Ever since, we've been in potty training. Which means we're in the bathroom up to 3-4 times an hour. She drinks A LOT. I'm so proud that she decided to do it on her own and has stuck with it.

We weren't really prepared for potty training. Bean still sleeps in a crib. The first night of potty training, she called us to get out of bed 4 times before she went to sleep. So we decided last night to take the front of her crib off. I don't know why they charge you extra for a convertible crib. With a screwdriver, husband quickly made a toddler bed for Bean. But we didn't consider how difficult it would be for Bean to sleep in the crib with about 10 stuffed animals and not fall out. "Thunk, wahhhh," we heard at about midnight. There are now pillows on the hard floor next to her bed.



Tonight, she's gotten out of bed 5 times. Several to go potty, once to "throw something away," and another time to find a stuffed animal who was already in her bed. I'm quickly understanding how her freedom is not always going to equate to more freedom for me. With the exit of cribs and diapers so goes our ability to contain her body and bodily functions.