Kitchen Remodeling

I have been waiting and dreaming about a new kitchen for a while. We finally got enough saved I was able to order my cabinets. To save, we have done the work ourselves (with my dad's help). It has taken a bit longer because of schedules, but we are happy. I am thrilled with my new found counter and cabinet space.




My new cabinets and what's left of the old cabinets.










We had to rework some plumbing for the new built-in dishwasher and we had to do a little repair work to the floor due to some minor damage.




The tape outline for my future kitchen sink and my new kitchen sink.





Of course, my boys were more than willing to help as much as possible.








My boys even found time and the perfect location to "fix" their tractor.









Getting things ready for my counter-tops and my counter-tops

November 2010

We went to dinner at Wasabi's to celebrate my nephew's birthday. It ended up being a late night but we had a lot of fun. The boys loved watching the guy cook our food in front of us. They didn't like the fire part too much though. Jordan gobbled up the rice and vegetables. Dominic ate the steak (they ate off everyone's plate) On the way home Jordan informed us he wasn't tired (even though it was 2 1/2 hours past his bedtime) ... Right!

Driving home from my parent's house one afternoon, Jordan told me, "Mommy, that's a BIG no no. You in BIG troubles! Now listen to Jordan, OK?!" Don't know what I did but Thank you Jordan.

Some morning Drama.
Jordan started complaining his hands were frozen, this is after playing with his wagon, taking his crocs off and running around on the rocks with his bare feet and then he starts complaining because he has bare feet. The jacket he had on didn't have a hood so he pulled the back of it up over his head.

Jordan has started telling me I need to take him to Grandma and Grandpa's and I need to leave him there and come and pick him up later.

Dominic is in the hitting faze. After he hit Jordan, I told Dominic he needed to tell Jordan he was sorry. Jordan goes over to Dominic, kisses his head and says sorry.

Mike and I were going to Sam's. Jordan wasn't happy with that at all. I told Jordan he could have a cookie if he could talk nice. Jordan quickly said "May I get pizza and a sprite please?" What do you say to that?!

The kids had so much fun with family and playing during Thanksgiving break. There was definitely lots of laughter.

Of course, after Thanksgiving we start to enjoy the Christmas music. The boys did too. It was fun to watch them dance around and try to sing along.

Naptime Adventures!

There are some days, after the fact, I have decided nap time just wasn't worth it.
Case in point:

One day when I put the boys down for naps. I heard them playing and gave them a little bit ... when I went in I found the floor completely covered with 200 diapers and 1 container of 100 wipes emptied and all over the floor and the empty boxes in Dominic's crib. I was thankful the other 8 containers of 100 count wipes hadn't been completely emptied yet (they were in the process of working in one of them)
Another day when I put the boys down for naps, I just thought they were sleeping. Later when I came in to check on them I found Jordan on his bed with the sheets off and tearing pieces off his mattress topper.
On yet another day I found some cans of storage (that had been in a box under Jordan's bed) with their labels removed. 6 of them were about the same weight. But only 3 contained the same thing and now I don't know which is which.
All of this happened in November 2010. I quickly decided that Jordan could do without a nap.

Bless his heart, there are some days he is just so exhausted. One day I found him crashed on the couch. We have put nap time back in every once in a while depending on how Jordan is doing. I am pleased to say nothing else has happened (knock on wood)

Potty Training.

When we have gone in for checkups and the Doctor has asked us how the potty training is going. To which we respond, "it's not". Our Pediatrician has reassured us that she has yet to see a kid go to Kindergarten not potty trained. There have been times I have wondered if Jordan will be the first. He has wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.
After Halloween and getting all the candy, I had a stroke of inspiration. I told Jordan the candy was for big boys. Immediately he wanted to go and use the potty. It has been one interesting ride ever since.
I haven't had to change a poopy diaper/pull-up since (I am jumping up and down for joy).
Of course Jordan is proud of his accomplishment and we have to go and see he was a big boy. I have found him standing over the toilet saying "bye-bye, see you later" as he flushes.
I have witnessed a boy with serious bladder control. One day we were shopping. We went to 3 stores (one right after the other) and we had to make 3 potty breaks. We took him to the restroom right before we left one store and as soon as we walked into the next store he had to go. He actually did go potty all three times. By the 3rd time, Dominic was saying he needed to go use the potty too. We took him after Jordan got back and would just stand there. As soon as you tried to take his diaper off he would tell you "no".
This has also been the time I have dreaded ... Jordan having free access to the bathroom. So far I have had soap all over, from the sink to the floor to all over Jordan (head to toe). Jordan getting into his sister's toothpaste and eating it.
There are days that Jordan informs me he will be a big boy tomorrow. After completely soaking his pull-up, he ends up with a bare bum and we end up with no accidents.
One day when he had a bare bum, I found him backing his bottom up to the space heater to warm it up (good thing our space heater is cool to the touch).
Of course, he also likes to show his sister his bare bum and she doesn't appreciate it at all!
Progress is being made. We actually have had a few accident free days! Woohoo.

Halloween 2010

Dominic's first year trick or treating.
Since Halloween fell on Sunday we went with a friend to a neighborhood that decided to celebrate Halloween on Saturday.
For some reason my brain was a little slow and I was scrambling to get costumes. I had been looking around for a little while but I didn't want to spend the money. We found some "football jerseys" for the boys and Constance had decided she wanted to be a cowgirl. Dominic decided he wasn't about to cooperate and didn't end up wearing his little jersey.
The weather was a little cool. Things went well for a little while, then Dominic started to get a little tired. Mike took him and went and got his truck and followed us. One by one the kids got tired and jumped in the back of the truck. I kept asking Jordan if he was done and he kept telling me he "no". He was having too much fun getting the candy. We finally told the kids we were done. It was late enough and they had enough candy.
They had a lot of fun.

Catch UP!

It has been a while since I have updated the blog and I am going to see if I can get it all caught up. So here we go!

Bless His Little Heart!

This could prove to be very interesting.
For the last couple of weeks every time we are headed out Jordan doesn't want to walk. Whether we are going to the van or getting out of the van, he asks to be held.
I didn't realize what was going on really until yesterday.
The boys and I went with Grandma to do a little shopping. Maybe it wasn't the best idea since it was nap time. I figured it wouldn't be too bad and all in all the boys were good. When we were headed to the van to leave, Jordan started freaking out. There was a nice little breeze and it was blowing leaves around on the pavement.

Normal for this time of year ... After all it is Fall.
I was holding Dominic's hand and Grandma was holding Jordan's. Jordan couldn't get away from the leaves fast enough. He started screaming and trying to get his little legs up. I showed him they were leaves, you can step on them, you can crunch them ...
He couldn't get in the van fast enough.
Now I understand why he has been acting the way he has for the last several weeks.

He will not walk through the grass ... too many leaves. When he walks on the driveway or sidewalk he is very careful about where he walks (the less leaves the better). Heaven help you if the wind starts blowing! This morning it did and he wrapped his little legs around mine so tight and started screaming. When he finally calmed down enough to walk to the door, he kept saying crunch, crunch, crunch all the way to the door. He was so pleased when he got there. He proudly told me "I did it Mommy!"
Bless his little heart!