Can we just take a moment so I can tell you how ticked off I was at the cashier at Target yesterday? We can? Good, because I need to vent!

So after naps yesterday, we ran to Target to see if they had any more Robeez knock-offs in Kelvin’s size yet (they did, but just one pair). It took FOREVER just to get that one little thing because Ava, of course, has to stop and look at EVERYTHING we pass. And Kelvin takes advantage of my brief moments of distraction to wriggle out of the belt on the cart and stand up (I kid you not, it doesn’t matter how tight I put that belt on him, he can get out of it).

So I was already a little frazzled by the time we got up to the checkout. Ava took full advantage of the five minute wait we had at the checkout, too….she tried to add at least 20 things to the cart. Which made me just a little more frazzled.

It’s finally our turn, the cashier swipes our shoes across the barcode scanner, I pay, and then he HANDS MY CHANGE (ALL $25 OF IT) TO AVA!!! Um, are you kidding me? She’s 2! Which not only means I’ll have to confiscate my money before she drops it in the parking lot and the wind carries it away, it also means she’s going to throw a fit! Which she did, even though I tried to give her a quarter instead. But what choice did I have? If it was a couple of dollars, it wouldn’t have been a big deal and I would have just let her keep it. But $25? Come on! I’m sure he thought he was just being nice to her or whatever, but seriously man…think before you hand $25 to a 2-year-old!!

OK, vent over. Thank you for listening!

Posted: November 20th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

How did it get to be less than a week away from Thanksgiving all of a sudden? I guess time really flies when you’re trying to keep up with two little people, because this just does not seem possible. I’m not complaining, though…Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!

This year, we’ll be celebrating with my family (at my parents’ house, but my grandparents and uncle will be there too). We’ll be leaving Topeka Wednesday afternoon and getting to my grandparents’ house fairly late, but at least we’ll have time to get some sleep. Usually we drive all night long and are dead tired when we’re at my parents’ house and I really wanted to avoid that this time.

Then we’ll be going to Chad’s parents’ house Friday evening, spending Saturday with them and driving home on Sunday.

Next week is definitely going to be a busy one and I’m realizing that I need to start getting my packing and to-do lists ready. Yikes! There definitely won’t be any time for things like looking into call center services until we get home!

Posted: November 20th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

I took Kelvin to the breastfeeding clinic this morning for a weight check and he weighs 23 lbs, 12 oz. Since he learned to crawl, his weight gain has slowed down significantly. Last time he went to the doctor, his weight was even back on the charts (I think he was around the 75th percentile). This is especially good news for me because it means he just might fit in his winter clothes all winter! I really did not want to buy him a whole new set of winter clothes in a few months.

In other news, he’s slowly working on his walking. He takes a few steps here and there, but he doesn’t seem very motivated to learn how right now. But today, he was pushing Ava’s doll stroller around all by himself. This is not as sturdy as a walker, and he’s always needed my help to keep it from tipping over because he would lean on it so heavily. So it’s really awesome that he has enough balance to do it on his own now. I’m pretty sure he’ll be a pro at walking before we know it…then I’m really going to need the wrinkle cream!!

Posted: November 20th, 2009 under Kelvin.
Comments: none

We have snow!! I’m so excited, even though I know I’ll probably be totally sick of it by the time winter is over (and wishing I could rent one of these www.carolinadesigns.com houses to get away from it!). The kids are thrilled, too. Right now, it’s just really wet with a little bit of snow on the grass so the kids haven’t been out to play in it yet. We’re supposed to have 3-6 inches by tomorrow morning so I think they’ll get to play in it tomorrow. I’ll have to get some pictures when they do, because this will be Kelvin’s first time playing in the snow.

Posted: November 16th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
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Ava and Kelvin had their dentist appointments last Wednesday…and it was Kelvin’s first! They both did so awesome and I was really proud of them.

When we first went back, the assistant was going to have Ava sit in the big chair and she wanted me to hold Kelvin on my lap on a regular chair. But Kelvin was not going to have any of that…so he and Ava sat in the big chair together. It was so cute…I wish I’d brought my camera!

They were both totally cooperative…they opened their mouths perfectly for the assistant to brush their teeth and for the dentist to count and check them. And no cavities! I’d have been extremely surprised if they did. Neither of them drink much juice (they just don’t care for it very often), they don’t go to bed with a bottle and they voluntarily brush their teeth at least 5 times a day (and I brush them for them twice).

At the end they got bags with toothbrushes and some unique gifts for her (and him! LOL). They each got an inflatable ball and a little stuffed animal.

And then they both cried when it was time to leave. Have you ever heard of such a thing? LOL

Posted: November 16th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 2

I am super excited to introduce all of you to our brand new chest freezer!! (How sad is it that I am “super excited” about that?…about as sad as being excited about Anilox cleaning? Yeah, I thought so)

Isn’t it beautiful? It has 5 different sections on the bottom and then those two shelves on the top that can slide so you can get into all of the lower sections. The bottom sections are for meat, vegetables, meals (all homemade), ice cream/desserts, and miscellaneous meal ingredients. Kind of hard to categorize that last section…right now, I have pureed pumpkin, shredded zucchini, cooked chickpeas, diced yellow squash, homemade chicken broth, homemade cream of chicken soup and some other things that I’m not able to think of right now. One of the sliding baskets is for dairy (cheese, butter, cream cheese, etc.) and one is for breads and herbs.

I’m so excited about the new possibilities that I have available now that I have so much more freezer space. It’s hard to tell how full it is in the picture, but each bin is about half full (except the top sliding shelves…those are pretty much completely full). I think Chad is already scared of how soon I’ll have this one completely full, though…he already commented that he’s glad freezers this size are so reasonably priced!! LOL

Posted: November 11th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 3

You know how “they” say that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong? That’s definitely true when it comes to us getting to church. You name it, it’s happened. From tiles falling off our bathroom walls when we were supposed to have houseguests later that day, to kids getting sick, to dishes I was bringing for a potluck exploding in the oven. We’ve never had an incident involving a bell tv, but I’m sure that’s next. And now we have a new story to add to that list!

This last Saturday, we were all dressed and about to head out the door to church. I took Ava to go potty one last time, only to find the toilet overflowing (we have no idea why either…there was nothing in it except a small amount of toilet paper). The bathroom rugs were completely soaked and water was running down our air vent. I got it to stop running, but there was still a huge mess to clean up. And it gets worse…when I took the rugs down to the washer, I got pee-water dripped on me because all the water was dripping into the basement. It was a disaster.

Luckily, we were still able to make it to church on time, but I did not enjoy having to come home and scrub the bathroom floor right away!!

Posted: November 9th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 2

Can I just tell you how much I *DON’T* want to be sick right now?

I’m not 100% sure I’m getting sick, but I sure don’t feel too great right now. Last night, my chest was burning and it was hard to take a deep breath. Today, that’s gone, but my throat is slightly sore and I have no energy whatsoever. No fever, though, which is definitely a plus.

Ava doesn’t seem like she feels very good either. I asked her if anything hurt, and she just said she was “sore”. All she wanted to do this morning was lay on the couch and either watch movies or have me read to her. By the way, did you hear that she’s potty-trained now? So excited!

Kelvin still seems fine, though…which can be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing. Of course, I don’t want my baby to be sick, but he has SO MUCH ENERGY right now! And I have none! Not a good combination!

And now I’m getting off this computer to take advantage of the kids’ naptime…I’m either going to go take a nap myself or take a bath or something….boy, wouldn’t it be nice to have walk in tubs when you feel this yucky?

Posted: November 6th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

I just got a call from Sears Portrait Studio and they said that my name was drawn to win a free 10×13 portrait!! I’m pretty excited…I don’t think I’ve ever won anything in my life! And it’s not for lack of trying…I’ve entered giveaways for pretty much everything, from cloth diapers to blog makeovers to Kettlebells. OK, not Kettlebells, but you get the point. And now I won something without even trying (I think they just put in everyone’s names to who had portraits done during a certain period of time).

I’m also excited because I’ve been hoping they’d mail me a free 10×13 coupon, like I’ve gotten before. I have two 10×13’s of Ava above the couch in the living room and I want to take one of hers down and put one of Kelvin up. So this works out perfectly!

OK, my excited outburst is over now. You can go about your business.

Posted: November 4th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

This morning, I had the opportunity to take the kids to the art lab at Washburn University. We went with some other moms and kids in the Capital City Moms group I joined last month, and it was a lot of fun! We even got a little walk in because there was NO parking anywhere near the building and we had to park two blocks away. But it was really nice outside and Ava enjoyed crunching through the leaves.

In the art lab, they had a bunch of stations with a different activity at each one. They had:

1. A texture station where the kids put tiles with different textures under a piece of paper and colored over it to see the pattern.

2. A “rock wall” that was actually made of cardboard where the kids could color on the wall with sidewalk chalk.

3. A clear plastic divider in the middle of the room so the kids could color right on the plastic.

4. A self-portrait stations with different mirrors that distorted the kids’ faces.

And then they had various stations with toys like blocks, duplos, and more.

The kids had an absolute blast and it was even free! We’ll definitely be going back, and maybe next time we can bring Chad with us!

Posted: November 3rd, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1