I shouldn't laugh .... but I did.

Jordan has been practicing going on the potty. Despite the fact that she doesn't talk much, she manages to convey with grunts and points her intentions. About 6pm tonight she did her little grunt and point and we complied and took her in to do her business (well, michael did). So, she does it and michael gives her praises and lets her flush and wash her hands (this is a big step as well). About 5 minutes later, Taylor announces she would like a bath. I tell the girls to run upstairs and get undressed and I'll be right there. Taylor took that as her job to get them both undressed. Jordan first of course. Jordan is standing naked in the bathroom and Taylor is still stuck in her dress because she can't get to the buttons. While I am undoing the buttons it sounds like a cup of water has hit the floor. Yes, Jordan just pottied AGAIN , not even 10 minutes later. Scared her to death. And to top it off, she starts to do a little slippy slide in her own business and has a coniption fit with herself. Why couldn't she let her entire bladder go when she was on the potty? So, as terrible as it sounds, with Jordan crying that she just messed all the way down her leg ... I laughed.

What would you tell your child when they ask ....

What would you tell your child when they ask .... when is Santa Claus' birthday? Yes, I have been asked that recently and was a little stumped. I don't know that I ever really thought about that before. Apparently, this is very important to our little deep thinker in the family!

Coupon Crazy

Michael says I'm crazy. I would rather think that I am smart! We have scored pretty well lately on free items or nearly free! Some of my favorite have been in the last 2 weeks!

- Kleenex (FREE!)
- Valley Fresh Steam Veggies (FREE!)
- Chex Mix (FREE)
- Chinet Paper Plates (FREE)
- Betty Crocker Frosting (FREE)
- Progresso Chicken Broth (FREE!!!)
- Pillsbury 5lb flour (I'm going to get 6 bags for $1 this week at Albertsons!)
- 10 lb bag of Russett Potatoes (Free with $10 purchase at Safeway this week!)

Yeah, it takes time but it sure can be rewarding to walk out with several bags of groceries for $1.25! The casher called someone over to guess how much I'd spent! I would have spent like $55 without the coupons!

Girls School pictures

The girls are continuing to grow and we have the pictures to prove it!

Yeah for Swagbucks

From a previous post, I noted I found this website that rewarded you for doing searches on the internet. So, anytime I visited a website, even if I already knew the URL, I plugged it into the search engine. It has paid off! I now have $25 to Amazon! Other than the length of time it takes to redeem the points, it is great! I can load the e-certificates to an amazon.com account to be used on a future purchase so I don't lose track of them! Wonderful! Perhaps a future Christmas present! yeah!

You definitely need to join!! Who doesn't want free $$$
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/mathisfamily4

Very domestic!

We have been practicing being domestic this last week. We picked too many ears of corn to count, dehusked them, blanched them, cut the kernals off, and bagged them. 28 bags of corn to be exact!

Tonight we picked raspberries from the yard and bottled them! Yeah for us! I am entertaining the idea of making a raspberry pie filling and canning that as well! And of course, we'll probably do one batch of raspberry freezer jam if the raspberries continue to produce well!

And to top it off -- I used coupons and got 10 bottles of salad dressing for FREE! Well, it did cost me tax but $0.26 for 10 bottles isn't too bad!

Great way to earn a little extra $$$$

Hey everyone,

I ran across this website (Swagbucks) and have been using it for quite awhile now. It rewards you for searching on the the internet! Randomly, you will be rewarded points. You can cash in for a $5 gift card from Amazon when you reach 45 points. I get at least 2 points per day without really having to try. I am up to 190 points! Check it out! Great way to earn a little extra for Christmas! Here is a referral link! Paste it and you're on your way!

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/mathisfamily4

Good thing you didn't come and visit this week...

This last week has been a rather tough week! Why? We decided that we would no longer give Taylor naps during the day. This is not to say that she didn't need one though! She definitely still needs one, or maybe I do too! I miss the quiet early afternoon when both girls would sleep but I am loving the new routine! Jordan is of course still taking a nap and has been cooperating wonderfully. The whining starts at about 4pm around here. If we are in the car about this time it is guaranteed that Taylor will try to sneek in a little shut eye. But, we have been putting the girls to bed between 630-7pm the entire week. Oh Heavenly. Taylor is so tired that after just a little bit of snuggling she goes to sleep with no tears! It has been wonderful to have an even tear free and with enough time to work on some of my projects! yeah!

Just like Daddy

Michael occasionally wears his boots. Recently, Taylor has wanted to be like her Daddy and even insisted yesterday that Jordan join in on the 'fun'. I wish you could have seen Jordan's face as she was out stomping around in her boots!

Better than Free

What's better than a free item at the grocery store?? An item that not only is free but gives you overage! I found an item today that does that! I'll earn $0.50 on each item I purchase plus get the item for free! Yeah!

Iris' anyone

We are planning on moving a few things around in the yard as well as thin the Iris'. Anyone want any Iris bulbs? They are beautiful. We enjoyed them very much this year. Last year, they got dashed to pieces by the lovely hail that preceeded the tornado! You could say they are 'hardy'! Let me know if you're interested. They are a lovely purple.

Father's Day project

Every year since we had an official "Father's Day", I have done a Father's Day project. It usually ends up in my kids hands and/or feet covered in paint. Sometimes even more if I am not careful. This year was one of my best ideas yet. And to top it off, I laminated it with my new laminator. I waited a year to see if I really wanted it so when I found it for a great price I snatched it up. Here is our wonderful creation for 2009!

Anyone need a good buy on cereal?

I just found a pretty good deal on Cheerios. Albertson's in Fort Collins has several General Mills cereal on 3 for $5 ($1.67). Well, combine that with a coupon from smartsource.com ($1 off of 2) and you end up with cereal for $1.17. Apparently, it is the bigger box of Cheerios (at least according to the add). I think I'll head over there tomorrow after work! (Also, thanks to a friend who told me Albertson's was having the sale in the first place! Thanks Elizabeth!)

I love finding a good deal!

Okay, so lately I have been clipping coupons. Not just any coupons. But coupons that lead me to getting something virtually free or makes it a FANTASTIC DEAL! Some of my recent stash has included 4 FREE bottles of BBQ sauce! Anyone need any? 18 individual crystal light drink packets! FREE! Woo hoo! And so far, 6 things of Johnson and Johnson Buddies soap! FREE! Another really good deal I have been stocking up on is diapers. I normally prefer LUVs for nighttime but I'm willing to buy the cheaper diapers to take to daycare. So, I have been stocking up on store ones. That's how I know that the diaper prices at target were just increased! Boo hoo. Anyone else find any really good deals lately?

What do you get when ....

You hire your three year old to watch your just-barely-one year old? A mess. A total utter mess. Not just in one room but every room they explored together. Blankets are out everywhere and of course, unfolded. Toys have migrated from the basement to the upstairs and don't get me started on what the playroom looks like. Well, I really can't complain. She did a wonderful job while I laid on the couch contemplating if dying was a viable option. You see, with two kids in daycare, in separate rooms, they are each exposed to different kids and different germs. Badda Bing and they bring them home to share with me. So, early this morning I started the running to the bathroom to contemplate which end should face the toilet. It ended up with my face in the garbage can. Like clockwork, every 30 minutes I'd be back to pay my dues. Taylor was convinced once I quit throwing up that I must be all better. Dear sweet child, that doesn't mean you can wiggle around on my lap. But it was so cute to listen to her 'mother' Jordan this morning. She started out with "Taylor is mommy and Jordan is baby". It got really quiet at one point and when I went to check on them they were sitting on the floor and Taylor was feeding Jordan pretzals. Later, she told me Jordan was still hungry and that she had taken the cheerios out of the diaper bag. Way to be resourceful! All that mothering must have worn her out because she was in bed and asleep at 6:30pm. With Jordan in bed at 7;15pm it has been a very nice last hour. However, my house is still a mess.. anyone feel like cleaning?

Spring Fever

With the recent turn of the weather to 'spring' we have spent quite a bit of time outside. Jordan has had quite the adjustment in learning to walk on the grass. I'm sure she thought she was hot stuff learning to walk at 10 months and that there wasn't anything else to do. Gotcha kiddo. Walking on grass is a whole new experience. Too bad you weren't here to see her try and walk up a small incline. She toppled over backwards! So funny! Here are some pictures of the girls as they helped with weeding one of the gardens. As you can see, Jordan was being a little TOO helpful. Since she was enjoying herself and keeping herself occupied -- and not trying to eat it -- we let her do whatever she wanted!

Day 3 and no 'B'

Today is day three of Jordan having no binkie. So far, so good! In fact, it has been really good. She even went down for a nap without a binkie or any water! It has given Taylor some 'mommy' time. We used the time to make 'bear bread'.

Last week's Friday 'fun'. Commonly referred to as 'Mommy Day' by Taylor. This is the day we save up all the over-the-top activities. Here are pictures from the latest. I wish you could have seen the excitement on Taylor's face when I told her she could then paint it. Oh the delight!

Update: Jordan has had no problem not having a binkie! What was I worried about? The last day she enjoyed her 'comfort' was May 5. We're still going strong. Michael slipped once in the night when she was having a hard time but a short while later i took it out of her crib and she never made a noise for it! Yeah Jordan! you are such a trooper!

Jordan-Eggs

The cute girls that have been taking care of Jordan at daycare made her an Easter Basket and included a few 'golden' eggs for her mom and dad. Of course, there were 3 plastic eggs for Jordan to play with as well!

What to do...

I've been debating for some time what to do about converting the video cassette we have of Taylor when she was little. How do I go about getting it digital so we can save it? Do I buy a machine to do it? Do I send it somewhere? Well, I got my answer. On a bookstore receipt there was a coupon for a free conversion to a DVD. Perfect! All I had to do was pay the shipping both ways. What a deal! I sent it in and got it back less than a week later! Great! I showed it to Taylor this morning and she kept asking if that baby was Jordan!! So cute.

Jordan eats cake

Jordan had her birthday this week. We waited to celebrate until Michael's mom and dad could come. Here is a picture of Jordan enjoying her birthday cake!

New Kitchen Backsplash

Okay, so it has been almost a year since the tornado and we are just now finally getting around to getting the backspash in our kitchen finished. After all the crappy contractors we had at our home last summer we were burned out of dealing with them. It took us this long to get over the pain of having to deal with one to get our backsplash completed. Since it wasn't an item that needed to be done right away it got put on the back burner. Here are some pics! We are excited for our kitchen to be put back together!

Taylor makes Pasta

(March 21)

If you ask Taylor what she wants for lunch or dinner she will always tell you .... Noodles. Noodles are her favorite. So, we decided we'd try and make our own one day. They turned out pretty good!

If you were me ...

If you were me, what would you have done if your kiddo woke up with a hand that looked like this? We went to the doctor's and she had x-rays taken. Nothing broken

Jordan turns one!

Today we had Jordan's one year old pictures taken and I couldn't resist getting a couple of Taylor too! Although her birthday was yesterday, we are going to wait until Grandma and Grandpa can come this weekend to celebrate! I think Taylor is more excited than Jordan!

Taylor 'spits-up'

About 4:30am on Friday morning Taylor comes down out of her room and tells me that she "Spit-up". Oh no I am thinking! Not on the carpet. We had recently talked about where we should throw up... in bed, in the bathroom, in the kitchen... but NOT on the carpet. I can't wash the carpet very well. Fortunately, she did it on her bed. Besides the extra laundry not too bad. She wanted to climb in our bed but fortunately I convinced her I'd make he a comfy bed in my bathroom and promised her if she needed to throw up she only needed to call for me and I'd come. True to my word, I went every time she called or threw up. We got out the well known "barf-bowl" and she slept with that. (Note, we don't use this bowl for anything other than barfing!)

Taylor has only just begun to take interest in TV. You know she wasn't feeling well when I put on the tv and she actually stayed and watched it. She never does that! Usually, it is only for about 10-15 minutes and the tv is off. Long enough to take a shower. Her biggest disappointment on Friday was not doing our 'project'. She tells me that is her favorite thing to do on 'Mommy day'. I promised we'd do something later.

A funny for later that day... obviously, she was feeling better and was trying to jump on the couch which is not allowed. I told her she needed to stop it but she wasn't listening. I knew how upset she was over her stomach hurting earlier so I threw in "stopping jumping on the couch or your tummy is going to hurt again!" Without missing a beat she replies, "It already hurts!". She thought that would allow her to continue jumping! WRONG! I stopped that pretty quickly! (It wasn't really jumping but more running up and down the couch.. but still!)

PS .. she has tried multiple times to get the special "sick drink" and "popsicles" as she NEEDS them. The sick drink was either a little coke or 7-up which she has had very little of. We keep a little in the basement just for these times! Sorry kiddo... no more sick drink. Popsicles... well, okay (you do know it is freezing outside, right?)

Taylor's bedtime routine

I think we finally have it figured out. It has only taken us 3 years to get this right. Taylor has never wanted to go to bed and has refused to do so. Now, I have even offered to let her stay up in her room if she would just stay there. That has never been good enough. I think she figures she is going to miss out on something important if she goes to bed. Taylor it seems, just needs a reason why she needs to do something. For instance, she has only been wearing pull-ups at bedtime for almost a year now. Most of the time she would wake up dry but well, she still had her moments. So, one day several weeks ago she decided she wasn't going to wear pull-ups anymore because they made her 'bum' hurt. And they did. Not because they were too small but hey, do you want to sleep in wet undies? So, she decided no more and you know... she has not had an accident yet. It makes me think those wet pull-ups were getting wet in the morning and not during the night! Anyway, back to the bedtime routine ... Several weeks ago we introduced her to her 'treasure' box. It has worked like a charm. She would find things in it that were inexpensive or things she might have gotten anyways but now she gets to 'earn' them before enjoying them. Each night she goes to bed 'nicely' (meaning she stays in the bedroom and eventually goes to sleep) she gets a 'special' star. Once she gets two of these special stars down comes the treasure box. Bedtime has been so nice! We start getting ready about 7:30pm. She sometimes fights getting pajamas on... We go into her bedroom of choice (got to have some choice in all this since she IS going to bed) and she chooses my bed. Into bed we go. We read a book. Turn out the lights. Set the little time for 2 minutes of back rubbing and start settling down. I then leave, making sure to leave the closet light and bathroom light on with the doors cracked. I kiss her goodnight and promise to come back in 2 minutes. If she is in bed still, I'll rub/scratch her back again (if I make it back.. shhh.. don't tell her!). If she chooses to come out, she'll tell you that means she has to go to her own bed. After I leave, I know she gets out of bed and takes the book we just read over near the closet to 'read' it again (She's not very quiet when she reads). She then puts herself back to bed. I love it! Of course, we do have those nights that are difficult but it is NOT every night like it used to be. Maybe once a week she'll put up a stink! She cries the next morning that she didn't get that special star! We are now on to needing 3 special stars to get out a prize! Hopefully, we'll wear this novelty off and just go to bed! Crossing our fingers!

Jordan tells me "MORE"

Jordan is a trooper! Despite all the ailments and ear pain she has she just keeps on going. Tonight, as I was putting a little extra something in her tummy before bed she started to do the baby sign for 'MORE'. Now, I have been doing this to her for quite some time but she just looks at me like, huh? or laughs. Well, today she did it! At first I thought "do you know what that means"? And she would do it at the appropriate time. She wanted more of those sweet potatoes! What fun it is to watch her learn!

A treasure box

Ever since Taylor was a newborn she has wanted to be held to go to bed. She was miserable as an infant and never slept more than 20 minutes at a time during the day unless she was being held. We have tried repeatedly over the last three years to break this cycle to no avail! At one point we thought we were doing pretty good and got as far as sitting next to the door in her bedroom while she laid on her bed. Unfortunately, this could sometimes take over an hour for her to go to bed. When the tornado came and we were left in a house with no windows or carpet (I certainly didn't want to sit on the plywood and wait for her to drift off) we ended up sitting on her bed. That's where the back rubbing came into play. (Michael never sat on the floor. He preferred to sleep in bed with her). I have tried and tried to get her to stay in her room at bedtime. That didn't work. I told her she could keep her light on and read for as long as she wanted. That didn't work. I was nearing my wits end when I decided perhaps her litle stubborness just needed a little reward. So, the other night we made a 'treasure box' out of an empty diaper box. We decked it out with stickers and put stars over it. We even went to the extreme of using glitter. What a mess (Thank you Jamie)! Since that night, the little darling has been pretty good about going to bed. I have stocked the treasure box with a few 'rewards' when special stars are earned. So far so good. Right now, she has to earn 2 special stars in order to get a reward out of the box. We keep track of these stars on a little erasable board on the fridge. We hype it up as best as we can hoping she catches on and gets excited about how well she is doing. Eventually, she'll have to get a lot more stars to get a 'reward' out of it and then hopefully she'll forget about it. So far, two stars is about as long as she can wait or she'll tell me "I don't care" and go about jumping out of bed.

The other night I was so proud of her. She didn't go to sleep right away but she did stay in the room. I'd periodically go in and check on her and she'd want her back rubbed or scratched again. (I forgot to mention, that before I leave her in the room we take a timer in and set it for how long I will rub her back. She then knows that when it goes off that I am going to leave.) It took about 45 minutes before she finally gave up but she didn't come out of the room!

It sure has been nice to not have any tears at bedtime. Yeah, it cost me some items in a treasure box but mostly they are things she needed anyway. (Have you ever had your kid excited about getting a new toothbrush or batteries for some toy?) Shh.. don't tell her otherwise!

To our uninvited house guest

Dear Germs,

You have overstayed your welcome. We are tired of the coughing, sneezing, sore throat, fever, no one getting a good night sleep bug. Your generosity and willingness to share has gone over the top! You are being kicked out. You may not return. Please find yourself a new home! Preferably far far away!

The Mathis family

Oh, to be so flexible!

Jordan was just a little more than cranky so we stashed her in her bed hoping she'd take a little nap. Well, it did get pretty quiet up there and this is what I found! (I moved her and her nap was pretty short lived!)
Update: Turns out she came down with croupe that night and two ear infections! I'd be cranky too!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is not a big holiday in our house. Probably mostly because of me. I mean, who wants to hear they are 'loved' when everyone else in the world is also saying it? I'd rather something spontaneous. In fact, a surprised clean house or other such tasks would make my day!

But, since Taylor has been excited this year because of 'school' we went all out with breakfast! Heart-cakes for those of you who don't recognize our creation! Pink ones at that!
Taylor gave Daddy a book she even wrote her name in it. It wasn't a surprise because she pulled it out of the hiding place we had stashed it in several days previously and wanting it to be read. Note to self.. keep child in the dark about such secrets. I think she had the book memorized before she actually gave it to him!

Jordan all worn out later in the day. This 'loving' is rough! It was windy so we were protecting her little ears! Cute as a button!

Taylor update

On January 29th we took cupcakes to Taylor's daycare 'school' and celebrated her birthday (January 30th) with her best friend Kyler who was born on the 29th!

I wonder which one is Kyler!

Taylor, you are so much fun to be around. You have a very vivid imagination and it is fun to watch you learn and figure things out. You already know all of your alphabet and can even write most of them with just a little help on some of those 'hard' ones.

Jordan Update

Early in the morning on January 29th , Michael and I headed off to take Jordan to get tubes put in her ears!

Jordan is NOT a happy camper here. This is when they are all done and coming out of the anesthesia. She wasn't happy about being put into her carseat! She wanted to snuggle some more!

Since the surgery Jordan has made some amazing progress. She has learned to crawl on her hands and knees, sit up from any position, pull herself up to the furniture, and yes... even has started to take steps on her own! Really! Those ears must have been bothering her quite a bit to accomplish all this in just 3 weeks! She is a goer!

Poor neighbors

2008 ended quite blustery. This is a picture of our poor neighbors! I wonder what they were doing for the celebrating the New Year... Yard Work?

Cranky girls

Jordan had tubes put into her ears last Thursday. All went well. Or did it? Seems to me she is more grouchy than when she went in. Could it be her independence striking or a second round of the sickies invading our house? I'm sadly hoping for the sickies as that will eventually go away. Jordan and I have not slept for 3 days. I would have enjoyed sleeping more if she felt well. Poor little thing. I guess we're looking at another doctor's visit. The cough keeps waking her up which results in crying for mommy or daddy. Daddy plays the 'who can ignore her the longest' game and waits until I get up to take care of her before moving! I'm on to you Michael! Tonight is your night! It has not been decided if we will go to school and work tomorrow. It depends on how I end up feeling. I've had a bad headache since Thursday and a pretty good sore throat. I don't think there is anyone out there that would like for me to share this 'bug' with them! If you would like it, let me know and I'll send my kids over to your place while I take a much needed nap!

Last weeks adventure in being a home owner...

In the last year we have had our house almost blown over by a tornado, our furnace quit working on a morning it was -16 degrees outside, and now we had the bake element in our stove blow up! What's next on the home improvement list? We did learn that hiring contractors is not fun so we did the fix-it repair on the stove ourselves

Sleepytown

One of my oh so favorite places to visit is sleepy town. Yesterday, after dinner I had two whiney girls on my hands so I decided it was time to get in the car and go to sleepy town! All bundled up in their pajamas, the heat on, and a little help from classical lullabies we arrived at Sleepy town in a short 7 miles. I didn't know it was so close! What a wonderful time I had driving home from sleepy town! (It was only 6:15pm!) She did however get up at 5:53am but hey, we needed to be getting up soon anyways!

Jordan ...

Well Jordan ... you're past 9 months old and just today finally walked up and down the couch. You made it look so easy considering you haven't done it before. Perhaps you were just keeping it a secret! You're still getting over a bad cold and had your first fever the last couple of days. 102F but you managed to get through it. You still aren't back to yourself yet. In fact, you haven't been interested in your bottles at all this weekend! Get better sweetie!

Happy Birthday Taylor #1

Happy Birthday Taylor! We had your first little party tonight with Grandma and Grandpa who can't make it later. We had some of your favorites for dinner. We had Homemade Stroganoff and green beans. Earlier today you helped make your cake and even helped decorate it. I learned that I should have let you decorate it AFTER I wrote on it! You wanted a blue cake, hence the blue writing! (Do you remember the blue cake Carrie Malinda?)

We made a yummy carrote cake this morning! (Snuck in a vegetable!)

Jordan certainly let her opinion be known that she was not to be left out on this one! She licked her little bowl clean!

Poor Jordan

So, for the last several months we have made numerous trips to the doctor for Jordan and her ears. She pulls and pulls and pulls on them. Some nights she hardly sleeps. She wakes up and gives this terrible cry and lets you know she'd rather be sleeping. Well, finally, at her 9 month appt her pediatrician agrees that we need to go and see an ENT. So, anticipating that, I had already called and gotten an appt with an ENT doctor the same week as her 9 month check-up. Well, her hearing is still within the normal range. Unfortunately, she has no movement in her eardrum. This is what we were suspecting. If we didn't do anything to fix this it would cause her to be delayed in many things. i think it already has in regards to standing. poor thing doesn't have a lot of stability! well, I guess that is understandable now. So, today after her hearing test and doctor's appt she is scheduled for surgery. She will be having tubes put in on January 29th.

Crossing our fingers for you sweetie!

9 Month stats

On Monday, January 12th we went for Jordan's regularly scheduled check-up. Her stats are:

Weight: 18 lbs 10 oz = 50th percentile
Height: 28 1/4" = 75th percentile
Head: 46 cm = 95th percentile

Taylor's at this point were almost identical. She was only 18 lbs 3 oz.

Finally an update

For Christmas this year we went to Seattle. Having a white white Christmas was a lot of fun. Seattle had 12+" of the stuff and it was causing all sorts of problems for the residents out there. Now that it has warmed up, there is A LOT of flooding going on.
Here are a few pics to celebrate the day!
Taylor got ahold of the camera and I got this picture taken!
On Christmas, Jordan finally decided to give up being content with where we sat her. Although she rolled up a storm and didn't stay put it was not the most efficient way of getting something. She took the plunge and started army crawling. The funniest thing we saw one time was when she had on only a diaper we set her down on her stomach (attempted to) and she did not want to drop! She held herself up on her hands and feet up off of the floor for quite some time!

She also decided to cut her first tooth! She is no longer toothless. In fact, she has now cut a second tooth.

On the 29th of December, Jordan also went potty on the potty for the first time. (Hey, she woke up dry after all night long! I had to see what would happen!)