Knock, Knock!!

Hello!

Things have gone considerably better with our eldest since my last post, so thank you to all of you who have said a prayer for us. We're not 100% yet, but hey, progress is progress!

We had a very quiet weekend here at 509 Cierra Circle. It was nice and much needed. Brandon left Sunday evening for a short trip out to California, so the kids and I are holding down the fort.

Speaking of the kids, one of our new pastimes is telling knock-knock jokes--preschooler and toddler style, of course! For example:

Connor: Okay, here's my joke. Mommy, you start.

Me: Knock-Knock

Connor: Who's there?

Me: I don't know--it's your joke!

Hysterical laughter.

Kylee: Knock-knock

Daddy: Who's there?

Kylee: Apple who?

Daddy: Apple who who?

Hysterical laughter.

It's the simple pleasures, isn't it?

I am almost certain both of our children have inherited their sense of humor from both of their Grandpas. :)

Say a Prayer!!

Well, folks, I have to be honest and say that this week has been a rough one for the Carlson Crew. The kids recovered from a round of the crud just in time for Brandon to get knocked down for the count by it. He hasn't taken a sick day in over a year, but was home on Monday and Tuesday trying to recoop. He had horrible sinus congestion, a terrible headache, and fever. He went back to work yesterday, but still sounds funny, although he says he feels better than he sounds. Now, you Mommies out there all know how hard it can be when the co-President and CEO of the household is sick. No fun.

Another stress in our household as of late has been potty-training. Allow me to vent for a minute here. Long story short: Connor has had some pretty serious bowel issues, which have been a GIGANTIC stumbling block on our effort to get him potty trained. About a year ago, after months of looking for answers, we finally got him on some medicine that seemed to help with the problem, which is great, except for now, one year later, we're still struggling.

For a period of about a week and a half this month, he did GREAT. No accidents, pee and poop in the potty, and he didn't even have to take his medicine. After two years of working hard with him, we were ECSTATIC. We took him to Toys 'R Us to pick out a special toy. The next day, he started having accidents again (hmmmm...). So, after deciding that clearly, we cannot reward him for good progress with anything other than praise, we boxed his toy back up and had him return it to the store. NOT FUN. Although he didn't seem really phased by it, it was so hard to do!! Here we had believed that we were doing better...

Since then, it's been a rough go. Lots of dunking poopy underwear and having to come in from outside for pant-wetting. IT IS SO FRUSTRATING and I am not kidding you when I tell you that we have tried EVERYTHING (two years gives you a lot of time to explore all the options!). I know that ultimately, it is a decision he has to make and I shouldn't stress about it, but any parent that says that probably hasn't worked on it for two years solid.

So, I just ask for your prayers, especially for me. I want so badly to show my children God's love, and I feel like right now, all Connor and I do is dance back and forth about his accidents. I am frustrated because I feel like we got a taste of what life is like for every other potty-trained 4 and 1/2 year old, and now we've regressed. I am raw with emotion and really hope this gets better soon. It's a daily stress for me and I feel like I can't think about anything else. Plus, Connor feels the stress of it, too, I know.

What scares me even more is that technically, I should be thinking about potty-training our daughter. YIKES! We've broached the subject with her, and after talking about it one night, she walked into the bathroom the next day while I was showering and announced "Mommy, I not want to wear big girl pants--EVER".

Oh, boy....

You Can't Take It With You...

Good Morning!

Things here in Liberty have been fairly uneventful as of late. I had a wonderful birthday, we've finally been able to do some playing outside, and the kids are recovering from a brief stent with the "winter crud". It has been wonderful to see the sunshine!

A birthday summary for you:

So many people went all-out to make my 30th birthday special. Thanks to my husband and kiddos, I started my day with my favorite coffee and a box of DELICIOUS chocolate donuts (with 19 grams of fat each, I don't EVER allow myself to buy them at the store, so it was an extra special treat!). Brandon fixed me a special dinner of chicken-noodles and mashed potatoes on the evening of my birthday--my favorite meal that Mom would always fix me on my weekends home from Jewell. I really appreciated the way he pulled my mother into my special day. I received some super-cool presents--a Flip-It (nifty cleaning tool for hardwood and vinyl flooring), purses, sunglasses, some Target jewlrey to wear to work specially selected by my children, and, a sapphire and pearl (Connor and Kylee's birthstones) ring from my husband. Friends took me out for a celebratory dinner, and I appreciated all of you who remembered my day by sending cards. What a great celebration!

We made a trip back to central Kansas last weekend to spend some time with our grandparents and my Uncle. We began the very long process of going through my Grandpa and Grandma's house and deciding what would be done with things. It was sad and overwhelming, but I think we all feel better getting a start on it. There is just so much STUFF, and I am overwhelmed by the lesson about how we can't take it with us. It is crazy to me that life can be reduced to so few things that are TRULY important. When we're gone, the people that we leave behind will sift and sort through all of our possessions and try to decide what's worth keeping and what should be given away--it makes me have a different perspective about what to keep and what to toss (figuratively and literally) during my time on this planet. What I know for sure is that what we leave behind forever are our relationships--by far the best, and most important, investments we make.

A couple weeks ago, I got to go to Connor's school Valentine's party. Here are some pics of the big event, of Connor with his friends Jacie and Truman. There's also a picture of our little princess (our friend Georgia loaned us her beloved Cinderella wedding dress) and a cute shot we got of the kids as they played in the scarf and hat crate that we keep in our front closet. Also featured in this post are some snapshots (I've chosen just a few out of almost 20 that he took) that Connor captured one night when he was especially inspired by the camera. Enjoy!