What blog?

Ohhh, that's right. I have a blog. Sorry, I kind of let it slip my mind...

Actually, my computer parts just came in this week, and I am HOPING Andrew will feel up to putting it all together for me this weekend. Then I will be FREE once again. I have just been bumming time from Andrew's while he is at work.

SO... we are officially moving at the end of this month! We're moving to Lindon--to rent out the basement of Andrew's boss's house. It's kind of weird--we know. But it's a very nice apartment (we'll have our own two car garage!!--oh what we could do with storage space!) and a DISHWASHER and WASHER AND DRYER. I'm sorry--I am very excited about those things. I have been hand washing dishes for a year and a half now (or mostly not washing dishes for a year and a half), and have been dragging myself, Kate, and bags and bags of laundry to the laundromat for a year and a half--and I have to say--I am SO sick of it!! I never would have made it as a pioneer, I completely realize that.

This is a dishwasher, for those folks (like me) who have not seen one in a very, very long time.

Anyway, we'll be moving shortly after Christmas. Once again, I hate packing and moving and all of that, but both Andrew and I enjoy going somewhere new and experiencing something different. Not sure how long we will be living there or what's in store for us, but we are excited for a new adventure!

PS In case you can't tell what the new banner is...it's Kate holding up a star and looking at it. Andrew took this picture through her play tent door, and then had fun with it in Photoshop.

Ugh blech argh

Well, it's been a rough couple of weeks. My computer is BROKEN, which means I am fighting for the will to live right now. :) I have to bum time from Andrew's computer (which is very difficult) or go to the library (gasp) or the Wymount office (ugh).

Anyway, no--Kate is not potty-trained. She kind of is, kind of isn't. But I am spending less on diapers, so that's something.

We had fun on Halloween--will post pics at some point in the future.

I am turning 30 this week--shoot me now.

But the weather is beautiful, my parents and brother are coming to town this week, and Andrew just finished editing the Provo temple picture that I want to frame and put on our wall. To view, click here.

So...things are looking up.

Potty Training: Complete?

This picture has nothing to do with potty training, of course, but I realized I never posted it, and it's cute. Kate is with her Aunt Crystal's dog, Sabrina. This was from a couple months ago.

Andrew thinks I'm a little premature in declaring Kate potty trained (and you will probably agree with him after reading this), but I'm saying it anyway (we've only been doing it since Monday...). She's only had one peeing accident in the last three days. The poo is a different story. She did finally go poo in the potty yesterday, but it came with much drama...or trauma, I guess I should say. Once she was done, she yelled for me (I was trying to give her some privacy), and she screamed her head off--a kind of terrified sort of scream. She just wanted off that potty and away from the poo. My celebrating was completely ignored and she didn't even acknowledge M&M's until she was a safe distance away. She's had similar reactions seeing the poo in her panties, and tonight in the tub. It's like she never realized what was in her diaper all these years.

You all may remember my last try at potty training her, which did not go well. I couldn't even think about potty training again for a year (I just realized it was almost exactly a year ago that I tried), even though she probably could have done it a few months ago. Her friends and cousins are all potty trained, and that got her more interested.

But still, most of the time it is a pain to get her on the potty. It only happens when I tell her she will get chocolate (and lately not even then). (Next week's challenge will be to wean her off the chocolate.) She holds it and doesn't go for hours until she comes skidding into the bathroom crying that she needs to go. Her pull-ups have been bone dry the last two nights, so she is in her panties for the first time tonight. We'll see how that goes...

I know you are all so curious about her potty training, but it has really been a great time for me--I feel so free! It's really more effort to help her go potty than it was to change her diaper every few hours, but it will save us some money every month which will be fabulous. And she won't be the only Sunbeam come January who's still wearing diapers.

Kate says the funniest things lately. When I was praising her for being "potty trained," her reply was, "Yes! I'm a potty train!" Ha ha. :) And when we tell her what a big girl she is, she sometimes agrees proudly, but other times insists, "No, I'm a little girl." All this potty training business makes me feel like she is all grown up--next milestone: high school graduation! It's nice to know that she's not in too big of a hurry to grow up either.

Andrew's new pic

Just thought I'd let everyone know Andrew has a new picture on his website. We're still working on the title and description. Oh, and Andrew added a feature that lets you comment on his website (just click on the tab below the pic that says "Leave a Comment") if you have something to say. :) You can also increase the size of the photo under the tab "Page Display Options."

Click here to see the new photo.

PoLITE

Ha ha, I just had to write this down. Just now I was teaching Kate to shake hands and say her name, then say, "It's nice to meet you." After she did it successfully, I said, "Oh, you're so polite, huh?"

To which she responded, "NO!! I'm a PINK light."

Time for a Kate update

Sneaking some of Daddy's birthday cake in her "princess dress." It's supposed to go over another dress...

My mom reminded me that even though I am writing a lot for examiner.com, I can't neglect giving a Kate update once in a while on the blog. So here goes.

Kate is adorable. Nothing's changed there.

She has recently become obsessed with princesses and princess dresses. She didn't have any princess dresses, though, so she's been dressing up in her Sunday dresses every day...all day long. In and out, in and out. I finally got her a princess dress from Kid-to-Kid a couple weeks ago. The day after she got it she threw up ALL over it. Nice. Hand wash only.

I asked her to tell me when she needed to throw up again so that I could try to aim her to a big bowl. Well, she did tell me when, but after only hitting the bowl one time, she then began running crazily all over the house refusing to throw up again in the bowl, but all the while throwing up on the couch, carpet, walls, speakers, you get the idea. Poor thing. She's better now (after passing the flu to me and then me to Andrew).

When I was really sick one day and trying not to throw up, I told Kate I was feeling sick to my stomach. She looked worried, and ran to the bathroom. I heard her yell, "You need to blow your nose FIRST!" She was getting me a piece of toilet paper. She connects sickness with me telling her to blow her nose. :) She then brought me her princess cup with water in it and told me to drink water. She got tired of playing doctor after that and told me to "GET UP!!"

Yesterday, she asked to wear panties and go pee pee in the potty. Excited, I took her up on it. She went a couple times, and had a couple accidents. What she mostly wanted was to wear her cute little panties (no other clothes), and then change her panties like she changes dresses. I was talking to Andrew in the office, when out of the corner of my eye I see a very naked girl running down the hall. I still don't know where the blue panties went...

I hear "I'm a princess, Mommy! I'm a princess!!" about 2000 times a day. And when I am wearing a dress for church, I hear "You're a princess, Mommy!! You're a princess!!" I'm a little worried her vocabulary growth has been stunted...with all the princess stuff.

She can play kid games really well on the computer. She's mastered the mouse already. We recently got her a Sesame Street game and there's a part where they sing about people in the neighborhood. People like a barber, baker, doctor, and for some reason an astronaut...haven't figured that one out yet. She loves "cutting" our hair. She'll drape a blanket around me, shove my head in different directions, then she gives me a sucker at the end. It's cute.

She LOVES dogs, especially Grandma Ellen's dogs, and still talks about them every few days.

She loves her cousins (my sis's kids), and we try to spend time with them at least once a week.

She LOVES to sing Primary songs and knows almost all the words (it gets a little iffy in some spots) to "I love to see the temple" and "I am a child of God." The temple song is by far her favorite, though, and we sing it over and over and over. I got an audio recording of it. I'll have to see if I can figure out a way to post it. She gets so excited every time we pass the Provo Temple. When I told her Daddy and Mommy were married there, she replied, "Kate's married there, too."

She's generally an obedient, happy, affectionate little girl that we love very much.

Writing for examiner.com

I recently started writing for examiner.com on local and national politics. Since I get paid based on how many people are reading my articles, thought I would put in a shameless plug! Here is a link to my first article (I only have two right now). Hope you'll visit! :)