Home Sweet Home

We're home! The last couple of days have been an adventure it itself! We've had a packed weekend, and Rebekah and I have thoroughly enjoyed it for all the people and friends (old for me and new for Rebekah), although we are ALL tired and glad to be home.

One hundred fifty-two pictures are downloading to our computer from this entire week, plus I have a few on my cell phone to retrieve as well. I did finally get to take some fall pictures before we left the mountains, and I captured some really nice colors. We had a little bit of rain before we left, and it along with some cooler weather seemed to make the fall colors pop.

One thing I just have to say is that Rebekah has been doing beautifully with potty training this week! She has not had an accident for four entire days! She's only wet her overnight pull-up once, and she's been pooping on the potty since Wednesday! Candy has been the trick for her this time (hasn't always worked but is now). I'm not usually a fan of candy, but in this case I'll do whatever it takes! If Rebekah goes one more day accident-free (poops in the potty one more time) we have a special toy for her - a talking "Little Einstein" doll. We have two dolls saved up for her, so she can earn the second doll for repeating it. I really want her to earn these dolls! She has also been telling us when she needs to go potty, which is huge for her also. Darrin and I are so proud of Rebekah!!!

Stay tuned for lots more details about our trip and particularly for pictures! I promise I will not be sharing 152 pics. ;-)

Things that Make You Go Hmmmm...

One word I wish I had never taught Rebekah is 'vagina'. In the beginnings of potty training I taught her the word, but I wish I had taught her 'private' or something similar. Fortunately, Rebekah has not used the word in public other than in the bathroom at the mall when no one was around, and she only says it at home, but part of me is afraid she is going to blurt it out somewhere that will cause embarrassment.

Lately Joshua has had some diarrhea and a low-grade fever, if you can call it a fever. I'm fairly confident it is due to teething. His temperature has been below 101, and his bowel movements have been mushy to runny. (OK, so if you're not a parent this probably is not what you wanted to know.) Joshua has also had a clear runny nose. Of course, these could be symptoms of a little virus, but Joshua has also had his fingers in his mouth more than normal lately, and it seems like there may be some teeth starting to work their way in, although they have a long way to go before they will cut through. I could see some white under his gums, plus it's been forever since he's cut any teeth, and he only has 6 teeth so far.

So, Joshua has had explosive diapers lately, and I was changing a very explosive one after supper. I had to get Darrin to help me some, and of course, Rebekah knew that something interesting must be happening, so she stands over me while I am cleaning up Joshua on the floor. She looks straight down at him and asks, "Is that Joshua's pbajina?" Darrin and I just give each other "the look". You know that look. It's the look that says, "What are we gonna do?" I told Rebekah no that it was his boy parts. I told her she has girl parts and Joshua has boy parts. Of course, Rebekah went on to talk about boy parts and girl parts, but I was just glad and relieved that she was content with that answer.

Making Progress

Over the past two weeks Rebekah has not made any effort to poop on the potty...until yesterday. She had had an accident nearly everyday, and the incentive chart did not seem to help much. While I was at a consignment sale yesterday I came across two twelve-inch talking Little Einstein dolls - June and Annie - and I about went nuts over them. I knew these would have to be the perfect incentive! Just as I was checking out I got a phone call from Rebekah. She called to tell me that she had pooped in the potty! Of course, I couldn't wait to tell her about the dolls, but I did, no, I only waited until I got to tell her in person. Hopefully this will do the trick.

That night we went out to dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday. It was two weeks late due to conflicts and previous postponements, but we finally got to go. While there Rebekah initiated going to the potty! It was the first time she's ever asked to go when she felt the urge. She did it again today, so she is showing progress across the board!

Here are some pics from our night out at Provino's to celebrate my mom's birthday.






After dinner we went to my parents' for dessert and so the kids could play.


Rebekah is as surprised over my mom's gift as she is!



Yesterday was also Rebekah's last day of preschool for the summer. Starting this fall she will be at a new school, so I had to get a couple pics of Rebekah with her teachers as well as her friend Brock. Brock and Rebekah were very good friends last winter and spring, and they were in the same class again this summer.

Some Funnies, Not-So-Funnies, and In Betweens

Life has been busy around the Church household. Rebekah is loving preschool and getting used to a new group of kids this summer. She is one of the youngest in her class. Most of the children are either four years old or will be turning four this summer. Since Rebekah's birthday isn't until October 1 she is a few months younger than many of the kids. There is one other boy whose birthday isn't until December, so at least she isn't the very youngest. It has been interesting to see, however, how they have grouped the children in the class. Rebekah's best friend is Brock, a boy from her class from last spring. Rebekah was a life saver to Brock on the first day of summer preschool because he didn't know anyone in their new class either, and I believe that Rebekah felt more comfortable having another child in her class whom she knows. Last week Brock was out all week, probably due to vacation, so Rebekah was forced to play with some other children, and she seems to be doing really well.

Joshua is doing really well with his PT. He can stand from a seated position (as if he's sitting in a chair) without holding on, but his confidence is lacking. I can have him sit on my leg facing in between my legs with his feet tucked under my other leg, and he can stand up without extra support. I don't believe he realizes what he is doing because his mind is toward reaching for bubbles. He just lacks the confidence. Hopefully he'll feel more comfortable with practice.

Here's a funny little story about the kids. This week I was looking through the cereal aisle for something different to feed Joshua as a snack. He gets bored with plain Cheerios, and the Yogurt Bursted Cheerios caught my eye. Well, the ratio of yogurt Cheerios to plain Cheerios is something like 1:10. The yogurt Cheerios are pale pink, but both the kids go after them like they are going out of style. I gave Rebekah a bowl of the cereal, and she still had most of her Cheerios left (all plain) before asking for more pink ones. Joshua had eaten most of his Cheerios, so I poured a few more on his high chair tray. He immediately dove after the pink ones. It was so funny! After they were gone he started fussing at me. He wanted more pink Cheerios like Rebekah!

Now for another story, although this one isn't so funny. Well, I guess if you have a warped sense of humor you might think it's funny. Today I was nursing Joshua down for a nap and when I came out of his room I found Rebekah in the bathroom with the door closed. She had pooped in her panties, removed her shorts and panties, sat on the toilet and got poop all over the front of the toilet seat, and used the rest of the toilet paper as well as the remainder of her flushable wet wipes and put them all in the toilet. Part of me was not happy about the mess and the fact that I was going to have to clean it up and remove half of what was in the toilet in order to flush it. It would surely clog from all the wipes in there. On the other hand, I was proud that Rebekah made the effort to try to clean up herself after an accident. My question is this: Why is it that she has the sense enough to try to clean up herself following an accident, but she doesn't try to go to the potty before she has the accident???

I've started Rebekah's 4th year slideshow! Yes, her birthday is not for 3 1/2 more months, but I heard a song the other day that sparked me into looking into music for her next slideshow. I've selected most of the music and have chosen and placed the pictures for the first year into the slideshow. Boy, would this first portion be a great Father's Day gift! I'm using "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman, and I've gathered pictures of Rebekah dressed as Cinderella as well as pictures of Rebekah dancing with Darrin. Oh, it's going to be such a tear jerker! I nearly start crying just working on it!

By the way, if you haven't seen Rebekah's and Joshua's previous slideshows you can check them out in the sidebar to the right. Enjoy!

What an adventure!

Yesterday afternoon was a real adventure - not in a good way. Rebekah almost always comes home from preschool tired and worn out resulting in a very cranky three-year-old. I had to make a quick trip to Wal-Mart after I picked her up, so we did so, but when we went back to the parking lot to leave Rebekah whined about wanting to shop some more. This was just the beginning...

We made it home, and I had hoped Rebekah would go potty. She refused, so on went a pull-up. After a snack, wetting her pull-up, a diaper change, then going to her room for quiet time I went to nurse Joshua for his afternoon nap. While nursing him I hear fussing from Rebekah's room for milk. I completed the nursing session then put Joshua in his crib. Now I have two crying children - fun!

I got Rebekah a sippy of milk and entered her room to find extremely dirty fingers covered in brown gook with brown smears on her face. Rebekah had pooped, removed her dirty diaper, and smeared it on her face. Yes, she tasted it too. YUCK! She also informed me that it was in her hair. Fortunately, I didn't find it on the carpet or walls.

I immediately cleaned her up and prepared a bath. All in the meantime, Joshua is screaming in his crib. I got him out and once Rebekah was in the tub he wanted to join her. He kept playing Peek-a-boo! over the side of the tub with Rebekah and laughing. So after cleaning up Rebekah I let him join his sister. He had carrots in his hair from lunch anyway, so a hair washing didn't hurt.

Then last night the adventures continued...

Rebekah was climbing in and out of Joshua's crib having a great time. She was WIRED! Boy, was she having fun! Then she decided to jump on and off the glider. After telling Rebekah a couple times to stop jumping on the glider she seemed to have calmed down. She was standing on the floor between the glider and the dresser. (Keep in mind that the dresser has sharp corners.) Rebekah decided to jump where she was standing. She fell and grabbed her head in pain. I took a good look at her and found she had cut the outside corner of her eyelid. Actually, she has a couple of red spots - one is the cut and another spot below the first spot that hit the dresser but didn't cut open. After a call to the nurse we were glad to know that it could be treated at home and there was no need for her to be seen.

On a cute note, Rebekah wore a new outfit to preschool yesterday, complete with these huge sunglasses. She looks like a movie star in them. I thought she might put her sunglasses in her bag once she arrived to preschool, but no, she wore them ALL DAY LONG! LOL! I wanted to get a picture of her, but by the time we got home she didn't want to wear them anymore. She looked so cute!

Well, I stand corrected on the eye tooth from yesterday's post. After seeing Carrie's comment I looked at Joshua's teeth again and realized that it is not the eye teeth that are coming in. It is the teeth just inside of the eye teeth. The tooth just next to the very front tooth has popped through. I just looked it up, and it's called a lateral incisor. So once these teeth pop through he will look like his two front teeth are missing, which they are. Have you ever heard of a baby singing, "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"? Although, it's not Christmas.