Reunited and it feels so good

The Thalmans flew in late on Sunday evening. They made it to our house about 11:30 am on Monday and played all day long. It was heaven to have them here with us! I told Kim that if they didn't want to see their grandma the entire trip (with whom they are staying) we could arrange that. They had lunch and dinner at our house and the entire time was just spent with the beautiful sound of little girls playing together and interrupted only by a very fun park trip.

It was so nice to just sit and talk with Kim. I'm still in that stage here where I don't quite know people well enough so the conversation is a little awkward at times. Also, as Kim puts it, it's difficult to find a family where the kids are the same age and get along, where the wives get along, and where the husbands get along. Kim said, "It was just so nice that Ryan and Robert could do things with us and we could all be together." Which was actually the problem with Texas - Ryan wasn't working, but it was sure fun to hang out all the time when Rob was on shore :).

The very best was seeing Willa and Bridgett together. They definitely understood that this was very special to see each other and that they don't live near one another anymore. There was no bickering, just immediate, adorable play. They made gourmet meals with the play kitchen and they must have put their babies to bed in Willa's room about one hundred times. It was so cute to hear them, "Good night babies, sweet dreams babies." Then they would tuck the babies in the bed, start the sound machine, turn off the light, and close the door. They would start creeping down the stairs and then one of them would say, "The baby's awake!" and they would scurry back into the bedroom and the whole process would start again.

It's so fun to see them interacting and playing together instead of just parallel play. We haven't quite gotten to the point with anyone here where that has happened too much yet. (We had a park date last week where eventually Willa and the other little girl started laughing and playing together, which was so great.) I've been on the lookout and need to do better at arranging more playdates and finding some good friends for her. Her little friendship with Bridgett is just so perfect and we are wishing our darndest that they will make it out here permanently.

Unfortunately, the rest of their extended family started filtering in yesterday and for some reason they decided to spend time with them instead of us :). Happily, they will be here through part of next week and we already have plans to go to Red Rock together when Robert gets into town (he's been on a boat).

We missed a few...

I was going through our photos and missed some from our last few days of Houston.

Last playdate with Miss Molly and Maura, we went to the zoo.

Painting at the Children's Museum with Bridgett

Cutest baby in the world on our couch. Hooray, Brandon and Rebecca gifted us their beautiful couch here so we got to leave this lovely floral one of my grandma's in Houston.

One last super, mega playdate with all our friends at a splashpad.

Last summer I bought Willa two swimsuits. One cheap pink one at Target and a very cute, higher quality blue one from Zappos. Which one do you think got used the most? Look at this pink one sag, I'm going to have to throw it away.

Our last night in Houston we went to CeCe's Pizza with the Thalmans. Then they came over to our house to clean out the fridge and anything else we didn't want to take. Bridgett and Willa hugging brought out the tears for Kim and me. Note: there was actually a very good hug on both sides, but it was not well-reenacted for the camera.

The Thalmans are coming to Vegas for Thanksgiving to visit their grandparents. We are so excited to see them!

"If you have to go potty, STOP..."

Who besides Parker F. can finish the rest of the line for me? We have been up to this:

After hemming and hawing for quite a while and noticing that she was getting bigger and bigger and that her friends were all wearing underpants, I decided that it was probably time to bite the bullet. It didn't start out formally, I just decided not to put on a new diaper when she woke up in the morning. The first time she did it was absolutely thrilling for her. I don't think we've ever seen her smiling bigger. She started quoting her potty book and was running around saying, "I'm so proud of me!" and "Woosh, down goes the water!"

We haven't gone cold turkey, and I would say that for most hours of the day she still wears a diaper (especially since she still naps), but we've had a lot of successes when she is not wearing a diaper. My plan is to gradually increase the no diaper time without putting a lot of pressure on her. Sometimes when she's up and I ask to take her diaper off she says, "No, please." I'm fine with that. I want potty-training to be positive for her. I have a feeling that she isn't so great with big changes and this change is a doozy. I was going to go buy treats as rewards, but we tried with the stickers and she thinks it is fabulous for now. We can save the treats if we have to haul in some big guns later.

Miss Junie has some big news too:

See her gnawing at the biscuit? Two little toofies are erupting on the bottom. Such a big girl! She seems a little grumpy by the process but not too bad. She still feels very little interest in crawling. It feels like she's gotten lazier. If I put her on her tummy, she just screams now instead of rolling over. After pulling various and sundry items from her mouth, it's probably better that things stay as they are or else I might have to pull out that old vacuum cleaner more frequently.

Speaking of clean floors. Does anyone else feel like their kitchen is exploding with crumbs? I swear, I sweep a couple of times a day and each time, there is so much crud that comes up. Sometimes I'll get the broom to get just one messy spot where someone (Willa) spilled and then as I'm sweeping, crumbs seem to be appearing at every nook and cranny. It's like someone is shooting off a confetti cannon filled with food crumbs into the kitchen whenever I'm out of the room. Sheesh, not to mention the days when sweeping gets forgotten, then it's just disgusting in there.

Mini Me

Had to quickly post this photo from church yesterday. Willa is wearing one of my old dresses. She looked especially adorable with some white knee-highs and little black flats. She was also really hyper and it was impossible to get her to stand still for the picture. She couldn't stop jumping up and down on the floor. Socks have also sunk down a little, but I still think she's pretty cute.

She has been very hilarious lately. She likes to shout "Super Willa!" and jump up and down. We also read this PD Eastman book from the library The Best Nest and there is a little song the birds sing, "I love my house, I love my nest, of all the nests it is the best." The other day she was running around singing and I could not tell what she was saying at all. Finally I realized she was singing, "I love my house, I love Junie, I love my daddy." It was so cute! At first I thought she was saying, "I left my house," and I started getting worried that she was already scheming to run away.

Last night she was super cranky after church (not unusual) and she complained of a stomachache (not unusual, she often fakes tummy aches to negotiate for more television time). Then, about 10 pm last night she started crying pretty hard. I went in there and she promptly puked profusely over everything a few times. That was unusual and not cute. I felt so bad for her, that is the worst feeling. We got her cleaned up, stripped her bed, watched a show, and then pumped an air mattress up next to her bed. Ryan slept by her for the night to help her feel better. Right now, I am washing everything in sight and chloroxing the place. She hasn't thrown up since that first time, so here's to dry toast and crossing our fingers!

RWD, esq.

Ryan was formally admitted to the State Bar yesterday at a ceremony where he took the oath of attorney. When he passed the Texas bar, we were still in California and Willa was about two weeks old, so he wasn't able to attend the formal ceremony in Texas. Instead, when we got there he ended up having to find a notary or judge to swear him in. After all the three years of law school and the hard work of studying and taking the bar, it was very anticlimactic and disappointing (like most of our time in Texas).

I'm so glad that we were able to celebrate it more in Nevada. For us, it's like doing everything for the first time. Ryan has worked so hard and been so successful at passing two different state bars on the first time taking them. It was nice to have him recognized. The Nevada bar only had a 66% pass rate this time, so I am doubly proud of him.

Waiting for the program to begin.

After picture. We didn't realize that Ryan needed to be about 30 minutes early until it was almost time to leave the house. My plan for dressing the girls very cutely and maybe fluffing my hair was thwarted and we were thankful to throw everything in the car in five minutes, get Willa up from her nap, and be off.

Afterwards, Brandon and Rebecca took us to a nice restaurant to celebrate. Rasslin' a snotty baby and a very patient three year-old was no joke, but the food was delicious and it was fun to go to someplace a little more fancy. I had the brilliant idea to take Willa's portable DVD player before we rushed off the the ceremony. Much Little Einstein was watched and a lot of meltdowns avoided.

I also wanted to post of picture of the venue. The Historic 5th Street School. Very cool because not only was it the first schoolhouse in Las Vegas, but my grandpa went to school there also. Then, when my mom was growing up it was more of a musical arts center. She would go a few times a month to play the piano and then hang out at my Great Great Uncle Otto's house right across the street (now an urban parking lot). It's very fun to have some family history down here!

Thanks so much a helping me

I found Willa's name traced on one of our moving boxes. I vaguely remember writing it and then having her trace it. Must've been trying to distract her with something. I wanted a picture of one of these tracings for posterity. Pretty cute, and I think this was maybe only the third time she had ever done it.

She has been cracking us up these days. She says the funniest things with the cutest intonations. She's started saying, "Thanks a helping me." Or, "Thanks so much a helping me." We must say it a lot. It's most funny when she has actually helped us do something - like helping me make cookies. She loves this particular Minnie Mouse puzzle that she needs help with, so this phrase comes in handy a lot. She also says, "This puzzle is tricky!"

She's really into the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ever since she got the toy that I showed in a previous post. She sings softly along with the opening music and does Mickey's hand actions (if we're not watching). Since a lot of shows these days have the characters ask a question, pause, and then answer the question, she has started doing this too. I use the squirt bottle on her hair every morning. She loves to squirt it so we've had to institute a rule to only squirt outside. As I was doing her hair, I heard her hold the squirt bottle and say, "Should we squirt this inside or outside?... Right, outside."

She's also interested in how brave or patient she can be. It's high praise indeed, and she also likes to discuss past events so that we can talk about how brave she was. She'll often do this when company like Aunt Rebecca is over. I think it's kind of her secret way of bragging in front of them. "Mommy, I go to doctor yesterday. I so brave at doctor. They put baggie on me, I so brave and patient." She uses the word "yesterday" to denote past tense. Makes sense to me.

I've had to suction poor's June's nose out a lot the last few days and one day Willa was watching intently. When I finished she said, "Mommy, June so patient?" It was a rare moment of sympathy and empathy. Mostly, with regards to June we hear Willa say, "Sshh!" Or, "Enough!" Or, "That hurts my ears!" Those may or may not be responses we use towards intense whining or tantrums of a certain three-year-old. I try to explain to her that June doesn't have any words, but it's not cutting it right now. It's especially sad/funny when June is doing happy baby talk so sweetly and Willa keeps saying, "SHhhh!"

8 Months

June is eight months old today. She is suffering from a nasty cold, which is so sad when she tries and then fails to nurse. Thank goodness that solids are going better now! She's been a bit teary-eyed and sad throughout it all, as you might be able to see.

June Loves:
-Eating paper
-Playing with non-toy items
-Willa (especially when Willa deigns to play peekaboo)
-Mommy
-Watching Daddy from Mommy's lap
-Smiling at the pew behind us and everyone else at church
-Eating puffs and yogurt melts
-Being naked
-Rolling and lunging
-Taking a bath

June thinks these are overrated:
-Eating green vegetables
-Playing with actual toys
-Getting her hair washed
-Getting her hair combed and put into an elastic (to keep it out of her eyes and snotty nose)
-Sleeping through the night
-Crawling

June Hates:
-Getting her nose or face wiped
-When a non-toy item is removed from play
-When mommy leaves the room