When my mom starts asking what we've been up to, it's either time to actually call my family and let them know we're still alive or update the blog. Every time I think about posting something, I fall asleep on the couch or get emotional or just forget what I was going to write. But we're making progress on several fronts.
First, potty training. Apparently the key to success is buying what you've threatened to be the last big, bulk-sized box of diapers from Costco then letting it sit for weeks. Finally, when you've used the last diaper in the house because your two-year-old refuses to use the potty, you open the monster box of diapers and wallah! Suddenly panties are the greatest thing since sliced bread - as is evident from the picture below! I found her in this box one morning, Eggo in hand watching cartoons in just her panties. 
Her teachers had been telling us for a month that she was ready but when she'd come home and refuse to even try, I had my doubts. I'm not kidding though, as soon as I opened that box of diapers Pearl decided it was time. And for the most part it's been smooth sailing ever since. She's never once had an accident at school and only a few at home. We still aren't sure what to do about making it through the night dry though. We tried tricking Pearl into thinking diapers were "night-time panties" but she didn't buy that ridiculous idea. So we've resorted to sneaking a diaper on her after she's sound asleep then trying to explain how it got there in the morning when she looks down surprised to not see her Princess or Tinkerbell panties on. The one night we didn't do this, she peed everywhere and was so upset about it. Any advice? I really don't want to resort to Pull-ups (especially considering that we have about 300 diapers just sitting around now) or washing bedding every single day.Moving Pearl into her new room is slowing coming along. Jeff had a friend post on Facebook that her goal was to get rid of 1,000 things this year and I can honestly say that I think we've hit that mark. I've de-junked just about everything I can think of in this house trying to make room for Pearl in the backroom and Ricco in his room. Pearl has enjoyed the process much more than I have... every time I clean something out she finds a new toy or book that she just has to have. She's claimed my old jewelry box, a Sleeping Beauty figurine, and three Breyer horses. I don't always mind, that way I don't have to get rid of everything I'm torn on keeping. We bought her a new bed, which she loves (and we have several sets of sheets now too) and was so excited to help Daddy build it. We had to threaten her with timeout to just keep her off the boxes when it came. Pearl was a good little helper, dragging all the spare boxes, plastic bags, and Styrofoam into the kitchen while Jeff put it together. The excitement just about killed her!
Jeff also built a bookcase with my Grandpa and Dad to match her bed and it is so dang cute! My sister asked us where we had bought it because it matched Pearl's bed so well - these pictures are all I'm going to reveal until the room is completely done. So we've got a bed and bookcase but that's it. 
Pearl tells us she doesn't want to go in Ricco's room now and throws a fit when we have to go in there to get her clothes in the morning. Surprisingly though, she doesn't mind having two rooms to strew toys all over! I'm hoping my Dad can get down here to help build a new closet then we can officially move rooms, well once that happens and we find a new dresser for Pearl. But I'm feeling better about our progress, mostly because we sold the spare bunk beds sitting in our sunroom and we've probably got our bookcase sold too. Now I just have to decide if I should sell my cedar chest my Grandma gave me or try and find somewhere to store it. What would you do? Seriously, this is an agonizing decision for me! We just have absolutely no where to put the thing! Will I regret selling it? Will my Grandma forgive me or haunt me forever? Part of me thinks, it's just "stuff" and Grandma got rid of furniture all the time when she was ready for a change but then again, it was a gift from my grandparents and something I probably won't ever replace. Uhhh.... help please!
Finally, on the last progress front Pearl and I celebrated President's Day with a batch of appropriately decorated sugar cookies. Rather than go into a lengthy explanation as to why we celebrate President's Day and NOT Valentine's Day, I'll leave you with a link to a previous year's entry (don't worry, it's just a paragraph). I did get my traditional bunch of flowers from Jeff and he got a batch of cookies complete with flour, sprinkles, and frosting all over the house! 
I think they turned out pretty cute, considering the help Pearl provided in mashing the dough cut-outs then getting sprinkles all over the place when we frosted them. Even Ricco got in on the action. At first I thought Jeff was taking a picture of my cleave but then when I downloaded the pictures saw that he was simply getting a shot of how messy Ricco had been rolling out the dough with me. Now if I could only find enough people to help us eat them! 
So there you go... we're slowing getting ready for this kid. Still no names picked out yet but at least I'm not completely freaking out anymore.. at least not today.
Every pregnant woman knows sleep is often elusive - a mean trick by Mother Nature to prepare one for having to get up every two hours to feed a new baby. We try everything... pillows between our legs, under our bellies, behind our backs, sleeping on the couch or chair, and a number of weird sleeping positions - most having nothing to do with our normal sleeping style - just to get comfortable. Well, when I was pregnant with Pearl, Jeff decided all my tossing and turning wasn't good for either of us and bought me a body pillow. AKA "my boyfriend" as he dubbed it. He said I could cuddle up to my boyfriend as much as I wanted because 1) it kept me a safe distance from him so I wouldn't touch him and 2) it kept me far enough away that I didn't sink the middle of the bed, turning it into the taco bed, with either my bulging belly or well endowed booty (which is a normal problem anyway).My first boyfriend was a cheap-o who didn't last much longer than the four months I needed him. Plus he wasn't that cute or soft. But this go around I learned my lesson and brought home a new boyfriend who's plush, super soft, and sexy (you really can buy anything from Costco!). Not that he will be replacing Jeff permanently, but he sure is fun to cuddle up with! And he doesn't complain when I put my cold feet on him. Now if I could only convince Pearl that he's my pillow and not hers!
While I'm discussing pregnancy, let me say it's against my better judgment to post this picture but I've had friends ask to see my belly. It seems like every time I'm in the picture taking mood and thinking I look really good, Jeff's not really in the mood to actually take my picture or I get home from work too late and all the natural light in our house is gone. So here's the first belly shot we've taken this ENTIRE pregnancy - 24 weeks! I know it's pathetic. But even with Pearl I think we took maybe two actual belly shots during the whole nine months. When I think about it, by the time I stop puking and actually shower, comb my hair, and wear something other than my pajamas I'm halfway done anyway. I know lots of women who document every single month (or more) what their changing body looks like but I just don't find it too fun to try and look sexy with a big belly, cankles, or swollen legs and face. I'll take the swollen chest though but I'm pretty sure my blog would be considered porn if I asked Jeff to take a picture of that!
I know every pregnancy is different and this one is no exception. I've been sick longer (still get nauseous at night even now) with the boy than I was with Pearl but with Pearl it was more intense, probably because I didn't know that one isn't supposed to loose 15 lbs in two weeks or feel like you're on the brink of death from dehydration. The boy doesn't move as much as Pearl did either. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. From about week 16 on, Pearl moved pretty much non stop from the moment I got up until the moment I went to bed. The boy is just the opposite - I didn't feel him move until about week 18. He seems to move the from the moment I get up in the middle of the night to pee until about 9 a.m. and then picks up speed right when I'm going to bed.
We're also way, way, way less prepared for the boy than the first go around. Weird but even though we haven't bought any clothes, diapers, picked out paint for the nursery, bought bedding, or anything else we need we aren't completely panicked over it either. We don't even have a name for this kid - still!!! Every few days I really freak out thinking about everything we've got to do not just for the boy but for Pearl too. She's sleeping in the backroom in her new bed (with just sheets because we don't have any twin sized bedding for her yet) but all of her clothes and toys are still in her old room. We don't have a dresser for her either. I keep hoping I can talk my dad or grandpa into refinishing a dresser that was Jeff's great grandma's but no luck so far. I think Pearl thinks she's camping or something but geez I feel terrible that she's living in two rooms. Our biggest problem is we have absolutely no storage room for anything and cleaning out two rooms is the last thing I want to do when I get home from work. We've got to try and sell our spare bunkbeds (any takers? $200 bucks for twin sized bunk beds and mattresses that have only been used a few times) which are piled in our computer/sunroom and decide what else we want to sell or beg our parents to store for us. Do you sell your cedar chest from your grandparents because you just have no room for it, seriously... there is no where to put the thing in our tiny house! Urghhh I better stop thinking about it because I'm staring to freak out again! I guess we'll get there eventually but it would sure be nice to wave a magic wand and have everything in order before this kid comes.
Pearl-isms: funny things a two year old comes up with.
Pearl-ism #1
Pearl: "Mom I don't have boobs."
Me: "Yes, you do. They're just little ones."
Pearl: "Oh. I need to buy bigger boobs."
Me: "Where do you buy bigger boobs?"Pearl: "At the grocery store."
Me: "Oh yeah? Who is going to buy them for you?"
Pearl: "Daddy."
Me: (Thinking to myself) "Not before Daddy buys me some!"
Pearl-ism #2
On Sunday (in the middle of sacrament meeting), Pearl was laying on my stomach, much to my discomfort, when all of a sudden, WHAM! Yep, the sibling battles have begun. Pearl sat up and looked at me like "hey what was that?" I asked her if she felt my tummy move and she said yes. When we explained that it was the baby kicking and moving around she giggled and said "Ricco (aka The Boy) he needs to come out!"
She also tells us random things about Ricco like he's going to have stinky diapers (oh if she only knew the truth behind this), he's going to go potty outside (proceeded by lots of laughing), the penguins are in my tummy, and that he's getting bigger (she happened to say this after noticing my expanding belly and pointing out that my tummy was bigger too).
Pearl-ism #3
Pearl: "Sing me the Spectrum song." (It doesn't matter how many times we tell her it's the Scotsman, she still calls it the Spectrum because she knows that's where you sing the USU Fight song.)
Me or Jeff: "Show me the Scotsman who doesn't love the thistle. Show me the Englishman who doesn't love the rose. Show me a true blooded Aggie from Utah who doesn't love the spot (clap, clap) where the sagebrush GROWS!"
If you've never seen the Scotsman before, watch this video. Then imagine the biggest two-year old Aggie fan on the planet who just loves to "milk the cow," clap, and say "Go Aggies! Go Aggies! Hey! Hey! Hey!" I still think it's some of Jeff's proudest moments to have his kid ask to sing the Scotsman and tell everyone that Big Blue lives in the Spectrum.
Pearl-ism #4
Pearl: "Mom, you married Dad?"
Me: "Yes, I married Dad."
Pearl: "Oh. You married Dad in the temple?"
Me: "Yes, I married Dad in the temple in Logan. Logan has a temple."
Me: "Do you want to get married in the temple?"
Pearl: "No. I want get married in the castle, like Aunt Kimberly." (The "castle" is Old Main on USU's campus, where Kimmy did get married)
Me: "Why don't you want to get married in the temple? The temple looks like a castle."
Pearl: "You dance in the temple?"
Me: "No." Then it became obvious why she wanted to get married in the castle instead... no dancing. We have a few years to work on that one, I hope.
Two months ago in the midst of Utah's bitter cold we decided to try our luck out with sunshine and warmth in St. George. The only snag in our plan was we picked the one weekend of the year that Mother Nature decided to pound Southern Utah with cold, rain, and snow. But since we'd already booked our hotels we decided we'd take 40 degree weather and rain over 20 degree weather, horrible air quality, and snow. Plus, for two weeks Pearl had asked if today was the day we finally got to go swimming and jump on the beds at the hotel. She loves, loves, loves hotels! Mostly because she thinks they consist of grandma and grandpa coming to visit and getting to run amuck in the hotel swimming pool and breakfast areas.We headed out Thursday afternoon, admittedly a bit worried that Pearl wouldn't make it the entire drive without having a meltdown and trying to squirm out of her car seat. She did awesome though! We didn't even break out the DVD player down or back. 
We stayed in Cedar City the first night (with about two feet of fresh, wet snow) and as soon as we had thrown our suitcase in the room and jumped on the bed, headed over to the pool. Well, Jeff and Pearl headed to the pool. For some reason my swimming suit doesn't fit anymore (not that it was flattering beforehand) so I supervised the splashing from a lounge chair. We had a great visit with my cousin Bryan, his cute wife Chandi, and their baby girl Andlie over dinner. I totally spaced pulling out my camera while we were with them so you'll just have to go here to see how cute they are. Besides being able to jump on the beds and go swimming, Pearl's next favorite part of vacation is eating breakfast at the hotels. I must say the Abbey Inn in Cedar had one yummy breakfast and great rooms!
Since we couldn't check into our next hotel in St. George until the late afternoon, Jeff suggested we take a detour through Zions. We'd never been there in winter before and I must say, even with the cold and slush, the park was beautiful! The snow on the mountains really showed off all the different layers, rocks, trees, and ledges. The only drawback was not being able to hike around. 
We ate at the lodge and Pearl got to pick out a bag of rocks for being so good with all the driving. Then we drove through the tunnels at the park and Pearl was beyond herself with excitement! She kept jabbering about the tunnels for days and told us she wanted to back to them on several occasions. With only a few cars in the park, we were able to just turn around and go back through them a couple of times to satisfy Pearl's pleadings.
Realizing our delay to go swimming was quickly getting old for Pearl, we headed to St. George. When we got to our hotel we found out they didn't have an indoor pool like we thought! Talk about disaster!!! Seriously, when you've got a two year old with a new pink, polka dot swimming suit and little understanding of the word "no," it was quite upsetting for all of us. Jeff booked a new room at another hotel in St. George for our final night and we made a list of alternate activities for the evening. Bowling won out. I really thought Pearl would have found bowling more fun than she did but I blame her lack of enthusiasm to finish the game to hunger. She did pretty good though and told everyone she won (the scores proved otherwise). And she kept telling us her shoes were cute... ick gross! We jumped on the bed, watched a movie and once again battled Pearl to actually fall asleep.
Another delicious hot breakfast in the morning gave us just the energy we needed to do some shopping. Why is it that no one makes cute maternity dresses for anyone taller than 5'7"? At least I did find a fat suit as I refer to my new swimming suit. It's actually cute I think, that is if you're attracted to women with huge bellies, swollen ankles and faces, and that "glow" if you know what I mean. After shopping we visited my grandpa and grandma who have become "snow birds" traveling to warmer weather in the winter and then back to Cache Valley for the cooler summers. We had a bit of a mix up with schedules, more like a three hour mix up, and ended up not being able to visit with my Uncle Randal and Aunt Venice for more than a few minutes before hunger drove us to dinner. I wonder if Jeff and I will always want to eat at the Golden Corral when we're old? Oh well, at least there's a variety of food and Pearl can have ice cream. 
Another round of swimming, this time with me playing with Pearl in the pool and Jeff relaxing in the hot tub (boo to not being able to soak in the hot tub due to the risk of boiling The Boy), jumping on the beds, and eating an entire bag of popcorn (that was just Pearl... she is a popcorn eating machine) left us all pretty worn out. 
We got up a bit earlier than the previous three days to get in one last round of swimming before heading home. We drove to Kolob Canyon to check out some more gorgeous scenery. Jeff took this AMAZING photo (the first one at the top of the post, not this one below that I took, - wouldn't want anyone to miss it with my ramblings) that pretty much sums up the beauty of the parks in the winter. 
Four days of family fun about did me in. It was great to get away but man does it wear a pregnant woman out! We had a great time and Pearl told all her friends at school about jumping on the beds and swimming. At least this way she can't say we've never done anything fun when she's a teenager! Let's just hope that she still finds staying in hotels as fascinating then as she does now.
Is it any surprise that my child would say something totally ridiculous as to warrant her teachers at school to question whether we are nudists? Sadly, no. The other day when I picked her up from daycare Ms. Sarah gave me the weirdest look. It concerned me enough that I asked what Pearl had said this time. Sarah ever so calmly asked me if I wore pajamas to bed. Uh, yes, why!? I guess Pearl told her that Jeff and I didn't wear any pajamas to bed then proceeded to explain what that meant. I guess I just wear stars to bed. Huh??? After a lot of laughs from all who overheard Pearl's antics this time, it finally dawned on me where she might have concocted such a ridiculous idea. She had picked out her outfit that day and decided to wear these cross-between-pjs-and-lounge-clothes to school. Rather than battle with her, I let her wear them. Everyone kept telling her how cute her pajamas were and I figured after several discussions about her snowman jammies, she decided to tell everyone what my jammies looked like. And NO we do NOT sleep NAKED!!! Nor has she EVER caught us NAKED together... that's what locks are for!!! My "stars" as she told her teachers are actually pajamas with stars on them. And while Jeff does enjoy a jaunt around the house in only a towel, he definitely wears pajamas to bed! Thank heavens my sister did verify that we do in fact wear pjs to bed. Even after three days, the daycare is still laughing about Pearl's latest tall tale. Ms. Sarah even threatened to quit the other day if Pearl got moved out of her class because she makes her laugh so much. And while I'm on the blackmailing roll here, I might as well post a video of Pearl's infamous Dancing Queen moves. It might come in handy when she is 16. See post here for further details.
Pearl is such a funny girl! She is getting to be quite independent, at least she wants to be. Everything has to be "me do it" or "me do it myself." And I mean everything. She picks out her own clothes (much to our dismay), gets her shoes and boots out of her closet, turns the lights on by herself, gets her own plates/bowls and utensils for meals, hops in and out of the tub all by herself, and as of late, wants to cook too. So on Friday I let her make pizza with me. She was so excited to tell her Dad that she had put olives on the pizza all by herself. Then she helped us put all the vegetables in the chicken noodle soup on Sunday. Oh and even after slaving away over dinner, she had enough energy and excitement to do the dishes for us. Of course we had to clean up the small flood afterward and listen to her screams when all the dishes were done, but it was so nice to have two little helping hands. I just hope her enthusiasm to help around the house is still here when she turns 14.
Her teachers had been telling us for a month that she was ready but when she'd come home and refuse to even try, I had my doubts. I'm not kidding though, as soon as I opened that box of diapers Pearl decided it was time. And for the most part it's been smooth sailing ever since. She's never once had an accident at school and only a few at home. We still aren't sure what to do about making it through the night dry though. We tried tricking Pearl into thinking diapers were "night-time panties" but she didn't buy that ridiculous idea. So we've resorted to sneaking a diaper on her after she's sound asleep then trying to explain how it got there in the morning when she looks down surprised to not see her Princess or Tinkerbell panties on. The one night we didn't do this, she peed everywhere and was so upset about it. Any advice? I really don't want to resort to Pull-ups (especially considering that we have about 300 diapers just sitting around now) or washing bedding every single day.
Jeff also built a bookcase with my Grandpa and Dad to match her bed and it is so dang cute! My sister asked us where we had bought it because it matched Pearl's bed so well - these pictures are all I'm going to reveal until the room is completely done. So we've got a bed and bookcase but that's it. 
Pearl tells us she doesn't want to go in Ricco's room now and throws a fit when we have to go in there to get her clothes in the morning. Surprisingly though, she doesn't mind having two rooms to strew toys all over! I'm hoping my Dad can get down here to help build a new closet then we can officially move rooms, well once that happens and we find a new dresser for Pearl. But I'm feeling better about our progress, mostly because we sold the spare bunk beds sitting in our sunroom and we've probably got our bookcase sold too. Now I just have to decide if I should sell my cedar chest my Grandma gave me or try and find somewhere to store it. What would you do? Seriously, this is an agonizing decision for me! We just have absolutely no where to put the thing! Will I regret selling it? Will my Grandma forgive me or haunt me forever? Part of me thinks, it's just "stuff" and Grandma got rid of furniture all the time when she was ready for a change but then again, it was a gift from my grandparents and something I probably won't ever replace. Uhhh.... help please!
I think they turned out pretty cute, considering the help Pearl provided in mashing the dough cut-outs then getting sprinkles all over the place when we frosted them. Even Ricco got in on the action. At first I thought Jeff was taking a picture of my cleave but then when I downloaded the pictures saw that he was simply getting a shot of how messy Ricco had been rolling out the dough with me. Now if I could only find enough people to help us eat them! 
So there you go... we're slowing getting ready for this kid. Still no names picked out yet but at least I'm not completely freaking out anymore.. at least not today.
