Panty Princess!

Well, we've been really concentrating on potty training the past couple of weeks. It's going fairly well - I got little Miss H. some new panties last week - My little Pony and more Dora ones. She loves to wear them and will tell us - "No diaper" She hasn't had an accident in almost 2 weeks and has used the potty numerous times since then, but of course she still has to wear a diaper at daycare - she's just too busy to even THINK about taking time out for potty breaks there. I do hope that changes soon! She doesn't really care what her reward is but she is loving the temporary tatoos we've been giving her after she goes. She still loves money for her piggy bank but oddly doesn't have a preference. I think the praise we give her when she goes seems to be good enough for her! Hopefully it stays that way! Check out the little Diva sporting her new pony panties!!

Oprah - Here we come!!

Well, we had a beautiful weekend - it started with both kids falling asleep at 7 pm on Friday night - AND STAYING asleep!! Whoo hoo! Rob and I were able to watch a movie on Friday night from start to finish - almost unheard of in our house. As you may or may not know, a movie really loses something when you have to hit pause 47 times to get from start to finish. We both actually stayed awake for it and enjoyed our date night - (though it consisted only of a movie not dinner and a movie or even a movie and ice cream!) Baby steps. Baby steps.

Saturday Auntie Christy and Madison came up and babysat for us while we did our annual Progressive Dinner with our neighbor friends. As is tradition - six couples venture from house to house to house enjoying in great food and great conversation. This year didn't disappoint as we enjoyed Flank Steaks, twice baked potatoes, EXCELLENT veggies, etc etc. It was all excellent. To cap off the night we six ladies filled out an application for a "neighborhood makeover" to be on the Oprah show. We wrote it over a few cocktails so wish us luck that we are chosen to be made over on Oprah! How cool would that be!
I wish I had a picture to post as we had every intention of getting some group photos on Saturday night - we did finally settle on taking one when O calls us as no one had a camera ready to go and I had already been home and back and forgotten mine a second time!! I was definately regretting my five beers as I had the world's worst headache before morning even broke. I am soo out of shape for going out! Derek slept in til 5:20 and thankfully after keeping him in our bed for about an hour and a half Rob got up with him and let me stay in bed for an hour! I really really needed it! It was fun to go out but will be more fun when the little man sleeps in a little bit!

Sunday was a gorgeous day weather wise but we didn't do much but visit Ryan and Alicia and take a trip to Sam's Club. Alicia is more than ready to have that baby any day now and we just can't wait for a new "cousin" for our kids. We still don't know if it's a boy or girl. Hailey keeps telling us it's "girl baby in Alicia's tummy" and I think she's right. Time will tell! We capped off our Sunday night by Rob getting both kids to sleep again around 7 and me going to be shortly there after! I think we may have crossed over to the other side!! HIP HIP HURRAY! (I did have to get up a couple of times with the rug rats but not for very long this time...)
Ah, isn't life grand??

A long long time ago...

Well, it seems like a long time ago but it was only a couple of weeks ago - hard to believe it was still January but it was. It was so very nice outside on a Sunday afternoon the kids and I went outside to play and use their new snowman making kit they got from Dan and Leann for Christmas. It was actually warm and Hailey wore just a sweatshirt - our little man of course didn't want to keep his mittens on but did pretty good. We had some good fun and I can't wait to do it again soon if the temps ever go above ZERO degrees! This weekend they are actually forecasting temps near 30 - which is 45 degrees warmer than the highs from last weekend! Hip Hip Hurray!

Check out our little man standing like a little show off during our snowman making fun - one would never know he prefers to walk on his knees!!

AND - That IS a giant plastic carrot that is SUPPOSED to be a snowman nose but little miss innocent kept trying to jam it into the lower portion of the snowman because that's how far she could reach...YIKES!!

TWO!

Two - that's the actual air temperature this morning when we woke up. Hip Hip Hurray! TWO degrees!
It is soo very nice to be above zero for once I could just holler to the heavens! It was a bitter cold weekend here in the cities - even colder back home in NoDak for our loved ones...The kids and I hunkered down and played - A LOT - this weekend. We didn't even leave the house from Thursday afternoon til this morning (Monday) when it was time for work! They didn't seem to mind - we survived - even without Daddy as he was gone to North Da-Cold-a.

R brought flowers for me (and Hailey) before heading out on Friday which were much appreciated. {Also much deserved I might add - last week he not only told me that I would never make it to Hollywood on American Idol with my voice, but that I was also too OLD - he ALSO responded "Not with you" When I asked him if he wanted to play Yahtzee with me! The NERVE! I love to play Yahtzee and he used to be such a good sport about playing with me...*sigh*}
Anyway - Hailey thought Rob was at a hockey game all weekend since that's where he was heading when she last saw him...She'll probably never let him go to a hockey game again now that she thinks they are three days long! She asked about him a lot - When she went potty on the potty chair yesterday - all on her own without my bugging her about it...I gave her money for her Piggy which she LOVES!! After putting her coins in her piggy she immediately asked..."Daddy go to work? Make money? Share with me? My piggy?" It's never enough money for her which I love - that's the Daddy's girl in her!!
Anyway - It's nice to have Daddy back - the kids actually both slept all night - and I actually got 9 hours of sleep (somewhat interupted thanks to our mangy mutt and his skin conditions but still - the best night of sleep in ages...
Now, if we could just warm up this weather a little!!

Thoughts and Prayers and Thoughts

Rob and Jeff


Brooksie and I (and Micah and Brent!)

So today's entry is again one of asking to keep a family in your thoughts and prayers. Our friend Brooksie (Jeff Brooks) - Rob's friend from forever ago - lost his dad unexpectedly yesterday. Bob Brooks was just 61 years old - died of a heart attack during a procedure at Altru - the hospital of death. Why does it seem that we know so many people that go into that hospital healthy and just never make it out of there? I feel so bad for Jeff (and for his three brothers and especially his mom.) It's never easy that is for sure - but when a person isn't even OLD and it happens so suddenly. It just breaks your heart. Bob's passing has been all over the news back home in Grand Forks as he was a member of the city council. He was a well-respected member of the GF community and his presence will be missed. It has really had me thinking over these last 24 hours - if I died suddenly what would people be saying about me?? I know I wouldn't be breaking news - front page news, most likely not even news. I also can't help but wonder if there would be as many nice things said about me - or at this point - ANY nice things said about me!! I do know that I have really changed a lot over the past few years - I am really out of touch with the world, my old world anyway - I've become a hermit!! Between two somewhat difficult pregnancies resulting in two very busy kids (one a little easier to handle than the other) and managing an almost full time "real" job, motherhood and just everything else - I've lost a huge part of myself along the way - I barely have time to get into the shower some nights before Derek is waking up much less get myself any "me time." I have all but lost touch with a lot of people who mean a lot to me. As I say my prayers for Brooksie and his family I reflect on my life and think about my new years' resolutions - I have a lot of them I want to work on. Finding myself is the key - Getting back out in the world with my friends - at least a little - taking some of this weight off...those are good places to start. I know I need to work on my patience level - that's a biggie right now. It's tough when I'm getting 2-3 hours of interupted sleep each night - I am pretty tired and run down right now - but I can, and I will get myself back to who I was and who I want to be. Again, please say an extra prayer for the Brooks family tonight and remember to hug your loved ones - Write if you can, call if you can't, and, tell your loved ones they are, before it's too late.

Now why didn't I think of that??

So it's no secret that Derek has pretty much given up what little sleeping he used to do. Lately when people have been asking me about him I tell them - well, he's not been a very good sleeper at night which in turn means I'm not sleeping too well at night right now. To which they usually say something like - "Have you tried leaving him in his crib?"

Heavens. Letting him cry himself into hysteria in the middle of the night which would then in turn wake his sister across the hall, resulting in waking up the dad...It seems like such a simple solution! Why didn't I think of that??? Now I'm not a real patient person sometimes but I can gaurantee that I would much rather scoop Derek up in the night - regardless of what time it is, vs listening to him at his wit's end during the middle of the night setting off a chain reaction to the rest of the family. Who knows what's wrong with him, maybe he's teething, maybe he had a nightmare, maybe he's not sleepy and is bored in his crib, maybe he just misses his family - All I know is if we can make life better for him - we have to. If it means consoling him during the wee hours of the night - so be it.

Yeah, Derek and I aren't getting much sleep these days - but isn't that better than NONE of us getting any??
Sheesh!

Why Why Why Why Why Why WHHHY

Well, we can barely believe it but it's happened at the Gust house. The Why question. Every. Single. Thing. We. Say. Hailey asks us..."Why?" Rob and I have both been trying very hard to answer every single one of them but so far, only twice has she given us an "oh-kaaaay" like we used to get when we'd answer her! Sheesh!

I cannot believe it's here already!! I did not know this starts this early!! She's one smart cookie though - a little sponge that one - that's why we know it's so very important to answer the questions instead of just shrugging them off. We recently got a progress report for Hailey from our daycare provider. She tells us that Hailey is the smartest two year old she's ever had in her seven years of doing daycare. Rob and I both knew she was smart - "gifted" we joke - but it was sure nice to hear the compliments and have them written out in the form of a progress report! I was expecting the old S = Satisfactory, N= Needs Improvement run down - with mostly N's in the way of sharing, playing nicely with others, eating her veggies, etc etc etc.
We DID get that report too but Hailey does much better than I give her credit for sometimes. Guess it's just at home (mostly) she has trouble sharing!!

Derek had his 1 year well child check last Friday - he weighed in at 22 pounds 2 oz...I would NOT believe it if I hadn't seen the scale with my own eyes. I could swear he's at LEAST 30 pounds but I guess it just feels that way when you are lugging him around all day. (And half the night!) He was pretty mad about the three shots and the blood draw from his finger but I think what he was most mad about was me holding him still for the time those things took. Man, he HATES to be held still. We think he's teething but one can't be sure - he's a little more crabby than we are used to - nothing a trip to Grandma's can't fix - we'll have to get one on the books here soon.
I thought that when I was 9 months pregnant with Derek and trying to take care of our 14 months old that was going to be the hardest that things were ever going to be. Giving myself insulin shots several times a day - leaning over that horrid whirlpool tub to give Hailey baths, rotovirus...
Then Derek came and he was a tough newborn - and I thought that was pretty tough - some days I wasn't sure who was crying harder - and now...here we are...And Derek is one and Hailey is two and oh, what I wouldn't give for a couple of good solid hours of sleep these days. I know it gets easier. It has to. But in my next life I'm going to make sure we live a little closer to Grandma's house!

Flash Favorites

Here are a couple of my favs from our recent photo session at Flash - Derek is catching up to big sister size-wise!! Just today Rob and I were at the Mall of America and some guy asked us if they were twins. We get that alot when we have them out in the double stroller - I imagine we always will!

Happy First Birthday D-Mann!

The birthday bouquet of balloons from Grandma Betty and Tim -


Wow - Where did the last year go?? Seems like it was just yesterday we were having an amnio done and the doc was telling us we'd be having the baby tomorrow - which was three and a half weeks early - now we have a one year old whirlwind of a son racing around here (on his knees!)

The First Birthday Pic at Flash -

Derek's first birthday was last Saturday December 29th and was a huge success ~ we were once again taken aback at the generosity of our family and our friends. Both of our children are very blessed to be so loved by so many. Derek wasn't too into the presents for this birthday but his sister was - she actually still thinks a lot of them are hers. Of Buddy's 100 presents pretty much the only thing she'll tell you is his is a giant playground ball Andy and Andrea got for him - but...she thinks that's hers too when you are playing with it.


Too funny. Derek had a great time at his party and seemed to enjoy the cake - I think the key was the white frosting (unlike the red frosting Miss Hailey had on her first birthday.) He was a little easier to clean up than she was - you'd think our dog would be able to handle that job but apparently it was too small for him- he only wanted the big part of the cake - not the scraps on the children!!

Happy Merry New Birthday Year

Wow - What a whirlwind the last couple of weeks have been. Christmas, a first Birthday and New Years all rolled into such a short time...yikes!! We had a fabulous Christmas, spending Christmas Eve in Rochester and Christmas Day here at home. Grandma Betty came and spent a couple of days with us - thankfully missing the multiple snow storms we received in between her travels. There were tons of presents and tons of great food. After the holidays we got ready for Derek's big first birthday which was the 29th - again, more food, more great friends and family and MORE presents! I am convinced we could open a small toy store now. Sure doesn't help matters that my favorite retailers have many many toys marked down to next to nothing! Santa is already stuffing stockings for 2008's Holiday Season! Sheesh! I was JUST SAYING to Rob how we are going to have to make deposits into our kids' savings accounts versus buying them anything (ever again!!) and then I see the Loving Family Accessories over 50% off at Walmart - well, since Hailey LOVES her Loving Family Dollhouse from Santa I just HAD to tell Santa about the sale! Especially since Hailey tries to shove the family members into Buddy's Hum V he got from Grandma Gladys! New Year's Eve was spent at the neighbor's house for their annual NYE party. Derek made it til about 11:15 - the little miss made it to toast in the New Year! Myself I was ready for bed about 8 pm! Crazy. That's how I sum it all up! It was a whirlwind couple of weeks and I am again reminded at how lucky and how very blessed we are. I hope the season finds you and yours counting your blessings as well. To an even better 2008.
DG