Definite Success!

Well, I think it's safe to say that the potty training was definitely a success! Only one accident in the last seven days!!! She still wears a diaper overnight but often wakes up dry. I am so proud of her! Some milestones are bittersweet, especially with the last child, but this one is simply sweet! Her personality has blossomed so much in the last couple of months, that I am not going to miss the "baby" stage all that much. She is such a hoot these days, always surprising us with the words that come out of her mouth and with her actions.

Blake has been really testing us lately, it seems. He just seems to have a hard time slowing down and listening. I really hoping that improves over the next few months. Otherwise, I think he is as smart as a whip and impresses me with his knowledge almost daily.

Did I mention my little girl's obsession with apples lately?

Success

I believe the potty training was a success! Cora has gone two full days with no accidents!! We are so proud of her!!!

We enjoyed the Bad Axe Christmas parade last night. It was actually almost 60 degrees out!! The kids enjoyed the evening.

Day 3

So far so good! Cora didn't have any accidents today!!! She even told me a few times that she had to go, and even pooped twice!! If you have not gone through potty training, you have no idea the excitement that this brings!!! We dropped the kids off with grandpa and grandma Lynn so that we can have a night out, so hopefully the success continues!!

Avoided the stores and did my black Friday shopping online today. I got some awesome deals and am pretty much done. I just have to even things out a bit and get some stocking stuffers. Thankfully I have lots of time for that!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We ended up having dinner here today which worked out very well. Since it was a last minute decision, I didn't have time to stress about it! Tricia brought about half the food, and helped with the clean up which made things go much easier! She is going to be a great addition to our family and I am glad Jeff found her!

As the picture shows, our Christmas tree is up and the elf is here too! I just love this tradition and can't wait for the kids to see him in the morning. Hopefully it improves their behavior for the next few weeks. This is a first...I have never put the tree up on Thanksgiving, usually it would be that weekend, but Blake had been bugging, so we gave in.

Potty training, day 2. Not bad overall, only one accident that she didn't tell me about. A few times she would tell me as she is going, but a few times she told me first. Overall, I think a couple more days of hitting it hard and she will be trained! Although she is reluctant to poop on the potty. It will come though, I'm not too worried about it.

Well, I am off to bed now. Going to do a little shopping tomorrow, late morning. Hopefully I can be 100% done after tomorrow!!! That will really be a first for me!!

Potty Training-day 1

Ugh.....this is NO fun at all! She knows when she has to go, she knows to tell me and knows that she needs to go on the potty. So what's the problem....the gene that she inherited from her momma.... STUBBORNNESS!!

Hopefully it will be easier tomorrow. I am not ready to give up, although that would be the easy solution.

Thanksgiving tomorrow at our house with mom, Jeff and Tricia. Hard to believe it is that time of the year already. Fortunately, my Christmas shopping is almost done!! I will probably head out for a little shopping Friday morning in Sandusky.

My little sleepwalker

Cora has gotten up in the middle of the night a couple times within the last week. The one night I heard her yelling "momma?" repeatedly. I finally found her downstairs wondering around looking for me! Then last night she wanders in our room about 1:00am saying, "read book please?" I sent her back to bed, and after a few tears, she was sound asleep.

Excited to report that I am about 70% done with my Christmas shopping!!! Yah!!!

Potty time

Cora has been been doing a great job with potty training. She has been going on and off for the last week and a half. Sometimes she will tell us when she has to go, other times she will fight it tooth and nail.

Otherwise it has been pretty quiet around here. We did buy a treadmill since we can't run outside with all the crazy hunters out there anymore.

I'm not taking many pictures for customers right now which is fine because I feel like i am falling behind on everything else lately. I still have not taken Cora's two year pictures. Might have to combine that photo session with Christmas card photo session!

I just got a new iPhone from work so this will help to make my life much easier. I will try to upload a video of Cora singing her ABCs and twinkle twinkle little star. It is hilarious. Okay that didn't work. But here's a picture of Tom and I from a wedding that we went to last night.

Big Girl Bed ... and more sayings & doings of a 4 year old...

Well, tonight is Cora's first night in the big girl bed. She was very excited!! It is hard to believe we are done with the crib forever!

We had our last camping trip of the season last weekend out at Forester. It was their Halloween weekend and the kids had a great time trick or treating and the weather was beautiful. We were in the camper the one morning and Blake wanted to go outside and was trying to persuade us....he says, "C'mon outside...it helps to get the stink off ya."

All in all we had a great camping season. We didn't venture far...we went to Forester for the first 6 weeks, then went to Caseville for a long weekend in July, and then this last trip out to Forester. We were supposed to go to Harbor Beach this past weekend, however the weather was supposed to be bad, so we cancelled that. Thank goodness because the weather was cold, windy and wet.

Other things going on....Tom and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary on 9/27/11. We bought a 2010 Chrsyler Town & Country van and got it home on Wednesday the 28th. It will be so nice to have more room!

I will post some pics soon!

It's Potty Time!

Cora peed on the potty tonight!!! She was having fun sitting there, and frankly I'm not sure that she even knew she was peeing!! Oh well, we praised her up and down so hopefully it will encourage her to keep sitting on the potty!

My 3rd 5k of the year is tomorrow morning! Yikes...we'll see how it goes. I haven't been running as faithfully the last few weeks since I've been doing more with the bands.

"The Best Day of My Life"..Blake Arbaugh 9/9/11

Blake got up Friday morning and was getting ready for school. All the sudden he stops and says, "Mom - Today is going to be the best day of my life!" I wasn't so sure what was so special about this day, so I asked him why? His reply.."Because Sadie's mom gets to take me to school today!" Hmm..nice....So, yes now we will be carpooling for pre-school. Sadie's mom will take them and I will pick them up and take them back to Mary's. He had a great first couple of days..no fear whatsoever, just pure excitement. I truly hope he is always this excited to learn!

This morning, I was laying in bed with Blake for a few minutes and he tells me, "Momma..I was thinking...we should get a little TV and put it right over there on my baseball shelf so I can watch cartoons. Then..I won't be bugging you every morning when you're still sleeping to watch cartoons...I can just watch them here. Maybe the store will give us a free remote?" That kid is destined to be in a sales position when he gets older!!

Tomorrow will be a fun day...celebrating Gramma Vogel's 75th birthday down at Comerica Park to watch the Tigers play Minnesota Twins. We are taking a bus and it is also Blake's first Tigers game. Can't wait!!

My "Goofy" Girl

I love how when we tell Cora, "You're goofy!" Without missing a beat, she says, "No...I Minnie Mouse!" :-)

She is an echo of her brother. The words are not even out of his mouth yet and she is repeating what he says!! She is getting easier to understand, but we still can't understand everything that she says. She seems to have no problem understanding us....doesn't mean she always listens...but she is starting to get time outs when she doesn't.

Things are otherwise going well around here. We are looking forward to the weekend...Tom and I are going to Detroit for the Tigers game and spending the night down there. Not sure what else we are going to do, but we will find something!! It will just be nice to have a night away and be able to sleep in!!!!!!

Only my child....

After dinner tonight, we had some homemade cookies for dessert. Blake reached for a second cookie, but instead of taking a cookie he noticed a piece of bread in the Tupperware container with the cookies and asked if he could have it. I told him I didn't think he would like it. Well...he took it and ate the whole thing!! Nasty!! Only my child!!

We went to the Sanilac County 4-H Fair last week with my mom, Brianna, Kelsie and Matt. I bought an elephant ear and pop for the kids. Blake took a drink of sprite, not knowing what he was drinking. He sips it and say, "Mom..that's sure some spicy water!"

I took Blake "school shopping" yesterday. Ok..well, he is only going into pre-school and didn't really need much...but hey, it was an excuse to go shopping! We had a nice time together, we don't get one on one time too much. He told me last night that he had fun spending time with me and he loved the trolley that we got to ride on (the trolley that takes you store to store at Birch Run). We did have an enjoyable day together. Hard to believe he is getting so stinking big!

Congrats Uncle Ed & Aunt Jane on 50 years of marriage!

Last night we celebrated with the Arbaugh's and Wracan's over in Flint for Uncle Ed & Aunt Jane's 50th wedding anniversary. It was a nice evening with good food, drinks and company. What an honor it is to be married 50 years. I hope that I am so lucky to experience a 50th wedding anniversary some day....September 27, 2053 to be exact! Only 42 more years to go! Seems like it's so far away, but I know that time will fly. Here are a few photos from last night:

The Wracan Family

Awe...Aunt Jane & Uncle Ed

Jane & John (Sister & Brother)

Ed & Jane

Tom & Florence

I know this is supposed to be about the kids...but...

I have to post the information that I learned last night. Tom's cousin Lynn who is a personal trainer, came up to the thumb last night to do metabolic testing for Tom and I and some of my girlfriends. Let me backtrack a little.....I have been counting WW points for the last I don't know how many years (at least 6). I just started counting calories religiously for the last six months. Well, the website I was using had my target set at 1200 calories per day to lose about 2lb per week. Well...I lost some, but have hit a plateau and can never seem to stay on track. I've been working my butt off and not seeing any results. This is EXTREMELY frustrating!!

Well, this metabolic testing gives you your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate)...in other words how many calories my body would burn if I sat in a chair and did nothing all day long. Of course, I don't do that....so you need to add additional calories burned doing your daily activities and any exercising that you do. So....my RMR came in at 2477 calories, plus it figures around 741 for daily activities and another 258 for a 30 mintue workout daily. So what does all this mean??? It means that I can eat between 2477-3218 calories every day just to MAINTAIN my weight. Well, I don't want to maintain, I want to lose....so, to lose weight, I should be eating between 1983-2477 calories every day. This is totally blowing my mind....still, 24 hours later. And these numbers are not estimates, they are based on my breathing, my oxygen....this test is even covered by insurance companies, it is that accurate. So...here I've been trying to live off of 1200 calories (not very successfully, I might add), when in fact I should have been eating a lot more all along. I think my problem was I would stick to that 1200 calories during the week and on the weekends I would eat a lot more (probably in the 1900-2400 range). Therefore my body was in starvation mode most of the time. I had heard of this starvation mode before but didn't really buy into it. I'm still struggling to buy into it...however Lynn is the BEST when it comes to fitness, health, personal training and I trust her 100%, so I have to trust this test. I'm so excited to be able to eat more....don't get me wrong, I'm not going hog wild on the sweets, pizza, ice cream...all that good stuff....I'm focusing on eating the right foods that will satisfy me the longest.

It is amazing how much more refreshed I feel and what a positive outlook I have on my future health and weight loss.

THANK YOU SO MUCH LYNN WRACAN!!!!!

Caseville - July 2011

Freshen up!

I updated my blog tonight...freshened up the look a little and changed the picture to a photo of my two little munchkins!

Yikes....calendar is full for the next month straight...we have an anniversary party for Tom's aunt and uncle, a wedding, 2 Tigers games, and a camping trip! So although it will be busy, it will be fun!

The kids are doing well and staying healthy. Blake will be starting pre-school in a couple of weeks. Cora is talking more and more everyday. Her latest gesture is folding her arms across her chest when she gets mad. She's just too cute!

Tom and I are getting our metabolism tested tomorrow. Should be very interesting to see how many calories we burn at rest so that we have an idea of how many calories we should be eating per day in order to lose weight.

That's all for now. I'm going to make a conscious effort to try and update this blog a lot more often than I have been. I've got to get caught up on my scrapbooking and I know that I'm going to heavily rely on this blog for my "journaling"!!

Where is summer going?

I guess I'm falling behind again, but summer is always so busy!

Blake turned 4 a couple weeks ago, it's so hard to believe! We celebrated his birthday up at Caseville when we were camping at Sleeper State Park.

Cora is talking like crazy...her and Blake are also known as "Pete and Repeat"! She repeats everything he says and mimics his behavior as well. She really is talking more and does use some short sentences. We can usually figure out what she is saying...but not always.

I ran my second 5K in Deckerville on August 6th. My time was 32:53. I was super happy with that! I'm signed up for another on 9/17/11...so hopefully I can beat my time again!

Meet Happy & Sammy, our new feline friends!

Thanks to my mom (aka Grandma Maya)...Blake and Cora now have pet kittens. Meet "Happy" and "Sammy"...both named by Blake. These are our very first pets!

My first 5K

I ran my first 5K today in Ubly! I completed it in 35:26, not too bad for my first one. It was fun and I'm looking forward to the next one! Maybe Tom and I will run the Deckerville one....we will see!

July 2011

So we were at the camper last weekend and I had just fixed Blake and Cora a fabulous macaroni & cheese and hotdog dinner. They were sitting across from each other at the table in the camper and were about half way done with their dinner, when I hear Blake say, "Cora!! Are we FORGETTING something???" Instantly they both fold their hands and Blake says the dinner prayer. They both finish with a loud "Amen!" They had no idea that we were watching but it was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. They make me a proud momma!

A proud momma..until this past weekend at the camper. Blake had just finished eating a hot dog for lunch (I swear, I do cook things besides hot dogs for them!). Blake runs to the bathroom, announcing that he "has to poop!". A few minutes later, we hear "Hey guys! You gotta come see this!! It's like a hotdog poop! It looks just like a hotdog!!" Yes, a proud momma am I. =-)

The sayings of Blake...

I had just finished cutting some homemade bread (ok...freezer bread that I baked)....I set the knife down. Blake walks in a little later and says, "Momma, you shouldn't leave that knife sitting there, because me or Cora might get it."

Last night we were at a party at Mike Keinath's for dinner. We are all out in the garage, getting ready to eat. Blake is sitting at the table, waiting for Tom to bring his plate of food to him. Tom is in line, waiting for the people in front of him...all of a sudden you hear Blake yell from across the room..."Hey Dad..where's my food? Why are you just standing around? Get my food!"

Today after I was telling him to hurry up and get in the car, he turns and says, "I am! Man alive!"

I may have put this one in a previous blog...but his other favorite line lately is (after he gets in trouble), "Geez mom..you don't have to be so mad about it."

Cora has really picked up on the talking! She will repeat almost anything. She still won't say Da-da....so she now calls him Papa instead! :-)

6/4/11

Well, today is the 5th straight day that Blake has been running a fever. The only other symptom he's had since the start is a runny nose...and I mean RUNNY! I just hope he gets better soon. He's gone to the doc twice and they think it's just a viral thing that should work itself out of his system. He has shown some improvement, but when that fever spikes, he is just miserable. :-(

We had our first camping trip last weekend out at Forester park. We decided to leave the camper there through the 4th of July. We had a nice time out there and are looking forward to going back. We were going to go this weekend but of course are home with a sick little boy.

Blake's latest quote...when Cora is getting his way when he's trying to play, he will holler to me, "momma....please come get your child." He is dead serious when he says it. It cracks me up! His other latest...when he does something or says something that he's not supposed to, I won't even yell at him, maybe just give him a dirty look, or just ignore him, and he will say, "Momma..you don't have to get so mad about it." or "Momma....you don't have to be so mad at me."

Cora's (brief) 18 month photoshoot

This is classic Cora.....she gives us this look whenever she doesn't get her way!

Have I ever mentioned that the 18 month age group is the toughest to photograph? or that my own children are my toughest subjects??? I did manage to get a couple cute ones!

Before and current

I just wanted to post a couple pics here of myself. I know this blog is primarily about the kids, but I've been working my butt off trying to lose weight. The bottom picture was August 2010, and the top one was on my 31st birthday in April 2011. A difference of about 20lb. Not huge, but I can really tell the difference in my face when looking at these two pics. I'm feeling great and looking forward to losing the next and final 20!!

The things that come out of Blake's mouth!

"Do they call him Mr. Messing because he messes everything up?" Blake..inquiring about Dave Messing, my co-worker.

Yesterday, Dave and I had to go on a joint farm call, but I had to first pick up Blake from school and take him back to daycare. So, I told Blake there was a surprise in the car. He asks, "Is it a big toy?" I told him no. When we got to the car and saw Dave, he says, "That's not a surprise." Well, after a bit, Dave gave him a pack of M&M's. Blake replies with, "Wow, two surprises....M&M's...and a guy." It was hilarious!!

Miss Cora is starting to try to talk more and more. She really does understand 90% of what we say to her. She still won't say Daddy though! But she will at least try to say everything else. She's doing good and really starting to develop her personality, along with a bit of stubborness! She still absolutely loves to eat though! She is sleeping great....usually 7pm-6am without getting up through the night at all. She does still use her sucky at night time and is still in her crib.

Tom started a new job 4/1/11 at Lincare. He is currently in St. Louis for the next two weeks. He is liking the job so far.

Cookie Monster

So..the other night Tom was changing Cora's messy diaper and asked Blake to go get him a bag to put it in. Blake..always being eager to help, eagerly agreed. Well, he was taking longer than he should have, but finally came back the the living room...with a "shit-eating" grin on his face. He looks as at me and says, "guess what I did mama?" I said "What?" He replies.."I snuck a bite out of all the cookies!" Sure enough..he had opened the Tupperware container and took a bite out of each cookie that was left..and there were about 8-10 cookies! It was impossible not to laugh out loud at that one, while still trying to discipline him..which was very difficult!

We are BORING!

Well, as I beat myself up for not keeping this blog updated the last couple of months, I have come to the conclusion that we are just a very boring family! At least during the winter months. Even going through my pictures, I seem to take very little pictures this time of the year. With us working all week and being gone so much, we really don't mind just staying in on the weekends, even if that means keeping up with housework and laundry. Tom was gone away with the guys this weekend, and I couldn't even think of anything for me and the kids do to, that wouldn't evoke too much stress! But we had fun just staying in, sorting through some toys for the garage sale, watching movies and playing the Wii. Oh well...I wouldn't want my life any other way! Big news here is that Tom starts a new job on Friday, April 1st. He will be a salesman for an oxygen company out of Saginaw called Lincare. I'm sure he will have a fancier title than that, but that's essentially what he will be doing. He will be marketing this business and their products to doctor's offices and hospitals in the thumb area. They sell oxygen products primarily for people who need oxygen in their home. Their goal is to open up a store/office in Bad Axe within a year and Tom would be the manager of that office. We really hope it all works out as planned! We are excited about him starting this new chapter in his life! Congrats and good luck to you dear! The kids are doing well. Cora is trying to talk more but it's pretty much impossible to understand what she's saying. We can usually figure it out...she either wants food, a drink, snuggles, or sleep. :-) She was pretty sick a couple weeks ago...had this RSV virus which is basically a nasty chest cold in babies. Blake ended up with a cold out of the deal. Otherwise the kids were healthy all winter long! Speaking of winter, we have decided that it's probably never going to end. Here we are at the end of March and we had a foot of snow this week! The snow was ALMOST gone prior to this storm. Darn it! We did go on a weekend getaway in February. Mom had gotten all of us a Gift Certificate to Splash Village in Frankenmuth for Christmas. So, Jody & her family, Jeff, Tricia and Robbie and my mom and all of us went there for a weekend in February. It was a nice time. Cora was still much to young to enjoy it...in fact she hated it! Blake did ok, but we realize that we need to either get him some swimming lessons or just get him out swimming more often because he was a bit scared of the water. My job is still going very well. It is amazing to look back and realize how far I've come (skills, knowledge and financially) since I left the bank. It was such a hard decision at the time, but definitely the best decision for the family. I didn't take too many pictures (for other people) throughout the winter, and the break was really nice. I've got a few appointments coming up here in April, but I probably won't do too much after May since we hope to get out and do lots of camping this summer! I keep looking out the window at the camper in longing...can't wait for the weather to turnaround so we can enjoy the sunshine!

Praying

So...we are on our way home from daycare yesterday, after Mary told me that Blake might be grumpy because he refused to nap. I asked him why he didn't sleep. He says, "I just couldn't sleep momma...I couldn't get my eyes rested." I said to him, " Do you know what I do when I can't sleep? I take deep breaths. And if that doesn't work then I pray...I talk to Jesus." He thinks for a second and replies, "But....Jesus lives WWAAAYYYY over there by God, and I would have to pray really loud for him to hear me, and then it would wake the other kids up!" Gotta love his thinking sometimes! :-)

Cora starting to talk...finally!

She is now clearly saying "ma-ma", and will also say "up" and "hop, hop!" She is really starting to finally have an interest in talking and trying to say things...so I'm sure it won't be long and she'll be speaking in full sentences and telling her brother what to do!

Cora's Teeth & Blake's appreciation

Well, I'm behind again. Oh well...

Cora has been teething...has about 3 molars already. She went to the doctor for her 25 month check up and she was 29" and 22lb, 15 oz. Right on track...about 50th percentile for both. She is still not talking, but she understands most things that we say to her. Doc says that is fine...most kids only say about 3-6 words now anyway.

Tonight Blake and I were heading up to bed. Last night he lost his bed time story priveledge because he spit on a girl at daycare. So, tonight on the way up he asks if we can read a book tonight. I said yes. He turns and looks at me and says, "thanks momma...I really appreciate it!" Seriously..he is 3, and to be using words like that! Too funny!!

School is going good for Blake. We had a field trip to the movie theater last week, that was fun. He is still doing well in school.