Happy May Day!

Lots of things to smile about today :c)

Last night I come upstairs from working in the depressing dungeon (a.k.a. basement) at my office and I see a pretty container of flowers sitting there. I honestly thought my hubby had done something cute and special for me, but I was wrong (hint, hint, Neil!), however I was still very excited! I didn't know that my great neighbor and friend, Vic, had came over while I was working to bring me a May Day surprise. It's so pretty; she decorated it all herself. Vic is one mighty creative person. Isn't it cute?! And what a great idea for you and me next May 1. But actually, what a nice surprise it would be for someone any day of the year. (Thank you, Vickie!)

Then today I received a sweet card from my friend (and client, who I was once a client of - she was my doula!), Leann. It was a thank you for taking pictures of her daughter. Which I never did in order to receive anything at all . . . it's my passion and I just absolutely LOVE taking pictures. But what a great surprise it was to get this card which had a gift card to Menard's in it.

Leann knows how frustrated we are about not selling this house (nor having hardly any bites at all) and how anxious and excited we are to get our new one a rollin'. She is the absolute sweetest! It reminded me that I need to be patient and hopeful because things are going to work out. God wouldn't have sent me Leann if it weren't. We're going to be moving into her back yard. God would never tease me like this if it weren't going to happen. I just have to keep waiting and during that wait, relish in the joys of my life like my children, bats (hehe, jk), Wordless Wednesdays, my blogging and IRL friends, everything! . . . Anyway, Thank you, Leann!

So many things to be thankful for . . . It's so easy to overlook these small things some days. And, get this! Speaking of small things . . . Maia has been using the potty!

I don't call her using the potty a big thing yet because I'm afraid it will jinx the progress by doing so. I know the entire potty process can take a long time. At least it did with Noah, and just when I was confident we were on the right path, he would have a set back. So I'm just . . . thankful . . . this time that we've had these small accomplishments like we have with Miss Maia. She's done very well!

After baths, I will put her straight on the potty (because when I ask her if she wants to use the potty she says "Uh-huh" with a big smile and a nod). We do this after every bath just so we get into some sort of consistency. Not every time, but sometimes she will tinkle! She then "wipes" which really is just throwing tp into the potty, but it's still something! She'll tinkle at least once a day, but she still has to have a diaper on and doesn't usually ask to use the potty. I usually suggest it, but she is always willing! (Something Noah never was when we suggested it!)

I know we have a long way to go, but this is still a really good start at just 18 months! Check her out! She is so proud! (And I need to dig out the picture of me on the potty . . . I think it looks quite similar to this one!)

Today's last thought

(Finally, huh?)

I just had to share this. Yesterday was a proud mommy day. Maia went a whole day without any major tantrums (yayyyy!!), and Noah, while getting his hair cut, for the first time ever sat completely still, and never winced, cried, or complained once! It was a proud moment indeed! I think for him what helped was that there were 4 other boys before him getting their hair cut and he saw that they sat completely still like good boys. We've tried everything in the past to get him to feel okay about going and nothing ever worked, but this did. (Why didn't I think of this before?) I really wish I had my camera last night, but I'll bring it next time. And you know what else? While Noah would never admit it, I think he actually enjoyed the hair cut. It was cute.

My Babes' Words

Warning: brag session!

I haven't gabbed about my kids for a while. They deserve some recognition in a post because lately all I have heard outa them are the cutest things (you know the cliches, "out of babes mouths" and "kids say the darnest things"). Even Maia is talking. She is catching on really fast and I think it's because she has Noah to mimic. It was a long time still before he started really talking with words we understood. Here's some of her new vocabulary. They make her cuter than what she already was - of course, again, I'm totally biased.

Maia likes to say:
"up"
"hi" or "hi, hi, hi"
"this" and points
"ah" which means "Noah"
"mah" which means "more"
"dadda" or "daddy" (sounds like "dad-dee with stress on the "ee" part)
"bye-bye"
"juice"
"cheese" when mommy takes a picture
"baby" (her dollies)
"peas" which means "please"
Adding later . . . I forgot about "peek-a-boo" (this was one of her first words!)

She is also way more mobile than Noah ever was. Well, he was always very mobile and active and kept mommy busy, but Maia, again, follows and does everything that Noah does. She has to keep up, she has no choice! So, mommy is having to really keep her eye out for fall-down accidents because Maia is now getting off of the couch by herself, off our bed by herself (usually without accidents), and goes up and down steps - and we don't even have any here at our house! (She's had some good practice at friends and family's.)

So what is 3-year old Noah saying? A lot. And it's finally making sense and it just tickles me to death. My favorite is when I say "I love you, Noah" and he responds with "thank you". It's so funny.

Here are some other things I remember him saying:

I'll take something away because he's done something inappropriate, etc. and he says in a sweet voice, "but I love it."

If he thinks Maia has done something wrong he'll say, "Maia (enter her last name here)!!"

We were playing "kitchen" last night and he asked me if I wanted something to drink. I said, "yes please, I will take water" and he said "I don't have water". So I asked for milk and he said "I don't have that". I said "how about diet coke?" and he said "no diet coke". I said "what do you have then?" and he responded "lemonade".

Then he brought me a plate with a (plastic) tomato on it. He said "watch out, it's really hot. Blow on it." So I blew on it. He said "still hot, you need to set it down". This just made me smile because it shows me that he remembers things that we tell him and understands what they mean!

We'll pull into Target's parking lot and Noah will say "mommy, do you need coffee?". (They have a Starbucks in the store.)

My other favorite thing is when he will go up to Maia and say "Maia, do you want to play?" and he'll say "let's go to my room" and he'll run down as fast as he can, and in his shadow is Miss Maia. She adores him and he adores her. (Most of the time!)

So that ends my mommy brag post.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope I can get my last orders taken care of in the next two days so that maybe, finally!, I can enjoy the holidays. I'm still waiting for it to feel like Christmas. It's been a tough one thus far.