[sheepish grin]

Apparently you have to read the newspaper to find these things out.

Major Rambling, Reporting for Duty

Today was a big day...I registered E-Lil for Kindergarten! It wasn't terrible...I had a few moments of nausea but it's fine now :) There were even a couple of kids from her preschool there so at least she will know someone at recess. Her school is very nice, brand new and there are five "Team 1" sections (that's fancy for Kindergarten, apparently). Five sections! And that is just at this one school! I think we had three or four sections in our whole town! ;) Just FYI for any moms who are going to start their child in school in the next couple of years...apparently (at least here) they assume that you are just born knowing what to do at Kindergarten registration! I knew I had to go in there at some point this spring, though I didn't know it would be in February. I heard an announcement on AM radio one day that said Feb. 28- one day only! Like it was a monster truck rally or something. I checked out the district website and got NO HELP...so I called the school and they said call back next week (this was last week). Some nice lady (Laura McC :)) told me to bring a birth certificate for proof of age so I did know about that...but a gal that was in there when I was brought a copy of the certificate and that was NOT acceptable. Anyway so I finally got there with all my ducks in a row (paperwork, bc) the lady said, "Do you have your immunizations?" "I didn't know I needed that today!" was my reply. Well, yes, of course you do, Lady Who Has Never Had a Kid in Public School Before. What's the matter with you? Didn't you learn this through osmosis like the rest of us?` Well it wasn't quite like that, but I did feel rather confused at the fact that everyone expects us to know just what to do. Don't they know I live under a rock? ;) All that to say, she is registered and Kindergarten Round Up is the first week of April!

[Funny Kindergarten Round Up Story: My parents took me to Kindergarten roundup when I was about to turn 5 (I turned 5 in Aug). My mom saw me next to all the other kids and pulled me right outta there--they towered above me. What would become of her fragile little girl in that class full of Amazons? The next year, when I was to turn 6, she took me again. Same thing. But this year, she had to send me or the law was going to come after me!]

Anywhoo...

Eden is very nervous about Kindergarten, though I think she felt better when she saw her preschool classmate, Cameron. How ironic that Cameron would be comforting to her when he (and the other boys in her class at Preschool) was the source of the preschool anxiety! She was nervous about "wild boys" for two weeks last fall. That seems to be gone now, I think she's learned to appreciate the wild boys. Maybe tolerate is more the word. I am kind of fond of those wild boys...Cam sang a stirring rendition of Skittamarink the other day when the parents got to come watch...complete with Pavarotti vibrato!

Rambling...then...after registration we took Elly to Dr. V's and he confirmed her need for adenoid removal and tubes. She has hearing loss in both ears, one worse than the other. That might be why she has the world's loudest voice...guess I should have thought of that one! She's scheduled for Tuesday morning. Man, we have quite the week planned. Wedding this weekend (girls are flower girls) then tubes Tuesday. At least it is almost March! Isn't that when we're suppose to see the sun?

She's Famous

Check out Nia's 15 minutes of fame here.

Binnie

Tonight after I had hung up the phone, Eden said, "I know who you were talking to!" I said, "Who?" E: "Brynnie." Me: "How did you know that?" E: "Cause you kept saying, 'He'll be alright.'"

That's for you Aunt Binnie.

Momma's Pride and Joy

Eden's interest (and obvious gift :) in art makes me beam! She is hitting such a cute stage of artistic development:


This is a narrative of our trip to IHOP this weekend...check out the facial expressions and the tables full of food...it was a good time!


A portrait of Mom and Dad near Valentine's Day...


Very minimalistic...she's rejecting her mother's bend toward Abstract Expressionism.


A Pirate! Arrg!

For any of you who were secretly cursing under your breath at Elly's potty training success, please know that she pooped all over on Friday. :)

In case some of you don't read our adoption blog I thought I would do a quick update so you know where we are in the process. We have not yet received our referral (picture and information on a child) so we do not know boy or girl or how old yet. We assume he/she is not born yet. This week will we finish up our dossier and get it out of our hands by the end of the month. We expect it to be in Ethiopia by the end of the month, and then it will have to jump through all the necessary hoops before we can get our referral. The process has actually gone a bit faster than first expected, and we're happy about that, but we know there will most likely be kinks and obstactles as we go through.

Sloppy Joes, Slop-Sloppy Joes

We passed the school Eden will go to this fall today and Dan pulled into the drive so we could show it to her. We looked in and explained how it would work. Dan told her about school lunch and how she would get to eat lunch there every day. She said, "What are the options?" So Dan started naming off some typical school food. Eden replied, a little disturbed, "Well, they better have pictures, cause I can't read!"

[she thought she'd be ordering from a menu :) ]

Pocketsful of Poo

Eden loves to explore outside; she is quite the little nature lover. She is also a collector. So that means we find lots of interesting things in her pockets and in her room. She has a collection of nuts, rocks, sticks, and other stuff she keeps in her room. Recently she tried to sneak some snowball contraband into the house but those didn't make it past the entry way before I noticed them. This morning, she got her coat on to go out and I noticed a large stain on one of the pockets. Dan dug into the pocket and pulled out a walnut (that had gotten wet and bled onto the coat). Then Eden said, "And I found these!" and dug into the pocket further. Out came three small, round, frozen or petrified (not sure which) pebbles of rabbit poo! She was very proud of her find until we told her what they were :(

Quite Ellyquent, Part 7

Elly was writing on her paper and she saw it was ripped. Daddy said, "That's ok, that happens sometimes." Elly said, "Yeah, I won't get fuzzyrated."

Elly's alternate lyrics:

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way...Oh what fun it is to ride in a Walmart open sleigh!"

Ear Infection, Take Five!

It's official! Five ear infections in five months. Elly has her consult with Fritz Viner scheduled for next Thursday. Maybe we will get healthy this year! ;)

Superstition

Lest I jinx myself, I will not mention in this post anything about the glorious sleep that has been gotten in the last couple of days...I typically refer to our bedroom as The Revolving Door because it seems that at at all hours of the night someone is either coming in or going out...but I am not even going to mention how wonderful we have been sleeping. I am not superstitious, I am just afraid not to be.

Pop Bottle Bowling

Yet another of our creative solutions to being couped up in the house...and yes, Eden is wearing a leotard reminiscent of an 80's Twisted Sister video. She's unique. The furniture is stacked in front of the stairs to keep the little man from scooting up them!

Sayonara, Nukies?

Grammy says, "They grow up so fast..."
Papa says, "She won't go to college with it."
Pediatrician doesn't say anything because she doesn't know about it.
Dentist says, "What's the story with those teeth?"
Daddy says, "The nukie is driving me crazy!"
Elly says, "I love my nukies!"


What's a mom to do?

It Takes Tubes to Tango

I am not certain, but I have a suspicion that Ellafritz is working on her fourth ear infection in 4 months. I have yet to take her to the doctor, but I have looked into her ears with my otoscope and I see lots of murky fluid and redness...(I know I don't have an M.D. but I call myself a Mocktor and I have a very good rate of accurate diagnoses!). I am wondering if she shouldn't get tubes as well. They were so helpful with Eden. I know that some people don't have wonderful experiences with them, but for Eden it meant a total end of ear infections for the past year.

I believe some doctors recommend tubes after multiple ear infections (3 infections in 6 months or 3 infections in 12 months), and Elly would qualify under those guidelines since she has had one in November, December, January, and then if I am right, February. We shall see! Like I told Dan, I am waiting til it's good and inflamed before I take her in...there is nothing worse than going there, paying $25 copay and then having them tell you to bring her in 2 days later to see if it has "declared itself." Uggh. Elly's behavior certainly backs up my thought though...she is just awful right now! She doesn't get the typical lay around, tired, naughty thing...she gets hyper, aggressive and destructive! Today she threw a small stool behind the couch and then while I held her she bit my shoulder and broke the skin. This is NOT like her, she is usually quite active but not aggressive and certainly doesn't bite! She loves her mommy!!

Oh, and it would mean a trip to my handsome ENT, Dr. Viner. Read about my crush here.

Marcus!

Potty Training Update

She is still doing great, though today we had a little accident due to too many accesories and rituals needed in the bathroom to complete the task...Elly likes to do this all herself:
1. Turn on light
2. Open toilet lid, look in curiously
3. Insert Elmo comfy potty seat, turn it around, then turn it back to the right way
4. Pull foot stool up to toilet
5. Mess with something else while completing 1-4.

Be it hairbrush, toilet paper, etc. it seems interesting enough to a two year old to make her forget the task at hand. Unfortunately she is not quite at the stage where she can predict with much certainty how much time she has to work with :)

She is however a rock star at naptime and overnight. I quit putting her in pull ups at naptime but we use one at bedtime. She is always dry after naps and almost always dry in the mornings. Last night at 3:45am (I guess that makes it this morning) she came stumbling into our room and hoarsely told me, "I have to tinkle!" in a voice I am sure Betty and Ray (our elderly neighbors) could hear. Gotta give her credit for the tinkling, though at 3:45am I would have gone for the pull up...

;)

I swear this is my last potty training post...unless she says something hilarious...I am just so proud of her and I can't believe this stage that I have been dreading basically went off without a hitch!!

Quite Ellyquent, Part 6

"Awe you sinkin' what I'm sinkin'?"

--Elly

Even Carnies Know Where to Draw the Line

Eden and I were playing Circus today (I know, I know, we've had to get really creative since we're couped up), and she was standing on my back and doing little moves. She got off and I said, "Ok, now I will stand on your back." She willingly got down on the floor and I laughed and said, "I'd break you in half!" and swatted her buns a couple of times. She yelled at me, "They don't do THAT in the circus!"

My sentiments, exactly...

As Eden was coloring today, she said, "See this yellow and blue, Momma? This makes me think of spring! Spring meadows, clouds in the blue sky...I want spring!"

He's Back

Due to an unfortunate flu strain at Marcus' daycare, he is at our house today! It feels good to have the little sack of flour back in my arms :) He's getting very big and very ornery! I love it!!

Santa's GPS

It must be because there is so much snow on the ground, but the girls still think it is fun to sing Christmas songs and talk about Santa. Tonight Eden said, "If it rains ice (sleet) in the North Pole, it would probably break Santa's GPS."

Popcorn Slide

The girls enjoy using part of our staircase as a slide for different objects. Dora and Diego figurines frequently slide down the stairs. The other day as I was typing, I heard a different noise- and this is what I discovered:

She's Our Valentine

My beautiful grandmother, Dorothy Katherine Cavner, celebrated her 78th birthday on the 12th! (it is 78, isn't it grandma?) Doesn't she look fabulous?? I hope I inherited those genes! Really, both sides of our family age well, so I am counting on that!

Eden and Elly helped her open her presents and presented her with the cutest little cake that was in the shape of a puppy! It was adorable. It was nice to be in town to celebrate with them. We headed south after our fingerprinting appointment in DSM (for the adoption).

Edenisms, Part 16

Today Eden was getting wild running around the house and jumping on pillows. Despite the blizzard conditions outside, she got hot, and, like a good Grimes, began to take off her clothing. [Disclaimer: She does not get this from the Stanton side. We are a modest bunch. The Woldruff/Grimes side are the nudists--known for their love of snuggling under blankets in their skivvies] Anywho, Eden stripped down to her tights and continued running around. Between shouts of "Cowabunga!" and "Canon Ball!" we cracked up as we heard her say, "Goodbye, pants - Hello FREEDOM!"

Great Stuff

I found this on my friend Holly's site, but she had borrowed it from someone else...so not sure who to credit here...but here it is anyway:

You Know You're an Adoptive Parent If...
http://garcias2chile.blogspot.com)

YOU KNOW YOU'RE AN ADOPTIVE PARENT IF ...

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love & family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who've experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.
7. You've been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8. You'd no idea how you'd afford to adopt, but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing He'd provide. (& He does!)
9. You've taken an airplane half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart's for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart & family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word "Dossier" means & you can actually pronounce it correctly!
13. You've welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child's so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you're the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

Stuff Really Unworthy of Complaint, but...

Sometimes I feel as if I am the one in preschool. This week is a little crazy since we are going to leave for DSM (fingerprinting appt for adoption) on Thursday and then we'll travel to Clarinda for Friday and Saturday...so our week is short and we still have just as much to do as ever. Eden's preschool is wonderful. I absolutely love it and I think they do a fantastic job. But sometimes I feel like I am the one in school again! Wednesday we (I) have to remember Pink Day, Valentine Party, Treat Day, Show and Tell, Letter "Q" magazine cut outs, the "ABC" bag that needs three things that begin with the letter "Q" (for future reference, Q is hard, but we found Q Tips, a quarter, and Queens from a deck of cards.). We are also missing Friday so I have a note to the teacher, along with someone else's tuition receipt that got in to Eden's bag, and Eden's snow boots, hat, mittens and extra clothes (just in case) that are appropriately labeled ELG in case anything should happen to them. Wow. I thought it was challenging to parent an infant, but I think it is crazy to have school-agers. This is tough! (read in Billy Madison voice)

They Might Be Giants

The Growth Chart was marked today...

Eden Lily measured in at 3'8" (a mere foot and 2 inches shorter than her mother)
Elly Lyn measured in at 35 3/4"!

Sprouting up like weeds!

10 Things

10 Things You're Likely to Hear While Spending a Day with the Grimes Fam

1. "To the mall...to the mall...to the mall...to the mall" (sung in 4 part harmony, barbershop quartet-style, usually on our way to the mall or just for the heck of it)
2. "Hey, wanna lick tongues?" said by either of the girls.
3. "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!"
4. The sounds of little feet running and jumping off of furniture.
5. Constant giggling.
6. The dishwasher.
7. A five-year-old girl talking to herself.
8. The phone ringing.
9. The tapping of a keyboard.
10. The sounds of toys being dumped out of a bin.

Notes from the Trenches: Potty Training, Day Six

I'm gonna go ahead and call it. It's a done deal. This kid is a 100%-undies-wearin' potty trained girl! Since Tuesday, I have carried around a little bag of extra clothes, pull ups, and undies for when we are out and about and she has not needed to use it even once. She has even been completely dry at naptime. We haven't been brave enough to do it at bedtime yet, but this morning her Pull Up was dry. Great job, Elly!

Notes from the Trenches: Day Five

Elly had her first accident in 3 days this morning...no big deal, just a little oops! then run to the bathroom! I am still impressed with this girl :)

Notes from the Trenches: Potty Training, Day Four

She is most definitely potty trained! Today I took her twice and then she has successfully gotten herself to the potty the rest of the time! No accidents for 36 hours and counting!

Of course since Elly was so easy now I think I am the expert ;), so here's my two cents on potty training for any of you moms with little ones who care what I think :)
It doesn't always go as smoothly as this--Eden was not quite as easy and she also had accidents for at least a month after I would have called her trained. But there are some good ways to do this without stressing about it. My first tip is not to use Pull Ups...I think this just prolongs it. Another thing is to take regular trips to the potty (every 30 min or so) and take books with you. This helped my squirrely girly sit long enough to actually get something accomplished and got her quiet and focused. I also loaded her up on drinks and snacks the first day so that every time we went in there she would go without much effort. That built muscle memory and also gave her success after success so she felt confidence. My other tip- don't start it when you are pregnant and nauseous! I did that with Eden and I was so grossed out I had a terrible time! That's my advice :)

Notes from the Trenches: Potty Training, Day Three

Wow, this kid is amazing. My mom always said you could potty-train a kid who is ready in two days. She might be right. Elly went all day, from 8am-2pm today with no accidents, using the potty IN A PUBLIC RESTROOM at the mall. She is asleep now without a Pull Up on...I thought I would give it a try...she is doing great!!

I am cautiously optimistic that she may just be the world's easiest potty trainer! I'm sure there are still accidents in our future, but for now, I am excited that she has done this well! Way to go Elly Belly!

Late Night with Eden O'Grimes

Eden fell asleep in the car on the way to Walmart last night, so this is how she fell asleep last night at 10:30pm...on the couch with us. She is a beauty though :)

Dough! (read with Homer Simpson voice)

We made homemade play dough today. The kids always love when I let them mix together random ingredients, but they weren't so keen on this today because it was wet and gooey and both of them got annoyed at it sticking to their fingers. Elly skipped her nap today so she was cranky with a capital Crank. Eden was tired as well from staying up late the night before, so she was a bit out of it as well. Nonetheless, they stirred together the ingredients, picked their color, and then I finished it up by making sure the dough was formed and working it into a ball before turning them loose with it. It is a very simple recipe from the First Christian Church Cookbook (thanks Maggie Merrick!):

1 c. flour (more if it needs thickened)
1 c. boiling water
1/2 c. salt
1 T. cooking oil
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix together! Add food coloring.

Here are the pics of our fun:





To those of you with a keen eye for detail, you might wonder why Elly is wearing Hot Pants on this wintry day...we ran out of undies (see Notes from the Trenches) so she's actually wearing her bikini bottom!



PAY NO ATTENTION to that mess behind the cute kids! We were having fun!! :)

Wintry Day

What a day! We got TONS of snow...but we actually got to enjoy the outdoors a bit. Dan went in early so he got off of work at 3pm and we played in the white stuff til 4:30! We made snow angels, had a snow ball fight, and started making a really pathetic snow man...and that's just what Dan and I did! :)


This is Eden climbing up our neighbor's snow pile and getting up into their tree...

You can see just how much we got...it was up to Elly's waist.



Leave it to the cheesy Grimes Fam to take a picture like this...14 inches...though that was the sidewalk that we snowblew...so we're thinking more like 12-13 or so.



Eden loves the snow--love, Loves, LOVES it! She cannot get enough. Elly is more liker her momma. When she gets wet and cold, she's headed inside!

Notes from the Trenches: Potty Training, Day Two

Day Two is going better than Day One. She had a small accident, but then got to the potty and was able to go on the potty, and I think, for the first time, actually emptied her bladder all the way instead of just going a little and then getting so excited the stream stopped :)

She has been dry now for an hour and she seems to know what to do...

Last night we ran errands in the car and she actually sat in her carseat and stayed dry the entire time! The we came home and she immediately wet her pants :) Oh well...that's all part of the learning!

Notes from the Trenches: Potty Training

Day one of Panties:

It's not going so well. Elly peed three times on the floor and in her panties. Apparently, she is not as pumped about keeping Hello Kitty dry as she was with Dora. She did, however, have a BM in the potty! I kept a good eye and her and fed her snacks until I thought she was ready...then we sat and read books til the time was right and she did it! She is not scared or anything, we just have to hit the right timing. She is telling me when she is going, it is just mid-stream, so to speak.

RANT

This is my rant for the day:

I CANNOT STAND TO BE IN THIS HOUSE FOR ANOTHER DAY! I AM GOING INSANE HERE PEOPLE. THERE IS SO MUCH SNOW OUTSIDE, I AM ABOUT TO PUKE! ICE, SNOW, RAIN, ICE, SNOW, RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, SNOW, AND ON AND ON AND ON...THIS HAS BEEN THE LONGEST WINTER OF MY LIFE! THE KIDS ARE ABOUT TO CRAWL UP THE WALLS!!!! HOW MANY TIMES CAN WE PLAY PLA-DOUGH AND MARKERS AND CHUTES AND LADDERS AND WATCH DORA VIDEOS BEFORE WE IMPLODE?

Ok, I feel better now.

Look How She's Grown

This was a collage we made of Eden a few weeks after she was born...she is not that tiny baby anymore! Where does the time go? I miss my snuggly baby but I certainly enjoy my conversations with my intelligent, witty, and beautiful little girl. She makes us laugh daily with her quirky comments and her unusual outlook on life :)

She's Really Doing It!

Elly is seriously potty training herself! Today she went 3 hours in panties without wetting them! She is serious about keeping Dora dry! I think we're gonna take the plunge and do this thing without Pull Ups. That seemed to work well with Eden. We'll do Pull Ups at night and at naptime (and maybe the first few days in the car ride to preschool) but the rest of the time we'll go for it! We may need a carpet cleaning at the end of the month, but we should (hopefully) emerge with a potty trained gal and a whole lot more expendable income! Diapers are expensive!!! :)

She's so funny on the potty. She loves sitting up there, though she is so little (and we don't have a little potty for her) she perches right on the edge. So I try to hold on to her so she doesn't fall off and she yells, "NO MOMMA! Don't hold me, I don't want to tinkle on you!"

Here is another recent family pic...we have to have several pictures for our dossier we send to Ethiopia.

Nothing to Say

I have nothing to post. I am just posting so that my last post isn't the gross one. :)