What to do...

I have a huge plan of action for the week. I am DETERMINED to clean out the office, create a budget, and get at least one more room painted by Sunday. Today has been very productive along those lines. I picked out paint, cleaned up the living room and dining area, and have begun sorting through the office. I am excited about seeing so much progress. So for the rest of the day I will work for at least another hour in the office, straighten up my bedroom, and clean out the boys' bathtub. FUN! At least they are all big ticket - you see a lot of result for your effort. My favorite kind of work! I love to see progress.

Christmas

It has been difficult finding time to celebrate our own personal family Christmas here at the house. We were in Texas the week before and the two weeks after the 25th, so we decided to celebrate our little family's Christmas once we returned. But, with Joshua so sick, it was put off another week until we finally found a day when Brad wasn't on call!

The boys woke up before Brad got home from work (again, on call last night). I had covered with a sheet all the open presents such as the chairs, Joshua's bike, and Jacob's ride on toy. They didn't even notice it - really. It was a huge towering sheet in front of the tree, and they didn't seem to even see it!! We watched CARS (of course - that is a daily ritual now.) then both boys went down for a morning nap. Brad came home while they were sleeping, and we finished the Christmas preparations. The boys woke, and we took tons of pictures (with Brad's new camera) of them opening their presents. It was really neat - Joshua finally gets the concept of opening presents, and they had a really nice time. Joshua spent about 30 minutes cruising the hallway on his bike, but he still isn't quite clear on how to pedal by himself. We think fully inflated tires and smooth pavement should help!

What a nice time with the family. I just love it! NOW, to get down all these Christmas decorations!!! And to clean out the office this week...

Pacifier UPDATE!!

It is now Thursday - DAY 4 without a pacifier! I was prepared for the battle of the century, set to endure 3 days of torture, to get rid of Joshua's pacifier. But we had no problems. He asked for it once Monday night, I told him no, and it was done. He hasn't even asked for it once since then!! WOW!! Now if potty training could only be this easy...

Brad's Birthday and other stuff...

After a week and a half of a sick Joshua, I was a bit worried about how celebrating Brad's birthday yesterday was going to go. Joshua has been seriously feeling terrible and under quarantine. His behavior and attitude, as you can imagine, has suffered as well. Yesterday pre-nap was particularly bad, with the biggest fit I have ever witnessed from him. A four hour nap later, though, and he was much better. Groggy and a bit whiny, but not defiant and obnoxious. So, by the time Brad got home, we had dinner working, the table set with the birthday table cloth, a birthday banner, balloons, etc., and we were ready to celebrate! We had cake after dinner, even though Joshua wanted "cake FIRST, THEN dinner", but I didn't waver! Joshua can now sing the birthday song recognizably, even if I did have to remind him to sing to daddy, not to Joshua!! So it went well. Then, to make things even nicer, Jacob chimed in with his own version of the words "happy birthday" - again, very recognizable. He just said the words, didn't sing the song, but it was really a great part of the evening. (and we got it on video!)

Joshua is finally kind of understanding birthdays and presents. It is an exciting time, especially since Joshua's birthday is next month. We are going to have a combined birthday party with Joshua's good friend Nolan, who turns three just before Joshua does.

Other news - Joshua slept both for nap and night with no pacifier yesterday. We aren't going to give one to him again, and he didn't even ask for one last night! (Though nap was a bit of a battle.) And on top of the words "hi", "Mama", "Dada", "bye-bye", "ni-ni" (for night night), and now "happy birthday", Jacob also said "thank you" today!!