Oh Happy Day!

I am so happy I can hardly stand it! This kid is POTTY TRAINED!!! Hooray...it's glorious. I never thought I'd be so ecstatic to hear the sound of pee.

Three and a half days of pure torture, but it was all worth it! He's still wearing pull-ups at night, but for now that's totally ok with me. I'm a very proud mummy.

(And...even though Pete still prefers to walk around the furniture as his main mode of transportation, today he started crawling!)

Bits and Bobs

1. In May we'll have been in our house for a year. It seems hard to believe. I kinda feel the same way I do when I think about my kids. You know that feeling of, "He can't be that old, I just had him!" Well, sometimes I feel like we just moved in.

I love our house. We looked at about 20+ houses when we were searching for the right place and I got a pretty good idea of the things I wanted in a home. But, at the same time I knew that this being our first home I wasn't going to get everything I wanted right away.

Last weekend I saw this show called "House Hunters". It's brilliant. It does have me really thinking about the little things I would like to have in a second house. But for now I am content and happy.

2. Oh, and I don't feel so bad about taking so long to decorate my house. After visiting with a couple of people this week I realize that it can take years to have your house decorated the way you really want it. (And we have no money right now.)

3. I was reading someones blog yesterday who talked about sending their kid to Art class. I sat there and actually said, "I want to send my kid to an art class...wonder where I could find one?"

Really?! What am I thinking. I bloomin' went to college and got my degree in Art Education and then taught for 2 years. Jack already does a lot of drawing, watercolour painting, play dough, and crafts with me, but I really need to start teaching him about the different styles of art and introducing artists every once in a while. Maybe I should start a wee art class in my home...um, no.

4. Jack is officially obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. He still loves cars, but for the time being trains have taken the lead and are number 1 in his eyes. Yesterday I had a moment where I got a little afraid that Jack's obsession might be rubbing off on me. I actually drove my children 35 mins (each way) to Toys R Us just to get Jack "Spencer" and "Toby" because I thought he really needed them. Yes. I think I might have a problem. But I don't feel too bad because my good friend, Val, has a problem too...Ha. When I told her the trains were 40% off she said that she wants us all to go to Toys R Us for her birthday on Thursday...hysterical. Her son is nuts about Thomas too. Love it.

5. Over the last few weeks I have had A LOT of people ask me about my "status" here in the States. Most people assume I am an American Citizen. I'm not. I have my permanent residency or "Green Card" as it is commonly known. It was a long, hard, and very expensive road to get it and I pity anyone that it just starting the process. It lasts for 10 years and then I have to renew it again. I've gone back and forth on the idea of getting my citizenship here for quite some time. I mean, really, why not? I am pretty much going to be living here for the rest of my life and Britain doesn't even let me reject my citizenship there anyway, so I would have duel. I need to stop wavering and just decide what I'm going to do. It just breaks my heart a wee bit to think that I will never live in Scotland again.

6. Pete doesn't want to crawl. Why don't my kids want to crawl?! It's odd. Jack starting doing a weird half crawl when he was 7 1/2 months old and then walked at 8 months. It was a nightmare. No common sense whatsoever! I had been hoping that Pete would be different, but alas no..he's the same. He's been walking around the furniture for about a week now and is on cloud 9. The boy refuses to bend his legs when I try to sit him down. When I put him into the crawling position he pushes himself back up to sitting. Oh well, the sooner he gets to start properly playing with Jack the happier he'll be.

7. My camera is dead...I will liven up my blog with some more pictures as soon as I get a new battery!

February

I need sleep.

Sunday Feb 13th:

4am-Jack is crying. I go into his room, it's still very dark. I don't turn the light on though because Pete sleeps in there too. "It's ok Jack, lie down babe". "NO MUM! YUCKIES!" I turn his night light on to find his entire bed covered in purple puke. We had been at my in-laws house for dinner the night before. Jack had eaten A LOT of blueberries. Yuckies indeed.

5:35am- More purple puke.

6am-More.

6:12am-More.

8am-More.

12 noon: Jack has his cars lined up on the kitchen table....he's happy as a clam. He's suddenly all better.

Saturday Feb. 20th:

8pm-Put Pete to bed (Jack has been asleep for an hour already).

8:25pm-Collect Pete from his bed...he's stuffy and congested, very upset.

8:45pm-Put Pete to bed for the 2nd time.

8:55pm-Collect a crying Pete from his bed...he falls asleep in my arms within seconds...so tired, but miserable.

9:03pm-Pete is back in bed and appears to be out for real this time...I wait...still sleeping..brilliant.

12:35pm-Ryan is sound asleep,dead to the world. I hear Pete crying. I stumble down the dark hallway to Jack and Pete's bedroom.

12:40- Try feeding Pete, he isn't interested. He looks up at me with sad, pathetic eyes and then barfs what I can only describe as a bucket load of grossness all over every inch of me.

I'm too scared to even move. Good thing I didn't...

12:41-Another massive amount of puke all over me....nice...I am ready to puke myself.

12:47pm-I have never taken a shower at this time of night before, but it is very necessary. Pete gets a bath too.

1am-Pete is asleep, but awakens upset and distressed every 40 mins for the rest of the night.

7:35am-"Mum, where are you?" Fabulous, Jack is up.

Ryan was already gone for his Sunday meetings when I finally dragged my body, with two kids attached, out into the living room.

We traded off later that morning so I could go teach my Beehive class. I could say I have never been so tired, but I'm pretty sure I have been.

Monday thru Wednesday the house was puke free, but no one really felt good. Then Wednesday night Ryan was up barfin' till the wee hours of the morning. He took yesterday off work. He went back in today, but I'm not so sure that was a great idea. Hopefully good old 'Vial Fotheringham' doesn't end up with a bunch of sicko lawyers by the end of the day.

Today I feel queasy....oh bother.

A wee plug

WANT ONE OF THESE?

No, you can't have my cute wee baby, but you can have one of these gorgeous outfits for your kids or order a customized t-shirt for yourself. Check out my cousin's blog if you're interested at http://joynevada.blogspot.com.

Happy Birthday Rabbie

(Robert Burns)

Today I am homesick. I was so homesick that I busted out my massive Scottish flag and actually thought about hanging it up in my house somewhere...I know...ridiculous...I put it away.

It's been exactly a year since I was last home and even thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. I am such a wuss.

January 25th is Robert Burns birthday and all over Scotland people are enjoying haggis, neeps, and tatties for their dinner tonight. Since I am pretty sure I will not be able to find any haggis (I know my boys will be SOOOO dissapointed..ha) I will be making some regular old uninteresting meal.

This past weekend most of my family back home attended our stakes "Burn's Supper". Here's a wee summary of what typically happens: General welcome, followed with the Selkirk Grace. After the grace, comes the piping (my Grandpa usually does this) and cutting of the haggis, where Burns' famous Address To a Haggis is read and the haggis is cut open. People usually then begin eating just after the haggis is presented.

My Granny frequently recites the Burns' poem "Tam O' Shanter which is over ten minutes long! My new years resolution this year is to try and memorize it. We'll see how that works out for me.

So, whether you're Scottish or not, Enjoy your Burns Night!

My other half

Ryan has a blog (you know...my husband). I love it. When we first started getting to know one another I was impressed with his vast knowledge of random trivia. I liked that he knew A LOT about a lot of different stuff. I studied Art Education at BYU. I always hoped to marry someone that would want to come to an art show with me or be willing and able to discuss a piece of art work. I believe Ryan was a great choice for me. He knows what he likes and why! None of this "just because" nonsense. On our second date I invited him to come to an art exhibit with me. It was perfect and he intrigued me.

It's not just that he has an appreciation for art that I love, but the amazing desire he has to continue learning. So, often I find myself frustrated because I can't remember the name of a specific piece of art, or I can't remember which movement one came from, etc. Sometimes I feel like my days all blend together and I'm in a bit of a rut. Ryan renews my desire for knowledge. Now, believe me...we do have conversations face to face..indeed we have many. But his blog exposes his great mind a little more and I feel pretty special that he picked me.

Christmas 2009

This year Christmas was lovely for the most part . It really does make a huge difference having your own children to enjoy it with. It was fab watching Jack get so excited on Christmas morning. He was up first at about 8am and I took him up stairs to look over the presents for just a few moments. He was desperate to get crackin' on the presents, but we waited until Pete and Ryan were awake.

Both of the boys got pretty spoiled. I had done quite a bit of shopping on Black Friday. I totally stayed within our budget, but the kids got more for their buck I guess, due to the sales.

Jack was in charge of giving each person a gift to open when it was their turn. And he took that opportunity to help you along with the opening process as well. He was very sweet.

After the gifts I cooked a deliciously unhealthy breakfast. It was all going great until about noon, when Jack suddenly had a fever. If you know Jack you know that nothing slows that kid down. Well, I picked him up and within about a minute he was asleep in my arms. He slept for about 2 hours, woke up with a raging fever, wouldn't eat anything and then went back to bed for another 5 hours. It was so sad that he was unwell on Christmas, but he did get to enjoy the morning at least. Pete was fine thankfully and had great fun playing with wrapping paper for most of the day.

At about 2pm Ryan's family came up to our house. We exchanged some more gifts and then had dinner at about 5pm. Having never made the Christmas dinner before, I felt a little bit of pressure with all the family there, but it all went off without a hitch. I decided on a ham which was a nice change. Ryan's aunt Julie told me she thought it would all go great so long as I wasn't cooking a haggis! Ha. Maybe I should have. I did have a lovely Scottish table cloth and some christmas crackers from home on the table.

Here are a couple of cute pictures of my wee pete to start off with. I love this wee guy so much. He just started on some 1st foods, cut his 3rd tooth, is sitting up great, and is beginning to edge forward a little bit. I am hoping that he does not start walking at 8 months like Jack did. I love the sitting phase, he is so happy and content with just a couple of small toys and he loves to watch Jack running circles around him.

My wee chunky cutie

Jack taking a quick look at the presents on Christmas morning

Jack with his stocking stuffers

Pete's first gift

Jack in his Thomas hideaway tent

Mummy and Jack

Jack with his Thomas carnival track

Jack wasn't too happy about this picture getting taken

Pete with his 'Rex'

After his first nap...poor wee guy was still so unwell

I felt way less homesick this year than I previously have at Christmas time. I don't know if it's because we were in our own house this year or what. But it is so nice having our own home to start some family traditions in.