Where did our break go?

I can't believe that I have to go back to school in 2 days. UGH. Where did my 6 weeks go? Well in that 6 weeks, I did accomplish quite a bit, in addition to having a potty trained boy (except for poop accidents quite often).

Anyways... this last week of freedom has been quite adventurous. Monday, Killian had tumbling, and was line leader. He loved that. He got his hair cut (which was VERY overdue), and then we went swimming in the afternoon.

Tuesday was laid back.. except that Killian's half-sister was born, and we were waiting to find out when she finally popped out.

Wednesday Killian had art in the morning.. he made this little hippo treat thing out of an egg carton. It was cute :) In the afternoon, he went to the hospital for 3.5 hrs to see his sister, Laylia.

Thursday we went to storytime at the library, and hung out the rest of the afternoon.

Today, we've had 2 playdates. One in the morning, and one right before Killian left for his dads. He's never had a friend over to our house, so he was a little hesitant to actually let his friend play with his toys, but he did pretty good.

Now he's at his dad's until tuesday at 12. I miss him something terrible tonight. I don't know what it is, but it feels like there's an enormous hole in my heart. It hasn't been this bad in a while. Perhaps it's because I know that when I go back to school, I'll see him sooo little, and he misses me so much. When he begs to stay home with me, it breaks my heart. :(

I'm staying busy though... going to look at a car (did I mention I might buy a car.... such a big step for a commitment phobe such as myself) in Green Bay tomorrow, and Sunday I'm going to see Wicked with my dad (SOOO excited for that) :) I just wish I had one more night with my man to snuggle him. Sigh. Life sucks sometimes.

I have photos to update.. but they're on the camera and the camera's in another room, and you can probably tell by the mood of this post that I'm not in the mood to go get it and upload. Perhaps later this weekend?

We've been busy... So here are some photos

Phew! We've had a busy week! Before I go into our many adventures... I wanted to post the photos of Killian's final art work for his room :) I finished them a week ago:

 Up close photo. I might put them in frames... but I kind of like that they're not framed... it gives it more of a kid-feel :)


Last week I didn't have photos uploaded... so here are some from last week:

 Killian got play dough scissors for pooping on the potty... he was a little in love :) Playdoughs a HUGE hit right now at our house.

After xmas.. I rearranged my closet, and decided I have WAY too many cool things that I've been storing in there that aren't being used. So I started getting some out... one is a finger puppet theater. Can you tell he loves it?

 He did "Little Bunny FooFoo" quite a few times with the fairys :)

 Then I got out the sensory table and put water in it. We've always done dry things in here... so this is the first time it was used for water. Killian loved it. I'm going to try to pull this thing out once or twice a month as well.


OK... so our week. Monday Killian had tumbling for the first time. He walks into the room and goes: "WOW!! Wooka dis!" He really enjoyed doing an obstacle course over and over again. He loves repeating things, so he'd keep asking his dad and I, "again? do it again?", and was happy to know that he was allowed to do it again and again. He did frontwards and backwards somersaults. The class is nice... no where NEAR as awesome as Little Gym... but MUCH MUCH more in my price range.


Tuesday Killian and I stayed home ALL day... except for a late-night (5 pm) sledding incident.

 He insisted on pulling the big blue sled, instead of his little red sled... he did make it half way up the hill :)

 We went down twice together on the blue sled, then 2 times separately. Then some "big kids" started going on the playground.. and that was it. Killian ran off to play on the playground.

 OK... so Here are Killian's potty charts (2 of the 4).....

 And THESE 2 are my potty charts... haha- One day Killian decided to make me a potty chart.. so he got paper and a pen, and stuck the paper to the wall with his sticker and said as he drew: "Dis a square. Dis poop inside the square. Dis your potty toy." And then he gave me stickers for going on the potty. :)

 Have I mentioned that Killian never sleeps in his bed anymore? He always wants to nap in my bed... maybe because he sprawls out on it.

Wednesday Killian was supposed to have art class, but his teacher was sick... so instead, we went to McDonalds play land. Ok... I'm NOT a fan of Mcdonalds food... I almost never feed it to Killian, but the playland is great for winter... so we buy a juice and coffee, and we can play there :) Anyways, Killian found 2 older girls at the playland, and he became infatuated with them. He kept saying: "'mon big kids, pay (play) wis me" One of the girls (3), helped Killian get up into the tubes.. and after that I wasn't allowed to help him... the big girl was the only one allowed to help him. When they left, a 3 yr old boy came in. Killian found this boy a little strange, because he jumped, hit his head and laughed. Then he continued to hit his head and laugh. Killian stared at him for a little while, and then looked at me like "what's wrong with this kid?" I was laughing on the inside.
After nap, we had a little art of our own... finger painting :)

 

I'll confess to helping a little :) However, towards the end Killian kept painting poop with bugs in it... and that's when I walked away. A little too disgusting for my taste.

Thursday: Killian and I went to storytime together... though we were 15 min. late because some little boy takes forever going potty. I was proud of him though, because he went potty at the library without a problem. :) After storytime, we went down the Oshkosh. I had scholarship applications to turn in, and I wanted Killian to get re-acquainted with his daycare. Well... here's how much he loves daycare:

Walks in, finds his friends and teacher in the lunchroom... puts his hand possessively on his teacher and then surveys the room. He says hi to his friends, then asks me where his lunch box is, because he wants to eat lunch with everyone. Then, he walks out of the room (like he owns the place), and goes into the bathroom where he goes potty. Then he says to his friends: "Friends, I a big boy now. See my buzz undies? Jackie, see my yellow?" He wouldn't flush until Jackie saw his pee and told him she was proud of him. Then he washed his hands and told everyone: "Ok, you friends go nap, I'm gonna go pay (play)" Oh my boy loves being bossy. :) He was sad when I told him we had to leave, so I know he'll enjoy being there this semester. He'll be there full days..... we'll see how it goes.

In the afternoon, we went to my mom's, because she hadn't seen Killian for over a week. Killian did Dance Dance Revolution (his favorite thing to do there), and helped in the barn. 

Friday Killian was with his dad...I worked all day. Exhausting.

Today- We went to the Building for Kids in the morning, and Panera Bread for lunch.. Killian's going through a huge growth spurt, so he's eating like a regular boy. A whole bowl of Mac n' Cheese and a whole yogurt (this is about 3x what he normally eats). Then after nap, we had our first snowmobile adventure! Killian was SOOO excited to ride a "Big Zoomer" (Bob the Builder rides a snowmobile called Zoomer.. so Killian thinks all snowmobiles are called Zoomer). On the way there.. he told me that his Big Zoomer will have eyes and a mouth, and will talk to him. :) 

 My dad brought an adult small helmet.. which fit his head nicely.. but it was VERY heavy for the poor 26 lb. thing.

He liked the ride.. but got cold towards the end. We lost 2 mittens (UGH!!!!!)... and about 10 min. before we got back to the car... Killian's head started slumping over onto my arm, and then he was laying down on the snowmobile. I only went 10 mph MAX the whole time, so it was a nice, relaxing ride. :) I think we'll do another ride before the snow melts... and now I know that I need to put him in the 3t snowpants. When he spreads his legs so far, the 2t snowpants come up too high and left some of this leg exposed. :(

We've been busy... and we're not excited for school in a week. I plan on THOROUGHLY enjoying my last week of freedom.

Dinosaur Room Update + experiment

Ok... so about 8 months ago, I decided that my poor toddler/2 year old needed an update from his nursery:

I LOVED his pooh bear nursery, but it was time to give him a big boy room. Soo... I SLOWLY started making his room into a dinosaur room:

 I made a quilt... and curtains (which apparently I don't have photos of)

 I put chalkboard around the bottom of his wall... and started putting dinosaur wall stickers up

 Then came the ABC wall posters

 THEN a big boy bed :)

 This winter I made dinosaur pegs for his dress-up hats

 And he got a new toy shelf (not dinosaur, but bigger for him)

 I just finished a dinosaur clock

 And a dinosaur door sign and initial plates

 I'm slowly painting the toy shelf... I glued on these little wooden icons to try and capture what he loves at age 2.... woody, pirates, space, firetrucks

 Rocket ships, school buses, and robots. I'm probably going to paint some words on the shelf as well... but I'm not there yet

I painted a dinosaur puzzle-painting.

I'm happy to say that I only have ONE more painting to do and then I'm finished with his room (besides painting his toy shelf and possibly re-painting his bookshelf... both neither will be dinosaur theme, because I want him to be able to have them for longer)

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And now... what's the experiment?


A few weeks ago, I went into my storage of onions from the summer and found this:

 An onion had started sprouting... so I thought to myself. I wonder if it would grow in my house?

 So I planted that little bulb..

A few weeks later, it's grown large... it's about 2 time this height now! I'm going to replant it again, and hoping that it'll continue to grow. Hopefully I'll be able to plant it this spring, and get a LARGE onion in the fall. :)

Various News

PHEW... we've had a busy week! So much to tell:

1. Killian is basically potty trained. It's amazing how quickly he took to it. He's in underwear every day (except nap and night) and he's doing well. A few small accidents... which are to be expected. He still needs to be reminded/made to go potty on a regular basis... especially when playing is interrupted. We're also trying to get the hang of going potty while out and about. He doesn't like sitting on an adult size toilet.. and can't get comfortable enough to go. I'm thinking about toting a potty insert around with me. It won't be fun, but it'll have to work.

2. On Monday, Killian gave me a small scare. He was whiny all day, which he never is. Then after a very short nap, he woke up completely lethargic and burning up. I striped him down, and took his temp. 102. That's when I called the doctor. They got him in quickly, and while we sat in the waiting room, with him laying against my chest.. he vomited ALL over.  **Here's a quick hint. Doctor's offices are not prepared to deal with vomit. They handed me kleenexes. really? So if you're child is feeling sick, I'd bring along some wet cloths*** Anyways, the doctor listened to his lungs and thought he sounded like he had pneumonia. Man. We had to do a chest xray-- not a pleasant time. Trying to get a 2 year old to sit still with his back and side against a cold, metal plate while all he wants is to snuggle with mom? Ya.. not going to happen. The xray was inconclusive.. but they gave him a shot of anti-biotic and sent us home. 2 days later, he's feeling fine. He still had a fever for half of Tuesday, but it didn't stop him from going to Monkey Joes.

3. Our week: We stayed home Saturday and Sunday (except for a little shopping), because I had put him in undies all day and was working on "poop potty training" him. Monday we tried to go out running errands and having lunch, but he was whiny... and our afternoon was filled with doctors office. Tuesday we went up to Appleton to Monkey Joes for the morning. He took a nap at my moms while I volunteered in Oshkosh (my last volunteering day... tear). He napped 2.5 hours and I had to wake him! He went to his dad's at 6pm Tuesday, and I think I caught whatever he had.. because I went directly into bed after he left and slept until 830 this morning! Today, he spent with his dad, but they met me at Killian's art class. It was his first class and he loved it. I think he liked having both me and his dad together.. he often tells me he wants daddy to come to mommys house and play with both of us... he loves his dad, but he knows that he can only see him if mommy goes bye-bye, and that tends to be a deal breaker for him. Anyways... he made a snowman out of cotton balls. It was so funny to see him doing the art and talking about it. He loves having adult's full attention, and he had both mommy's and daddy's which he loved. Here's a little picture of the artwork:

Yes, it's very sad.. but looking at it I remember all the little things he talked about while he was making it, and that's what counts. The memories we make together :)
He was sad and confused when art was over and he wanted to go home with mommy. However, I explained to him that I had a dentist appt (or.. mommy has to get owies in her teeth), and he was ok with that logic. I love his logical mathematical mind. So much like mine :)

Tomorrow we have a fun morning of a double play date for story time and then monkey joes afterward. (have I mentioned how much Killian adores Monkey Joes? He often says to me: mama, Monkey joes please? and I say: what? You have stinky toes? and he says (exasperated) NO mama, monkey joes? oo oo aa aa (monkey noises). Aw the humor of a two year old :)

Alright.. I think that's enough updating for now. <3

First Week of January

We're having a nice first week of January... pretty low-key- which is great since Killian's being potty trained. Tuesday he got back from 3 days are his dad's, and it was a rough day. His behavior is HORRIBLE when he gets home, as well as his sleep schedule. He refuses to nap the first day back, which throws off the rest of the day. On friday, the day before he went to his dad's, he had almost stayed dry the entire day. However, he didn't pee once at his dad's, so Tuesday, he was getting frustrated that he'd forgotten how to go.

He has a nice sticker chart that he gets stickers on every time he goes. Once he gets 4, he gets a present from his "potty bag". He desperately wanted to pee on Tuesday to get more stickers, but he'd forgotten and was very mad. Anyways, by the afternoon he'd gotten back on track. We mostly stayed home all Tuesday, though we did have lunch at Mom and Pop place. At night, my sister and her boyfriend came over and we went swimming. We haven't swam in over 2 months, so Killian was excited to get back in the pool :)

Wednesday he stayed dry all day!!! One poop accident in his pull-up... but it always takes longer to poop potty train than pee... and I'm just focusing on pee potty-training for now. He stayed dry through nap and night... he had on the same pull-up from 11 am Wednsday - 1130 am Thursday!!!!!

Wednesday we had a play date in the morning. He was thrilled to go over to his girl friend's house and play with her new toys. He especially loved her dollhouse. I asked him if he wanted to bring a toy to share, and he said yes- his kitchen.

After nap Wednesday, we went grocery shopping, and Killian ate about half of all the food we bought! I swear 5 of our bags of food was opened before we paid for it! (**Side note: I saved $15.00 with my coupons:) **).  Since he stayed dry all day, he got his rocketship toy that he's been wanting for MONTHS. He was VERY excited, and zoomed his astronauts all over the house for an hour.

Thursday was another good day for potty training. He stayed dry all day... 2 poop accidents, but no pees. AND he only had to sit every 2-2.5 hours, because he understands about holding it in, and only peeing when he's sitting. :) Now I just have to get him to TELL me when he has to go.

We went to story time at the library Thursday. We haven't gone for a month, because they didn't have story time for 3 weeks over the holidays. However, as soon as we got there and he saw the felt board, he said: making a snowman! Because they built a snowman from felt last story time! He has such a great memory sometimes. He LOVES story time- puppets, finger plays, stories, songs and dancing.. what's not to love? Though today they did "6 snowmen melting away" as a felt board story, and he got very upset... he LOVES snowmen so much.

In the afternoon, we went to Monkey Joes for a half hour before going to my dad's for dinner. He was very happy- since he hasn't seen my dad in over a week. I tried to play with Killian and my dad and he said "no mama, didi (Killian) playing with Gampa."

He got the Very Hungry Caterpillar stuffed animal as his present for staying dry today. He loves it. Last friday, he told me: Mama, Didi want a BIG caterpillar like dis one (pointing to the caterpillar from the book)" I thought to my self, oh ok- where am I going to find that? Then I went shopping at Kohls and they had one there! PERFECT timing.

Killian's SO into the hungry caterpillar. I made him a felt board version.. and he sits down with the book, and retells the book using his pieces. I hadn't made a moon, and he got very upset with me. Then his sun didn't have eyes or a mouth like the book's so I had to draw those on. He's very into details.

I'm hoping to get him into underwear or pooping on the potty this weekend... I guess it depends on how he does at his dad's house on Friday.

Organic Deals

Ok... so I've been lying. I do have ONE new years resolution.... but I think it's quickly becoming something I'm enjoying: Saving money on organic food.    I've always loved finding the best deals. My family has a trademark quote from me: I got it at good will.  I get giddy when I know I got something at the best possible price. :) However, up until now, I haven't been good about coupon shopping with my groceries. I guess because organic coupons are hard to come by. However, I decided that if I want to keep feeding Killian as organically as possible, I'd have to start finding coupons. It took a few days and a few hours, but I think I found some of the best websites:

Updated daily
http://www.organicdeals.com/
http://yourgreenhelper.blogspot.com/search/label/Coupons

And I found that going to the actual brand name website gives you lots of coupons:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/foodsavings/tp/Organic_Coupons.htm

I also found that if you purchase an organicgirl salad, you can use the code on the back to get a 1.00 off coupon from their website. Picknsave has organicgirl salad on sale for 4.29. So if I use my coupon on Wednesday and double it, I'll have an organic salad for 2.29 :)

Last week I saved 10$ on my grocery list, and this was before I found out about double coupon Wednesday!!!

I've already started compiling organic coupons to be used on Wednesday, and I'm excited to use them and get double off. :)

Just wanted to pass on some of the deals I've found. :)

AND, for moms (or expectant moms) out there... I was unaware that amazon has a amazon MOM, where you get free prime for a year, and 30% off diapers and wipes if you sign up. You also get alot more deal on kids/baby related items, including food. :) :) Just thought I'd pass that on as well. Amazon often has great organic food deals if you buy in bulk. Organicdeals.com has updates on amazon deals.

2010-2011

I almost didn't write this post, because looking back on 2010 is very hard for me. It was a very difficult year for Killian and for I... but I wanted to document it, so here we go:

Jan. 2010- I had an interim class... Killian was in daycare. Killian 19 months old, starting to talk a little more, and becoming very active.

Feb. 2010- Spring semester. I found out the Killian's dad wanted to be a part of his life now. It was a difficult month.

March 2010-May 2010- Killian's dad started to see him in supervised visitation. Killian didn't really understand the significance of him. I continued to go to school.

June 2010- Killian started spending time alone with his dad. It was rough, as Killian didn't understand why he had to be away from me and who's house he was entering. I had a 4 week summer school, and Killian said goodbye to his daycare of 2 years, and into the new day care at my school. Killian turned 2!! (wow!) and I turned 22.

July 2010- Killian and I took a trip to Alaska with my dad. It was wonderful. Killian started spending nights with his dad. Still rough times, because Killian wanted to be with me.

August 2010- I had off of school, so I spent all my time with Killian, except when he was with his dad. He started spending more than 1 day/night with his dad. Still rough on him... he missed me and wanted to stay home.

September 2010- Started another semester. Killian started soccer for 4 weeks. He LOVED it. He started day care again... and found that he loved his teacher Ms. Jackie. It was a rough month as I had 3 night classes a week, and it was a rough transition for me to be away from Killian that many nights.

October 2010- Killian was a bumble bee for Halloween. He started to be more comfortable with his dad and being away from me. His dad, his step-mom and I all took a trip to the Boo Zoo together as our first "family" outing. Killian was slightly confused, but he enjoyed having all the adults who love him together.

November 2010- Killian enjoyed spending time with his dad. No more tantrums/fits when he had to leave for his dads. He started to be watched by his Grandma Wendy (dad's mom) on Wednesday nights, which he enjoyed. Our first holidays as split household. Killian took a week long vacation with his dad during Thanksgiving, though I had him on Thanksgiving. One of the hardest weeks of my life.

December 2010- I finished up my semester. Killian had an enjoyable Christmas, though it was split again into different households. I didn't have him for Christmas, but we pretended Christmas Eve was Christmas day. Killian started potty training, and is doing very well.

 As of 2011... I really don't know what to expect. In January of 2010 I had our next 5 years planned out as a happy family of 2, and then my entire world was turned upside down. It's been a struggle to find happiness in our new situation, and some days are rougher than others.  I'm constantly worried about the stress it puts on Killian, and I've been taking my life day by day, week by week, never looking ahead.

I'd like to say that in 2011 Killian's dad and I will find some harmony and be able to work together for Killian. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll happen. I have a feeling a very long, hard, expensive court battle will take up most of 2011, and we'll all be left broken and hurt, including Killian. It makes me cry now just to think about it. I think back on last year in January and how utterly and completely content and happy Killian and I were with our life, and then I think about how we are now, and how one person's decisions and actions caused it all. It makes me angry, sad, and frustrated. But we will make it through. We have to.

I do know a few things that will happen for sure in 2011: Killian will turn 3. Wow, I never thought that day would come! I will graduate college in December of 2011! Yay!! (never thought that day would come either some days). Killian will be potty trained. I will lose my baby weight and get back into shape (I've just gotten motivation in the last 3 weeks, and have been working hard). Hopefully we'll find happiness in our day to day lives.

Alot of changes will come in 2011. They might not all be happy ones, but I will make it through. And 2012 will bring so many new decisions and changes. Job searching, house searching, school for killian searching... phew. I think I'm going to just focus on Jan. 2011.