Latest stuff

Its been awhile since I posted. This past week was pretty busy - we hosted four people at our house for a couple days while Bethany Bible Chapel hosted a big Bible conference...then Dave's mom stayed with us this past weekend. It was a very busy week, but full of super fun times.

We went to Iowa's largest Arts and Craft's show on Saturday at the UNI-Dome. It was amazing to see hundreds of booths jam-packed in there. We walked around for a couple hours with two strollers---V&C in the double and Vanessa in the single. Vanessa slept the whole time, and V&C were in and out of the strollers the whole time, resting when they got tired. Martha found some really cute jewelery and some other things, Dave got some wooden trains/cars for the kids.

Violet is enjoying preschool on Mon, Wed and Fri mornings. She really likes her two teachers a lot. Last week on Monday Dave joined her on a field trip to Hansen's Dairy Farm. She is really into writing words right now. She is constantly asking me how to spell things and writing them down on pieces of paper. When Calvin woke up she asked me how to spell "Cranky" so she could write down that Calvin was cranky (and he was! haha!).

Calvin is growing up like crazy lately. He is talking full sentences (even though he's still hard to understand) and joins Violet in imaginary games almost all day. They pretend so many things, it is refreshing to see their imaginations at work and funny to hear what things they come up with. They are always playing "mommy and baby" taking turns taking care of each other. Calvin is potty trained now and I am learning how long he can go between potty breaks. He wakes up dry from his naps (not overnight) every day, and can go 3-4 hrs some times with out using the toilet. He is still being rewarded for #2 with gum, some times if he goes and he's already chewing a piece, he'll tell me he doesn't need any gum. I'm still a little nervous taking him places in undies but I've been doing it and bringing along extra clothes. So far I haven't had to use the extras.....but I make a point to take him to the bathroom almost everywhere we go (the store, church, someone else's house, etc) so he knows he can use a toilet anywhere if he needs to go. I'm also helping him understand he can tell others if he needs to go potty. When I pulled up to the church this morning for Bible Study, we turned the corner into the parking lot, and on his own, he said, "Mom, I'll tell Trisha or Selena if I have to use the potty, ok?" (it came out sounding more like "Mom, I wiww teww Wisha or Thewena if I hafta use da potty, ok?" It totally made me laugh. He thought he was going to Puggles for Awana which is on Sunday nights.

Vanessa is becoming higher maintenance the bigger she gets. She wants to grab everything in sight and shove it into her mouth. Her latest favorite thing is to grab hold of my hair...yeah...not so fun. Violet's hair gets grabbed multiple times a day when she plays with Vanessa too. Vanessa gets crabby if left alone too long...so I end up carrying her around in my baby carrier a lot. She takes three naps a day - at random times. She's a super sweet baby, smiles if you even look at her, and is generally very peaceful. She's sleeping a little better at night, waking up a couple times. The last time she wakes up at night I end up bringing her to bed with me and we "sleep in" together til 7 am.

Calvin has been our early waker lately...he must be sensitive to light as soon as the sun peeks through the cracks of his shade. Dave gets up with him early and takes him to the bathroom.

Solomon (can't forget about the 4th "baby" in the family) is losing his teeth right now. 4 or 5 of them have fallen out and bigger ones are growing in their places.