A Little Bit Obsessed

No one will really talk politics with me (except my friend Lindsay) so I have to write a post about this because it is all just so exciting!

I love the presidential race. I love watching Fox News or CNN and finding out about all the new happenings with the candidates--because something new happens everyday, whether it's mudslinging, polls going up or down, or someone dropping out of the race. Primary days are especially exciting to me, and I love the fact that we live on the left coast, oh sorry, west coast so that we can see the results at dinner time and not have to wait until late at night. So you can imagine how much I'm looking foward to Super Tuesday next week. I have already voted. In California, they're advertising this permanant voting by mail thing, and both Nate and I are doing that. It's just so much easier.

I really don't know who I am going to vote for in November. In CA, we can only vote within our party for the primary, but oddly enough I REALLY like two candidates and they are in separate parties.

Voting is such a privilege and holds such power in our country. With so many important issues facing us both internationally and domestically, I take the process seriously and try my best to learn about each candidate and pick the one that I believe is best for our country.

You may not be as obsessed as I am, but if you have the debate TiVoed for tonight like I do, you might be joining in my obsession!

A rough morning in the nursery

I just finished my monthly nursery duty at church and I need a glass of wine.

If you know me, you know that I would much prefer a room of 7th graders as opposed to a room full of children aged 4 and under. But, I have grown in my little kid skills. Maybe having two of my own has something to do with it, but I still believe that taking care of your own kids is way different than taking care of someone else's--especially 17 of them. Yes, I said 17. We had 17 kids in the nursery today, and that's a lot for our church.

My good friend, Michelle, was helping me today which was so wonderful because she is a preschool teacher and knows exactly what to do in all little kid situations. The morning went pretty well for the first three quarters of the service. And of course, all at the same time, all the little kids wanted to be held because they were tired. One was screaming his head off trying to get out of the nursery and another was hungry and wouldn't take his bottle. We had pinching and crying and sharing issues--all in a span of about fifteen minutes, and it was crazy.

After everyone was taken care of, things calmed down and all was well again, but I am worn out and in need of a glass of wine.

Disclaimer---I am not complaining about the nursery here. I love the fact that I can go to Bible study or worship in somewhat peace while Abby is in the nursery. Laurie, our children's ministry director who runs the nursery, is a saint and handles all of the hard situations (with kids and adults) with ease and professionalism. Because I am grateful for the nursery, I am more than willing to take my turn in there as a parent. I just know that my gifts are with older kids and I get easily stressed out with a room full of little kids. Hence the degree in secondary education and not elementary or early childhood!

Update on the diaper situation

Abby got out of the tape . . . :) Such a little stinker.

Maybe I should consider potty training at this early age.

Duct Tape and Diapers

I finally did it. I taped Abby's diapers with duct tape so that she can't get out of them.

She's so fast and often gets out of her clothes and diapers when I'm not looking. Then all of the sudden, here comes Abby with half of her clothes on. The clothes being off aren't a huge deal to me, although I really hate searching for and putting on shoes and socks every single time we get out of the car. It's the diaper that's the issue for me. Until last night, she has never left a present on the floor or in her crib due to the lack of diaper. Notice I said, "until last night?"

We put her to bed, turned the monitor on, and seriously didn't hear a peep from her. Usually, we can hear her rustling around and we can hear the rip of the diaper tabs coming off. But we heard nothing last night. Maybe we didn't have the monitor volume up enough or maybe she was just being super sneaky and quiet.

Right before bed, Nate went in to look at her and immediately came to get me. He told me to come and look at Abby and bring the camera. She was all sprawled out in her crib looking like a sleeping snow angel. She had a fleece blanket sleeper on with a zipper that goes from the neck to the the foot. She had the zipper all the way down, one leg out, and her diaper completely off. It really was a hilarious sight, but for the first time, we had to clean up a mess in the crib:)

Now, I can't post the picture because she's almost naked and I'm not sure how appropriate that is to post on the Internet, so I'll err on the side of caution.

I've had lots of people tell me that I should duct tape her diapers and I never have. I didn't really think that I would have to go there, but I did it today. She keeps me busy enough during the day, that I think I deserve a few hours of not having to worry if Abby is taking her diaper off and leaving me a mess in her crib.

I haven't checked on her yet this aftrnoon, so I'll let you all know if she found a way out of the duct tape diapers. I wouldn't be surprised if she does, but we'll see!

"I yuh you Mommy. I arry."

And the adventure of our little Abby continues . . .

First, I must explain the outfit in the picture above. I dressed Abby in her purple sweat suit for Jenna's birthday party on Saturday, but Abby had her own idea of what she should wear that day. She was insistent on wearing the pink frilly princess pajamas we bought for her the day before . . . and not under the outfit, but over. So, Abby attended the party (which was at our house) with the lovely outfit you see above.

But the real adventure was this afternoon. I put her in her crib for her nap, fully expecting her to fall asleep within 10 minutes or so. She's always been a great sleeper and has no problem falling asleep easily. About an hour after I put her down for her nap, I went back upstairs to grab something and heard her rustling around. I walked in to see absolutely everything thrown out of her crib and a naked, bare bottom sticking up in the air. She was half naked--no diaper on, pants off, socks off, and onesie undone.

You can imagine the problem that might occur with no diaper on a child who isn't potty trained. I was irritated, while trying not to laugh at the same time, and laid her on the changing table to put her diaper back on. I sternly said, "Abby, taking your diaper off is naughty. It does not make me happy when you throw everything out of your crib and take your diaper off."

I could tell that she knew I wasn't happy and that she was in trouble. She looked up at me with those big blue eyes and grabbed my hand. She put my arm in the crook of her neck and snuggled into it. Looking at me she said, "I yuh you Mommy. I arry. I arry Mommy. I yuh you." (translated means, I love you Mommy, I'm sorry. ) She hugged my arm as hard as she could and blew kisses my way.

How smart is she? She knows how to melt my heart and get out of trouble! Or at least try to get out of trouble.

So sweet, yet such a little manipulator. And she's not even two!

Welcome Baby Jeremy!

We have a new nephew! Jeremy Wade Hartke, son of Matt (brother #3) and Misty Hartke. Everyone is doing fine, and we wish them smooth sailing as they venture home with little Jeremy. This makes grandchild #6 in the Hartke clan for a grand total of 21 in Nate's immediate family!

Happy Birthday Jenna!

Today is Jenna's fourth birthday! We had a birthday lunch at McDonalds with Grandma, Daddy, Julie, Brittany, Alison, and Darren! She then went to the movie theater with Daddy and Grandma to see the new Veggie Tales movie.

This morning, right after she woke up, I said, "Happy birthday Jenna! You are four!" She immediately burst into tears and said that she was upset because she wasn' any bigger than she was yesterday. She wanted to be "big like Daddy" and she thought that when you turn four, you would be bigger and wouldn't be wearing 4T clothes anymore. She said, "Look, Mommy! My clothes are still 4T and I should be wearing a 8 since I am not three anymore."

Whether this makes sense to you or not, I had to try to find some rationality amidst the irrationality. I calmly pointed out that the Hello Kitty shoes we just bought for her were a size bigger than before, so that must mean that she is getting bigger!"

It worked, and the craziness stopped.

Happy birthday to my sweet Jenna:)

Some of my favorite things

1. Beringer's Chenin Blanc white wine . . . I really want to like red wine because people who drink red wine are like people who drink coffee. They're all in this cool club and I feel left out. (I drink hot chocolate at Starbucks) But, I like white wine, and I have fallen in love with the Chenin Blanc.

2. Chocolate Neccos . . . most people don't know what these are, and if they do, they are only aware of the multi-colored Neccos. I only like the chocolate ones. I have found one place around here that sells them--Long's Drugs. Yeah for Long's Drugs.

3. The TV show, "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" . . . I never watched it when it was on during primetime, but Nate started to record it, and we are addicted. It really is hilarious. I love Wayne Brady. That guy can do anything. They always have a guest performer and my favorite is Chip. I love when he is the girl on "Let's Make a Date."

4. The Dirt Devil Broom Vac . . . Yes, another corded item that I am excited about. It's actually an electric vacuum. So when Abby and Jenna dumped half of the animal crackers on the floor the other day and proceeded to walk all over them, I could vacuum up the crumbs in no time!

5. The fact that Abby hasn't figured out how to climb out of her crib yet. I know it's coming though. I've caught her trying a few times. Although, these days, she's too busy trying to get all of her clothes off in her crib before I come to get her. For Abby, being naked is way more important than escaping from her crib. Soon, it'll be both.

Semantics of a four year old

I love to listen to the girls try to figure out the English language. It really is amazing how fast little ones learn and how their little brains put meaning and words together. I love when Jenna busts out with phrases that don't totally make sense to me, but I can see how they would make sense to her four year old brain still learning the ins and outs of language.

We took the girls for swimming lessons yesterday for the first time. Jenna has a fear of big swimming pools and hasn't made it off the steps of any pool in a few years. (Hence the swimming lessons.) Knowing that she was going to a big pool for lessons caused some anxiety for her and the day before, she said, "Mommy, could you please sign me out of swimming lessons?"

I had to think a minute. Then it dawned on me. She was replacing "up" for "out." I had been telling her that I signed her "up" for lessons and she thought it would be a good idea for me to sign her "out!"

I didn't, by the way. And although she still didn't venture past the steps, she was willing to try and says she will let her teacher take her on the kickboard next week. We'll see . . . .

We were playing Memory today, and Jenna beat the pants off me. She doesn't quite get how you win in Memory, and she stacked her pile of cards next to mine (which were much smaller) and said, "Look Mommy! We roped in Memory!" Hmmm . . . another thought provoking phrase. She replaced "tied" which is the common word for that phrase with "roped."

I apologize if this isn't amusing to those of you reading this. As Jenna's Mommy and a teacher and lover of the English language, I get a kick out of stuff like this:)

Just Because They're Cute

A Fashion Guru

For so long, Jenna took no interest in picking out her own clothes. That changes a few months ago, and now we often have days where she picks out the craziest outfits. I thought I'd share because today is one of those days.

Let's start with the hair. She requested pony tails today so that she could choose her own hair accessories. She always wants a bunch of clips in her hair and I have to limit it to a certain number or she would have one of every color! I think she has four in today . . . and if you look closely they all match. I know what you are thinking--the green one really doesn't match, but it does! It matches the green heart on her tights!

Next are the shirts. She LOVES the yellow tank top, and of course, it's too cold to wear it by itself. I thought she's just put it away for summer, but no. She used her problem solving skills and came up with the idea of wearing a shirt underneath it.

The skirt is fine. It's one we've had for a long time that just now fits. Nevertheless, she has to wear skirts these days. Nothing else will do.

The tights. Why do I allow those in our house? The just create crazy outfits like this that I cannot fight.

The shoes. She got these for Christmas and wears them with everything. She even sleeps with them in her bed.

So there you have it. A typical Jenna outfit that is so her. Thankfully, we are not going anywhere today! If we were, all the mothers with four year olds would smile at me and know that Jenna picked out her clothes today:)