Talkin in the tub

Spring Time!!!

We have been getting some very nice weather here in CA and we have been taking advantage! We have been busy ripping out some more dead trees and bushes and burning them. We're close to having all the dead foliage out. We have been spending time outside playing on Natalie's slide and throwing sticks for Maizie in the creek out back. We have been taking trips down to see Pilot the horse to feed him apples. We had a very nice visit with Grandma Mary. I'm sure she was ready to get back home and rest after her weekend with Natalie! We enjoyed our trip to Fairytale Town, a park geared toward toddlers. Natalie had a GREAT time. She especially loved the "shoe" slide at Fairytale town! Natalie is doing AWESOME on her potty training. She has had a few days at daycare where she has been dry all day long and days with only one or two accidents at home. She even was able to go to the park with no accident, ask for potty and make it to the bathroom in time! What a big girl!!!

We also had the opportunity to help a friend pick out a puppy. It was Natalie's first time seeing puppies and it was pretty funny. She seemed to like them, but wasn't too cure when they were climbing and biting her shoes. I also finally finished Natalie's stepstool. Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Gettin' ready for Grandma Mary!

Grandma Mary will be here in less than a week! How exciting!!! We are looking forward to it as we haven't seen her since November.

We just began working toward a huge milestone for Natalie... Potty Training!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH! Actually it's going ok. we've been going strong for a week now. We began last weekend on Saturday and she started off great with a number one and two in the potty. We kept her in big girl underoos all weekend so she could get the feeling of being wet and associate it with feeling the urge to go. A little messy, but not bad while sitting on the potty every hour. She did fairly well and likes her rewards- M & M's and stickers. She is slowly getting the idea and recognizing the urge. By Sunday afternoon, she was tinkling just a tiny bit in her undies, but would come tell me right away and we'd go sit on the pot and she would go. Then two nights ago at dinner, she grabbed her pants and looked at me and we ran to the potty and.. no accident!!! We made it to the potty! Same thing tonight- so she was able to recognize the feeling and hold it long enough to get to the potty! YAY!! We're getting there. What a big girl!other than that things have been pretty normal around here- we went down town to look at front doors for the house a few weeks ago and had some time to kill before we were supposed to meet friends for dinner so we headed to the Sac Zoo. Not very many animals were out and Natalie was having opposite day. Consequently David was melting down because Natalie was "Miss No" girl. Yeah, it was fun. LOL. It did turn out to be a nice evening though, a friend's mom watched Natalie and we went to a crab feed. Fun! OH yeah, so I failed to mention that the weekend we began potty training, Natalie was also having opposite days then too. You would ask her to come to you and she would run and hide between the coffee table and the couch, ask her to put something away and she would do the opposite. You would ask her if she wanted a time out and she would say yes. You would tell her she was going to get a time out and she would say "time out, ok". It was a little trying to say the least. So earlier this week, I was talking to a colleague who said something about ignoring her when she is doing things like that, and she will come right around because she just wants the attention. DUH, I thought why didn't I think of that, Ive worked with kids! So I decide to try in at home that evening... After bath time, I'm trying to get her lotion'd up to put her diaper on and PJ's and she runs away, out of the bathroom buck naked. (she had gone potty 30 mins or so prior) I call her and ask her to come back to get her stuff on and she doesn't come. So I leave the bathroom and do something else. Sure enough as I walk by the coffee table, there she is, wedged between the couch and the table, bare bootie in the air. I ignore her and go do something else. What does she do? she runs into the other living room and pees in the corner. AHHHH! the moral of the story is... if you are going to ignore your child, make sure she has a diaper on. LOL. Enjoy the pics!

I made it!

I am getting in my second post of the month. My New Year's resolution is going strong!!! Not much has been happening in the Sowle household this month, other than the contractors finishing up their projects. Woo Hoo!!! They're done just in time to start the roof.:O) Oh well, at least they finished the first wave right? Things have been a little lower key since Natalie and I came back from MI and David got back from Houston. We decided we were not going to begin any projects for at least a week. It has stretched into two weeks and I'll tell you it's been wonderful!!! We clean the kitchen and get Natalie down for bed... And do NOTHING!!!!! It's great!!! We also need to figure out what the next project is. We haven't painted our bedroom yet- or the formal living room... But we also have details to finish up in Natalie's room and the living room which is probably what we will do next.

We had a wonderful time in MI, although short. It's always so hard because there's never enough time to see everyone that we would like to see and especially when we do a long weekend. It was nice to see all family- we missed the Chicago Bergens and Pam and Ray but enjoyed our visit with everyone else. We were especially glad to see Great Grandma Luey home from the hospital after her fall. Natalie enjoyed her first opportunity to play in the snow- she loved it! Enjoy the pics!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mudroom Closet

mudroom

super cool floor

laundry closet

built in shelves

more laundry closet

Natalie after playing in her blow-up tube of fun

static!

I ask her to smile and this is what I get....

We did it!!! We finished both closets! We were successful at our first attempt of tileing and drywalling and it looks darn good if I do say so myself!!! I have posted some pictures for you all to enjoy:O).

David left for Houston on buisness today, so Natalie and I are flying solo. Things went will this evening, although we spent most of it in the bathroom... Natalie has been asking to use the potty every once in a while for the last few months- she likes to read her books on the toilet and use her "kitty chapstick meow, meow, meow" that she got for Christmas from my friend Lisa. She does actually go, maybe 75% of the time. Well, she has realized that once she says, "Mommy, potty" we all move pretty fast and she gets out of whatever situation she is in. We have also been working on waiting... especially with dinner, as she is generally served first, inhales everything and is almost done by the time David and I sit down. Every night, she is saying all done, and we're only half way through... So we talk about waiting and needing to let Mommy and Daddy finish eating. When she gets tired of "waiting" (30 seconds later) she says "Mommy, potty", and escapes to the potty. Now, it only took a week and a half for us to catch on- we're really bright:O)- that she was just looking for another way to get down from the table. So this evening, I took her to the potty as asked, but wouldn't give her the kitty chapstick until after she went potty on the toilet and then she had to go back to the table. Well, she was mad she didn't get the chapstick, and needless to say, we had to keep trying and trying to "go potty" just to get the chapstick! Finally after changing for the night, and brushing her teeth, she got her chapstick and then went right to bed.:O)

Her language is exploding every day. Everyday she is putting more and more words together- 4+ word sentences and she is so SMART!!! (I'm sure every parent says this, but seriously!) Sometimes David and I look at each other and go, really? Did she really just do/say that? For example the other day I was folding clothes, or doing something on the floor that required most of my attention and Natalie was saying Mommy over and over and over (which she does often- I think just to hear me respond "yeah baby?") So I wasn't really looking up when she said it, so she comes over to me, puts her hands on either side of my face and turns my head to face hers and goes "Mommy, yook at me." LOL! Then she goes, "Mommy push button, watch Candy Mountain" (her fav video). I told her no, not now and she goes "May I Candy Mountain watch?" Too funny!

Anyhow, Natalie and I are looking forward to our short trip to MI- just for a long weekend. It will be nice to be home and see everyone... We are especially looking forward to seeing Great Grandma Luey who is recovering from having her pacemaker replaced. Hopefully she is on the mend now! Well, I'm going to go to bed early since David isn't here to encourage any sort of project! Will post again soon-probably after Valentine's Day. Enjoy the pics!

videos

Hello everyone- I just wanted to post some videos- I finally took some that were short enough to post online. The first one is of us singing, and the second one is really for her dancing at the beginning of the video. You can pretty much stop it after she stops dancing because nothing much happens after that. I have been trying to get her dancing for a while now and this is the best one I have gotten. She really "Gets Down"!!. Enjoy!

Rain, Rain Go Away...

Mud room closet

Slate closet before grouting

Look at my beads!

Pretty girls with necklaces

So pretty!

Feeding Jenny

Feeding Natalie...

I am sitting on the couch this Monday afternoon, watching it POUR outside. it's supposed to rain for the next 4 days. This would be wonderful as sometimes the constant sunny weather (I know I'm getting eye rolls) can get a bit boring. Usually I would welcome a nice rainy day, even a string of rainy days... except for the fact that my roof needs to be replaced... :O( It is scheduled to be the next thing that the contractors work on... but they need to finish the other projects first. Boo. I hope they hurry up! David and I have been working on the laundry closet and mudroom closet this last weekend. Actually David has done most of it, but I did do some. We laid tile in the closet which turned out nice and we will be laying tile in the mudroom too once we have the closet mostly done. Here are some pictures. Nothing much new with Natalie- she is beginning to take more of an interest in her baby dolls- specifically my old Cabbage Patch doll. We dug out a new 0utfit for her (one of Natalie's newborn outfits) and Natalie enjoys "rocking" her, feeding her and burping her. She also likes to get her undressed... EVERY time I get the baby dressed! She thinks it's funny. Oh yeah- and I have to pass this along because I think it's hilarious- When we were Skyping Grandma Jill the other night, I asked Natalie to dance for Grandma. So she laid down on the floor and did the worm. No kidding. LOL! Crack me up!