School and hair cuts

It’s that time again, the happiest time of year…BACK TO SCHOOL! Well, at least back to preschool 3 days a week. Dakota has been overjoyed to be back at her school. We are only one week in and she is already telling me her new best friend is Keegan, no not a little girl, a little boy. And so it begins! I am hoping that Keegan likes her as much as she likes him because it would really suck for her to think she’s made a new best friend and that not be the case. I did see the two of them playing on Friday when I picked her up to school and they were having a great time. Graeme and I have been discussing having her tested next year to enter Kindergarten early instead of waiting another year until she is officially 5. I get a lot of feedback on this one and almost everyone thinks it’s a great idea. I will be talking to her teachers this year about it to get their opinions too. As I’m tying this she is working in her alphabet book, it’s one of her favorite activities, she calls it “learning her alphabet” book. Now if only her little brother was as smart! That really isn’t fair, he is a very smart little toddler, just not in the language department. I have a feeling he is always going to be the kid who isn’t into reading or the arts but way more interested in how things work. It’s a good thing his dad is the same way so he will be able to relate to him more than I can in that area. This is a little off subject but it just happened yesterday and is a funny share. I took Dalton to get his hair cut yesterday and the hairdresser added some gel and spiked his hair before we left. When we picked Dakota up from school she leaned over and said “MOM! Dalton’s hair!” I told her we got it cut and asked her if she thought he was cute. She told me NO! Can you believe her? She went on to explain that it was sticking up and she likes it down. She told me all about how she did not like his hair for five minutes, then revisited the subject shortly after getting home. She once again told me that it wasn’t cute after her dad got home from work. This morning when I got Dalton up she exclaimed “look Mom Dalton’s hair is cute again cause it’s not up like this” (picture 3 year old holding her hair up from the top of her head). Well I think his hair is cute when it’s all stuck up.

Back to preschool

The CUTE new haircut, unless you agree with Dakota that is

Couch cushions are really walls

How often do you pick up couch cushions? Never, often, almost daily? I know some moms who will not allow their kids to pull all the couch cushions off the couch to make forts. I have also considered enforcing this rule in my house but I just can’t seem to find the energy to do so. I also enjoy watching Dakota make more and more elaborate forts as she gets older. She is adding stuffed animals and blankets and using the coffee table as a support. This game is much more fun now that I don’t have to do all the work. It also keeps her occupied for at least an hour.  She calls these couch cushion forts her traps. They are designed to trap her inside them to keep her brother from getting her. It’s just too bad that they never work, Dalton is more than capable of moving a couch cushion or crawling over or under to storm her castle. It’s fun to see her use her imagination and to see her develop in a whole new way. It is a pain in my but to have to put the couch back together after she loses interest in the game though. Soon enough she’ll be old enough to put the couch back together without my help too.

 

Rambelings and Pictures

I’ve started writing today’s blog entry 3 times now. Just can’t seem to get in the groove this morning. Spent a nice relaxing weekend with the family. We headed over to my aunt’s house yesterday for swimming and BBQ. It’s always good spending time with my family. My two cousins are turning into such teenagers, having friends over and spending hours gossiping with them. I remember when those girls were Dakota and Dalton’s age. Now they watch and play with my kids like I used to watch and play with them. My aunt gave Dakota a giant horse, it’s taller than Dalton is. She really wanted to sleep with it last night but it’s too big for the bed so it stood next to her bed all night. I got out of bed to find it standing the middle of the living room this morning. It looks like D has a favorite new stuffed animal. Just as long as she doesn’t want to take it to the store with us! She is currently using it as a bed as she watches Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

I just realized I never wrote about our trip to SD. I’ll keep it short: We had a great time. It was so good to spend time with my all grown up little brothers. Dakota and I stayed with Robbert and Corey and the new baby while my Aunt Angie, Lauren and Sarah stayed with my mom. Robbert and my mom only live 4 blocks from each other so it was easy going back and forth. We ate outside almost every night enjoying the weather. It was a bit cold and we were all driven inside one day since it rained. The rainy day might have been Dakota’s favorite since I took her for a walk and let her jump in puddles. She also discovered “wishes”, you all know them by their more common name, dandelions. So here are a few pictures from SD.

First time boarding a plane

Playing with her Uncle Robb and Cousin

My newest nephew: Bryson Robbert Hogan

My bro Austin

Wishes!

picking wishes on our morning walk

Dakota loves her Uncle Robb

stunting in the back yard

 Getting our BBQ on

 Austin, Dakota, Me, Shona and Sarah

Getting some Uncle Austin Love

Time with Grandma                                  Plane ride home

The Yoga Journey

Six days ago I sat in my living room watching a yoga video. That was all at first, just watched it. Graeme pointed out that watching the video did not actually count, haha funny man. I did actually participate in the video on Sunday, then again on Monday. Walking around work on Monday night I was amazed at how only two days of yoga stretching and muscle building had improved my back and my energy. Today is day five and wow do my legs burn!  This started with a need to build my lower back muscles. I have now “thrown my back out” three times. It is extremely painful, going through labor painful! Most of my problems are from seized muscles in the lower back, caused by those muscles not being strong enough to support me properly. With a lift and a bend I have the potential to be walking like an old lady for four days. I have kids and a job! I cannot afford to be bent over and in pain every time I bend too far to the right! So here’s to bettering myself through the most relaxing exercise I’ve ever tried. I think I’ve finally found my “thing” because let me tell you: gym machines, running and weights are NOT it for me. They piss me off and leave me feeling like I just wasted precious time. Yoga leaves me feeling strengthened, relaxed and centered. Yep, I said it centered. Mostly I am hoping to continue to feel results, note I didn’t say see them, at this point I don’t really care what my body looks like, I just really want it to feel better (she says while considering taking a full body photo to compare results after a month). So here’s to yoga! Wish me luck and endurance, because let’s face it people: Lazy might as well be my middle name.  

"Why oh Why" and "Mama Mama Mama"

Ahhh, where should I begin? Well with the children of course! Both kids are as amazing as ever (if I do say so myself). Dakota is starting to introduce herself to everyone we come in contact with. She is very serious about it too, pronouncing her name very carefully. Unfortunately most people still don’t understand her unless they have an ear for kid. Today she even added her last name and I was very impressed. She is also entering the world of “Why”. Why can’t I have candy, why do you have to go to work, why do I have to sleep, why can’t I go outside, why why why! I am trying so hard to remain patient but sometimes the good old standby of BECAUSE I SAID SO gets pulled out of the old mommy hat from time to time, I know all my friends who have been in the why stage understand all too well. In some ways it is amazing to see her exploring her world in a whole new way, in other ways it’s my own little personal hell to hear one more question that starts with why. At the same time I’m trying to understand Dalton’s language. I read to him daily and I’m constantly naming everything in the hopes that he will begin speaking more clearly. He has mastered Mama and Mom though and I hear that more times than I can count in a day. He will walk up to me and announce MAMA at every opportunity. When he wakes up I hear him calling me, alternating between Mama and Mom until I come in and get him. Who knew the word mom could be said in so many tones to convey so many thoughts. He does have one phrase that Graeme and I are always trying to figure out. We are constantly debating the meaning of this little sound. I cannot even begin to convey it here in writing but we think it’s all done/get down/give me help/look at this. Like I said, we are still trying to figure it out. He walked up to us the other day and “talked” to us in length about something…still not sure, we are guessing he was telling us how we could better his life by allowing him to have more juice, or maybe by sending his sister away so he could have all the attention. It sure will be nice when he can communicate more clearly though. He wants to use the little potty so bad and is always trying to pull his pants down, even when he’s wearing a onesie. I do let him sit on the potty and he has proudly peed in the potty three times now. I tell him all the time that if he wants to get potty trained he has to be able to say the word first. I don’t think he believes me though. I’m hoping his enthusiasm for the potty will continue as he learns to talk, maybe potty training will be a snap with this one.  Here’s hoping to less question beginning the why from Dakota and more words spoken from Dalton…hmmmm funny how that works, I really want one to start talking and the other to stop (not really though, I love her and all her whys).

And she's Back!

Well hi there! I didn't mean to keep you all out in the cold but I was having laptop issues. I was not about to try and keep up blogging with my phone or fire-there would be no way, some thing would have been thrown if I had tried to type a whole blog on a touch screen device. Well we finally broke down and bought a new lap top, which of course is tons of fun. I do have a lot to catch up on. Dakota finished her first year of preschool and her progress report was amazing (of course, she is MY child after all). Dalton is a constant source of annoyance and of course laughter. This kid gets into EVERYTHING! He is behind in his language development so the doc wants me to bring him in before his 2 year appointment to check on his speech progress. To be honest, I'm really not worried. He was late doing just about everything...it's just his thing. He can however unscrew the top off a jar, so his motor skills are just fine. He wants to know how everything works and this of course leads me to be annoyed because he is always getting into things he shouldn't. Baby proofing is really nothing more than another problem for him to solve.
I am preparing for a trip to South Dakota in a week. I am only taking Dakota with me. The trip was scheduled in order for me to say my final goodbyes to my Aunt Kathy. Her liver was failing and her doctors gave her 3 to 6 months with us. That was only 3 weeks ago. This past Saturday she passed away sooner than any of us thought she would. It saddens my heart that I was not able to see her one last time and hold her hand. But as one life passes a new one comes into the world. My future sister in law Corey is in labor as I type this. My little brother Robbert will soon be a daddy to a little boy. So although I will not be able to see my aunt, I will be able to hold my new nephew and give my mom support while she mourns for her sister and rejoices for her son. I promise I will write more soon, especially since I finally have a computer to do so on!

Husband missing!

HELP! My husband is missing…ok, not really. He’s in Texas for a week and the week is almost over. He will be home tomorrow or maybe Monday (if he decides to break up the 14 hour drive). I have missed him but it wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be. I’ve mostly kept my cool and have only really lost my temper once. I was really proud of myself because as I was losing my temper I turned around and stomped out of the room yelling over my shoulder that Dakota better change her attitude! She in turn marched off to her room to sulk. Ten minutes later all was well in our house again. My amazing MIL helped out the first few days while I was at work and I don’t even think the kids missed their daddy at all because who would miss him when they have NANA! I spent the past two days watching my friend’s 2 year old. You would think having a 1, 2 and 3 year old in the house would drive me nuts but it went really well and all the kids got along and Dakota was a SUPER STAR sharer and helper. She really embraced the older kid thing and was eager to help out when needed. Today was just the three of us so we headed to the mall. Mommy got her eyebrows threaded today. This was a new experience for me but I’m mostly pleased with the outcome. I’ll give it another try but for now I think I like waxing better (even if it does pull skin off). The kids played in the play area and after we stopped off to pick out Dakota’s Easter dress and we picked up a tie and a kick ass fedora for Dalton. Boy’s clothes are kind of dull so accessories are a must! The three of us got an early dinner at Cheese Cake Factory and I am looking forward to after bed time so I can eat my tiramisu cheese cake. Dakota would have gotten cheesecake too but she decided to only eat one bite of mac and cheese and 5 french-fries. Sorry kiddo, if you don’t eat you don’t get the good stuff afterward. She is so funny because when I told her that she could eat her dinner or NOT eat cheesecake she politely told me that she did not want cheesecake. Hopefully tomorrow night I will have my husband back to cuddle with, I do like having the bed all to myself but I like having him to cuddle with even more, and yes after almost 5 years of marriage we still cuddle!