Termites, Potty Training and Stairs

Life has been busy as you can see from the title and I feel I should update a little bit. I'm determined to keep this blog more current...

So first of all, we found out recently we had termites. The way we found out was to find a mud tube coming out of the ceiling followed by two more holes in the ceiling the next day. We ended up informing our neighbors and between the inspectors we called and the ones from neighbors we ended up having 5 inspectors into our home, most of which said the same thing. Becuase of that, we were able to end up getting a great deal and get it taken care of on Monday. Four of our neighbors also had termites found and so it was not nice for them but a nice way to meet some of our neighbors and know we weren't in the situation by ourselves.

The next big thing on the list is potty training. We've been making leaps and bounds as well as regressing all at the same time, if that's possible. Jordyn just finished a 17 day streak of no accidents which was so amazing...my goal was at least 2 weeks which she did no problem. While she was doing great at telling me she had to go, she was not wanting to do any of it herself. For a while she was all about doing it herself but recently it's been about mommy doing it all, including carrying her to the bathroom. So, the reason for the streak ending and the accident happening was that Mommy said no, I wouldn't carry her to the bathroom, she had to do it herself and she didn't! So, now that our big streak is over we're focusing more on Jordyn doing it herself, to get her back to where she used to be, and at the same time keep her dry!

Finally, Landyn is increasing her mobileness in leaps and bounds. She climbed 4 stairs the other day and I just couldn't believe it. Almost every time we get her out of bed now she's standing up and yelling, waiting for us to come. She climbs on and over everything: me, the table, Jordyn's stool, her crib and everything else she can get her hands on. I can't believe how fast she is growing. She also loves to hold my fingers and walk across the room, something she does really well. I think she'll be walking before Jordyn was at 10 mos but I guess we'll wait and see.

So those are the new things going on. Stay posted for more things going on!

Updates

I know it's been absolutely forever since the last post but thankfully in this last month and a half we've been able to see a lot of you in person! We're now done with vacations for a while so I guess I need to get back on the ball of keeping this updated. So be prepared, this is going to be a long one.

First of all, me. I finally graduate on August 14, my last day of undergrad classes. I've already been accepted for graduation even though my last two classes aren't complete so as long as I don't fail them I'm good! I'm so excited to finally be done with this after taking it so slowly since Jordyn's been born. Of course, crazy me, I'm not really stopping but rather moving on to my masters which starts August 24. I've decided to get my masters in education since I ended up dropping it from my undergrad due to the courseload and having Jordyn. I figured since we don't have a baby on the way and I can go for free I might as well take advantage of the time and opportunity and get started. There's a lot of unknowns with this such as what I will do when the student teaching semester comes around (15 weeks of teaching, who would watch the girls?) but I'm excited to get it started and hopefully finished a lot faster than my undergrad.

There's not much to tell about Wayne at the moment. He will be continuing school again in the fall and we recently found out my brother Aaron got accepted to work at Liberty and will be working right alongside Wayne! I'm sure that'll be enjoyable for both of them.

Jordyn is growing into her own and driving us both crazy. There are so many great and horrible things about her growing up and I'm not enjoying learning them all. She is completely potty trained and rarely has accidents anymore. I can let her wander on the playground and when she has to go she jumps off and comes running to me! Not to say sometimes it's a fight when she really doesn't want to stop what she's doing but most of the time, even during tv, she's great at letting me know and doing it herself! She has become very independent and very bossy. My mom used to tell me she hoped I had a child like myself so I could understand and sadly, I think we did! She loves to give step-by-step directions as to what to do, when and how. She thinks she rules the house! You're not allowed to go down the stairs until she's completely at the bottom. You're not allowed to help her into her high chair or onto the potty seat or she throws a fit and has to start all over again. Every toy is hers and she doesn't need to share it. We are having a lot of battles that hopefully will payoff soon. Not to paint a bad picture though, she can also be so wonderful. She has recently started calling herself "mommy's cudldlebug" and constantly wants to hug me and sit in my lap. I often find Landyn surrounded by tons of toys that Jordyn has brought to her. She is always wanting to kiss and say "I love you." Her new favorite thing is to call Daddy on the phone, say what she has to say, and then hang up, without even a warning. I know most of the time wayne can't understand without translation but it doens't matter becuase she doesn't give him a chance to respond! She loves to comfort Landyn when she cries, to hug her and kiss her, to share her toys (sometimes) and help her with getting what she needs. She is growing up wonderfully and her vocabulary is getting bigger every day. She loves to play the piano loudly and yell "fortisimo" and then play softly and say "pianissimo" I'm trying to just be patient and enjoy every minute I have with her at this stage but if anyone wants to give me a break and come babysit you're more than welcome!

Landyn is growing in leaps and bounds and she looks more and more like Jordyn every day. She is now crawling on her knees about 50% of the time. Army crawl is still faster so she often resorts to that when she can't get where she's going fast enough. She is pulling herself up on all kinds of things mostly just up to her knees but a few times on to her feet so we will be lowering the crib soon! She is eating a lot of different foods now and pretty much hates all vegetables. I know they say try things 10 times so I keep feeding them to her but she hates just as much the next time. With Jordyn, she always loved eating everything so I'm a little flabbergasted as to what to do with her! Landyn loves to explore and cannot be still even for a minute. She doesn't like to cuddle or sit in laps because she always needs to be going and going. She's going through some seperation anxiety, something else I didn't experience with Jordyn, and thats been difficult during church and things but I'm sure we'll get over this hurdle soon. She loves to follow Jordyn around the room which is just too cute to watch and drives Jordyn crazy. Landyn is beginning to develop her own personality as well and is starting to yell when she doesn't get her way. If I don't hold her when she's at my feet she screams, or if I'm not feeding her fast enough she screams! She is also starting to defend herself with Jordyn, not releasing toys that Jordyn tries to take away and yelling at Jordyn when things are taken away from her. It's made life interesting, the two of them but I'm loving almost every minute of it and still wouldn't change even the worst days for anything else!