1/30/12

Demolition Day

We almost made it four full months without adding any of our Wilkes touches to the new house.  We are on strict project restriction until our Bryan house sells, but our first project didn't require any new material purchases so we went for it.

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When you walked into the front door you used to be standing face to face with a large mirror, great to check your teeth and your fly one last time before making your grand entrance, but completely blocking the view of the beautiful glass work on the front door from the living room and causing the entrance to feel really closed off.  Now the entry way and the living room are happily joined together!

During the demolition

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Once we pried the mirror off, and by pry I mean wedge as much of your fingers in between the mirror and the pillar and pull with all your might and hope that no large pieces of glass slice you in half (children were kept OUT of all surrounding areas) we found this wood work.  Maybe better than the mirror..maybe not...

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Blythe was happy to be the first one to walk through the new entry way

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And Jericho rocked the panties all weekend!  I guess little Jericho is no longer little Jericho.  She's working hard to keep up with big sis!

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Hope everyone had a great weekend!

1/26/12

GOOO Jericho!

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I was cooking dinner and out of the corner of my eye I saw the pictures you see above and I thought 'that is a great pictoral representation of life in the Wilkes' household for the last couple of days.'  Barely get inside the door and shed your clothing from the waste down.

Little Miss Jericho was showing interest in the potty and would ask to sit on the potty. I was only listening with one ear since potty training was not in the plan for another 2 months, and you know I'm a planner. Luckily for Jericho she has two parents and Jason was listening with both ears. He convinced me that I should give her a shot and see how it goes. I knew he was right I just didn't know how my 'no pants' method was going to work in a 64 degree house..yes you read that right we keep our thermostat at 64 degrees :)

So I decided to give her three days and see what happened, but really I was thinking o.k. I am agreeing to three days of cleaning up poo and pee in various places around the house followed by a big "I told you so," to Jason. Sister proved me wrong. The first day we had our fair share of accident, but by the second and third day there was a clear picture (and by picture I mean chart since I was writing down each time it happened) showing she was learning and progressing. If Jason were writing this he would say that the charts would lean a lot more towards the 'potty' side than 'accident' side during those first few days had I not made the dreadful mistake of bringing down the little potty WITHOUT the potty table. So by the third day and the potty table we were essentially accident free while at the house.

When I potty trained Blythe it was just the two of us so it was a lot easier to do nothing for 3 days, but we haven't had that luxury with Jericho so despite my intuition that doing some time in diapers (outside of sleeping) and some without could only be confusing, that is how we have been doing it. BUT Jericho has told me that she needs to potty even while out and about and in the diaper so now I need to make the leap of faith and allow her out and about in panties. So naturally I have a plan, as of Friday after nap we will be diaper free except for sleep time and Jericho will get to wear her first set of panties. Assuming all goes well as of Friday we will have 2 little ones in panties...WOW that all happened a lot sooner than I had planned, but we're going with it!

Super Cute Sister Moment

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Jericho had a bad run-in with the infamous potty table and Blythe held the boo boo bunny on her foot for about 5 minutes and Jericho actually let her!

Jason and Jason Jr.

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1/16/12

Grab Bag

Warning: this is going to be random, meaning it has been a while since I had a chance to blog and I have lots to share, but no time to make them seam together nicely in a well written blog post..end of disclaimer.

A visit from the Hartl's

We had another set of our commune buddies come and visit us a few weekends ago and it reminded us how much we miss living a quick drive from good friends; both for us and our kiddos.  The worst part about such a great weekend is the end when we have to say our goodbye's, but luckily they are expecting a new addition to their family in February so it won't be long before we get to feast our eyes on a baby GIRL Hartl!  We had such a great time enjoying each others company that I failed to take very many pictures, but the memories of the kids (and dads) losing themselves in the San Antonio children's museum and taking wagon rides around our property will last just as long.

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A Daddy, his girls, and a climbing tree

Sister's Tea
We took Jericho to her 18 month check-up and she is now in the 5th percentile for weight (goodbye Michelin baby) and the 45th for height.  She weighed in at 20lbs 8oz and 31.5 inches long.  We were happy with our pediatrician selection, but Jericho was unimpressed with the shots, but who wouldn't be.  When we got home Blythe thought a tea party was just the thing to make Jericho happy...and it worked

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Free Education

It has been about a two years since we made the big purchase of an SLR camera and from the beginning I said that if I was going to have a camera with all the bells and whistles I wanted to know how to use it.  I think we have the auto and semi-auto functions down pretty well, but the full manual is still scary and I want to change that.  I am on a quest to see how much I can learn for free, meaning resources from the library, internet, etc.  So I'm starting with a digital photography masterclass book by Tom Ang.  The set-up is pretty nice so far because he teaches a technique and then gives you an assignment.  My first assignment was to take a still picture playing with the exposure - under, over, getting it correct, etc.  When I do these assignments I only allow myself to use full manual, but it was a good because forcing myself to use it when I'm not trying to capture a certain picture of my kids on the move is the only way I am going to get comfortable with it.  For my still image I chose my boots which are so comfortable and so perfect for our new backyard!  Here are a few of my favorites - remember it has to be all manual and no edits

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The Acceptance of the Pink Princess Dress

Whenever someone would ask Blythe what she wanted for Christmas she consistently said that she wanted a pink princess dress so I decided that I would make her one because I am too cheap for those crummy and cheap looking ones at Target/Walmart for no less than $30.  It was fun to make since I have NEVER made something as extensive as a dress and knowing that she would just love it.  I found an online tutorial and followed it to the letter.  Christmas morning came and I couldn't wait for her to open it.  The problem was I had no idea that she really wanted it to be from Santa and not from me :(.  We waited and had her open it last and when she first opened it she was super excited.  I didn't realize that at this point she thought all the presents were from Santa, not just the un-opened ones when she first came into the room.  When she opened it I said "I told Santa not to get it because Mommy wanted to make it."  BIG MISTAKE...she immediately was dis-interested and went back to the dress-up clothes she had unwrapped earlier.  Jason must have thought I was crushed because he kept trying to bribe her to put it on.  I reminded him that if she wanted that dress as much as we knew she would, she would come around so just drop it.  Besides I didn't want her to be forced to like it.  It took about  a week, but it has quickly become the favorite dress-up item and has been known to stay one all day!  I have been informed that she needs princess shoes to go with it..

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Being reminded of the little things that we forget to stop and appreciate

"Mom, look at those beautiful clouds!"
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Cloth Diapers

Thanks again to all the comments on the cloth diaper blog post. I didn't win the grand prize, but I was a runner-up so a lucky commenter wins 3 Bum Genius of their choice. I used a free online random number generator to come up with the winner. There were a total of 32 comments placed by January 9th.

Congrats to Karyn comment #14! E-mail me the color and closure combinations you would like to receive in the bumGenius 4.0

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1/5/12

Guest Blogger

Thurs Dec. 29th AM

A balmy, sunny day in Boerne, TX - 70 degrees. Monica took the new mud pie making equipment to the yard. Blythe, Jericho & I (Mamo) made mud pies with decorations of leaves, sticks & mountain laurel seeds.

Lunch outside.

After lunch Jericho went to the mud pie mixer with a cup, tried to dip it in the bowl but mixer in the way, raise the mixer, insert cup, mixer falls, cup doesn't fit, raise the mixer try again, mixer falls, raise the mixer, this time with more force (3rd times a charm) fills her cup with mud & muddy water most pleased with herself, turns, cup in hand to walk to the rock sidewalk to pour her mudpie with the others..... Interception, Blythe appears & tries to relieve Jericho of her cup - results muddy water in Blythe's face & mud on her head & mud behind Jericho's ears. Both wailing. At this point Monica & I were standing at the door laughing! Monica stepped out & said to Blythe that's Karma!

After wiping off some of the mud they got an early bath.


I'm sure glad I have my mom to journal some of the laughable moments at our house when I forget.

1/3/12

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

We bid farewell to 2011 and welcomed 2012 with new friends!  We substituted black eyes peas for red beans and rice, we entertained ourselves and the little ones with sparklers instead of fireworks, and managed to not find a channel showing the ball drop on our time zone, so a quick countdown from 10 on our own was the substitute.  It was grand and we had a terrific time!

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Dress up clothes for Christmas - Blythe is wearing the pink princess dress I made her

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And the kids treat was a sleepover with a movie on the projector!
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Can we say Jason Jr?
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Only in Texas

Only in Texas can you be decked out in a coat, hats, and mittens with a high of 52 one day and then be in shorts, a swimsuit, and playing in water with a high of 70 the next!  The girls got outside water toys for Christmas that we tried out with split peas inside during the cold weather, but when I saw the high and felt the sun we made a bee line for the great outdoors and catch up on some much needed vitamin D!

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And the cutest little insects with their new bug puzzle from Uncle Nay Nay and Aunt Caitlin!

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