Our Cookie Jar

1st Day of the New School Year!

2011-08-29T22:10:00.000-05:00

Today was the BIG Day for the "Cook School" as we kicked off our first full year of homeschool. The 2011-2012 school year finds Clara in Kindergarten and Dawson in Pre-K1. As I tucked both of the big kids into bed last night, I reminded them that we were starting school and to pick whatever they wanted for their "first day of school outfit!" in the morning. That of course was my subtle-mommy-language attempt to get them to pick something a little nicer than just everyday so that the pictures would look good. :) Clara's response was classic, "I think I'll wear my fussiest hair bow." We have a gigantic pink hair bow that fits the bill but alas we could not actually locate it this morning. She graciously settled on a regular sized pink bow because it was at least pink! Dawson first came out this morning wearing a shirt from one outfit and the shorts from another outfit because he wanted "stars & cars" like some character in a goodnight book from the library. I did manage to get him to settle on one full outfit of his choice. Here are the results...

Clara & Dawson's first day of Cook School 2011-2012

Getting Dawson to actually be in a picture is a major feat these days. Once you get him to actually stand in the picture, you can almost count on getting some kind of silly face rather than just a smile. I love that he picked his "Milk Mustache" outfit for the first day of school!

Clara "posing" for her first day of Kindergarten

Macie ran up and threw herself on Dawson so she could be in the picture. She likes to be right in the thick of the action with her big brother and sister!!

What do you mean I'm not sitting at the school table with the big kids yet!?
(One of her classic and common faces!!)

Here's our Macie at 17months old on her big sister's & big brother's first day of school.

Each morning when it is time for school to start, I call Clara and Dawson to the table. They go get their green school tubs and bring them our table. Inside their tub is everything they will need for the day's lessons.

I actually caught Dawson smiling for this one!!

Clara has quite a range of silly faces to offer the camera...

Our big kindergarten girl, hard at work on her first day!!

The After Pictures: Firefighters, Ambulance and Paramedics...oh my!

2010-11-07T22:50:00.000-06:00

In the ER last night, they worked and worked on Clara's stitches and I worked and worked on not throwing up, passing out or looking too close. When they were cleaning the wound, I just prayed and prayed as I listened to them searching so thoroughly for all the pieces of sheet rock that needed to be removed. I looked once and got woozy. (How many times have I said that Joel is the one in med school and I'm the one who doesn't like blood?!) I didn't even look at the finished stitches. I just waited for them to put the band-aid on.

We had to wait 24 hours before removing the band-aid for the first cleaning. The ER staff told me that Doctor Daddy could pull back the band-aid for a quick look but then it needed to go right back over the wound. (Boo-boo is just too benign a word.) Doctor Daddy left the band-aid untouched because who loves their kid and makes them experience taking off the super strong band-aid twice!?

So tonight, with great trepidation, I watched as Joel removed the band-aid and I saw the stitches for the first time. While I want to admire the great job they did on getting the wound stitched straight, I really just want to cry for my baby girl. She hasn't seen it in a mirror and has no idea how serious it is. When I tell her so and so prayed for her, she says, "Why? I'm all better!" I love this girl. You know the old saying, "This hurts me worse than it hurts you"? Well I am so learning the truth of that.

Our first look at the stitches...

Mama & Daughter in the ER waiting room last night...Clara got 4 Dora stickers in triage, and while I was answering questions, she was putting half the stickers on me and the other half on her green blankie. I made sure we had green blankie when we left for the ER and when they "burrito" restrained her for the stitches, we tucked green blankie under her chin for comfort, since she couldn't hold it in her hands.

Firefighters, Ambulance and Paramedics...oh my!

2010-11-06T23:08:00.000-05:00

Clara after triage, while we were waiting to see the Doc...

I would like to never go through tonight again, thanks. As I was getting ready to start dinner, Clara ran into the door frame of Macie's room and opened up her forehead very, very deep. Like almost to the bone deep. After hollering for Joel (who was sick in bed all day from hopefully food poisoning and not that awful virus going around) and more bleeding from my child than I ever wanted to see and then the call to 911 and then the sirens and the paramedics...after that, Clara and I went to Cook Children's hospital for stitches. (I highly recommend that hospital, by the way, and I have nothing but high praise for every person we encountered in the ER tonight!) My baby girl has 15 total stitches, going three layers deep. 2 stitches at the deepest, then 4 on top of that and then 9 on the outside. And the healing process will take place over the next year while we battle the potential scarring. At the end of all of this I realized that I need some better first aid training. Anyway...

Clara was a total champ through the whole process and it was precious to hear her talking to the hospital staff, looking out for other hurt kids, choosing books to read. (I frantically tossed almost the entire library into my rather large purse on our way out the door.)

When we got home, Joel and I sat at the table with Clara while she had dinner and she said some of the most precious things...

I was telling Joel how brave she was and she said, "I'm more scared of dinosaurs than you think I am." (With that adorable smile)

Then she looks at Joel and says, "Maybe when you're a doctor, you'll be able to make yourself feel better!" (Remember here that Joel has been sick all day...) Joel replies, "Unfortunately doctors can't heal everything." She just looked at Joel for about 10 seconds, looked away and said with all seriousness, "That's tragic."

Love this girl!! Exhaustion is setting in and I need to go to sleep. After I go wake Clara up to drink water, walk, and talk...to check for head trauma...doctor's orders.

Precious Conversation with Clara

2010-10-31T23:03:00.000-05:00

Clara and I drove to College Station this morning to celebrate the baptism of one of her friends, Elizabeth. (On a side note, this is the first of Clara's friends to get baptized and an extra special occasion!) As we approached Grace Bible Church, I was telling Clara how Joel & I met in College Station while we were students at A&M and then lived there for a few years before we went overseas as missionaries to tell people about Jesus. Now, we've had multiple conversations with Clara about the two years we spent in other countries sharing God's love. But today, oh I do not want to forget this precious day and her sweet words.

Clara said, "Mommy, when I grow up, can I be a missionary and tell people about Jesus?" I said, "Of course sweetie!" and then I paused. (Usually I would have also said, "If that is what God wants you to do." We really try to emphasize to the kids that the best thing they can do when they are grown up is whatever the Lord chooses for them.) Without hesitation Clara added, "I will do whatever God tells me to do. That's what I want to do."

Now I have saved that moment in time...and to my sweet Clara I say, Daddy and I will support you in whatever the Lord has planned for you. I love you Clara.

Milestones for all our Cookies!

2010-10-11T22:59:00.003-05:00

Well today was a big day all around for our 3 little cookies...

CLARA told her first joke at dinner tonight that made sense, had a punchline, and was delivered flawlessly. We were in the middle of telling Daddy about our day and specifically our hilarious game of "quack doctor" and all of the sudden, with all seriousness...
Clara: "Why did the cookie go to the doctor?"
Heidi: "Why?"
Clara: "Because he felt crumby."
Joel and I burst into laughter, followed of course by both Clara and Dawson. It was awesome!! Clara was so proud of herself. :)

DAWSON told his first elaborate story at dinner in response to the question, "Tell Daddy something that really happened today." (He'd been talking silly gibberish.) With total seriousness he looks at Joel and says, "Once upon a time there was a little boy..." and he told us a story about a little boy, a tiger and a dinosaur. It was very cute!! He had our full attention and he was eating it up. (Mommy was basking in her boy's creativity and Joel, in the middle of his pediatric rotation, pointed out that story telling is a 4 year old skill. We're both so proud!)

MACIE had her first day of independent mobility. She is crawling and moving all over the place. Today was her first full day of seeing interesting things, getting herself to them, and playing with whatever that item was which caught her attention. This was then followed up with actively looking for something new to explore and setting off in motion again. Mommy highly enjoyed watching her get places today!!

While we were getting Clara and Dawson ready for bed tonight, I got some video of Macie crawling towards a little toy. What I didn't realize is that Clara got her little pink digital kids camera (with short video capability) and was standing right next to me recording Macie too. She did a remarkable job! Another great day that Joel and I don't want to forget...

Here are 3 videos that Clara took all by herself with her little camera. (After you watch & admire Macie's new skill, watch again and look for Dawson playing "touchdown")

I love in this one how the first few times Dawson goes running by, Macie gets totally distracted from the toy and watches him instead. Macie loves her brother & sister!!

This video is fun because Clara set up the toy all by herself for Macie to go after - I had already put away my video camera. When Macie doesn't move fast enough to get to the toy, Clara interrupts filming to move it closer to Macie. And of course, watch for Dawson in the background.

Little Macie is Six Months Old!

2010-10-07T20:19:00.000-05:00

Our Macie Rebecca is already 6 months old and she is a delight, to say the least.

When I go in to get her out of bed in the morning, she is on her tummy, pushing herself up as high as she can to flash me the biggest smile imaginable. Her smile is infectious - I can be having a totally awful day and when this girl smiles, you can't help but smile with her. She continues to master the art of eating and like her big sister before her, Macie absolutely loves avocado. She literally smacks her lips and leans forward, mouth open expectantly, to get more avocado. She even cried tonight when she thought avocado time was done. Mommy knows what her girl loves so I came through with a few more bites!

Macie loves watching her big brother & sister and tries to play with them. Tonight at dinner she was dropping toys under the table and watching with delight as Clara and then Dawson would crawl under the table to pick them up. (Don't worry...this won't become a new habit at the Cook house!) She rolls all over the place and uses her hands to turn herself around in different directions. It is fun to watch where she ends up and to see the things she is so desperately trying to reach. Tonight, for the first time, she executed something like a crawling attempt and successfully launched herself forward using her hands and knees. Not to be outdone by the big siblings, she babbles and talks...mamamamama & bababababa are her first and current "words." I am confident that I have verbal #3 in this little cutie.

Last week I took the kids down to College Station and during our visit, my BFF Shannon did an impromptu photo shoot with Macie and took these stunning photos. Now, I know that Macie is the cutest little baby in the world and very photogenic, but Shannon truly has a gift as a photographer. (Thank you my friend for blessing me with these pictures! To contact Shannon so you can have your own amazing photos...smortonphotography@gmail.com) Feast your eyes on all this cuteness...

Macie's First Food!

2010-10-04T20:42:00.001-05:00

SANY0016, originally uploaded by thejcooks.

Rice Cereal!

Swimming Lessons Learned

2010-09-12T14:45:00.009-05:00

60% H₂O / 100% Fish
By Joel

After a frustrating first try of group swim lessons earlier in the summer, Clara and Dawson hadn't made as much progress as we had hoped. They didn't even like to bob their heads under water.

We really wanted them to have at least some survival skills so we decided to take a chance on private lessons at the end of the summer. As you can see from the pics, it paid off! These two are swimming like crazy! Their instructor did a great job teaching them to float on their back "like a starfish", "scoop ice cream" to swim, and "rocket" to the side of the pool!

We are so glad we did it! To see more pics go to Swimming Lessons 2010
[These pictures were taken by our swim instructor]

Clara's First Day of Ballet

2010-08-23T21:57:00.000-05:00

The long-awaited day finally arrived. Clara has been reading ballerina books, dressing up like a ballerina and practicing her ballet moves for about 2 years now. A week or so ago, I (Heidi) took Clara out for an afternoon of Mommy/Daughter shopping and we got her ballet shoes, tap shoes, tights and a new leotard. Everyday this week was a countdown until today.

I put two little braids in the top of her hair and pulled them into the ponytails (my own idea!!) and I was so glad to find the perfect hair bows to match while digging in her pink hair bucket. Before we left for ballet she was talking about being nervous for her first day of ballet. In the parking lot she was saying, "Dawson has a brave big sister but I don't have a brave big sister because I'M the brave big sister..."

She had a great time and we can't wait to see our budding ballerina dance, dance, dance. Here are pictures of our lovely girl at her first dance class. When did she get so big!??

Found a window where we could sneak a peek inside the dance room & I got a few pics...

And She Rolled!!

2010-07-13T21:05:00.000-05:00

The BIG DAY...Monday, July 12th
I put Macie in front of her mirror for tummy time and the Lord prompted me to run and get the camera. I'm so glad because now I can share the moment!! Here's her first tummy time that morning...

Clara heard me encouraging Macie as she tried to roll over and came running in. Clara and Macie already have a special bond. When Macie sees Clara, her whole face lights up in a huge smile and she starts talking to her.

So we had definite effort happening that morning but no actual rolling. I was greatly impressed by her efforts though because up until that Monday morning, she hadn't really given turning over much thought or energy. Most of her tummy time effort was focused on holding herself up to see what has going on around her.

That afternoon I put her on tummy time again and...

You can hear the surprise and excitement in my voice which brought Dawson running. He got right next to Macie to see her try to roll again, to encourage her and enjoy his baby sister. To say that he loves her is an understatement...everything is "my Macie" when he talks and play with her.

Late Night Confessions of a 4 year old...

2010-06-14T22:58:00.000-05:00

It's the night before Joel's second and last board exam...it's been a long set of days since May 10, 2010 and let's just say that tonight was not an easy night for me getting the kids to bed. At 10:45pm I go into the kids room to take Clara and Dawson potty before I go to bed and here is what happens.

I carry Clara to the bathroom and say to her, "I'm sorry I was frustrated with you tonight, will you forgive me?" And in the sweetest little 4 year old asleep voice she replied, "I will always forgive you. And I'll forgive everyone else, even if they don't ask."

I am blown away...

Two Special Memories

2010-05-17T23:11:00.000-05:00

Two things happened today that I don't want to forget. And I know these are moments that are precious to me as a Mom that will get lost in the shuffle of my mind over the coming months and years. So I'm recording them here...

After preschool today I took the kids to Chick-Fil-A to play on the playground. As Clara opened the door to the play area I said, "Clara, take off your shoes and put them in a cubby." With a joyful heart and voice, her immediate response was, "Yes ma'am. I will!" and she bounced on into the play area. I stood there, my heart filled with excitement, that without any prompting or reminding, she spoke respectfully. In that moment my heart was encouraged to persevere in the daily milieu of child training. Our Lord is so gracious - He did not allow me to experience the moment alone. Before I had even finished processing the wondrous moment, I heard a complete stranger say with enthusiasm, "Now those are good manners!" It was not important to me that someone else was impressed but only that someone was there to share that moment with me.

About a week or so ago, Dawson began "feeding his baby" which is his little monkey. He very lifts his shirt up and very carefully feeds monkey from his belly button. It is quite adorable to watch him turn the monkey over in the other direction in much the same way that I change Macie to the other side when nursing her. He's only 2 so I don't have the heart to tell him that he will never have the privilege of nursing his babies - we just enjoy his sweet heart. During storytime, I was sitting on the floor nursing Macie because she woke up a bit early and was hungry. Dawson saw me nursing her and said, "I'm going to feed my baby too." He positions monkey on his tummy and then Clara follows suit to nurse one of her baby dolls. He looks up at me and says, "Can I have that cover thingy while I feed my baby?" (He is referring to the Modest Mommy Nursing Cover that I use when I nurse outside our home.) So we got him his cowboy blanket and he covered up the monkey. Daddy is reading stories and I notice Dawson leaning over every now & then and he asks, "Is Macie still feeding?" A little later I lift Macie up and he says, "Is Macie done feeding?" I tell him yes and he says, "My baby is done too." And he sets aside his monkey and becomes totally absorbed in storytime. My sweet little guy was purposefully feeding his baby for as long as Macie was nursing.

Being a Mommy can be exhausting but it is oh so rewarding...

Karate Chop Action Giver!

2010-04-27T10:12:00.001-05:00

Karate Chop Action Giver!
Originally uploaded by thejcooks

Bringing Home Macie

2010-04-01T15:57:00.000-05:00

Macie Rebecca was born on Sunday morning, March 28th at 5:46am, 7lb 9oz and 19" long. She has beautiful, thick black hair and, as is apparently a tradition in our family, strongly resembles her Daddy. She loves her big sister & brother and is completely non-plussed by their silliness and antics. Our first day home from the hospital, they crowded around her and sang a rowdy rendition of "Joy to the World" and she never even flinched. She loves to snuggle and get kisses from Mommy.

We came home on Monday and Macie is doing great. Clara and Dawson think she is fantastic and she's treating Mommy & Daddy great at night by being a pretty easy sleeper. Dawson's favorite thing is to crawl right up next to her and say, "Baby Macie is so cute!" Clara loves to help, ask lots of questions and she's already started nursing her own baby doll. She is quite the little mommy.

There is much debate over the possible color of Macie's eyes...she is our most mysterious so far. Clara was born with the darkest brown eyes and they never wavered. Dawson was born with big baby blues that stayed that way. Macie's eyes are a mystery but we'll keep you posted...I'm pulling for green!

Here are some pictures from the hospital and bringing Macie home. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates.

Snow Much Fun!!

2010-02-11T22:22:00.001-06:00

We woke up this morning to several inches of snow covering everything. It was a winter wonderland view from every window!! Joel braved the snow covered hill on our street to get to campus for his 8am class while the kids and I settled in for a fun day at home. Come along with us!!

First we built an awesome train city with the GeoTrax...

Then Clara & Dawson really wanted to play in the snow but Mommy really didn't want to get cold & wet. Perfect Solution - the second floor patio!! So we got bundled up warm...Texas style. We don't have snow boots but we have boots. We tucked PJs into the boots, strapped on hats & gloves, layered up coats...think about that classic line, "I can't put my arms down!!"

The kids played in the snow, ate the snow, made snow balls to throw off the balcony, tried to make snow angels, you name it! All the while Mommy stood on the other side of the open patio door, inside the dining room, with a cup of coffee taking pictures and video.

Then we had a fun surprise when Daddy called to say that his school was closing and he was coming home. Clara & Dawson each rolled a snowball and waited for Daddy to walk by the patio before launching them over the side. Then they prepared a secondary attack for when he came into the house and out on the patio.

After Daddy helped them launch many snowballs over the balcony, they all came inside to warm up with some hot chocolate and valentine's cookies. Sugar!! Then we all got bundled up warm and went to the front yard to play in the deep snow. We made a snowman, threw snowballs, built a small snow fort and still the snow kept coming down!

**We'll post videos soon**

During lunch our power went out and so we all took naps today...I love days like this! Fortunately the power was back on within a few hours and the heater kicked back into high gear. We played inside the rest of the day but we are anticipating another fun day of snow tomorrow. Never ones to let being stuck indoors stifle their imaginations, Clara and Dawson improvised after-dinner fun by pretending to be ChuckECheese, cowboys & cowgirls and spinning in circles.

It was snowing when we woke up, continued without stop all day and as night fell the snow was still coming down. My guess is at least 6 inches of snow so far today. We can't wait to see what tomorrow brings! Thanks for coming along on our day. Have a great night and we'll see you tomorrow!!

Swim Lessons

2009-07-15T22:55:00.003-05:00

Clara finished her first round of swim lessons today! She finished off the lesson by jumping to her teacher, in the deep end, and going totally head under. We are so impressed!! (Especially since just a couple months ago she was still freaked out by water getting on her face in the bathtub.)

This video clip is from one of her lessons early last week...

Daddy/Daughter Dance

2009-06-19T23:51:00.012-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I got to go to a Daddy/Daughter Dinner and Dance that our church put together. It was a lot of fun! You can imagine Clara's energy...there's no such thing as a slow dance - even when the music is slow.

Here's a little video...

I hope you can appreciate how difficult it is to video a 3-year old dancing, especially when she just wants to dance with her daddy all night!

Here are a couple of pre-dinner pics...

Playground Catastrophe

2009-03-25T19:51:00.005-05:00

Wednesday of Spring Break, Joel, my sister, and I took all our kids to the Trinity Trails park. The park boasts this amazing triple-level playscape/slide. We've been there before and I helped Clara learn to climb up all the necessary ladders to get to the slide at the top and fly down, on her stomach and feet first, for safety. Well last week Lexie and I were supervising the chaos on the playscape (which involved a truckload of children who didn't belong to us but were there to enjoy shoving kids, I mean playing) and Clara was climbing the first ladder. It has like 4 rungs and she'd already been up and down multiple times. One minute she's on the ladder and the next minute she's laying on the ground, crying and holding her wrist. Somehow she slipped and fell about 3, maybe 4, feet off the ladder and into the playground mulch. Ask her and she can tell you exactly what happened. We got her home and iced her hand. There was no swelling or brusing and she would only mention pain when she bumped it on something. On Friday Joel took her to Urgent Care and she has a buckle break in her forearm. (Have I mentioned before her freakishly high pain tolerance??) Here's the picture Joel sent me from Urgent Care.

Today was our appointment with the Orthopedic doctor and he confirmed the diagnosis from Urgent Care, assured us this is a common injury in children her age, pronounced the sentence of "a cast for three weeks" with full expectation of a complete recovery and then declared she had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. No surprise there. :) (What was funny was when he looked at Joel after saying that and said, "They're your eyes!") We really like Dr. Hamilton!

So here are some pictures of our little girl in the cast color of her choosing: Princess Pink, of course. (Clara actually came up to me on Monday dressed in her pink frilly dress and asked me to help her put her crown on "because every good princess wears a crown.")

Oh and look close at the picture above and you can see where Dawson is still healing from his injury. Here's a picture of Dawson's crash with the door frame that landed us in the same Urgent Care facility just the week before Clara's accident. Somewhere someone has started a file...

Things Heard Lately from Clara...

2009-02-03T15:30:00.002-06:00

Last Friday morning, I'm driving the kids to Mother's Day Out and they are bundled up in their little coats, looking too cute...
Mommy: (looking in rear view mirror at the kids) "Who's my blue-eyed boy? Dawson!"
(Dawson looks at me and grins.)
Mommy: "Who's my big brown-eyed girl?"
Clara: (in her little sing-song voice that we love) "Clara!!"
With only the slightest pause, I hear this from the backseat:
Clara: "Who's my green-eyed authority? Mommy!!" (I of course am laughing at this.) "Who's my brown-eyed authority? Daddy!"

I am still laughing over that exchange!!

Today, Joel and I are enjoying lunch together while the kids play in the living room when Clara runs up to me at the table and says, "Mommy, I saw that big fly and I need the fly swatter. I need to hurt his feelings." So I think, why not. I give her the fly swatter and she runs back to their play table, crawls carefully under it and then we hear her say, "Hey fly, where did you go?" I love that she expected the fly to still be there. So she stands up and begins looking in the air for the fly while calling out, "Can you come down now please? I'm just going to hurt your feelings." All of this while holding the fly swatter of course. :) No surprise that when she wasn't looking, that rather large fly made a bid for freedom out the patio door. Too bad the screen door was shut by that time and Mommy got him with the fly swatter first. Hee hee. :)

Texas Snow Day

2009-01-28T10:47:00.005-06:00

We fell asleep last night to the sound of Texas Snow, that something between ice and snow that we all get so excited about. We woke up to roads, driveways, lawns and rooftops covered over in it and schools of course shut down. The temperature is 20 but "feels like 10" so we got everyone bundled up and went out to play! You have to be quick because as we all know, the sun is going to melt the fun away pretty fast...

Dawson took one of the bouncy balls out to the front yard and I got a great series of pictures of him picking up the ball, losing his balance and falling over. This of course is the last of those pics!

Dawson took off on an adventure up the sidewalk with Daddy & Clara right behind him.

Dawson dropped the bouncy ball and it rolled off down the driveway, across the neighbors sidewalk and down the street which of course is a hill. This is Joel getting to the ball just in the knick of time and barely maintaining his balance before careening down the icy hill himself.

We wanted to get a picture of the kids together so I told Dawson to go stand with Clara. He falls down right in front of her and she is very kindly saying, "You have to be careful Buddy," while just standing there & watching him struggle to get up. I guess it's better that she didn't actually try to help him up or they could have both been laid out on the ground. :)

I took Dawson inside and put him down for a nap while Daddy & Clara kept playing outside. Evenutally they made their way back into the house and out on the balcony to take advantage of the "snow" which accumulated on the patio chairs. Daddy made the snowballs and helped Clara toss them off the balcony and onto the driveway...

Fort Worth Rodeo Parade

2009-01-17T20:31:00.014-06:00

We LOVE living here in Fort Worth, especially in the heart of the city near dowtown. Joel's mom tipped us off to the parade today downtown near Sundance Square. We got the kids dressed in their cowboy gear, including matching boots from MaMaw & PaPaw and went early to get a good spot. It was cold - colder than we thought it was going to be but we had a great time. Joel found the perfect place along the parade route where we had a spot to sit and some room for the kids to play while we waited. We were wise and picked a place near Starbucks so that we could have something warm to drink too! The kids even shared a hot chocolate. The whole parade passed by within feet of us and we were front row. Clara's favorite parts were the various marching bands and Dawson loved the horses, hundreds of them. We got to see a lot, including an albino horse, some really big Clydesdale horses with legs the size of a man's body, a yellow lab pulling a little girl in a cart and my favorite, a group of cowboys & cowgirls riding for Jesus with banners that read "King of Kings" and "Lord of Lords". After the parade we ate BBQ downtown and then visited the library. Here are some pictures!

One of Those Great Days

2008-10-09T21:32:00.002-05:00

Do you ever have one of those days? One of those days that you wish you could bottle up and not lose one moment of? Not because of something momentous but because of the everyday? Today, I had one of those days. Seeing Dawson enjoy the ability to walk...going everywhere and nowhere all at once just to show off that precious toddle-walk that is gone too quickly. The joy of my son snuggling against my chest, perfectly content to be in his Mommy's arms. The joy of laying on the bed next to my daughter watching her play with her hands and listening to her imagination soar. Indulging in her laughter as she leans over to plant a kiss on my nose once and then again...the kiss turning into a raspberry and peals of delight. The joy of her smile and her wanting me to take a nap with her. "Stay right there Mommy and don't go." Even the chaos of two children in complete emotional melt-down, screaming in your lap and both pushing away at the other, wanting to be the only you hold. Playing peek-a-boo at Wendy's with the whole family and just being silly. Watching your husband be silly with the kids. Pushing a cart through Target with Clara staying right at my side saying with delight, "I am obeying." That precious glimpse of the sweat and effort of parenting that is reaping blessing in her life. Comforting my sweet girl during an embarassing moment. Trying not to laugh with Dawson after he threw everything out of his bed including his pants. I delight in being a wife and a mom. I love my life. I love these days. Thank you Lord.

So here it is. My day, bottled up so that not a moment is forgotten...

The New Strong Willed Child

2008-09-05T13:54:00.004-05:00

Who knew so much could be contained in 6 short weeks. Another time I will tell about the marvelous things God has done over the last 6 weeks and the unexpected blessings in the midst of toil and exhaustion. But not today. Today is about my realization that I have not 1 but 2 strong-willed children. No one is surprised by that although I am almost daily exhausted by it. Some of you are even supressing laughs or cackling with glee (mostly my poor parents who had to deal with me for so long). I'm laughing today through tears, or rather at my tears. Right about the time Joel was accepted to med school, Clara was entering a grand new phase of sass and rebellion. It began innocently enough with "I can do it all by myself..." and then catapulted into full scale rebellion and war. A phrase you are likely to hear around my house these days is "I will NOT obey." I spend a lot of time in discipline & training needless to say.

And it's not just my Clara who truthfully, I've known had something of a strongwill since she was about 6 months old. My sweet little Dawson, with big blue eyes who loves to crawl and give big kisses, has thrown off the mask and revealed that he too has a strong will of his own. Let's just summarize it by saying that after 6 months of diligent training with his sign language, that I know he is capable of doing, he refuses to do when it's needed. Refuses to the point of sitting in his high chair for 2 hours because he will not show the sign for all done. Now some of you are saying, how cruel, unrealistic expectations, blah blah blah. When you look in the face of your child and ask the same question you always do, "More or all done?" and he looks you straight in the eye and screams instead, you realize something. This is the will. I kindly but firmly tell him, Stop. And look at that, he immediately stops screaming and looks at me just as calm as you can be. So I again ask him the question, "More or all done?" and again the throwing a fit begins. We go through this dance for a while until he finally looks at me, no tears, takes a deep breath and then looks the other way like a teenager saying, "Whatever." And he just sits there ignoring me. He has thrown down the gauntlet.

I am grateful and my kids will one day be grateful too, that I also have a strong will and determination to raise my kids according to the Word of God. Both my children have thrown down the gauntlet and by the grace of God I am daily taking up the challenge.

I'm also still trying to unpack our house, shop, cook, clean, play, etc. So last night I'm finally getting the office unpacked and organized and I crack open our book boxes. I pull out Dobson's book, "The New Strong Willed Child." I think I bought this book before Joel and I even had kids because, come on, what are the odds that I'm going to get the compliant ones?

So I put the kids down for a nap today and break out this book because frankly, I need it. Yeah, I burst into tears during the Foreward.

Can a human be rebooted?

2008-08-13T22:23:00.012-05:00

It's been a while since we posted...we've been a tad busy. If you haven't already heard, well, here's a phone excerpt from July 14th to me (while troubleshooting a computer at work):

Joel: Hello?
Voice from heavenly places: Could I speak to Joel Cook please?
J: [thinking sales call taking up my cell phone minutes] This is him.
V: Hi Joel this is [..] from the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
J: Yes? [goes to find the nearest auto defibrillator]
V: We have a spot opened up for you here at the medical school and we want to know if you want to take it.
J: ...[attaching AED pads]
V: Mr. Cook?
J: [vaguely hears "rhythm not suitable for shock, resume CPR"] Yes! I say yes!

Ok, I made up the AED part but the rest is real! I am in my 3rd week of medical school and truly living in a dream! My favorite part of the phone call, however was: "The down-side is you have to be here in a week for orientation and school starts the week after that." Wow.

So, there have been some big changes in our lives over the past month and there are some big question marks left that you can pray for us. The biggest: housing. I helped Heidi pack up as much as I could at our house in Austin and then I left a week later for Fort Worth to start school. We thought we would be apart for a couple of weeks until our new place was ready. Well, it's now been almost 4 weeks and we are still not sure we have a place to live (long, frustrating story). To top it off, Heidi and the kids had to move out of our old house today because new renters are moving in this weekend. Huge thank yous to all of our family and friends who have helped pack and move (heavy!) furniture to storage. And thank you to my Aunt Ann and Mac for letting me stay at their house in Arlington!

It has been hard on Heidi at times having the kids 24x7 and I miss them terribly. Heidi has kept me in the loop by sending me pictures and video taken on her phone which I'm sharing with you below. By the way, I just had my first major exam this week and I made a B! Yipee!

Dawson trying to put on a hat

Dawson doing a little reading (he prefers the camera)

Walking behind a push toy

And a week later...

Here's Clara playing dress-up (early Halloween?)

Here's Clara making me cry while I sit in a lecture hall 180 miles away

A Foundation Being Laid

2008-06-05T22:38:00.002-05:00

We were in the car today - Mommy, Daddy, Clara and Dawson - and we were celebrating that Clara went poopoo in the potty. We were trying to explain that her favorite jelly beans (Starburst) were only available at Easter so we had to switch to chewy Sweet Tarts. Somehow she transitioned to Christmas and mentioned gifts to celebrate Jesus. I asked her, "Why do we celebrate Christmas?" Her response, "Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins." Now that of course is Easter but Joel and I were floored and just looked at one another. At a mere two and a half she is already being to understand the most significant truth there is: salvation in Christ. We are so excited to be laying this foundation for her and to see it come together one piece at a time. Mostly this post is for Joel and I, so that we will never forget this moment in her life. We also wanted to share it with you. :)

He's Crawling!!

2008-04-16T22:19:00.002-05:00

DRUMROLL...yesterday afternoon, while we were all sitting on the floor in the living room, Dawson got up on his hands & knees and officially crawled!! :) It was this precious and deliberate movement of his hands and then knees. Joel got it on videotape and we'll try to get a clip posted soon.

He is loving his new freedom and is already starting to experiment with distance. This evening, Joel was giving Clara a bath and I was putting away things in both kids rooms. I came down the hall toward the living room and there he was, crawling towards me. I'm still getting used to leaving him in one place and coming back a minute later and he is somewhere totally different. He had been in the middle of the living room and was already coming past the fireplace to find us and be part of the action. When I squealed with delight at his progress, he was so totally proud of himself. As are Daddy, Mommy and Clara!

Significant Milestones

2008-04-14T19:41:00.006-05:00

Clara and Dawson have both hit pretty major milestones lately. Dawson's are the ones you think of most readily so we'll save him for last. Any of you who currently have or ever had small children know what I'm talking about when I say that training kids is repetitive. Repetitive sometimes to the point where you wonder, "Is any of this even getting through? Is it making a difference?" We officially hit the Terrible Twos with Clara about 2-3 weeks ago and I've been wondering about those things a lot lately. Today was one of those small, parting of the cloud moments, where the Lord just gives you a glimpse of the rewards to come for persevering in training the kids. That brief glimpse that energizes you to keep on going.

Clara is in full swing of not only the "Why?" stage (which began about 4 days ago) but also the "But I don't want to" when given instructions. We ask her to do something, pick up her toys or go potty, for example, and her response to us is, "But I don't want to." So needless to say we've been spending a lot of time explaining and reminding her that Daddy and Mommy are her authority and when we give her an instruction, it doesn't matter if she wants to do it, she needs to choose to obey. After she obeys the instruction, she may tell us what she wants & ask us if she can do something different.

We try to consistently teach her in correction & training moments that just as we are her authority, that God is our authority and the Bible teaches that we are to obey our authority. I tell her often that when she obeys Daddy or Mommy, she is also obeying God and that pleases God, makes Him happy. Joel and I are really striving to teach her why we do things so that her life isn't just a list of Do's and Don'ts. We want her to learn to think and choose Biblically. (It's a whole other blog to talk about the challenge this is for me personally to walk closely with the Lord so that I can model for her what a godly woman looks like.)

Now that she's potty trained, I get to hear "But I don't want to" pretty often when I tell her to go sit on the potty. (Often she doesn't want to go potty but needs to!) This happened today. I told her to go to the bathroom and go potty and then we'd do something (I don't remember what). She was laying on the floor and said in a whiny & defiant voice, "But I don't want to go potty." I reminded her that it didn't matter if she wanted to go potty. "I gave you an instruction sweetie, to go to the bathroom and go potty. You may choose to obey Mommy or you can choose disobedience and the consequence of a spank. It is your choice." I made eye contact with her and then purposefully looked away. (Great tip I read a while back was not to stare kids down but purposefully look away so they have a graceful way to back down and obey.)

For several seconds she is totally quiet and from the corner of my eye I can see her thinking about her decision. Then she says something that totally blew me away and made my day. "I will obey because that will make God happy." And she jumped right up and ran to the bathroom, no whining or complaining. I hadn't even mentioned anything about obedience and pleasing God but she GOT IT!! Joel's jaw dropped when I told him the story tonight after putting her to bed.

Another sweet moment today, after she went potty and I was washing her hands, Dawson started crying & fussing in the living room because he was tired of being without us. As soon as I finished drying Clara's hands she jumped off the stool and ran back to the living room shouting, "It's okay Buddy! I'm coming!" :)

DAWSON. Can this boy be any cuter?! I mean seriously. I'm a little late in posting his milestones, mostly because of the whole Clara biting a chunk out of her tongue incident last week.

Monday, March 31st - he stopped using his swaddle blanket!!
(We'd tried mulitple times to put him down without it but the little snuggler would have none of that. Fortunately our a/c went out on Sunday and couldn't get repaired until Tuesday. By his second nap of the day he said good-bye to that too-warm blanket and never looked back.)

Tuesday, April 1st - he cut his first tooth!!
The bottom left tooth. I was running my finger around the bottom gums and there it was! The second one popped through about one week later so now Joel and I are enjoying watching them come in and his new "toothy grin".

Wednesday, April 2nd - he pushed himself up into a sitting position!!
I'll try to have Joel post a video clip so you can see Dawson's technique. He gets up on his hands & knees, straighten his legs up so that his head is down towards the ground and then using his feet, he backs himself down into a sitting position.

He is lunging forward now and although not officially crawling, he is slowly mobile. He often moves through a series of scoots, sitting up, turning, scooting, sitting up again, and on and on. He can cover several feet this way.

Clara invited Dawson to come sit at her table and enjoy a birthday party for the clowns...Daddy Clown, Mommy Clown (with the crazy yellow hair), Clara Clown and Dawson Clown. You'll notice the basket with plastic Easter eggs on the table...this quickly became "birthday eggs" when I told her that Easter was over and soon we'd need to put the basket away for next year. Clever girl. Dawson was a total big boy sitting in a chair for the first time, playing with his "chubby" trains. (Don't worry, I was sitting right next to him so he wouldn't fall out.) He sampled everything Clara offered by putting it in his mouth and trying to eat it which makes him perfect for her pretend mealtime get togethers!

Tongue Piercing

2008-04-08T19:50:00.008-05:00

Joel here. Today we saw a dreaded number on our caller ID: New Hope Baptist Church. I don't have anything against Baptists, hope, or anything new - it just happens to be the place where our little Clara goes to preschool two days a week. It was too early to have forgetten to pick her up so I knew it was bad news. Apparently, she bit her tongue pretty hard while playing with another little girl. This wasn't the small bite where a little bump shows up on your tongue - there was blood involved.

My skills as a pre-med are pretty limited but I was able to prescribe popsicles and Mickey Mouse videos.
The slash was worse than we expected. For those who choose: you can view the damage in this image. You've been warned!

No, just kidding, I think that's the result of gorging herself with blueberries. Here's the real gruesome picture. And a close-up.

The real shocker is the conversation I had with Clara when I picked her up:

Daddy: Clara, how did you bite your tongue?
Clara: [in her sad voice] Because Miranda and I were hugging.

That's right. This just proves the point that you can never trust the people watching your children. What kind of children's preschool allows senseless huggings? Later, I had this conversation with her:

Daddy: Clara, how does your tongue feel now?
Clara: [in her more chipper voice] Cold! Because of all the popsicles!

Houston...We have Poo Poo

2008-03-25T23:09:00.010-05:00

Mark the calendars ladies and gentleman because today goes down in history! Today is the day that Clara pooped in the potty. This is no ordinary poo poo...this is a poo poo milestone. Since we began this potty training adventure several weeks ago, there has been only 1 time that poop actually landed in the potty and that was mostly by accident. BUT TODAY...I'm in the kitchen feeding Dawson and talking with my nephew Ethan. I suddenly realize that Clara and Allison (my niece) are strangely quiet. That sounds the alarms in my head so I take off to find them. Down the hallway, around the corner and there they are together, in the bathroom. Allison is standing on a stool playing with the sink and Clara is sitting on her potty. OK, cool. Clara automatically qualifies for an M&M reward for taking the initiative to get on the potty when she realizes she needs to go pee pee. I leave them as they were in the bathroom and head back for the kitchen. A couple of minutes later I come out of the kitchen to the sound of Clara running down the hall and shouting, "Poo poo in the potty!" She's pointing back towards the bathroom and I follow her. She proudly shows me her little potty and there it is. (I tactfully did NOT take a picture since that really isn't one of those "Firsts" that you want a visual of.) After confirming with her that she did in fact make poo poo in the potty (I was of course in shock but really, it couldn't have just appeared there) she gleefully shouts "Now I get Jelly Beans!" And boy we got jelly beans!

On her own, without telling me at all, she went to the bathroom, got on her potty, waited for several minutes and made a poo poo. Come on now - you know you're excited!! All the kids got jelly beans to celebrate Clara's big moment and we called several people on the phone. I clapped, I sang, I rewarded and I'm praying this becomes the norm...

AND NOT TO BE OUT DONE BY HIS BIG SISTER, DAWSON pushed himself up on his hands and knees and...drumroll please...went backwards today! :) Yes, he can push himself a few paces away from the object he's trying to reach. It's annoying for him but he soon turns or rolls and places himself in the vicinity of some other new and interesting object. I'll keep you posted on the pre-crawling efforts!

Here are a few pictures to enjoy along the Poop theme!!

Dawson got his first cowboy hat this weekend from MaMaw and PaPaw...he's a little heartbreaker already!! I mean seriously, I could just kiss him and squeeze him, well all day.

This next picture of Clara is so typical of her little personality right now. She got a new pair of sunglasses from MaMaw that she wears all the time. She runs around the house with them on informing you about how dark it is. She also loves to talk on her cell phone. (An old flip phone with the battery removed.) She especially likes to get on the phone when she notices Mommy is on the phone. Here is a sample of her conversations... "Hello, Mommy? What're you doing? [Pause while she pretends to listen.] Ok. Bye Bye." And she snaps the phone shut. Sometimes she pretends to say something really fast, important and unintelligle before hanging up and other times she tells you that someone, Nana for example, is on the phone for you. We caught her in one moment, enjoying her fave three things lately:

Wearing her sunglasses, talking on the phone and sitting on the potty. Multi-tasking...

And because you just HAVE to finish with this little face!!

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

2008-03-17T21:57:00.004-05:00

Beautiful Day for the Park

2008-03-15T22:24:00.019-05:00

We loaded up the stroller and took the kids to the playground today. Clara was dry and clean for the whole event!! Here are some pictures to enjoy. :)

Dawson has graduated out of his infant seat and into the front seat of the stroller. He is such a big boy now! We have this amazing double stroller that Joel's parents got us. Clara has the option to sit or stand and she loves facing us as we push. I actually saw a family at the Rodeo last weekend with 3 kids in this stroller...one in front, one sitting in back and one standing. Excitement that whenever we add #3 we won't have to upgrade strollers. So enough about my awesome stroller and back to the pictures of the kids...

Clara's side of the stroller. The canopy covers both she and Dawson and has an extension for extra coverage. Nice. :)

Dawson's side of the stroller - can you tell that he really likes sitting up like a big boy? Take note of the hat. We have two children at opposite ends of the skin tone spectrum. Clara is darker in complexion (duh, right?) and tans easily. Dawson is uber-fair and so we keep his head covered when we go to the park. Sunscreen anyone?

Clara's not really into smiling for the camera these days and she kept smirking at the camera. I said, "Show me your teeth" and this is what we got. Not what I had in mind but she's hilarious.

Fortunately there was one (literally one) patch of shade at the playground where I could sit Dawson on his blanket. Take notice - he is totally sitting up on his own now and he is proud!

Clara loves the twisty tunnel slide. It's perfect on hot days because the sun doesn't beat down on the plastic and burn the skin off. Seriously, why do people continue to build playground areas in Texas with no shade devices??

Joel was trying to get them to both look at the camera and smile but apparantly he said something they didn't get. (Thank goodness for digital cameras - you take 20 pictures so that 1 will hopefully turn out cute.)

Dawson is totally into Clara and we've now entered into the "teach your two year old how to play and not play with her baby brother" stage. In other words, it's not kind to take away his toy and toss it out of his reach, tickle his tummy instead of his eyes, etc. (She is on the whole very sweet with him.)

She's proud of herself for getting the paci in his mouth without knocking him over and he's thinking that something isn't right. The paci feels, um, upside down.

A Few Sweet Pictures...

2008-03-13T23:04:00.011-05:00

Here is Dawson in his Little Cowboy sleeper when he was about 2 days old...

Here's our guy in that same sleeper at 6 months...

He loves his thumb...

Clara got to wear her Minnie Mouse panties for a little while this morning instead of training panties because she was dry and clean! (This was before the naptime poo poo mishap. :D) Daddy caught the action as she apparantly thought that the Minnie Mouse panties needed some accessories...

Potty Traning: Day Four "Poop goes in the, BED??"

2008-03-13T14:13:00.002-05:00

Our morning had been great...clean and dry all the way to naptime. Joel and I put our pumpkin down for a nap and we can hear her in bed singing, talking, playing. We're enjoying her delightfulness. She's been in there for more than an hour, not sleeping. Joel comes down the hall and says, "I think she just said she needs to go potty." So we rush right in expecting to whisk her to the big girl potty and my brain takes in a confusing sight. It literally took my mind several seconds to put it all together. The clothes taken off. The training panties taken off. A brown lump laying on the pillow case. Wait. WHAT? I quickly begin to survey the bed and well, there's poop on the fave green blankie and on yellow blankie. She has pooped in her training pants and taken them off. She's got poop on the back of her legs. We scooped her up and took her straight to the shower. She certainly didn't enjoy the experience but it's not like I'm going to fill up the bathtub and let her sit in poop water. I scrubbed her from head to toe (and oh the yuck of forgetting to grab a wash cloth in the melee and not realizing it until my hands are covered in soap and the afore mentioned poop). I snuggled her up in the towel and explained very clearly that she can never, no never, take off poopy panties. Call for help. Her response, "I want to go on the potty!" Daddy took her to the potty while I stripped everything out of the crib, including the bumpers. She did make a pee pee in the potty so at least there's that. While I dried her hair, Joel wiped down the inside of the crib slats, just in case.

Joel & I go to the laundry room and we're spraying everything down with Shout. I pick up her panties, aim the Shout bottle towards the inside and Wait. There's nothing on the inside. That's when we realize...she took off her panties and then pooped in the bed. Well now Joel and I are both just amused. We're hoping that she is learning to recognize the "feeling" of needing to go poop but heck, she might have been naked in the crib for almost the whole hour and the poop thing just sort of happend. Hmm.

She's now back in bed, still not sleeping, and I'm at the computer with a dixie cup of M&Ms. (My reward, I guess?)

At least we're still dry all day so far, right?

Potty Training: Day Three Progress Report

2008-03-12T19:26:00.003-05:00

Drumroll if you please....

Clara was DRY ALL DAY!! She didn't go pee pee in her panties at all today. Not even during nap time! And twice she even initiated getting on the potty to go pee pee. WOW - the excitement as well as the exhaustion. For me and probably her too. :)

Staying "clean" today was another story. We only had one poo poo accident this afternoon which was major improvement from this morning. The sticker rewards instead of sweet rewards (plus all the "stoppers" we've been giving her at mealtimes seem to be slowing the poo. We were playing outside before dinner and she stop & tell us to get her to the potty. I literally scooped her up and ran full speed into the house but by the time we reached the potty, she had pooped a little bit. But again, she is recoginizing the feeling!

I didn't realize how physically, mentally and emotionally exhuasting this whole process would be. Plus there has been the surprise of her being fairly clingy with me as well - maybe that relates to her sensing a new phase with the potty training skills and she's unsure of something? If any of you moms out there have some insight, let me know! In the meantime, I'm totally wiped out (no pun intended but seriously I have wiped a lot of hiney today) and I need to eat some ice cream, straighten up the house (again) and crawl into bed.

Potty Training: Day Three "Sweet Rewards Bring Disaster"

2008-03-12T13:41:00.003-05:00

The day dawned clear and bright on Day 3 of what we'll affectionately refer to as "Potty Camp." With Dawson being sick and Clara on the tail end of antibiotics, it's been an adventure to say the least. I got up somewhere around 1am and 5am with Dawson - I'm giving that toot the benefit of the doubt that he actually still feels a bit yucky and that he's not just trying to turn me into an all night diner. (He's got that benefit of the doubt until tomorrow anyway.) Needless to say, Joel was helping Clara out of bed this morning and I heard him telling her that the first thing we do now is get on the potty after we wake up. (I will add that there is something very sexy and romantic about your man being totally involved in potty training with you - clapping and making overly excited faces when she goes in the potty, nodding in understanding as I rinse out yet another poo poo mess - but our parents read this blog too so I'll end this train of thought.)

BIG victories this morning: She woke up still in her nite-nite panties and the bed was dry! She stayed dry all morning and only went pee pee in the potty.

Right now you are a little confused because doesn't the very title of this blog mention the word disaster? BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE. During the first two days we were rewarding Clara with small treats for being dry and going in the potty. By small, we do mean small. 2 M&Ms for being dry and 4 jelly beans for anything that leaves her body while ON the potty. She doesn't normally get a lot of sugar but she's been handling it well, or so we thought. And there's today.

For all of you granola moms out there or those who were raising young children in the early days of disposable diapers or had sons who were allergic to them (we will allow him, I mean "them", to go unnamed) and either had to or chose to use cloth diapers...how did you do it? I mean, YUCK!!

Bless Clara's sweet little heart, that sugar hit her system with a vengeance today and we were derailed in our "bowel training" efforts by this almost un-stemmable tide of...

After I was rinsing out the 4th set of training panties and adding a massive amount of bleach to the washing machine, Joel pointed out that the sugar rewards had to go. So, as we did yesterday, we regrouped. All I have to say is Praise the Lord for online potty charts that you can print for free!! Our Clara loves stickers and so we have two charts taped up in the kitchen now. Every 5-10 mintues we do the "Dry" check. She gets one sticker each for being Dry and/or Clean (no poo poo for you novices out there) on her Potty Train chart. When she fills up the train track chart she gets to put a sticker on the second chart. The second chart is where she puts a special balloon or ladybug sticker when she makes pee pee and/or poo poo in the potty. When that chart is filled up, which should take a week or so, we told her we'll take her to Barnes & Noble and she can pick out any book she wants. She's already excited and shouting for a Dora book. (Side note: by "any" we mean any book that Joel and I deem acceptable and appropriate but we're not really going to try and explain that to a 2 year old. :D)

She is very excited about her sticker chart and hopefully this will keep us on track with "Potty Camp" and not leaving any tracks...

Potty Training: Day Two

2008-03-11T20:19:00.012-05:00

Our second day in the wonderful world of potty training began in a typical fashion...Joel woke up at 2:45am (apparantly he has supersonic senses and heard Clara talking) and invited me to join him in the wee hours by saying he wanted to check on Clara and make sure she was still wearing her "nite nite panties" (aka Pull Ups). I'm only half comprehending him because it's the middle of the night after all and while I'm still drooling with my head bobbing around in a confused fashion, he's out of bed like a shot and down the hall. I heard the door to Clara's room open and although I can't recall what he said, I knew we were in trouble. I stumble out of bed to Clara's room and I see Joel hoisting her out of bed. I see her naked except for socks and something bunched around her waist. That would be the pair of nite nite panties that she was apparantly after when she stripped off her PJs and hauled them off. She did however make some sort of attempt to put the panties back on which resulted in her somehow ripping them and putting both legs through one hole and pulling the whole thing up over her waist. Too bad we didn't have a picture of that! By the time Joel's super-spidey senses put him on the alert, she had already peed in the bed. If you want the details on what we went through next getting both she & the bed cleaned up, please see the entry of Feb. 27th titled "Diaperless Diaries"...

Joel and I literally had to drag ourselves out of bed this morning. I don't know about him but I was repeating a mantra in my head that I couldn't give up after only one day. The novelty had officially worn off with the "rewards" and the whole sitting on the potty thing and watching a video. She just wanted to play. We worked really hard to fill her with liquids and keep her on the potty right after breakfast. She did sit on the potty for about 10 minutes to no avail and then peed her pants 2 mintues after she got off the potty. By almost lunchtime, Joel and I were both pretty exasperated. We re-grouped and decided to back off a little bit and not push so hard for her to drink gallons, sit on the potty and get this learned already. We used the kitchen timer and every 5 minutes we asked, "Are you dry?" and gave her a reward when she answered yes.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Yes she is eating her lunch while sitting on the potty seat and watching a video. I don't even want to hear about it because this was our first big success of the day! That girl left some things behind and got her jelly beans. :)

Joel is the brilliant one who figured out that the WHAT of the reward is key! Today's winner: 2 mini oreo cookies for being dry and jelly beans reserved for pee pee and poo poo in the potty. That was the ticket. I am happy to say that by the time we got to nap time, I'd only done one load of laundry to get panties clean compared to the 2 loads from yesterday. Success? Absolutely.

I am excited to announce that from after naptime until bedtime, SHE WAS DRY! Yes, that's right. Not one pee pee in the panties and a few in the potty. We did have one poo poo mishap but we're focusing on wins here people! She did so great that she got to go outside and "play in the driver's seat" for about 20 minutes.

The day ended with us reminding our little heroine to keep those nite nite panties ON and she was very proud of the big day she had...

AND LEST YOU ACCUSE ME OF FORGETTING MY AMAZING SECOND BORN: DAWSON

Dawson woke up today with a smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes that has been missing for several days. He still slept a lot and isn't feeling 100% but he was willing to be put down AND he even enjoyed playing on the floor. We still have him sleeping in the swing in his room to keep him upright and relieve pressure on his ears but he is definitely on the mend.

BIG BOY milestone: last week Dawson started eating baby food. I have to say he was not a big fan of the rice cereal but I introduced bananas today. BINGO. He lunged himself at the spoon in the high chair, literally smacking his lips for more. I mixed the rice cereal and bananas together at dinner tonight and he was a fan. Anything banana.

He rolls back and forth to get to toys he wants and he sat up for about 10 minutes today on his own. I did have a pillow behind him in case he toppled backward but he was his own man for staying upright! We actually had some family fun after dinner with all four of us sitting in a circle playing with bath tub boats and Little People. Dawson was feisty about getting his hands on everything.

Here are a few pics of our little superhero.

Potty Training: Day One

2008-03-10T22:19:00.006-05:00

For more than a month now, our Spring Break week has been known as Potty Training Week. We're going for the intensive, crash-course potty training method where the calendar is cleared and you do nothing but potty training. Yesterday the whole family went to WalMart and got all the "rewards" for dry panties and making pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty...M&M's, chips, jelly beans, items designed to create thirst which translates into pee-pee, and of course sugar-free pink lemonade to quench the thirst in a fun new way. We showed Clara all the special rewards, let her try on a pair of her new Minnie Mouse panties, watched her parade & dance in front of the mirror, totally loving her new big girl panties. The count down began...

Today began rather early for Joel and I when our sweet Dawson woke up at 12:42am, 2:20am and then sometime during the 4am hour. He had a fever and was in lots of pain. It was heart-wrenching...he would lay in our arms with his eyes closed, just moaning and crying. At 4am, Joel and I decided that he would stay up with Dawson while I rested up for potty training and he would get Dawson to the doctor first thing. (Double ear infection was the culprit. Poor boy.)

So the sun rises upon our house and finds rather bleary-eyed Mommy, Daddy and Dawson and a totally-ready-to-get-on-the-potty Clara. Right after breakfast Clara and I walk through the whole process of using the potty with her baby doll, Cora. Because Joel was at the doctor, we couldn't get it on tape but we'll try tomorrow. Picture Clara and her baby doll both wearing the white cotton training pants, Clara checking to see if baby Cora was "dry" and helping give her a reward. Clara put the M&M first to baby Cora's mouth and then right into her own! So we did a dry run (no pun intended) with baby Cora, all the way to flushing the potty and washing the hands. Clara was then running around the living room shouting that she wanted her reward. And so it began...

The morning started off, well, messy and slow. We had a small pee-pee in the potty which we celebrated by calling Aunt Lexie and of course, the double reward. We also had at least 3 sets of wet panties and I'm sorry to post so publically, 3 poo poo panties. The real breakthrough came when I offered Jelly Beans as the reward for going pee pee on the potty. You could see the determination in her face to get those jelly beans!

We have the little potty seat in the living room so that she can watch 10 minute segments of her favorite shows (The Wonder Pets and Pooh & Friends - today) while sitting on the potty. I really don't know what we would have done without that TV option because how else do you keep a 2 1/2 year old on the potty for 4-10 mintues at a time??

The biggest bummers of the day...when she spends 5+ minutes on the potty with no, um, production and then 2 mintues after getting off the potty she pees. My first thought is not that there is a possible mess to clean up but that great, all of that liquid I got her to drink got wasted and now we've got to do it again.

One of my favorite moments of the day was after Joel came home from the doctor with Dawson. You all know how quick Clara catches on to things...Joel's in the living room and all the sudden Clara is pulling off her panties while shouting, "I want to watch Wonder Pets!" and getting on the potty. Joel was totally thrown off. So we'll either finish this adventure with a girl who is potty-trained or with a girl who thinks that in order to watch TV one must drop trou and sit on the potty. The jury is still out...

Stay tuned for more exciting potty adventures tomorrow...

The Diaperless Diaries...

2008-02-27T23:39:00.002-06:00

It's 11:41pm and I have finally succeeded in getting the house picked up, laundry put away, everything. It's time for me to crawl in bed and read for a few luxurious minutes. I normally check in on the kids before I get in bed and even more so now that we are on the alert for Clara's new diaperless adventures. I slip quietly into her room, gaze down in her bed and there's her little naked bottom. She has taken off her pants and diaper, fallen asleep and of course peed in the bed (a TON) because, well, she's not potty trained. After laughing about all this with Joel, we go in her room and get her out of bed. Joel starts stripping the bed down which includes stuffed animals totaling 2 Mickey Mouses, 2 Minnie Mouses, favorite blue puppy, "other puppy", monkey, and bunny as well as her two favorite blankets. Everything is tainted with pee pee (including her pillow) except for bunny, 1 Minnie Mouse and "other puppy."

So while Joel is changing the sheets, I'm redressing her and explaining that she can't take the diaper off because she doesn't know how to go on the potty yet. She then tells me to potty train her. To which I reply desperately that we're going to during Spring Break and it's not that much longer. She gets a spank and then calls out from her chair while I have to do a touch & sniff test on everything stuffed animal that, "_______ (fill in the stuffed animal's name) is OK."

Joel and I are still laughing and wondering how in the world we're going to make it to March 10th when potty training begins. I really wish I could get a picture of one of these moments but somehow that feels like it would diminish the seriousness of the moment as we try to keep her, well, in her diaper and pants.

I spoke too soon!

2008-02-27T09:38:00.002-06:00

My post ended with the (normally accurate) assumption that naptime wasn't going to happen. I was actually wrong! Clara did indeed fall asleep and slept for almost an hour. Joel was home from school when she woke up so he got her out of bed. I was feeding Dawson and heard him say, "Clara, why did you take your diaper off?" (Again!) Her response was classic: "Because it's not a spanking." Let's just say that removal of the diaper during any sleeping time has become a spankable offence. :) So she slept for an hour in the buff and didn't even wet the bed. (Yes we're potty training very soon.)

So this morning...I woke up after a much needed long night of sleep and walk into Clara's room to find her totally naked except for her socks. She unsnapped and removed her PJ's and her diaper and then peed in the bed. That was just the beginning of our day today that has already involved several disciplinary moments and toys (even though gently) lobbed at her brother's head.

It's only 9:45am but I think I need another nap! I really do love the antics of a 2 year old though. She had all of her animals lined up in front of this little Treehouse toy this morning. When I asked her what they were doing, she told me they were choosing the video they wanted to watch.

I can't wait to see how Dawson's little personality grows as well.

The Blog of all Blogs

2008-02-25T15:07:00.002-06:00

Here is the moment that blogs were made for...it's a rough afternoon here at the Cook household. We had to run some errands that got us home almost an hour after our normal nap times. For most people's kids that would probably mean a super tired child who will fall quickly to sleep. Not my Clara. The more tired she gets, the less likely she is to sleep. She's more inclined to jump up and down in bed singing and laughing (which she has been doing for the last hour). So she's finally gotten annoyed and is starting to cry. I become aware that the cry has escalated and my brain just knows - she's got her leg stuck in the bed. Now this hasn't happened for a few months but I just sense that it's happened and I'm totally right. I go in her room and the first thing I see is her precious, chubby little thigh stuck between the slats of her bed. While I'm trying to pry her leg free I have time to take in the full situation. Every stuffed animal, both blankets and even her pillow have been thrown out of bed onto the floor. I finally get her leg free, scoop her into my arms and something doesn't feel right. There's bare skin touching my arm...because her diaper is laying in the crib. I suppose that would have been thrown out next if her leg hadn't been stuck. There's a first time for everything and now we've had the removal of the diaper. I suppose I should only be surprised that it took her until almost 2 1/2 to do it. As I sit here typing she has begun to cry and chant "I want my water. I want my water." I suppose that is the official sign that there will be no actual sleeping during nap time this afternoon.

Too Late at Night for a Catchy Title...

2008-02-18T23:02:00.003-06:00

Cute Clara Moments:
Earlier this week I told Clara something that she obviously didn't like because she pulled this new face - eyes crinkled up and lips pouty. I'm trying really hard to get a picture to post! A couple of days later at the dinner table, Joel got his first dose of the new face and of course he burst out laughing. While feeding Dawson yesterday, I caught Clara practicing that face in the mirror. Oh my - there must be a gene for that too because her Daddy does that. :)

Yesterday Joel told Clara to be patient about something and she said "I don't want to be patient!" Yikes - that's me coming out there. I'm a constant work in progress for the Lord to work in that area. I even confirmed with my mom this week that I've been impatient since I was born.

Dawson Antics:
I can't really call the last couple of days cute (even though he is always adorable) because it's involved a lot of crying. I came home from Shannie's house about a week ago and the very next day he mastered the skill of turning over from back to his tummy. He loves this new ability and puts it to constant use. He has also learned to take the paci out of his mouth and is working on the getting it back in the mouth skills. Sometimes he can, sometimes he can't. Combine this two new skills and you have a recipe for sleeping disaster. He flips onto his tummy but apparantly doesn't want to sleep that way. He's totally forgotten that before he learned to turn on his tummy, he learned to turn from his tummy to his back. So he ends up on his tummy with no paci and is not at all happy. Thus begins the screaming. I'm wracking my brains to come up with a solution and it's suggested to me (the source remains unnamed but they know who they are!) that perhaps he's too old to be swaddled. OK. So I give the no swaddling thing a try thinking that maybe by freeing up his legs, he'll be able to get the traction needed to turn back from the tummy onto his back and go to sleep. Please go to sleep. Yeah that didn't work. After two days of very valiant effort on my part, lots of crying and very little sleeping on his part, I've acknowleged the fact that my boy is a big snuggler and still wants to be swaddled. So he's snug in his bed, swaddled up with his arms but legs free, and for now asleep.

Catching Up

2008-02-08T21:27:00.000-06:00

There are so many little things that happen in a day...priceless little moments with the kids that I never want to forget. I always think to myself that I should write the stories down but I get busy and forget. The last couple of days have been full of these delightful moments and so here I am. Settle in and enjoy a few stories and pictures for catching up...

My Clara...

Where do I even begin? She is amazing. Every day, probably mulitple times in a day, Joel and I swap stories about her antics, her questions, her everthing. She is almost two and a half and a total delight.

She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and re-enacting the singing and dancing of her favorite episode. We frequently hear her singing & performing "Daisy's Dance". One day we'll catch it on video for you! She is also delevoping her imaginative play skills. She plays house now with her little people and does little character voices.

And she absolutely LOVES playing hide & seek with her cousins Ethan and Allison. They "hide" in the laundry cabinet and stand there taking turns "finding" each other. It's so fun to listen to them play.

I recently made the discovery that my little girl has really challenging hair. Maybe it's just that it is so unlike mine. Her hair is fine and grows pretty slow - mine on the other hand is super thick and grows like a weed. My mom and I got her a haircut recently and she has a "style" now. The amusing part is how much work it is for me! I didn't realize that at a mere two years old I would have to blow dry & style her hair daily for it to look, well, not rowdy. Here is a picture of her after the first time I styled her hair...

Clara is also a fantastic big sister. She loves to give Dawson her toys or even her favorite "green blankie" if he's upset. Dawson of course thinks she hung the moon. If she's around nothing else matters to him - not even eating! We were outside today in the backyard (unfortunately I didn't have my camera) and Clara was in the swing. Dawson was laughing out loud watching her go back and forth in the swing. I am so amazed at the kindness of the Lord in these two amazing children He has given us.

My Dawson...

He has a smile that lights up a room! It never ceases to amaze me how much joy can fill my heart by just looking into his eyes and just holding him. He has this amazing belly laugh that his daddy can bring out better than anyone. And oh how he loves to talk. We'll have to post a little video clip of that too.

Dawson is my snuggly boy...sometimes when he's having trouble falling asleep, he likes for me to lay down right next to him and put my face right up against his. He rubs his face back and forth against mine until he finds just the spot he was looking for and then he falls off to sleep. One time he fell asleep with his nose right under my cheek. When I kiss him (which I love to do as often as possible!) he even turns his lips to me to kiss back. My little guy.

This has been a big week for our boy! He has discovered his feet and mastered the art of turning over from back to tummy. That second skill he learned all of the sudden - he just flipped right over. Now he loves to play on his tummy.

Thanks for reading to the end! I'll start posting more often. :)
Heidi

Another Post!

2007-12-03T21:14:00.001-06:00

This post is mostly for my best friend Shannon because she is the only one who has our blog site address and is so patient with me as I take forever to get the hang of this whole blogging thing. These pics are for you friend!!

Let's see now if I can remember what you taught me about the how-to's of this blog stuff. :)

We're Blogging!

2007-10-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

I'm very excited that my best friend Shannon is bringing our family into the wonderful world of blogging. Take a look at some of these great photos from the past four weeks of our lives.

Keep an eye on Our Cookie Jar for family news, updates, and pictures. And be sure to leave comments!