Retraction & Apology

This is an apology to my Dad. His name is not Earnest. His name is Edwin. His father's name was Earnest. He went by Cowboy though. It's easy to get confused. Earnest is Cowboy, Edwin is Skip, Sanford is Easy, and Sanford is Tripp. I hope when my children grow up, get married, and have their own kids that they break this cycle of nicknames.

So - Daddy, I'm sorry I posted your name incorrectly. I would tell everyone how easy it is to remember your given name, but that would require teasing you publicly so I won't do it. I hope you accept my apologies - if you read my blog.

Five for Five

Five important people, five nicknames a piece:

1. Nell Hartleib = Mom, Graggie (invented by Paris), Mama Nell, Sweet Nell (only my Dad calls her that), and Grago ( a version of Graggie)

2. Sanford Foster Jr. = Easy, Smooch, Daddy, Baby (as in "Hey Baby"), Honey

3. Paris = Goose, Princess, Digadum (this is what Tripp calls her even though she hates it and he's capable of saying Paris - the sibling bickering/irritation has already begun!), Baby, Sweet Girl

4. Sanford Foster, III = Tripp, Tripper, Monkey, Tipey Toe, Prince

5. Vivian = Vivie, Little V, Bug, Duchess, Vivoo (that would be Paris' nickname for her)

and so he doen't feel left out.............a bonus

6. Earnest Hartleib = Skip, Dad, Dadoo(inventd by Paris), Skipper(usually by my folks good friend Brenda), Old Man (usually used by me when he hasn't heard anything else I've said!)

The House is Quiet

Well, it's Saturday night and my house is quiet. Mom & Dad left from here (they came in on Wednesday) to go get my Nana and bring her back here tomorrow for Christmas. Kids are all in bed. It's eerily quiet. So, I thought I'd take a minute and give a synopsis on my week.

Saturday I went on a date with my hubby to celebrate our anniversary. We've been married 8 years. We drove down to the Woodlands mall, did some shopping, and then ate at Papadeaux using a $50 gift certificate that Easy got from work. Yea free food!

Sunday we had friends over for our annual Christmas party for our internet business. We had 13 children here - the oldest was 8. Thank goodness it was warm enought to send them outside! Sadly that meant it was hot inside because our heater AND air conditioner weren't working properly.

Monday we spent the day working on the potty thing with Tripp.

Tuesday (our actual anniversary) We spent the day working on potty training with Tripp. My hubby came in briefly after work before he had to attend a meeting. We made plans for a romantic rendevouz later that night. Sadly, while Easy was gone Viv's spiked 103 fever. No romance.

Wednesday I took Viv to the doctor where they switched the antibiotic she was taking to something else that would "hold us over" until we go see the ENT next Tuesday. Graggie & Dadoo (that's my folks) arrive for Christmas vacation at the Foster's. Took the kids to see Santa's Wonderland (an amazing lights display that is ALMOST worth the $20 a car the charge to drive through). Went out to eat at Sodalak's to celebrate my husband turning 30. Finally he can stop poking fun at me for being 30 because he is too!

Thursday:
Finished all Christmas shopping and wrapping.

Finished Viv's stocking. Well, mostly. It has a Teddy Bear that gets stitched into the big snowman's arms and I didn't finish that. The instructions even tell you to put the whole thing together and then do the teddy bear. It's almost as though they know that mommies everywhere will frantically being trying to finish the stocking in time so they just give you an out. The bear will be done after Christmas. The important part is that she has a stocking - already full of stuffers - for Christmas morning.

Did the big grocery shop with my Mom. Last time we had Christmas at my house was two years ago and it was a MUCH smaller house with a MUCH MUCH smaller kitchen. I think this year will be a more pleasant cooking experience.

Friday we had Mimi & Papa & Christopher (Easy's mom, stepdad, and we'll call him a step-nephew - it's really complicated) up for our little Christmas with them. We all went out to lunch and had a blast. Then we did the present thing. Fun all around. That night after the two little ones went to bed, Mom and I played a rousing game of Pretty Pretty Princess with our princess Paris followed by a game of Go Fish that Easy and my Dad joined. It was a wonderful day.

That brings us to today - the first true family day we've had in I don't know when. After my folks left we lounged around a while and then went to Petco and the mall. We came home and had naptime - everyone napped except Tripp. He played in his room. Then we loaded back up and went out to see the lights at Central Park. We were hoping to get out and walked the park, but it was raining so we stayed in the warm suburban.

Amidst all the activity this week we were able to make MAJOR progress with Tripp's potty training. He now goes over to his potty when he needs to go TT. He even went twice today in the little potty we keep in the car. He has demonstrated that he can feel it coming, and he has also learned to let it go. It's not always easy or fun but we are definitely getting there! I'm gonna go - Easy and I are going to watch Click now that the kids are all in bed. Hope you all have a great Christmas - ours is has already been fantastic and it's just getting started!

New Frontiers

Friday Five this week is dedicated to the new frontier my son is conquering:

Five places Tripp Peed yesterday:

5. On the carpet sitting in front of the TV watching Elmo's Potty Time - this actually happened twice.

4. In his cute little undies (boxer briefs!) standing in front of the TV watching Elmo's Potty Time.

3. On the carpet sitting next to his Little People toys playing in his room - again this one happened twice.

2. In his diaper approximately 30 seconds after I put it on him for nap time - seriously, I think he was holding it until then!

and the #1 place Tripp put his TT yesterday..............................................

In the Potty!!!!!!!!!

We had two success - one in the morning and one in the evening. I've already figured out that when sitting on the potty he can feel it coming and tries to hold it. I suppose after two years peeing in the very confined space of a diaper it is a little weird to let it go when your just hanging out there on the potty. But he did - twice! I'm proud and I'm convinced he is ready to learn how to do it for real. Day two begins when we get back from picking up my suburban from the shop. With dilligent effort and a few prayers my hope is to have him trained (excluding sleep time) by the time he goes back to school in January. Wish me luck!!!!!

Brrrrrrrrrr..........

It's cold outside AND in my house! OK, so I'm glad we're actually having cold weather because I love cold weather....when my heater works - which it doesn't. Thursday night Easy commented that he didn't think it was working right. Having been chasing kids and cooking I didn't hink the house was all that cold. Friday morning I conceded that he was right. Poor Viv slept in little spurts of 2-3 hours because she got cold enough it woke her up. So, a very nice tech came out and "fixed" the problem late Friday. He said it was a temporary fix and he would find out how to permanently fix it and be back next week. Silly me, I thought the temp fix would actually last until he came back. No such luck. We had heat until sometime early this morning. Now it's cold. Viv's still fighting a cold, Tripp's coming down with one and its cold in my house. I think I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight so I can snuggle Viv close and keep her warm. I'm unhappy. My babies are cold and there is nothing I can do until tomorrow. Grrrrrrrrrr, oh I mean Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

On a happier note - I want to give Josh Jones a shout out for what he did with our POPS class this morning. Last week Josh asked all the men to stay after for a moment. I'll admit, some of us wives talked this week trying to figure out what they were up to. Well, this morning we found out. Our entire class time was spent listening to our hubbies tell us "3 reasons" why the love us. The cool part I thought was that no one really had 3 things. It was either way more than that, or was a continuous thought on how amazing their wife is, or they got choked up and couldn't really talk. I've never seen more men cry. It was a beautiful outpouring of love. We are so loved and cherished by our husbands. Thank you God for prompting Josh to plan such an activity. And thank you Josh for listening. And thank you men for being so honest. And thank you Smooch for loving me. I love you too.

Friday Five

Five Reasons I haven't blogged in two weeks:

1. I sprained the fool out of my ankle the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Did you know a sprained ankle can make your brain top functioning properly? It can.

2. I left town (and my computer) for 5 days to spend Thanksgiving with family in New Braunfels.

3. The amount of food I ingested while in New Braunfels slowed my reflexes so that it took until today to be able to think and type.

4. I got a cortisone shot in my wrist and had to start wearing a brace to hopefully releive the tendonitis I have there. (Be looking for a Friday Five of things it's difficult to do when your dominant wrist AND ankle are immobilized!)

5. I've been too busy putting up Christmas decorations in my house to stop and play on the computer!!!!!!!!! WooHoo!!!! It's December!!!!

Hope you all have a great weekend!