Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Thanksgiving to be thankful for

I try really hard to evaluate my life and make sure I am living the life I want, spending my time with those I love and grateful for all the many wonderful blessings in my life. I try hard and mostly fail as I yell at my hubby or sigh and wish I had this or that, but other times I nail it and realize I have it all.

Having grandpa and grandma Fey come visit this Thanksgiving is something I am truly thankful for. Ocoee got plenty of family times with two people who love her so much and we all sat down to dinner each night and said a little cheers to our wonderful time together. Since I am lacking on the family department I realize what a true gift time with family can be.

I am also thankful for a happy, healthy Ocoee. She is the happiest part of my day, every day. Happy that she is nailing this potty training thing.

I am thankful for my amazing husband who is the best example of unconditional love I know. He loves me with all my flaws and shortcomings and that is all a girl really needs.

I am thankful for the time I have with my aging pup, Brodie and our crazy Guiness. They both receive much less attention these days but bring joy to our hearts.

I am thankful for my career in education, even on the days when these middle school kiddos suck the life out of me. It feels good to earn a paycheck doing something I can be proud of.

Ocoee said at dinner that she was thankful for piggy back rides and panda bears. She has her priorities in line!

Our holiday week included grandma and grandpa being in town, Thanksgiving dinner at our house with the Berg family celebrating with us, picking out, putting up and decorating a tree, photos with Santa at the tree nursery, and the Nutcracker play. WOO! Busy weekend but so wonderful!

We also did an early Christmas gift exchange with Mike's parents and we were all very spoiled! Ocoee loved the clay lady bug and bumble bee tic, tac, toe set handmade by grandpa and here red nightgown from grandma. We all felt very lucky! My favorite gift Ocoee received was a charm for her charm bracelet that grandma had specially made that had was a silver with her fingerprint on it.......super cool!

Check out our many pictures!!












































Monday, November 11, 2013

Potty training update

Ocoee has been doing excellent with potty training. We give her a few weeks to get used to the transition to the 2 year old room at school and then we told her no more diapers except at naps (home only) and bedtime. She gets fancy organic jelly beans from trader joes if she goes potty and a sticker. She has only had 3-4 accidents and has pottied at restaurants and friends houses with no big issues. We are very very happy. When she is done she likes to say bye bye to pee and say, mommy so proud! I guess what we say does sink in. 

I was so ready to have her potty train. After 2 years of washing cloth diapers I was looking forward to less laundry. Now that it is going so well it has sunk in that this is another milestone. She forges ahead and grows up whether I like it or not. Taking the time to reflect and enjoy these special moments helps but it still seem so fast. 

But cheers to less laundry!

J

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

BOO!














Ocoee has loved Halloween this year. We received a pirate costume to borrow a few months before and she practiced dressing up a lot. She still likes to hide at the front door and say boo! to scare her daddy when he comes home.

For Halloween there was a party at Ocoee's school where we sent some organic juice boxes and organic candy to share. We made treat bags with stickers and rubber ducks that were Halloween creatures. She dressed as a pirate for this party.

I was so excited for her party. I signed up for a cheese tray and picked up hubby and arrived right at 3. On the way to school that morning Ocoee had said she, "Was ready to party!" I thought heck yeah that is my girl! When we arrived though she was her daddy's girl and said, "Ocoee go home". She then cried and clung to me the rest of the party. By the end she was doing better and eating her fruit and licking the icing off the suspiciously orange cupcake. I thought I was being clever by taking the icing and wiping it off on her plate, but she just took the cupcake and dipped it in the icing on her plate.

After the party we went to our friends house who were having a party to start followed by trick or treating. Ocoee loves being around the older kids and felt more comfortable there. She is however, like hubby says more of a closer. By the end of the night she was ready to party all night, just as we were saying, nope bed time!

We had some chili and then set off to houses. For this event Ocoee was a panda. This was also given to us by a friend and was super warm so perfect for Alaska trick or treating. We all felt so blessed that there was no snow for the first time in forever on the ground and it was warm in the 40's.

My goal was 3 houses. Ocoee did her first 3 not so successfully. She didn't really carry her trick or treat bag, didn't want to say trick or treat or thank you and kept a wide distance between her and the candy givers. All except the house where the lady said she had dogs and brought them over to Ocoee. Then CoCo marched right up and was excited.

We went back to the party after the 3 houses but Ocoee demanded to, "go more!'. So off we went. She did do a little better but really just wanted to ride on daddy's shoulders and walk the streets looking at the other trick or treaters. She also liked giving candy out back at the party.

But she was damn cute in her panda outfit. Small kids as animals are just fun!

She still says shiver me timbers and walk the plank at home all the time. She asks me where my tail is. I had to dress as a cat since she decided that for me weeks before the big day. She will also just look at me and meow. Daddy had to be a ghost and they worked together to make a fun ghost shirt for his costume.

She also has learned to be afraid. She has never said she was scared or afraid before but with all the Halloween talk she has learned to be afraid. It is sorta sad to me but also kind of funny. She decided a orange squeeze monster ball she got from a goodie bag at school was scary and was hiding from it. Even after I kissed it and said it was a nice monster she was afraid. She literally shivered with fear when I held her....it was so silly and genuine at the same time. I couldn't help but laugh.

We had a blast carving pumpkins and just getting into the holiday in a way we haven't in a long time. Kids really do make holidays fun.

Cheers
J