Random tibdits for today

1) If you have a little one who has a small tushie or who is pottytraining early, Fruit of the Loom makes the smallest undies (their 2-3T size) to fit that petite frame. Carter's, it seems, is cut for wider babies. [Jana update: She's doing really well at pottytraining with some accident-free days, even as we've phased out the raisinettes. Shhh...she usually forgets to ask. Ahem. But still being in a crib has its drawbacks in that she can't come out at night or during naps to go pee unless she hollers for me, which she seldom does. So, she's in her trainers for naps (love those Imse Vimse and Little Beetles!) and diapers at night. She even did well at Sea World!]

2) We're finding out that shipping a car cross-country is not cheap! And finding a reputable company is not easy, either. We're getting some quotes via recommendations from movingscam.com (love them!) and will report back. :)

3) If you have a Publix Supermarket by you - definitely try their cakes for special occasions. They are reasonably priced and have so many options for decorations and the cake itself. For Jana's 2nd birthday, we got her a Pooh bear one with marbled cake and fresh strawberries on the inside and freshly whipped topping on the outside. Yummers! I cannot wait! Anyhow, I had a taste of one of their cakes at A & J's friends' bday party this weekend, which gave me the idea. I was going to get another Costco one but decided to try this instead. Yay!

How's that for random? ;)

Potty thoughts...the clean kind...

So, it's been quite a few weeks that Aidan has been dry all through the night without having to wake us up to take him potty in hte middle of the night. Hallelujah! With this new milestone under his belt, Aidan has been so different. And, I mean, different. This is how it happened: So after a few nights of dry diapers, we decided that we would put him in underwear overnite as a test run. Then he continue to keep his underwear dry, for the most part. And since then, he's been saying things like "Yes, I will" [to requests like it's time to take a bath - normally there will be pleas and bargaining], "Ok, I will do it" [let's stop playing and go have lunch - usually there will be hiding or bargaining], and "That's ok, I can do it by myself" [where he has been stubbornly wanting us to do things for him that he can clearly do himself]. Kev and I could scarely believe our ears. Everytime we heard that we kept staring at each other as if to say "Did I just hear that correctly" or "Did that just come out of his mouth?". I mean, Aidan is a very pleasant and generally obedient boy...but he really is just 3 and a half and has a tendency to want his own way and do his own thing on his timeline. But who knew that keeping dry at night would empower him in such a way?! Maybe someone has already written about this observation in a book or something but I thought I would share our experience in case no one had. ;)

And now, Jana. I had already written in the past about how Jana wants to go and can go #2 on the potty for a while now because of her great desire to emulate Aidan in everyway. So, I thought, let's see if she's ready to potty-train totally. So this morning, I decided to give it ago. Wowzers. Let's just say - only 1 tiny accident all day today and she was in underwear almost the entire day [just not naps and bedtime]!! AND, she told me she had to go without prompting! She is getting raisinettes for each deposit into the potty and for keeping her underwear dry - maybe she really likes raisinettes?! :) And here's hoping that this is not just a fluke but that I'll really be diaper-free for a while!! Will keep y'all posted!

Updates

Some personal updates:
-We've had some more visitors come through and it's been so fun! Really, who would've thought so many people would be able to visit. We feel blessed. :) But, we're only here for another few months or so, so book your vacation now. ;) The kids are so used to visitors (they love them, really) that they sometimes ask if anyone is coming. Haha!
-We are finally over our colds. Blech. I thought I had escaped cold season unscathed since it's already the end of March but nope, I caught something really awful just about 2 weeks ago. You know, fevers, aches, chills and general malaise. Thank goodness Kev got it later than me, so we were able to switch off. Praise God the kids got minor sniffles (though they both had some allergies symptoms already). Anyhow, we should be done, right?
-Jana has been going #2 on the potty consistently!!!! I still can't believe it, even as I'm typing. But her willingness to emulate Aidan in every aspect has paid off! :) So, I'm hoping to potty train her soon since she can pee when placed on the potty. How exciting would that be?!?! Sorry if it's TMI! :)
-In other potty training news, Aidan has had a few nights of dry diapers! That is a huge thing b/c he was wet almost every night for a while and would wake us up to change him into underwear. Yeah, it was a bit tiring. But we're hoping this dryness is not a fluke but a sign of a more mature bladder. [That just sounded really weird, eh?]
-We've been watching American Idol almost every Tuesday and I dunno, it's alright. We had liked David A. but it almost seems like he's too young for this competition. We'll see what happens...but, oh, Kimberley Locke was on last night - I really miss her season! When it was down to Reuben, Clay and her, I really couldn't pick. Ah, the memories.
-One of our friends had his cancer return recently and it was just so sad for us. His wife has been updating their blog with his progress, so please pray if you get the chance. Just reading the blog brings me so much encouragement because of how much faith they have in Him during this time. They also have 2 little ones and I don't know how I would be doing if I were her. May God be glorified!!
-We're closer and closer to moving and have started to look for housing online more regularly. Some of our friends have also given us contact info of friends they have in the area. Thanks so much! Please keep that coming - it would be so nice to already have some people to hang with when we move. :)

...yay for updates!

Welp, where to begin? Hmm....how about with fire ants? ;)

ANTS: These unwanted house guests are no longer around - yippee!! Our rule is, if we didn't invite you and you aren't paying rent, you're outta here, esp. if you might terrorize our kids! Anyhow, despite all our efforts with setting out baits and spraying with Bac-out, we had to call the "ant people" (that's what Aidan affectionately calls them!) to come and spray. The spray that they use has definitely come a long way - they are micro-encapsulated and are pretty safe for kids when dry. What a relief! [Aidan did enjoy having the 2 ant guys around for the 10 minutes they were in our house to check out how bad the situation was and to ascertain the kind of ant we were blessed with. He was so excited that he couldn't stop jumping up and down the WHOLE TIME and made them laugh. They kept asking me if I was sure I didn't just give him any sugar - haha! If only they knew: Aidan doesn't need any of that to have an abundance of energy!!] Anyhow, we found out we had fire ants in the house, which is a rare thing, because most of the time, they prefer to be outdoors. Also, it was strange that they showed up in my upstairs closet first. And what is even more strange but when I told my immediate family, I found out we all had some sort of an ant problem this month. Do ants symbolize something spiritually? Seriously. If anyone knows anything about this, please email me.

VBS: Aidan went to VBS for the first time last week and did a good job. He was placed in the Pre-K3 class, though we had just turned 3 the Friday before the VBS began. He was pretty ambivalent about whether he liked it - maybe it was the more rigid structure that he wasn't used to. We have a more flexible schedule at home everyday but it's nothing like "school". We wanted him to go beucase we thought it would be a good opportunity for him to hang out with other kids and get a bit of Jesus stories from someone other than us. It was interesting having just 1 child all those mornings after I had dropped Aidan off. I had some quality one-on-one time with Jana and I remember thinking to myself, "Man, after having 2 kids all the time, having just one is super easy!" Then I thought, "We do want more kids, so I better get to thinking that having 2 is really easy." Though it's so hard to have that perspective beforehand. Maybe I hafta borrow someone's kid for practice! Haha!

POTTYTRAINING: It's going remarkably well for Aidan. For a few weeks now, he's been wearing underwear all day and a diaper at night. There have been a few accidents here and there but mostly from him forgetting when he's so excited to be out and about. He also still has a bit of trouble timing #2 but, oh well. Cloth diapering has prepared me to be upclose and personal with poop. ;) He hasn't kept a diaper dry overnight yet, so I'm not going to worry about training him overnight yet. But I now understand what ppl mean when they say it'll be so much easier to train when they're ready. I'm just glad that he's ready now vs 18 y.o. - hehe! He has also gotten so much better in telling me when he has to go, which is such a big step!!! Alrighty, enough potty-talk....

JANA-JANA: Jana has been talking a lot (mostly in Chinese - yay!) and walking around with some alacrity. After Aidan learned to walk, sometimes he would still crawl since he was such an efficient crawler but not our little Jana. Once she walked, that's almost all she did. Plus, she always looked so satisfied with herself and has even attempted speed-walking to catch up with Aidan sometimes. Her attempts come with some hilarious results. :) I should really take a video of it one of these days. Jana doesn't sign half as much as Aidan did but she is picking up speaking so quickly. It's really so fun and rewarding to see them learn stuff!!

CHURCH: I think we have finally settled on a church! :) For a while, we were debating between 2 but when the Pastor preached again on something we had both read in the Word during the week, we felt like this was a confirmation. Plus, it also came down to one factor: how easy it was to know what's going on and get involved. In the beginning, we did our search online since we didn't really know anyone to ask about Spirit-filled churches with small groups. So, having a clear, informative website was really key - we were able to check out what they believed in and what ministries they emphasized before even stepping into their building. Plus it helped us narrow down our list - there are so many churches around here!! Finally, we picked a few in our area to visit. When we went to visit a few churches, it became clear what really drew us to a church. We appreciated a good, organized nursery that our kids would like (at least eventually) and maybe learn something from. We also appreciated people who welcomed us, showed us where things were and gave us information about the church and how to get involved. We didn't have to try too hard to find out about small groups or get someone to contact us about it. It was nice. Plus, at one church, some random guy was nice enough to say hi and then introduce us to his enture family and hung out with us for a good half an hour after church! It was hard going into a church where everyone seemed to already have a group and already engaged in conversation, so that was very refreshing!! Anyhow, after trying a few churches to get a feel for things [we wanted to settle in fairly quickly since we might only be here for 1 year], we decided on Countryside Christian Center. We're also getting involved in a small group there but have only been there 2x, so more on that at a later date.

SOBERING THOUGHTS: We just found out that a family that we have known for some time just lost their little son this last week in a pool accident. It was so sad to hear about it because we can't imagine what we would do if that had happened to us. It just reminded us what a gift our children are and to not take for granted our times together, even when they're acting up and to really enjoy this time we have with them, esp. when they want to hang out with us at this young age. We were also reminded to let the little things (that they do that annoy us or make us mad) remain the little things - and not let them crowd out the big things, the important things in life. Some days, Kev and I find ourselves getting mad so frequently over those little things that it was hard to enjoy our kids. But we are now more aware of this and trying to find things to enjoy about them, even when they're trying our patience. :)

Anyhow, we hope all of you are doing well. I'm sure all of us are learning lots from God each week. Feel free to shoot us an email about it, we'd love to hear from you!! Cheers!

...things we love currently

I thought to mix things up a bit, we'll talk about how things are going by talking about things we currently love:

1)Bi-O-Kleen Bac-Out: It's this natural enzyme spray cleaner that is good for so many things. It takes (organic) stains out of clothing, cloth diapers, carpets and such with no problem. What's even more amazing, ants hate them so we've been able to use this friendly-around-kids spray to quarantine the ants we've had in the house. People tell me it's a Florida thing but it was no fun to find ants in the house, esp. since we've working so hard to keeping it so clean to prevent roach problems. :( The ants were coming in thru the cracks in the base boards looking for water [at least that's what people have been telling me they do and yes, it's been fairly dry here.]. But with the baits we've put out and the Bac-out to quarantine them, they're pretty much gone. How annoying, though. I'm just glad they're not spiders. But a large mass of anything buggy gives me the heebee jeebees (or however you spell it). Blech!

2)Talc-free baby powder: We've never actually used it on the kiddies' bottoms but we've been using it incessantly to take sand off their bodies after our many beach trips to try and keep the car clean. Seriously, this stuff works like magic! You just sprinkle some on and then brush it off - voila! No more sand! This really helps with the post-beach trip diaper changes. :) Plus, someone gave us the Jasmine-scented one, so we're all a nice-smelling, slightly white bunch after a trip to the beach. :)

3) DEET-free bug spray: Because it's so warm all the time, I think Florida is home to a lot of bugs! Mosquitoes, no see-ums, you name it! So everytime we've gone out, we've had to remember to spray ourselves down from head to head. However, those no see-ums still seem to get Kev and I - I'm thinking even though we can't see them, they can still see where we've not sprayed! Doh! [The kids have not been bitten as much as us, praise the Lord!] Anyhow, we heard it gets better when it's not so hot - we're looking forward to it. But anyhow, the spray has been one of our best friends lately. :)

4) The extensive Pinellas County Library system: I think there are about 5 librares that are pretty close to us - we've been to 4 of them already. Not only are there programs galore (puppet shows, dog shows, storytime, etc), there's a ton of kiddie and non-kiddie DVDs to rent out and lots of fish books. [Trust us, we know; we've taken about 30 of them home already!!] One of the library even has an entire floor devoted to kids - we're impressed. Plus, we can borrow books from any of these libraries and return them all to the closest one. Needless to say, we go there a lot and the kids don't complain! :)

5) Forums: The main way I've been meeting moms is through these 2 forums - Mamasource and Mothering. It's definitely a different age these days, I guess. I've tried going to play areas and library to chat with people but it seems as if they're already in a group or don't have too much time to chat b/c they're running around chasing after their kids, too. But thru these forums, I've gotten to know these moms a bit and have even met up for playgroups and such. It feels a bit funny sometimes to meet up with perfect strangers but it's been working out great. :) I do miss all of you mommies I used to hang out with, though! Much love to ya!!

6)Our little Weber grill, meat thermometer & Cooks Illustrated: We've been grilling lots since it's been so hot and it's been great! :) Kev, the master griller, has been reading up on how to make the juiciest, tenderest meats (thanks to Cooks Illustrated!) and we've been reaping the benefits. No more tough chicken, dry steak or charred hotdogs. Yay!

7) Joovy Caboose Ultralight Double Stroller: So, we finally jumped on the bandwagon and got ourselves a double stroller. It was a tough, agonizing decision because I wanted something light, yet sturdy. Something that fits in the Camry's trunk when folded. Something that's fits through doorways and not hard to steer. Something that can accomodate an infant car seat when we have another. So, after lots of research, we decided to try this double first. The next one on our list was the Baby Planet Unity Double - a side by side double. Anyhow, praise the Lord b/c this stroller ended up working out great. Aidan doesn't mind sitting on the bench facing me, though he does do contortionist moves to see the front sometimes. There is a lap belt for the little guy, so at least he can't pop off at whim. It only weighs 21 lbs, so not too hard to manage and fits in our trunk! It steers great and fits thru aisles just fine (we took it outlet shopping without a problem). I like the big sunshade and the parent organizer but don't like how hard the basket is to get at, though. When Aidan prefers to walk, I don't feel like I'm pushing a train (it's not that long) and it's much better than pushing those shopping carts with a car in the front! Anyways, the long and short of it is, we do like it and anticipate using it a lot. :)

8) Cloth trainers & Thomas/Sesame Street underwear - Yuppers, Aidan is now formally pottytraining! It took a long while to find the right time to do it, from selling the house to moving, but we're finally settled somewhere. Plus, we wanted to make sure Aidan was pretty ready so it wouldn't take a bazillion years and lots of accidents. ;) Welp, we started about 3 weeks ago and for 2 weeks he's been in underwear during the day and a diapers at night. Yay! Thanks to all the moms that gave me great advice about training and for praying for us. :) Having Thomas & friends and various Sesame Street characters on your butt seems to be a big thing for a 2 y.o. boy. :) I also invested in cloth trainers for long outings where bathrooms might be hard to find (though we stashed a new little potty from freecycle that's in our trunk right now for places with no potties), which has been a God-send. Thanks Auntie Jen for lending us some from cousins' stash. [Sshhh! We won't tell them they shared!] We're also getting to know where the bathrooms are at the places we frequent and who has the nicest, cleanest ones. :)

9) And the last one is just for the ladies - Nordstrom's free bra fitting: After you have a baby (or two or three) and esp. after breastfeeding, your body is just not quite the same, esp. in the chest area (at least that's how it is for me). Since I have finally weaned Jana, I decided to go for a bra fitting. They do a great job and really know what they're doing. Actually, a lot of times, you end up being surprised at what size you actually are. And have a great fitting undergarment is an awesome feeling b/c your clothes will fit better, too. Plus, they are currently having their famous Anniversary sale, so it's very likely that your bra will be on sale!

Anyways, long post, eh? Before signing off, we just wanted to welcome Baby Lucas Foung and Baby Boy Naran into the world! We love you guys!! Alrighty, over and out.