Thunderworks!

We have had the most dull winter here in So Cal. I know, I know. I shouldn't complain. I love California weather 9 months out of the year (the other 3 months when it breaks 85 degrees or dares reach triple digits really piss me off. I am a weather baby and I can't stand it to be too hot. God shouldn't allow temps to get that high.) Though I'd like to have a white Christmas every year, once Christmas is over, I'm generally thankful that I don't have to worry about things like snow tires or shoveling snow. And if I really want to see my kids play in the snow then I can just drive an hour into the mountains and I'm all set. So don't get me wrong. I appreciate our mild weather here in the Golden State. But c'mon - can we have SOME winter please? It had been 80 degrees last week. And almost the entire fall and winter months have been bone dry. I love rain. Not enough to move to Washington, mind you. But I do love to get a few downpours every winter. So finally, FINALLY we're getting some rain! McKenna was so thrilled when she saw it. To her this is the equivolent of waking up to snow I guess! LOL! And she loves thunder. She calls it "thunderworks" because once there was a storm and she got scared of the noise and we told her that it was loud and said "BOOM" like the fireworks she watched with Pop-Pop. So now she calls thunder "thunderworks" and whenever we're lucky enough to get thunderworks, she always asks to go see Pop-Pop.

Which I believe we will be doing tomorrow. The exterminators are coming and we'll need to get out of the house for a few hours. PRAY against our plague of rodents please. I would really like to have a nice pest-free home for a change.

Speaking of homes, my sister and family moved into their new house this weekend. I'm so proud of them and excited for them. Behold....The new Catalano home:


My sister was concerned because a few nights ago they stopped by their new local mall and a high-speed chase went through the parking lot, zipping right by them! So of course, as anyone would feel after just plunking down half a mill on a house, she worried what kind of neighborhood they'd just bought into. The reality is that crime is everywhere. Even the safest neighborhoods in the country experience crimes. And Mel and Bri just moved from south county which is a gorgeous area - yet there were ALWAYS cops in their apartment complex. AND the biggest meth lab IN Orange County history was discovered in their complex! I mean, that is some crazy bad luck to be paying $1700+ for a 2bedroom apartment only to find that a meth lab is right across the way from you. After I told Erick about the high-speed chase, he said "That it. We can never live next door to your sister. They attract crime and we attract pests. If we lived next door to each other then the world would implode. Or at the very least, property values would plummet." Ha ha! Too true. Too true. We must be cursed.

Oh! I have some awesome news!! McKenna went all night in p.a.n.t.i.e.s and NO ACCIDENTS!! We decided to switch from diapers to training pants because she seemed rather attached to the idea that she got to wear diapers like Kyla does. We'd been diaper-free in the daytime but nonetheless, everytime we'd change Kyla's diaper, she'd ask to wear one too. We would tell her "No, we don't wear diapers in the day time anymore." Then at night we would give her the option of diaper or p.a.n.t.i.e.s and she ALWAYS chose diaper. I figured I'd give it time before encouraging her to try the other route. We decided to get away from the word diaper and buy training pants. She wore them to bed a few nights. She loved them and wanted to wear those in the day too. But we stuck to our rule of p.a.n.t.i.e.s in the day. Then last night, instead of asking "training pants or p.a.n.t.i.e.s, I just said "Do you want to wear p.a.n.t.i.e.s to bed or just butt?" (LOL for any new readers, that's what she calls it when she wants to go commando "No diapers, no p.a.n.t.i.e.s, just butt.") She chose p.a.n.t.i.e.s. So we got her dressed, talked about what she should do if she had to go potty, said prayers and asked God to help her to remember to use the potty if she needed to and hoped for the best. And when she woke up this morning, dry!!! I was so proud of her! We ran around the room cheering and you could tell she didn't even know what I was making a fuss over. She gave me this shy grin like "What'd I do?" So no turning back now I guess!

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Ok, some kid noteables for my Mommy journal:

* Kyla is continuing to LOVE her solid foods. She gets so excited when it's time to eat. Kicks her legs and squeals and smiles that giant smile. Yesterday at lunch she ate TWO of her normal servings. You would think this means she's taking less formula but no, she's downing her bottles too. Maybe a growth spurt? She's now eating apple, banana and sweet potatoes. Each mixed with rice cereal. We bought her some oatmeal cereal too, which we'll try in a few days. For some reason, it always does a Mommy's heart good to see her children eat well. Why is that?

* Kyla has started pulling hair. On her end, it's a loving and sweet thing to do. She grabs your hair and then pulls you close so that she can give you a big open-mouth slobbery kiss on your cheek. But to the recipient, ouch! The first time, McKenna cried and told Kyla "Don't pull my hair!" But then I explained to her that Kyla doesn't know better and that she needs to try to be patient with her. So now when it happens, McKenna says very cautiously "Mooooommy? Kyla has my hair! Help me!"

* The wishing jar has been very successful so far. She's really taken to the idea and has gotten much better about testing her limits (not that she's given up that hobby entirely!) and working through a tantrum. The other day she threw herself on the floor when I told her "no lollipops before dinner." But as soon as she threw herself on the floor she stopped, waited a second and then said in a calm voice "I don't want dinner." LOL I did appreciate her attempt to sensibley talk me into a lollipop. I didn't give in of course but I did applaud her for asking nicely and gave her some pennies for the wishing jar.

* At night, after dinner she gets her lollipop reward if she has no potty accidents. She is so funny because she knows if she's extra cute she can usually pursuade me to give her another one. (They're the dumdum lollipops so their small.) She gives me a sweet little look and tilts her head to the side and says "Just one more please?" and then gives me a big hug and kiss without my even asking. Then she waits for even the slightest sign that I might falter. If I smile, if I say "Wellll" then she takes off like a bolt of lightening and runs for the lollipops and says "YES! Some MORE!!"

* Whilst eating a lollipop the other day, Erick was holding her in his arms. She went to give him a taste but her lollipop ended up in his goatee. She said "Oh! You got some on your tootie!!"

* Everything is "weird" or "cool" to her lately. "Dats weird!" and "Dat's cool!" or "Dat's a dood idea!"(good idea). And if she REALLY wants something, she insists that she NEEDS it. "Mommy, I neeeeed that!" You can almost here the implied "I will simply DIE without it!" I'm sorry but how come no one told me that teenage tendencies begin at age TWO??

* When she sings her princess songs, now she must hold her "dress" out to the side like the princesses do. Sometimes her dress is her nightgown or just her shirt or shorts. But that is how she now performs her songs.

* She likes to climb into my lap and grab my finger and says "Touch the spindle. Touch it I say!" (If you've watched Sleeping Beauty 500 times like I have then you know this scene by heart as well.) Then she makes my finger touch something and I have to feign a dramatic sleep-death. And I can't get up until she gives me a kiss. Perfectly fine except sometimes she'll abandon me. Just walks away and leaves me there to die.

* We were in the car and Erick was talking to me. McKenna was jabbering LOUDLY in the backseat. We kept saying "Shhhhh" to try to get her to lower her voice enough so I could at least hear Erick but she wouldn't quiet down. Just kept blabbering on and on. Erick finally said "Kenna, shh. Daddy is talking to Mommy." She got a defiant look on her face and said "No, KENNA is talking to Mommy!" LOL, apparently she felt that HE was interrupting HER instead of vice versa!

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Alright, enough is enough. Time for me to go about my day. I've got my Chocolate Chip Cookie tart burning so that it's nice and cozy. I showered before bed last night so I think I may choose to stay in my pajamas all day. I've got a nice hot cup of coffee with Cinnamon Vanilla Creamer. Although thanks to Andrea I am now addicted to Starbuck's "Cinnamon Dolce Latte". I've heard of them before but I don't really like Starbucks. But she described it as tasting "like a Cinnabon, only liquified". YUM! So I tried it and now I'm hooked. Maybe my loving husband will pick one up for me on his way home tonight. Hmm, which reminds me. What should I make for dinner? I'm thinking salmon, greek salad and baked potato. Yes, it's decided. That's what we'll eat. So let it be written, so let it be done.

I'm off to scrap! Here are two other LOs that I've completed:

This is for my friend Elaine. Maddy is her daughter and these are Elaine's parents who recently moved to the Philippines.

Credits:"Shine" kit by Carrie Stephens, stars from her "Vibrant Blossom" kit (available exclusively at the Shabby Shoppe). Inked edge overlay by Nancie Rowe Janitz. Inked edge action from Atomic Cupcake. Fonts are MB Ponytails and CK Mama. Quote from the song "Somewhere Out There". Photo action from Photoblast.

This is just a photo of McKenna that I've always loved. I want to make sure to scrap lots of her baby pics because I didn't start scrapping until recently and I don't want her baby photos to go unscrapped. So I'm trying to catch up on those!

Credits:Papers (recolored) by Jayne Richards, alpha by Kim Christensen, flowers by Susan Bartolini, font is LD Splendid.