driver and passenger

the boys favorite thing to do these days is play in the front of the car. "abel drive! ozzy passenger!" "no ozzy drive! abel passenger!" is about all we hear these days. it's adorable and it's relatively stress-free play, as long as the parking brake is on and the doors remain open (you could get a heat stroke in there on a normal texas summer day). and the boys do a good job taking turns at the steering wheel. their imaginations really come alive as they pretend to drive to the beach, or pretend the car is a submarine, or an airplane. the only downside is getting into the car the next morning and being greeted by a rear view mirror full of fingerprints!

Bring on the Duece!

We had mad success yesterday - Abel made No. 2 on the potty!!! It's blowing my mind a little, because we really didn't "start" potty training at all. We just give them opportunities to sit and tell them we will reward if they produce. And I honestly didn't think they were even ready. We have asked them if they want to go poo-poo on the potty for months and they have repeatedly said no. I guess when you throw the possibility of chocolate in the mix, it becomes a different story, however. Smart kids.

Just in the past week, they are now going pee on the potty multiple times a day (Ozzy really excels in this arena). And now Abel with No. 2. So awesome! They are still in diapers, because we're just not up to underwear yet, but I'm still really excited about all this progress.

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you Abie and Oz!

weekend with toddlers

in less than a 24-hour span, abel has massively skinned his knee and flipped over his ATV, face-planting it in the street. thank god there were no cars coming and he just has a scraped chin and knee to show for it.

in the same less than 24-hour span, oskar has puked five times and gotten his fingers smashed in the car door. his puking subsided within an hour and he was like nothing happened and his fingers are swollen but we don't think broken.

i swear i'm developing super-power nerves of steel. there is never a dull moment when you are raising two boys!

Number One!

Abel and Oskar both made pee-pee in the potty today. Horray!!!

They have both been sitting a lot on their potties lately, reading books, etc. But with no results. Today I upped the ante and told them they'd get a jelly bean if they made pee-pee and a chocolate if they made a poop. Let's just say Oz was mega-motivated, because he emptied his bladder on the spot. As soon as Abel saw what Oz produced, he was hell-bent on making a pee too. Success!

Now the boys are obsessively talking about chocolate, so maybe we'll see Numero Dos in the near future.

I know this is hardly even the beginning of our potty training adventures, but I'm thrilled about it nonetheless. I wasn't even planning on pushing it until after we moved and were settled, but I'm just going to provide them ample opportunity for potty-sitting and reward them for any results. We'll see what happens!

singin' in the shower

ozzy joins the legions of folks who practice their vocal chops (and dance moves) in the shower. american idol, here he comes!

afternoon delight!

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nap high

high five, that is. today i listened to the boys crack up for the first 20 minutes of nap time. i quietly opened the door to find them giving each other high fives. over and over and over again. i told them to go to sleep but i can tell you now, it's not going to happen. every time one stops, you hear the other say, "ozzy play high five!" and then they count the number of high fives they give each other. they go up to eleven and then it starts again.

please god let their hands get tired and just have them GO TO SLEEP!

the gods must be crazy

i've been holding off on spreading the news of the craziness we've gotten ourselves into. not to worry - the crazies are all good, but it's crazy nonetheless. in chronological order:

1. jordan quit his job at UBS today and moved his business to Morgan Stanley. congrats honey! and if anybody needs a financial planner amidst this economic chaos, a second opinion on their investments (always a good thing), life insurance, or is in the middle of a life event (job change, retirement, marriage, babies, divorce, etc.), give jordan a call! 512/963-1654. he's amazing, but i'm not biased in the least ;-)

2. both jordan and i will be away from the boys overnight for the first time since their birth. brandy and ed are getting married at the end of this month and we are going to chicago alone! the boys will be in the capable and loving hands of nana and lee-lee.

3. we're moving! we found the land/house of our dreams. it happened completely unexpectedly...we weren't even looking (you might remember we just finished remodeling our kitchen?!). but when you find something you love, and the getting is good, you just have to go for it. we'll be living on an acre of hill country and the house has a rustic lodge sort-of feel. so much character! we close two days before we leave for chicago and we'll move by june 15. here's a sneak peek:


we're trying to rent our current house, which is a fabulous place. just in case you know of someone moving to austin or looking for a house in town, please send them to our craigslist posting. i will really miss being in this neighborhood. it is, perhaps, the most family-friendly place i've ever lived.

the boys seem to be genuinely excited about moving to "the house in the woods;" every time we ask them if they want to live there, they enthusiastically say "yah!" which in my book, means A LOT, since every other wood out of their mouths is NO!

our heads are spinning a bit with all that's going on, but we're just going to try to take every thing in stride and keep our eyes on the big picture. it will be nice when july hits and we can sink into our new digs and enjoy the crazy hot austin summer.