Visit from Nana & Susy

Two of my favorite people just got to come visit us here in Utah, and are the first of my family to meet Sela. My Nana and Auntie Susy live in California, and we haven’t gotten to see them for a few years now.

They flew in the weekend before Memorial Day and stayed with us for the week. It was a tight fit in our small apartment, but totally worth it! Even when Nana snored loud enough to shake the windows. ;) They brought way too many gifts for the kids, but that is just how they are. Nana and Susy may not be materially rich, but they have more love to give than most other people I know. They have quite a bit of sass, too, to keep it interesting.

While they were here we did a lot of playing, went to the park a time or two. We also took a trip up to Park City to get some souvenirs from the Wasatch Brew Pub. Susy liked the beer they make called Polygamy Porter. The slogan is “Bring some home to the wives.” Irreverent humor, gotta love it!

Another day we took the kids’ wagon and walked to the Home Depot next door. I wanted to plant some flowers, herbs and tomatoes, but am fairly clueless about such things. I figured I would take advantage of having Nana and Susy here as they both grow things. We loaded up that wagon and then had to haul all the stuff up to our third floor. Ugh. The next day Brendan and I planted while Susy and Nana supervised. It was a lot of fun to see it come together. I’ll post updated pictures of how the plants are doing, assuming, of course, that they actually survive.

We also took everyone to the zoo, which was nifty, too. Sela put on some movie-star glam and

Brendan got to ride the train. The zoo had a new exhibit of a white alligator, “Ghost of the Bayou,” that was pretty creepy to look at. They aren’t albino, but have a genetic defect. Apparently there are only about 10 of them in the world right now. Then we walked all over the zoo until we were ready to collapse.

All in all, we had a great time with these two dear people. I am truly blessed that they are part of my family and my life. And that they actually put up with me is a HUGE bonus!

Potty Trained!

Without too much ado, Brendan is finally potty trained – mostly.

Starting March 13th, during the Fast (was this a wise choice?), Brendan stopped using day-time diapers and pull-ups. Well, actually, I told him that I wasn’t going to actually BUY anymore pull-ups, so his choices were big-boy underpants (we have Thomas the Tank-Engine, Diego, Elmo, Bob the Builder, and Cars underpants) or really cheap (the cheapest I could find) diapers. He chose the underpants, go figure! We had a few accidents in the beginning (only 1 or 2 have been more than pee-pee), but now we are just correcting the occasional technical (read: aiming) issue. We have even gone on a 5-hour car ride with no problems!

We have had one funny incident so far. Brendan still needs some assistance (or thinks he does) with getting his pants back up after the deed is done. This NORMALLY isn’t a problem. Unless you are in a house FULL of people you don’t know (98% Persian) for Ridvan (Bahá’í holy day), and Brendan comes into the room with his pants (under and regular) around his ankles, calling “Mommy! Need help!” in an unnecessarily loud voice. Embarrassed isn’t the word to describe how I felt. Helpfully, many of these people are parents, and were understanding.

I cannot tell you how pleased I am by this result of this experience. I thought for sure I would have the world’s first teenager in pull-ups. And after his potty-training experiment, I am committed to getting Sela trained before she is two (famous last words!), and I will NOT be using pull-ups again. For now, I am just happy as a bug in a rug with the things Brendan is learning. And I am also happily sticking my head in the sand about the issue of night-time potty issues.

No more house

Our house in Colorado has finally sold. We actually closed yesterday. I wish I could be more happy, but I am still reeling from the fleecing we took. I know in my heart of hearts (Brian, too) that we are better off for not having this house anymore, but the way things went down were painful. I won’t bore you with the details, but we have wondered if we are too nice and/or just plain expect too much.