We have been having a great time in Maui.

We have done quite a bit of cycling this year, which is good because it helps balance out all the food we are eating! At this point in the trip every year, we are all totally sick of eating. This year has been no different. I started out doing well. I made healthy choices and enjoyed lots of local fruits and vegetables. But just like every year, my eating habits slowly deteriorated. I think with just Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I consumed enough calories for the whole week. At least I have been spinning and riding my bike.

Tomorrow we are planning a big ride out on west Maui. The scenery is beautiful and the hills are a real workout. Hopefully we will have nice weather and some great views.

Besides cycling, we have done a bit of shopping and a lot of swimming. The kids have been loving the pool, as usual. Nora has been amazing in the water. I brought her bathing suit that has the floats built into it. The first time she wore it she started swimming on her own and pushing us away. She is pretty much totally self sufficient in the pool now. She gets out and jumps in all on her own, paying no mind to whether there is someone there to catch her or not! Yesterday as we were leaving the pool, I took off her floaties so we could go home. I got my bag and towel and we started walking. I saw her bolt towards the pool. I tried to stop her, but she jumped right in! I had to jump in after her to grab her. She wasn’t even the least bit phased.

Speaking of Nora, I am not sure what has happened to her, but my sweet little angel seems to have been replaced by a devil child. She is so naughty. She loved to taunt Emma and Ian. She squeals and whines when she doesn’t get her way. She has been so moody and grumpy. She is getting plenty of sleep, so I don’t think she is over tired. I’m not sure if it is just all the chaos, or if she is entering the terrible twos. I am hoping my sweet Nora comes back soon

Another nice day in Maui!

I got to go on another bike ride today. It was kind of spur of the moment. The guys went and picked up their rental bikes. When they got back they wanted to to go for a quick ride. I was going to rest today–my legs were exhausted from spinning and riding yesterday. But, I figured I could handle a quick ride.

We ended up going just as far yesterday, but I didn’t attempt to ride the big hill that they call “the wall”. I didn’t make it up yesterday and I knew I couldn’t make it today. Maybe after I rest my legs I’ll try it the next time. Bryan, Scott, and Dad went and did it, while Mary and I stood there and enjoyed the view while we waited for them. Bryan brought his camera today so we were able to get a few pictures.

This is just one of the many fantastic views we got to see on the ride. There are so many hills, which make the ride harder, but they also make for some amazing views. One of these days I am going to have to go ride it in the car so I can get some photos with my camera.

Nora has been talking more and more all the time. Her speech is getting more clear and easier to understand. I am constantly amazed at how many words she knows and the funny things she comes out with.

I took particular notice of how she has been speaking in sentences at 4:00am this morning!

I woke up in what felt like the middle of the night. I heard Nora crying. I went into the kitchen and made her a sippy cup of milk, hoping I could get her to take that and lay back down. When I got there she was beside herself. I tried holding her and cuddling her but all she wanted to do was “See Daddy!” and “Have yummies!” I decided to try to bring her into our bed to calm her down. Amazingly, she did go back to sleep, but not before she tried every possible trick to get us out of bed.

Over and over she kept repeating “Turn on a cartoons, Mommy?” I was surprised that she was speaking in 5 word sentences. I was proud of her, but I wished she would stop speaking altogether since it was 4:00am. Finally she settled down and fell asleep next to Scott. I was thrilled to get another 3 hours of sleep.

I wasn’t thrilled with how well Nora was speaking at 4:00am, but when I got up this morning I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It is amazing how once they start talking they just take off. Nora is not only speaking a lot, she is also making us laugh a lot.

This week she started telling jokes, Nora style. All of a sudden out of the blue she started saying “Underwear, underwear” and laughing hysterically.

One of her other favorite things to do lately is stick her bum out at you and sing “Shake a booty, shake a booty” while doing the cutest little wiggle.

She is just so funny, and she is growing up altogether too quickly. I’m just trying to take notice and savor all the cute little “Noraisms”.

I’m too tired to post much.

I spent most of the day having carpets cleaned at my parents and my house. They just left my house and it is 10:28pm!

We had quite an eventful day. I started the morning by going to spinning. Then watched my carpets and air ducts become spotless. Hopefully all the cat urine is out of the carpet, and we won’t have any more accidents. You wouldn’t believe the stuff that came out of our air ducts. Almost a whole magnet alphabet set, multiple chunks of drywall, more toys, a huge rock, and tons of sawdust and building materials. The air we are breathing will definitely be cleaner now!

I managed to be home when the UPS guy came, so I got to sign for and receive my camera. Unfortunately I had to wait for the battery to charge so I didn’t get to play with it much. I’m looking forward to shooting some photos tomorrow.

While the carpet guy was cleaning, Ian got a hold of one of the screws from the cold air returns. We took them off so the tech could clean the air duct. While the kids were watching Rudolf, Ian decided to scratch 4 lines into our BRAND NEW tv and then throw the screw at the screen. I came running when I heard Emma say that Ian threw something at the TV. There are 4 small lines in the bottom right of the TV screen. Only one is really visible when you watch the TV. Then there are 2 dead pixels where the screw hit the screen. I was so angry I almost cried. Scott had a talk with him and put him to bed. What can we do? We explained to him that it was a very bad thing he had done, but he just kind of looked at us like he didn’t get it. I don’t really think he understood why he had done it. He just got the screw in his hand and started doing it without thinking. UGH!

I am exhausted and can’t wait to get to bed! Only 25 more things on my to do list tomorrow

I had a really nice day with Ian today. We spent the whole day together, just he and I.

I started out by spending the morning in his classroom at his Thanksgiving feast. I am the class photographer, so I went to take pictures. It was fun to watch him interact with the teachers and the other kids in the classroom.

After that I took him to run a few errands, and then we headed down to Salt Lake City to get his hair cut. I scheduled him an appointment with Eddie, who has been cutting my hair for years. Eddie really doesn’t cut kids hair, but I knew that Ian would behave there. He has always done really well for hair cuts. I am loving his longer shaggy hair, but it really needed a trim. It needed to be shaped by someone who really knows how to cut hair, especially curly hair.

Ian loved it. He felt like a big guy and Eddie even put gel in his hair. I think his it turned out great! I think I’ll have to keep taking him to Eddie from now on.

After his hair cut we went out for ice cream. It was so nice to spend some time just one on one with Ian. I really got to enjoy him, rather than herding him around, as Vicky said Excuse the blue teeth in the photo. I took them after he finished eating bright blue cotton candy ice cream.

Emma is going to take a break from voice lessons for a little while.

When she first started going to the Utah Music Conservatory, I signed her up for a group class. She loved singing and she loved the class. This fall I signed her up for another group class, but they didn’t end up getting enough kids and they canceled the class.

She enjoyed singing so much, that she didn’t want to quit. I decided to sign her up for private lessons with her teacher, Janet White, from the summer. She started out strong and really enjoyed it. She constantly asked me to put on her music CD in the car so she could practice. But gradually it has gotten to be more and more of a chore to get her to practice.

She is supposed to practice for 30 minutes a day. At age 6 1/2 I think that is a bit too much, but I would like her to practice a few times a week. I have been feeling like she isn’t getting anything out of the class. She goes to her lesson, and then doesn’t open the books or sing again until lesson time next week.

I talked to her about it and asked her if she would like to take a break. She answered with an emphatic “Yes!” Last week I talked to Mrs. Janet about it, and signed the resignation form. She keep going until the end of this semester, which means she has just 2 more classes.

I think Emma has singing talent and I just don’t want to ruin it for her. She loves to sing and I don’t want it to become a chore for her. I think part of what she loved about the first class was the social aspect. Hopefully they will have enough kids over the summer to run the group class again. By then, Emma will hopefully be ready to sing some more.

Emma got invited to Zia’s birthday party after all. Last night I got a phone call from Zia’s mom. She said that she wasn’t sure if Emma had been invited or not, but that Zia really wanted Emma to come to her party. I’m not really sure what exactly happened, but Emma was thrilled to be invited.

It turned out to be a Star Wars party, and they wanted everyone to come in costume. How perfect! Emma has been really loving Star Wars lately, and she was Princess Leia for Halloween. She couldn’t wait to wear her costume again.

She had a great time, and I was happy for her that she got to attend afterall.

It was a busy party day. As soon as that party was over, we all headed over to Vicky’s house for the twins birthday get together. I can’t believe they are 3 already! It was a lot of fun. It was fun to see Tiffany and Laurel there. I haven’t seen them in a while, and it was nice to catch up. The kids all had a great time, and got along really well. They decorated cupcakes and it was a huge hit. Hopefully Vicky’s house didn’t get too trashed

Vicky had the most delicious cup cakes for the adults. I don’t even like cake, and I ate way more than my share Her neighbor makes them and sells them. I’ll have to keep them in mind in case we ever need yummy desserts for our parties.

It was a busy party day, but it was a lot of fun!

Emma came home from school today talking about her “best friend” Zia. She has had a new best friend almost every week since school started. I have taken that as a good sign. I am glad that she can be friends with all different kids.

She started talking about Zia’s birthday. She is having a birthday party. Emma said that she wasn’t invited. She said “Zia can only invite 17 people, and there is no room for me.” She seemed sad about it, but said that she would still want to invite Zia to her birthday. Emma has been talking about her party for months I have been trying to explain to her that she should tell people about her party, because we aren’t sure who we will invite 3 months from now. I keep trying to tell her that she could hurt some people’s feelings if she talks about it now and doesn’t invite them later. This was a perfect example of that happening. I tried to explain to her that how she was feeling now, was how other kids would feel if they didn’t get invited to her party later.

All of a sudden she burst out crying. She said that Zia is her best friend but there are 2 girls that are very mean to her. Apparently one of them told her she wasn’t her best friend, that she couldn’t come to her birthday, and that she couldn’t play with them. Another girl who has been one of Emma’s good friends, apparently went along with the mean girl.

I felt so sad for her when I heard her crying. I just wanted to hug her and make it all go away. I felt so bad to see my little girl hurting, and not really have any control over it. I remember all of these issues so well, but I wasn’t thinking they started in first grade.

I gave her a hug and tried to comfort her. I told her that there will always be some kids that aren’t nice. The important thing is for her to keep being nice, and to try to be friends with everyone. I know that Emma is a sweet and sensitive little girl. It just breaks my heart to hear that everyone is not that way to her.

Well, I decided to start working on potty training Nora after all. I wasn’t sure I was ready, but she was showing clear signs of being ready. I decided to just start and see how it went.

I started just letting her wear dresses with no diaper or underwear underneath. With Emma and Ian I found that this was the best method. If they had an accident they got immediate feedback and pee running down their legs. It usually sent them running for the bathroom in mid stream.

The first few days Nora did great. She peed in the potty many times and pooped every day for about 3 days. I started trying to have her wear underwear, but that didn’t go as well. She had more accidents, but I decided to keep trying. One day I had her wear underwear when we left the house. She had about 5 accidents and her pants were completely wet

The last week or so has been harder. We have been gone a lot and it just doesn’t go as well when we are away from home. She is distracted and she just isn’t able to hold it until we can get to a bathroom.

So, it isn’t perfect, but I am still encouraged. I am still having her go naked as much as I can when I am home with her. When we are out in public, she is wearing pull ups. I think she is making progress, but slowly. Which is fine, because she is still really young, and we have lots of time.

Ian has decided that he wants to be dry at night, and he wanted to try the bedwetting alarm that worked so well for Emma.

When we were in North Carolina a few weeks ago, one night I forgot to put a pull up on him. My mom had put his pjs on him, and she always waits until just before bed to put the pull ups on. When I put him to bed later that night, I thought he was already wearing a pull up, and I just put him to bed.

Early the next morning I woke up to “MOM you forgot to put a pull up on me!”. I immediately imagined wet sheets and a pee soaked mattress. But instead he was thrilled to report that he had stayed dry all night. He was really proud of himself. He was just glowing all morning and told everyone about his dry night.

The next night we talked about it, and he decided to give it another try. We put a waterproof pad on his bed in case of any accidents, but no pull up. He woke me up at about 1:00am with wet pants. I helped him change his pjs and put him back to bed.

The next day he asked if he could use the bedwetting alarm when we got home. I thought it sounded like a great idea. Nora is working on potty training and it would be great to get Ian out of pull ups.

So when we got home, we started. The first night the alarm went off at about 11:00pm. He peed just a little bit in his underwear and then finished in the toilet. The same thing happened about 6:00am. The second night was about the same. But the fact that he only peed a bit and then woke up and went to the bathroom is great progress for him.

I think it was going well. The only problem is, now we can’t find the alarm anywhere! Our cleaning lady came on Tuesday and she put it in with the toys. Ian got it out of there and was playing with it. Scott says he saw him with it but what happened after that is fuzzy. Ian says he gave it to Scott and Scott says he told Ian to put it somewhere. I have spent HOURS going over every single place in our house and I CANNOT find it. I am so frustrated! I don’t want Ian to stop using it, but I really don’t want to buy another one. It was expensive! I am keeping my fingers crossed that somehow it will show up in the next couple of days. UGH!