1. I hate potty training. I hate cleaning up accidents, not leaving the house for quite a few days, and never being able to turn your back on the kid so you're always aware of when she needs to go. But I do love not having to buy diapers and the freedom of not carrying a diaper bag everywhere you go.
2. I hate running. I hate the feeling of your lungs about to burst, of your legs burning, and of just getting all sweaty so you have to get cleaned up again. But that feeling after you're done running when you have energy and you feel good about yourself and all your clothes fit is such a great feeling.
3. I hate cleaning the house. I hate scrubbing toilets, mopping floors, organizing closets, vacuuming carpets, and picking up toys. But I do love the feeling of walking into a clean house. There's nothing better than sitting on the couch at night with your husband knowing there is no laundry to be done and no mess to be cleaned before you go to bed.
4. I hate losing baby weight. After 9 months of having an incredible appetite, feeling sick to my stomach if my stomach ever got empty, and not being able to work out hard, very bad habits are formed. I hate finding the will power to break those bad habits! But I do like being able to fit in my clothes and feel healthy, and I love having the energy to chase after my kids and play hard with them all day long.
5. I hate confrontation. I hate that feeling of knowing you need to talk to someone and that the conversation may get uncomfortable. But there's nothing better than clearing the air. Than talking through an issue, apologizing, understanding and at least knowing you did everything you needed to do to reconcile. Sleep is so much more peaceful.
6. I hate waking up while its still dark outside. There's nothing worse than the alarm going off before the sun comes up. But I do love sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of coffee, and reading my Bible before the kids get up. I love the quiet of the house and the intimate time that can be had with our Father before the distraction of life and being a mommy gets in the way. There's nothing better than that!
It seems like there are a lot of things I hate to do in life. However, the effect of those things are some of my favorite things in life. As I sit and watch the Olympics, I bet the athletes feel the same way at times. I'm sure grueling workouts aren't all that fun, but the end results of those workouts bring them their dream. I guess I just need to remember that as I pick up a broom to sweep the kitchen floor after breakfast. The mundane and hard things in life are never fun. Its the end results that bring us pleasure.
Last night Avery and Brent went on a date. Avery couldn't have been happier to get to spend the evening with just daddy. Her smile throughout the afternoon was big enough to light up the whole house.
Brent took her to eat pizza, to the park to play and color with sidewalk chalk, and then to get ice cream. What little girl wouldn't feel like a princess after that?
What could be more fun when you have 5 friends over to play than to jump and splash in the pool?
Saturday started out pretty rough. Both girls woke up crying and didn't stop for quite a few hours. I was pregnancy sick, and Brent had been out late with some college friends who were in town and so only got 4 hours of sleep. Needless to say, none of us were enjoying our Saturday. Then my parents called to say they were driving in and going to a Rangers Game. Suddenly a rough Saturday turned fun. Its amazing what a little perspective change can do to your outlook on life =) After an hour and a half rain delay, it turned out to be a great game. We left when the Rangers were winning 7-1. Of course they ended up losing though 8-7. I guess they were sad we left.
We took the test on our anniversary....
And heard the heartbeat today! We're pregnant!!!!!! Our little peanut will be due March 31st, 2009.
Can I have more please?????? 
Maybe if I shake the cup hard enough, more will appear.
We love fruit smoothies!
So we wait in line to get our chance to see Dora. Of course Dora is 15 min late and in the 15 minutes, Elliana has to go potty twice and Avery goes once. I put that little fact in there because any of you with kids can sympathize with how annoying it is to take kids potty at the pool. Wet swim suits and wet swim diapers and gross, wet bathrooms...yuck =) I hope if we ever have another kid its a boy so Brent can experience the joy of taking kids to the restroom! Dora finally arrives, and we wait for another 35 minutes until we get to the front of the line, and then right as I'm getting the kids ready to go sit next to Dora, Dora gets hot and needs to take a break. Grrrrrrr, so close!
As you can see, Elliana is not an avid fan of Dora. I think her scream was loud enough to communicate that fact very clearly to everyone who happened to be swimming today.
After all the pictures were through and we were walking away, Avery stopped me and said, "wait, why we leaving already. I wanted to play with Boots." She wasn't buying this whole waiting in line for an hour just to sit next to Dora and Boots for 3 seconds! So she ran back to touch Boots and say hi one more time and then blew them kisses as she walked away. The things you do for your kiddos =)
You know you're old when you're asleep by 9:30pm on your 5th wedding anniversary. As of August 2nd, we have been married 5 years, lived in 3 places, and have had 2 kids. Thursday night we went out for the night and had our great friend, Susan, stay with the girls. Then Saturday we went out to eat, but we were both so exhausted that we were home by 9:15pm. You know its bad when your babysitter looks at you when you walk in the door and asks if you got bored or something =) But it doesn't matter how late or how exciting the date was, I love Brent more today than I did 5 years ago, or even 1 year ago. This whole marriage thing is the best decision I ever made! Happy Anniversary babe.
Over the past month or so I have periodically put Elliana on the potty. I usually put her on when I see her about to poo, and usually she ends up pooing in the potty. Its always me who has initiated getting her to go on the potty though. Today was the next step. We were all sitting at the table eating lunch, and she looked at me and said "potty". (first time she's ever done that!) I asked her if she needed to go potty, and she shook her head yes so off to the potty we went. I expected nothing from her but she sat down and went poo and clapped for herself the whole time. When she seemed to be done, I took her off, gave her lots of fives and cheers and put a diaper back on. Five minutes later she took me back to the potty and said "potty" and tried to climb back up. I put her back up, expecting nothing again, but she went poo again! I guess she wasn't finished the first time =) Everyone always told me the second kid is much easier. Maybe this will hold true on the whole potty training thing!
We ended our time in Chicago with a trip to the zoo,
and our family gatherings wouldn't be the same without a trip to the mall to play.
On to Des Moines we go!
And you can't forget the ice cream =) For those of you who think its kind of gross that they're eating off the same cone...our moto is "sisters share". They're still too young to distinguish what is kind of gross to share!
Day 2: 2nd hour...everyone still pretty content
7th Hour: Pulling out the candy for entertainment
9th Hour: Portable DVDs are our friend!
10th Hour: Beauty parlor time...whatever works to keep the peace!!!
