Starlight, Starbright

Every night that we were outside and it was dark Ellie would make a wish on the first star. And every night she would wish for a pet. She vacillated over what pet would be just right. For awhile it was an ostrich, then Steve tried to convince her of turtle, the other day it was birds, but usually it came back to either cats or dogs. And since there was no way I was getting a dog... I started to contemplate getting a cat. Of course it would have to be a kitten, so it could get used to these crazy girls that live here.

Steve finally agreed and after consulting with a couple people (mostly Mom) to be sure I wasn't totally losing it, I decided to go for it. I called all over town and searched the Internet to see where to get a pet and the only place is really the animal shelter. So last Friday I took the girls down for an afternoon at the shelter (the girls just call it the pet store). They had all sorts of options. Siamese kittens, calico kittens, teenage cats, adult cats, puppies, dogs (the girls were terrified in the dog room- too much noise) you name it. I grew up with a calico, so that was the kitty that caught my attention. Ellie liked the gray striped one, because it was the smallest. After looking at the cats for awhile we went to Walmart and stocked up on all essentials needed for bringing home a cat. I got cash and we went back. Since Ellie and I couldn't agree on which kitten to get- we got BOTH!!! Yep, we have two little kittens now. And they really are cute. We are having issues with litter training (I don't like cleaning up cat poop!), so they're locked in our kitchen until we can get that figured out. The girls just adore those poor cats. Just look at their faces in the pictures.

Ellie's cat, the striped cat, is named Daisy. My cat (or Katie's cat, depending on who you talk to) doesn't have an official name. Ellie describes her as being camouflage (only a daughter of a military guy would even know that word at age 4) so I call her camo kitty and so far that's what we call her. If anyone has any better ideas, we'd love to hear them! But it's fun having these additions to the family. Opposite of what Dad said, the girls have actually received a few scratches from the cats. They have to learn to be more gentle, and while the kittens are amazingly patient, sometimes the girls are just too rough. Here are a couple pictures of our feline friends...

The girls love when the cats will sleep on their laps. It is rare since the girls can't be calm around them. They are holding their respective cats.
One day I heard this enormous giggle come out of Sarah's mouth and out she runs with poor Daisy in her arms. You can see by her smile just how proud she was that she could do it. So, so funny.
The cats are fascinated by the laptop and like to sit with me at night while I work. They also find my belly to be the perfect resting spot, which I find amusing.

And there you have it. Daisy and Camo Kitty.

Potty Training

Something very bazaar is happening around here. Katie has decided she wants to use the potty now. Steve has been fighting tooth and nail with Katie the last couple months to get her to use the toilet. Both have been getting more and more frustrated. I decided to let it go, since pushing never did any good with Ellie. So then we had some friends over the other night and I caught Katie with that grunting face. I warned Steve and he whisked her away to use the potty. She took care of business, got a treat and has been doing great ever since. I had her in a diaper yesterday and she only had one accident. She even got out of the bathtub to use the potty. Today was pull-ups and while there were a couple incidents, nothing big. She doesn't need reminding to go, and she likes her privacy until it's time to get cleaned up. I'm really a little shocked by all this. It seems too easy... ? The funniest thing is that she practically has lived in the bathroom the last two days to get her treats. That kid has had more sugar pumped into her little body than I'd like to even think about. I'm thinking I need to get a little more organized and do a chart to earn the treats. But yeah... I would absolutely love to have her out of diapers before Junior arrives!

Hansel and... Sarah

We were all playing upstairs and Katie decided she was hungry. She went down and grabbed the package of hot dog buns. We reminded her that food does not belong upstairs so she took it back downstairs. The other two followed her. About 10 minutes later Sarah showed up with a fist-full of hot dog bun. I knew we were in trouble. Sure enough, there was a perfect little crumb trail from the kitchen to the girl's room. As the bun was in her right hand, there was even a predictable trail of crumbs every other stair leading up to the bedroom. At least she could find her way back, right?

Saturday is a special day...

Today I had the girls help me clean up the living room so I could vacuum. I pull out the vacuum and Ellie asks, "who is coming over?" I assured her we had no company on the way and she asked, "so why are you vacuuming?" Hmmm... Good question! ;-)

A couple firsts and a whole lot more...

Well, a couple new things have been going on here.

First of all, we finally have thrown away Katie's pacifiers. I have been wanting to do this for months, but have been chicken- to be honest. She has taken it better than I thought she would. We can very easily use logic with her and she understands more than I would think a 2-year old should. We have decided to wait a little longer before taking Sarah's pacifiers.

Second, I was pulled over for the very first time on Wednesday. I was leaving playgroup and saw the cop sitting there and was going under the speed limit (or so I thought). Turns out I was in a school zone that had no lights, just a posted sign- so if you didn't read the very fine print on the sign, you got caught. Luckily I got away with a warning. I guess it had to happen sometime, right?

Steve has received early acceptance into Georgia Tech, which is flattering. We're still shooting for University of Illinois, but it's nice to have that boost of confidence.

We had a ton of fun with Halloween, which I mentioned. I forgot to mention that when people asked us where the lion was, we would point to my belly and tell them he was cowardly... hehe. Sarah found her dress today and was excitedly dragging it around the house. I'm amazed at how much they enjoyed dressing up. Usually Katie doesn't like it (she cried every time I tried it on her while I was putting it together... she was afraid I'd poke her with pins, which I never did!) Sarah is going to be like Ellie and loves to dress up. She's been joining in with the girls and wearing "dancing outfits". It's very cute to watch her interact with them.

I went to the doctor this week and everything looks good. I'm measuring right on target and this little baby is as active as ever. I'm actually getting kicked in the ribs as I write this. The only bad news I received was that my doctor is being sent to schooling in December, so I have to pick a new one. Not what I wanted to hear, as I felt very confident in this doctor's abilities. I have made it clear I DO NOT want the doctor that delivered Katie (resulting in serious complications) and he said he'd speak with the other available doctors and pick the best one for me. If only he could wait another month to go to school! That's the Army for ya. I've also started getting heartburn, which is typical for me in the 3rd trimester. Time to pull out those Tums! And as always, I'm just constantly exhausted. I am such a wimp with this baby!

Sarah has started making huge strides in her speaking abilities. She repeats just about everything we say and is doing very well. Some of my favorite words of hers: pup (up), pep (help), kuck (stuck), foof-foof (woof-woof) and baba (baby- one of her favorite words). She's also down to just one nap a day.

Ellie had a haircut the day after Halloween. I had let it grow out so she could be Dorothy, but then we took off about 3 inches the next day. It's very cute and a little easier to manage. She still changes clothes at least 10 times a day and there are some days I get really tired of helping her put away her pile of leftovers on the floor.

I mentioned that Katie has ditched the pacifiers (she told us yesterday morning that she didn't need them anymore... the story changed that night when she actually didn't get it!). She is also much more talkative at night now that there's nothing plugging her up! She has basically dropped her afternoon nap, which is very sad. I would say maybe 2 or 3 times a week she actually takes one. She's still as stubborn as ever and and keeps us on our toes. But in the end that will probably be a good attribute for her to have! We have a lot of fun with her. She and Ellie are happy to tell anyone and everyone that their little baby brother is coming after Christmas. It's fun to see them so excited about it.

Belated Wishes

I am belated in wishing Steve a Happy Birthday on here (we didn't get to celebrate it until tonight) and also wishing everyone a Happy Halloween. It was an insanely busy week with Halloween activities three nights this week. Our costumes got some good use, but I'm sure glad we're done dressing up, doing hair and staying up late with those activities. And I'm glad I can officially hide that Halloween candy and the girls don't know any different. :-) I also put some more on our picture website at steve.elgans.com. You'll have to use the slideshow function to see the full pictures...