Myann pee'd in the potty!!!

Tonight Myann pee'd in the potty for the first time. She woke up from her nap and was sitting with Brian and told him she had to go peepee. He quickly put her on the potty and she actually went. This is HUGE!!! She has been talking about it for a while as previously mentioned, but never actually did anything on the potty. We are quite excited. I had hoped she would potty train early since she has been quite aware for 6 months, but didn't get my hopes up. We are still quite a ways away, and I have no doubt she may revert when Baby boy arrives, but regardless, what an awesome achievement today in the Johansen household.

As for the rest of the weekend, yesterday we were back out at the French's lake house with the Prizemans. Shane went out with Todd on the jet ski and was too happy to go. Myann passed out in Blaine's arms while he was driving the boat, that is about the norm. It was a bit chilly in the water for me, but just hanging out with friends was wonderful.



Myann driving the boat



Today we just rearranged the house...not quite, but I guess I am nesting and trying to make room for baby. He will be in our room for a while, so we had to create closet space for him. I moved all my work clothes out, woohoo, won't need those anytime soon. Then I headed to the mall to start my Christmas shopping early and met Sandra and Jenn at Twigs for apps and dessert before going to see Mama Mia. We almost bailed when we found out our showtime was for the "sing" version. Oops, but we decided to go anyway and were quite happy when we walked into the theater and observed that it didn't look like a "singing" kind of crowd. We were right, no singing, though there were times I was tempted, and the subtitles during the songs was pretty cool, didn't know some of the words before.

Had to post before I forget

This is my second Daddy post. We've taught Shane how to read the first number on a clock, and set a rule he cannot come out of his room until 7 each morning. Works fantastic 6 out of 7 mornings, which certainly beats zero out of 7 just a few weeks ago. Now we're working on a rule where he can get out of bed at 7, but stay in his playroom or read books until 9. Ambitous goal, but what is the down side to trying. We have an old TV in the playroom which Kari has been trying to teach him to operate. Her complaint is it only has 15 channels even though it's hooked to cable. So this morning I thought, if 15 channels works sometimes, I will fix it to be cable ready and really keep him occupied. So I went to the menu, played with it for awhile, switched it to cable ready, and presto 100 plus channels. I showed Shane again the up and down arrows and said you can watch whatever you want. I left him with Tom and Jerry and came down stairs.

About 10 minutes later he came storming downstairs. "Daddy, that TV is making me nervous!!" Why is it making you nevous I asked. "Because it has too many channels so it's making me frustrated!!"

Dad's plans backfire once again. But it was a good lesson and pretty funny at the same time.

Random cute pictures

Myann - obviously Mom and Dad spend too much time on the computer. She is likely looking for Elmo's potty time. That is what she asks for everytime I pull my laptop out. By the way, Myann has been telling me all week when she poops and sometimes before she poops. I have been putting her on the potty, but still no business in the potty. We're hopeful though.




Shane and Myann sitting watching tv, I can't remember what, but they sure were focused. I think they may have been tired after a park playdate too.



Puppies got groomed for the first time on Aug 21st. They got shaved, they look like new dogs.






Because I am paranoid about having time after Baby Boy, I have ordered Halloween costumes early this year. The family theme is Super Heros - as you can see - the WHOLE family is getting dressed up.



Shane is going to be Optimus Prime (Transformer) - he picked it from a catalog over a month ago. We have never seen the movie, so I don't think he really knows who he is, but he thought the costume was cool. The mask is too big, so we just bought him a new helmet with voice changer - compliments of my friend Michelle's astute shopping.



Myann's other new trick - climbing on the table. This is where I find her anytime I leave her alone for more than 30 seconds.




Shane and Myann enjoying a smoothie, Shane insisted, "Mom we are cute take our picture." He was right, so how could I resist.

Week in review & and one year flashback

So today after Mobius with our friends, we went to Pig Out in the Park. This time last year we did the same event on the same day. Here is a picture from last year. I didn't many this year, since I had both kids and with my 9 month belly, photos weren't happening.

One year ago:



From today:




Amber multi-tasking at Mobius. Myann LOVES her Amber. Amber was watching the girls so Sandra and I could finish the crafts with the boys.



This was another crazy week of swimming in 50 degree weather. Shane was wonderful and took it so well. Myann and I froze on the sidelines.



Shane putting half his face in the water.




Shane is still not a swimmer, but he is getting better about putting his face in the water and will back float. Maybe next summer he will finally swim alone. Though he has no fear of slides. On his last day of class Thursday, he went down with Josh, his swim coach two times. Amazingly enough, it wasn't too cold for the wasps. Poor Tina was holding Myann when she was stung by a wasp. By a miracle, she held on to her, heck I'm her mom and I would have dropped her if I got stung.

Photos from Shane's last swim class:






After swimming, we met our mommy group friends at Millwood and had a great time as always. Myann has gotten pretty independent on the playground and Shane just runs with his friends.

Then Thursday night was the hot dog social at St. Al's, the kids preschool. School starts back next week and Shane will continue to go 2 days and Myann will start one day. Shane is ready to go back and I think he will do great with his teachers. I know Myann's teachers well, since they were Shane's last year, and they are wonderful, but I am so nervous about how she will do. Napping in a room with other kids should be interesting. But she seemed to love playing, though that consisted of beating a baby doll's head against the stove 5 times before sticking her in the oven to cook. Obviously, I will be watching her closely around her new baby brother.

Good Monday

Myann finally got it, that what she has been eating for a week have been nectarines and not apples. All last week she would cry for her apples. This morning I cut some nectarines up with my cereal and she reached and said "Nectarine, nectarine, I want nectarine!" It was too cute and I was so thrilled that my constant reiterations that they were nectarines and not apples finally sunk in.

Tonight when I put Shane to bed he was so sweet and melted my heart. He said he did not want to eat dinner anymore, because dinner made him grow bigger. He said that if he got too big then he couldn't be my kid anymore. He said he wanted to stay my little boy. Ahhh! Now this is totally my fault, because I tell him all the time that I want him to stay my little boy. I did explain that he would still be my kid no matter how big he got.

Oh and I almost forgot to tell how I woke up this morning. I was startled awake by little hands rubbing my belly. Shane snuck in our room early this morning, lifted my shirt and was rubbing my belly talking to his baby brother. After I got over the startle factor, I could appreciate how sweet he was being talking to his baby brother. I don't even think he meant to wake me.

Swimming, Chap's, and MORE fruit picking

Thursday, the weather was STILL cold, like 55 degrees, so we headed out for swimming. I left Myann home with Tina to spare her the cool temps and her determination to go in the water regardless. Shane was the only kid in his class who showed, so he had a private lesson with Josh. He had so much fun and it only got better when the rain started coming down. Josh looked less than thrilled, but Shane was all too happy to swim in the rain. Us moms all huddled under the umbrella until class was over.

Then Tina took the kids to McDonald's while I took the car for an oil change. I didn't mind the oil change taking an hour, because that meant I got to read magazines for a whole hour. Here are some pics of the kids at McDonald's.





Thursday night, Brian and I had are weekly date night. We were supposed to actually go to a comedy show at Coeur d'alene casino, but Brian hosed those plans because he is a man and incapable of planning anything. He blames me, but we both know he messed up. :) However, we still managed to have a great date night at Twig's. Then I finally made it to Ferrante's for gelato, they always close before we get there. Not gelato like Italy, but good ice cream anyway. And then we drove around and got gas. Sounds mundane, but anything to get an evening away while Tina does baths and puts the kids to bed. Date nights will be infrequent in the coming months, so we are savoring them now.

Friday, we met our mom's group at my favorite breakfast place, Chap's. Nothing like good ol' biscuits and gravy, potatoes, and eggs with lots of meat and cheese. Oh yeah, and they have a great place for the kids to play and I could sit and chat with other moms. Shane was able to play with one of his favorite girl's, Vanessa, he just really likes her. Within minutes of her getting there I saw Shane hugging her and following her everywhere. This is odd for Shane, because he is in that I don't play with girls stage and will only if there is not an alternative around. When it was time to go, Shane started a meltdown, but I managed to get him to the car without having to pick him up, since I am not in the condition to do that these days, especially with Myann in the other arm.

Shane with Vanessa



Saturday was day 2 of the return to nice weather, we're talking 70s and sunny - kind of like San Diego. We loaded the kids up straight from bed into the truck to return to Green Bluff for fruit picking. The cold weather kept the full size peaches from ripening, but we still managed to get some awesome donut peaches, nectarines, and yellow plums. Very good. Plus we went with friends, so the kids were excited to run around picking fruit together.







The rest of the day, while Myann slept and mommy went for a long 80 minute massage (I am making the most of this end of pregnancy can't do much phase), Brian and Shane shoveled a huge truck load of dirt around the house. We needed to bring up the dirt level around the house to fill in holes and Brian put his truck to good use. They were two very dirty boys by the time I got home.

Link to Maternity Pictures

http://www.jaideanbakerphotography.com/Slideshows/Johansen

This link will be up for 2 weeks. As you can see, Shane LOVES the belly.

Kid's funnies today

So no swimming today, we tried, we drove to the swim park, but it was raining. I told Shane I didn't think they would have swim class since it was raining. Shane's response was quite logical, he said, "why can't I swim when it's raining? I swim in the pool and it is water and rain is water, so why can't we swim in the rain?" I told him it was a valid point, but I still didn't think it would be open. When we got there, sure enough, the place was empty.

Then last night Shane did the sweetest thing. He pulled his Thomas the Train fold out bed out of the play room and put it in his room at the foot of his bed. He told me it was going to be his baby brother's bed when he came out of my tummy. I told him that the baby would be too small for this bed and Shane said it was ok because he would put blankets around the baby. How sweet is that! I told him that baby brother wouldn't be able to sleep there for a while, he would sleep in my room. He seemed ok with that, but he has yet to move that bed.

And Myann cracked me up at Walmart while shopping today. She was starting to get restless, so I handed her a sucker to hold her over until I could finish shopping. It worked for a while and then she decided she still wanted to stand up in her seat. I told her that I would take her sucker if she did not sit down, she then responded, "You no take my sucker." It was very firm, what a little backtalker I already have. She was so cute in her little voice though that I had to let her keep it.

Swimming at 60 degrees

Bless his heart, Shane was a trooper this morning at swimming. He did so good at listening to the swim coach and even smiled for the camera, and mind you it was 60 degrees outside. Truth be told, he was actually warm since the water is either heated or still hot from the hot weather we have been having. Myann and I were freezing though and wrapped a towel around us to keep warm during his lesson. This weather is nuts, nearly 100 on Monday and then 60 degrees at 10 am on Tuesday. After swimming I took Shane to school to realize his class was gone. It was Chuck E Cheese day and they left before we got there. I knew he would be devastated to miss it, so I drove him up and met up with his class. His teachers are so wonderful and let him join right in. And of course they rode in the city bus back to school, Shane loves riding the bus. Myann and I did a few rides before leaving since I didn't think it would be fair to tease her by going and not letting her play. She was content with her few rides and then agreeably went home.

While Myann napped, I had the luxury of experiencing an afternoon of getting personal things done around the house, rather than working. I did work a couple hours, but normally I work her whole nap, getting nothing done for us. I think I am going to like the no working thing.

Tonight I had a mom's night out at Azteca with my mommy group. It was awesome to get out for a fun dinner with all adults and no kids. I am taking full advantage now since I know come mid-September it will be months before I get a night away like this.

Kids funny sayings today, Myann was saying "I walk" the whole car ride, apparently she didn't want to be in the car. And "stop it". Not so cute since she usually follows it with a hit, she does this to me when I don't give her what she wants. Shane apparently gave Brian a long lecture on the way home from school today about not having a drink when he picked him up. I usually have a drink for him if I pick him up, since I come from home. Shane didn't get that daddy was coming from work and didn't have a sippy cup handy. Brian said he had to hear about it the whole way home.

Busy busy busy

Sorry but blogging hasn't been an option the past week. Last week was a blur, I worked A Lot. I had to finish my final report and get it in the mail. I did and it went out Thursday at 5pm. Woohoo! I really wanted to celebrate, but Brian was out of town. We did manage to fit in a few activities - OB appt on Monday, baby and I are good. Shane and Myann talked the doctor's ear off, but she is always so sweet and listens to EVERYTHING they have to say. Myann had My Gym on Tuesday, she loves that class and might have a future in basketball. She is quite sneaky about getting balls past me from the ball pit. Thursday, Shane had a dentist appt and he did awesome. We got a good report and he just sat there and let her clean and check with no worries. I had a dental appt too, but didn't think you'd be as interested in a picture of me at the dentist.



Friday, we had a playdate at our friend Jenn's house and the kids had a really good time. It has really warmed up here, so after playing hard on the playground, we cooled off in her pools.

Saturday morning, I loaded up the kids and headed to Greenbluff for some peach and apricot picking. Normally I would say it wasn't a smart thing to do without Brian, but I have an awesome group of friends here with equally wonderful husbands who REALLY helped me. They help me corral the kids, since I just can't handle 2 in a crowded public place right now, I don't get around too fast. And the stroller would have been impossible for me to load on and off the tractor trailer, but Amber's husband was kind enough to do it for me. We didn't actually get peaches and apricots, they were all picked out, but we did pick some of the best nectarines ever. Myann was not particular and happy to eat the unripened ones she picked off the lower branches. Shane insisted they were still peaches, but happy to pick away for "good ones". All in all it was fun, 10am ice cream, fruit picking, and pony rides - just about a kids perfect day. I think we are going again this weekend to hope we actually get there early enough for peaches.



Sunday, we had a photographer come out to do maternity/kid pictures. The kids were not very cooperative. Shane wanted his toolbox in every picture and Myann did not want to be near Shane for anything. Then when we tried to take pictures in our bed, the kids decided it was time to go wild and run crazy. I am hopeful that we got a few decent shots. The photographer posted a sneak peak on her blog.
http://www.jaideanb.blogspot.com/
Once I get past the seeing myself 50 lbs heavier than normal, I can acknowledge that the first few are pretty good and capture what I wanted, me pregnant and with the kids. And they are pretty much true to daily life, me carrying Myann around and Shane hugging the belly.

After photos, we went out to the French's lake house again to escape the heat. Getting out in the water and on the boat definitely made the heat tolerable. The kids did awesome until the meltdowns came later that evening. Shane even did a 30 minute jet ski ride with Brian and played nonstop on the beach. Myann demonstrated her awesome talent of blowing bubbles in the water and buckling ever life jacket buckle she could get her hands on.



Myann buckling at 50 mph - she is determined!



Today we started outdoor swim lessons and of course it is supposed to rain most of the week. Gotta love that. But Shane enjoyed lessons this morning, so even if we have to miss a few, I think it is worth it. Myann was determined to join the class, so I spent the whole class keeping her away from Shane and in the shallow area.



Then we played at the park with friends. Myann slipped in the mud and rather than being a good mommy and running to her rescue, I dug for my camera and avoided her until I could get a good shot. It was so funny, all us moms were cracking up.





Then home to get the kids to bed. Update on one of our other babies, Katie. I had to take her to the vet today because she had a lump on her lower jaw. Turns out her brother Maddox took a chunk out of her. Once the vet shaved the area, she had a nasty puncture hole. Poor girl was such a trooper. So no more rough housing, now I have 2 sets of kids I have to keep from fighting. What a life!

Myann with the puppies - total no no, her being in their kennel, but she was just too happy to have gotten them and her in there. I found them in there when I was back and forth doing laundry.

Fun Weekend

Wow we did a lot this weekend and it totally wore the kids out. Saturday morning we went to Kid's Day at Riverfront Park. Pretty crowded, but the kids got ballons and Shane did bounce houses, so they were thrilled. Then we went to the Sesame Street show and Myann was quite enthused to see Elmo and Cookie Monster. Shane was just happy to dance around with his buddy James.





After a couple hours of rest, we packed up and went over to the Prizeman's for dinner. Again more time for Shane to run around with James. Myann loved hanging with the big kids. I took a turn holding baby Breanne and Myann did not like that at all. We left late, I felt bad so late, but the kids were just having too much fun and it truth so was I. We somehow worked it so the guys had the kids in the basement and Sandra and I were able to chat uninterrupted for about an hour. Talk about a luxury.

Then Sunday the Frenches had us back out at their awesome lake house. The kids just played hard and then we did some boating. Shane had his first tubing experience behind a boat and loved it. Of course he had to look at Blaine Jr. for reassurance when they hit a big wave. Blaine Jr. was awesome at looking after Shane out there. Then the boys went back out on the jet skis. Us girls hung out and Myann kept going, though I don't know how with no nap. Within 5 minutes of leaving the house, both kids were out cold.

Myann is mastering buckles. Any buckle she sees, she will spend 20 minutes, whatever it takes to get it buckled. Shane was so sweet this morning, he put on a pair of pants that were way too small, looked like capri pants. Then, he came back with new pants and said he put the other ones in his closet to save for his baby brother, who would wear them when he got big, ahhh, makes a mommy proud.

Myann just put herself in timeout, after Shane sat in the timeout chair for a while and got out, Myann went and sat in the chair and declared, "I'm in timeout." Myann has also become a full on mimic and repeats almost everything. Plus she has a few new phrases, "I can't reach it", "I pinch your booty" followed by an actual pinch - Tina taught her that. And it actually sounds more like "I pinch your boo-e".

Ice Cream Bonanza and near labor

Today we hosted our Mommy and Me Groups ice cream party. We had an awesome turnout, like 20 moms, and probably 25 kids. One of the mom's, Kim, brought an insane amount of ice cream, so we were totally set for some fun. It began with lots of play time, then an attempt at healthy food (chicken nuggets), and then all the ice cream they could eat. For Shane that was 3 bowls, though I somehow missed his third helping, didn't see him sneak in for that. The kids seemed to have fun, his Ford truck was one of our best purchases ever, it gets used more than any other toy when we are outdoors. I didn't get to visit with the other moms as much, but that just goes with the territory of hosting a playdate. I get my chance to socialize when I go to the park or other people's houses. We love hosting though, because we can. In San Diego we just didn't have the room, so we rarely had many people over, but now we have so much space, it is really a blessing. Well Shane loved having so many people over. Once everyone was gone he told me that he liked having so many different people to play with. That makes it all worthwhile.

Myann driving around with her boyfriend Zack, I think we will request a driver's license before they actually leave the driveway.




As for the near labor, in setting up for the playdate, lifting chairs, cleaning the bounce house, setting up the roller coaster, and just generally not ever sitting down, I started feeling some serious belly pains after everyone left. Thank God Tina was here today or else I may have gone into labor. I knew it wasn't labor because it was constant, but it felt like a massive charlie horse on the right side of my belly. So Tina was left to do most of the putting away of big things, while I just did general cleanup. And I have tried to rest as much as possible for the remainder of today. I called my mom and she is getting her premonitions that I will have this baby before my scheduled c-section. I hope I don't, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Never a dull moment

I have had a lot of emotions since I became a mom, but "bored" has never been a word that seems to fit in with our life anymore. There is ALWAYS something to do around here and there is never a dull moment with the kids. Last night Shane came running from the bathroom saying that the toilet was leaking. Never a good thing to hear, so I went running and sure enough, water was filling up the hallway. I have seen some toilets overflow before, but this was bad, the water was gushing from the top. I grabbed blankets and towels, anything within reach to stop the water from going further. I got it turned off and saw an entire roll of toilet paper had been used. Shane didn't even need it, he said he just wanted to put toilet paper in the toilet. It took a while to clean up the mess, not to mention the plunging involved to get rid of that much toilet paper. And trying to keep 2 dogs and 2 kids out of the water, not fun either. At least I got to test out my new baby, see photo below. It worked like a charm on all the towels and blankets.

Many know I have been wanting a front loader for at least a year. Well Brian finally gave in when he got sick of hearing our washing machine sounding like a cyclone with every load. It would literally shake the whole house, so Saturday I went to Sears and got my new baby. And what a happy girl it has made me.



And I had to include this photo of Myann at My Gym. Myann and I do her class every Tuesday and she loves it. However, for the past 2 weeks, I have been paying almost $15 per class for her to play with the water fountain. She refuses to do some of the activities because she does not want to leave the water fountain. The small pleasures in life. Personally, water fountains gross me out, but the kids are drawn to them, what can I do. At least I know My Gym keeps their pretty clean. And the video is classic Myann, running off during circle time and then finding the only man in the room to go sit with. In the background, you will hear this dad's poor daughter crying, since she did not like Myann sitting in her daddy's lap.