update on life

UPDATE ON THE HUNT'S

1. Wendell is FINALLY potty training. Actually 1/2 the battle is done. For over a week he has been peeing in the potty, no pee accidents and he has a strong bladder! He is now finding the fun in exploring different public bathrooms when we're out and about. He does great with initiating and completes most of the task on his own; but it's not complete until we actually see it... so he says c'm'ere (come here) and Phil or I have to look in the potty. But we are happy with the results and that it has not been a painful process. The first day he cried a little but we just said 'no crying' and he has done fine since. One funny thing is that he says 'it's not coming' and sometimes has to try 2-3 times before it actually comes out. The most recent has been that we have to listen while he goes. Anyways, it's been exciting for us as this has been an off and on battle for awhile now. Now we just have to work on poop.. that will be another struggle. At least now he agrees that 'tomorrow' he'll do it and twice today he told me he had to poop and then sat on the potty... just nothing happened. We've had quite a few 'accidents' in that department but we'll take it one day at a time.
2. Harlie is now working on her third tooth. She was quite uphappy today and I'm not sure if it's because of the tooth or her private area that is slightly broken out. This happened with her first tooth so I'm pretty sure it's because of the tooth. So now both top teeth are coming through and a bottom one. She has quite the toothy smile and one tooth is quite large looking. One other thing with her is that she is still not eating any type of food. No baby food, no rice cereal, no cut up cooked food, cheerios, nothing.. I did try icecream the other day and she didn't spit it out... but come on, icecream?? I don't think so.
3. Triathlon - I'm working out quite often. Running, biking and swimming. Running has gotten better now that I'm not wearing 50 layer of clothes to stay warm. I should mark out 3 miles and time myself to see what my time is as I might be able to do my best time now. With biking, I'm not pushing too hard; just trying to get used to riding a bike again. I pull the kids in the trailer so I'm not expecting to go fast with them but it does make for good training. Last week I went alone in the morning and it was 30 degree's out making for a cold bike ride. But I layered up so I was warm. My only complaint was that my tires seemed low and I felt like I was dragging. Swimming this last week was interesting, the pool was down for a week and when I went on Saturday the water was 74 degrees. Sound warm?? It's not. I could hardly breath because it was so cold. I did swim 19 laps and then gave up... called it quits. Hopefully when I go later this week, it'll be much warmer. On a side note, I wish I could say I'm losing weight but I'm not. Apparently I'm eating too much (or gaining muscle?) so I'm going to try and cut back some more. I would love to loose the final 15 lbs to be a healthy weight, then I won't have to exercise so much. I am the smallest I've been since grade school so I should be happy with that. I still enjoy the work outs but I can tell my body is getting a little tired. I did take some time off the last few weekends so now I feel normal again... I did have a couple of weeks were I was always sore from working my muscles.
4. Moving - our house is on the market, we've had several flyer's go out but not many calls. Our major projects are done but we have a lot of little things that still need to be done... nothing to hard though. Maybe this weekend we can do some of the little things so we can relax and have fun with selling/buying. I'm sure there will be plenty of work in the next house. We have been looking at houses and have walked through a couple. Phil and I have similar but different taste so hopefully we find something we are both happy with. We're considering moving to La Porte City so that's kind of crazy to think about but it would get us in a smaller school (which we kind of prefer), closer to our parents, not too far from work and affordable. We did consider New Hartford but I just can't drive those back roads to go to work.. but highway I can handle (I think).
5. Work- worked this last weekend and it went very well. I got to sleep and it was half way relaxing... like the way it used to be. So hopefully this streak continues!

Update on my Life

Attached is my most recent favorite picture of Wendell... my little angel.

Recently, Wendell went out to a local farm fall festival and he got to touch hay bales (but didn't want to climb on them), he touched the pony (but didn't want to ride it), went on a hay ride (and amazing sat on my lap the whole time) and played with Kirby the Kangaroo. So that was a fun afternoon.

This past weekend we went to Davenport to see Phil's family. We had a nice relaxing time.

And I thought I'd take a moment to update all of you on my life. If you've kept up on my posts you will see that discipline and cleaning have been of concern lately. I agreed to do my 30 minutes of cleaning per day (see other post), and did quite well for a few days. I'd say my house is pretty organized right now, but there are still lots of projects that could be done... I know this will be a forever battle but if I do a little bit each day then I don't have to feel guilty (thanks for the advice Sarah!). I'm also looking forward to my parents taking Wendell for a few days as a mommy vacation is long overdue. As far as discipline goes... well the time outs continue to go well (he sits for them and it at least gives me a break). He continues to not listen to me when I am talking to him and this can be very frustrating. Yesterday morning didn't go so well, I had become quite frustrated because it seemed like I'd put one thing away and Wendell would pull two things out.. I was not making good progress with cleaning up and Wendell wasn't really helping matters. Basically, I got really angry and yelled him (because he wasn't following my directions nor listening). Of course, 3 seconds later, he's smiling like it never happened (and I'm red at a tomato with fire coming out of my ears). So I tell him very sternly " you need to listen to me" and point to my ears (did I mention I'm not very happy at this point). So what does he do?? He smiles his little happy grin and points to his ears like we're playing a game. Well, at least he doesn't hold grudges... I am learning that as a human, I become angry (even with my precious little child), and it's okay to be angry but sometimes I need to take a break and get some space... so the game plan for next time, is that instead of yelling at him, he will be going to his room (great idea Kathryn!) so I can cool off in a more loving manner. Any other ideas on how to deal with anger?