Last Day of Soccer

Today was Elina's last day of soccer. I don't think she was happy or sad that the season ended, but I think she had fun either way. I went to her first practice and after that B always took her. I decided to go watch her last practice because I wanted to see if she had improved any. She's not aggressive enough to go after the ball and get it from other people, but she's a good "team player" in that she'll just help you chase after the ball. For the most part, she'll chase after the ball (with a few reminders). But sometimes she was completely clueless as to where the ball was...even if it rolled right past her. I would point and shout, "Elina, get the ball! It's right there!" And she'd just look in the opposite direction. It's funny how oblivious kids can be sometimes. Eli also attended this last practice and I think he was more aware of where the ball was. But either way, I know that Elina has improved.


At the end of practice, the coaches had parents form a tunnel with their arms. Then the kids ran through the tunnel and gave their coaches high-5s at the end. It was so cute!


Then they had a little award ceremony where all the kids got a certificate and some Starburst for being "star" players. Elina was so excited to hear her coach call out her name. Usually the kids get popsicles after every practice because the weather's still been hot. Since it was the last day of soccer, they got special treats at the end--ice cream cones! Too bad it was freezing that day!! But the kids still ate the ice cream to their hearts' content. Kids will never pass up ice cream cones!! Here she is holding her ice cream while taking a picture with one of her coaches.

We're glad Elina got the chance to play soccer this year. I'm not sure she loves it though...maybe track and field is more her thing. She loves running, but I don't think she loves fighting for the ball. At least she got to run around and have some fun though!

And One More Makes Three

You guessed it! We're expecting baby number 3 on April 20, 2010. I am now almost 4 months along.

B was sad to hear the due date since it's his birthday. J was sad as well since her birthday is 2 days earlier. Eli was born around A's birthday, so A already complains about how Eli "stole her thunder." Oh, well. These things can't really be helped, right?

Fortunately for J and B, my babies always want to come out early, so I'm guessing this one will be born the end of March or the beginning of April. Elina was 2 weeks early and Eli was 3 weeks early. So, our doctor doesn't think I'll make it to B's birthday at all. Lucky for him.

This 1st trimester has been a little bit different. With Elina and Eli, I was constantly hugging the toilet bowl and throwing everything up. With this one, I haven't thrown up once! Phew! But I was nauseated when I would first wake up and after the kids went to bed at night. This is why my blog posts have really been lagging. I didn't have the energy to sit at the computer anymore. At night, I could only sit like a vegetable and watch TV. That's a real bummer when you have things to do...but I can't complain since I didn't throw up.

The first few months have also been more exhausting than in the past. I think it has a lot to do with having 2 little ones. My body was physically and mentally drained by the time these kids were in bed. It took everything out of me to entertain them and to get house things done. Luckily, during Eli's nap, Elina would let me take a 20-30 minute nap while she watched some TV. I seriously needed one every day during the first trimester. Now, I only need them every few days or so.

We just told Elina about the pregnancy a few weeks ago and this was our conversation--
Elina: I really would love a baby sister.
Me: Well, what if it is a baby brother?
Elina: Then I wouldn't love it.
Me: Really? I think you'd still love it because it's a baby, but you would love having a baby sister more.
Elina: [scrunching up her nose] Ok.
Lately, she's been warming up to the idea that it might be a baby brother, but I know that she still really wants a baby sister. For us either will be ok since we already have one of each. We're actually going to try to not find out the sex of this baby. Well, I don't want to find out because I want to be totally surprised, but B thinks we should be prepared (after all, the technology's there, right??).

Some days I'm scared to have a third baby. Some people have said it's harder because the kids outnumber the parents. There aren't an equal number of laps or arms anymore, so someone always has to wait. B really wants to have 4 kids, but we'll have to see how we handle 3 first. Since Elina and Eli are relatively easy to manage, I'm hoping this third one won't give us a run for our money!

A Welcome Separation

October 19, 2009 marked B's official separation date from the United States Air Force!

I say this with an exclamation mark because B was pretty excited about leaving the military. It's not that B is unpatriotic, but he just didn't like his job. He felt like he always had to do things "just to do them" which led to a lot of inefficiency at work. I used to work for the federal government (back in the day), so I could feel his pain. It's sad that my old co-worker's favorite saying was, "It's good enough for government work." That's just what happens for a lot of people in the government. You kind of put your mind on autopilot because there are no real performance-based rewards. The benefit, though, is that you know that you will always have a job and there is no real chance of ever being fired. But sometimes you have to wonder if that's enough to keep you going. For B, it wasn't enough.

So now he works for a great company called USAA (United Services Automobile Association). They provide financial services (insurance, banking, investments) exclusively to active and former military members and their families. Everyone we know who works for USAA loves it. It's a company that focuses on making its employees happy and healthy. The headquarters for USAA is in San Antonio and the campus is beautiful and huge (covering almost 290 acres).

For those of you who know B, you know that B is not into finances. He majored in physics, right? Well, USAA created this special program specifically for Junior Military Officers (JMO) leaving the military. USAA likes to hire people from the military because of the clientele. This program will train them in different departments for the next 3 years and at the end of the training, they will be ready to compete for senior-level positions within the company.

B started his new job about 2 weeks ago. He's currently in the Property & Casualty department, and works in Underwriting Analysis. They get to analyze large amounts of data for all kinds of insurance initiatives and trends. So it's a pretty good fit for B's analytic brain.

Now you're probably wondering if there have been any changes with all of us now that B's in the real world. One big change is having to find our own doctors. In the military, you're pretty much told who to see. You don't know much about the doctors, but figure they can't be bad if you're assigned to them. It's been a lot of work getting recommendations from civilian friends (since most of our friends are military!). The other big change is B's work hours. He wakes up a little earlier (now that he has to actually decide what to wear for work!) and he gets home a little later. He used to get home at the same time every day, but that's not the case anymore.

So far, I think B likes the new job and the new work environment. It's a great change for B and for us (since he's a lot happier). Here is the case in point--on all of B's military ID cards, he had this really serious, unhappy face. But on his very first USAA ID card, he is all smiles. He just looks happier and I think he really is. Yay, B!

The South Texas Maize

This past weekend we went to the South Texas Maize in Hondo. Over the past few years we've been to 2 other pumpkin patches that didn't have a corn maze, so this time we wanted to give this one a try.

There were good and bad things about this farm.

THE GOOD
1. This is the closest pumpkin patch out of all 3 that are close to San Antonio. It was only a 30-40 minute highway drive, compared to the other ones that are closer to or over an hour on country roads.

2. Elina loved climbing and jumping on the hay bales. The minute she got down, she'd run back to the beginning and climb it again.


3. The corn maze was pretty fun. Each time you came to a numbered sign, you would look at your own themed trivia sheet with multiple-choice questions. Depending on the answer, you would either turn left or right at the post. So if the answer was "a," then it might tell you to turn left at the post. It was a really neat idea. We got Elina the Tot Trivia, so she was so proud that she could answer the questions and "tell" us which way to go.

4. The barrel train ride was loads of fun for the kids, especially for Eli. Now that he has an obsession with trains, we could not get him to leave the barrel train. After the ride, we'd get him out of the cart and then he would turn around and try to get right back in. I think he must've rode the barrel train at least 5 times. The thing is, it was an uncomfortable, bumpy ride for adults, but someone always had to go with Eli. Luckily, Elina rode with Eli the first time. It was pretty cute because she sat behind him and had her arms around his waist the whole time. But since the ride was so bumpy, by the end of the ride, Eli practically had his head in Elina's lap because he had slipped down.



THE BAD
1. First of all, this place is very expensive. You pay $9 per adult to get in. Then you have to pay a few extra dollars here and there for certain rides (the barrel train was $1 per person). Plus, you have to pay for food, if you eat there. All the other pumpkin patches charge extra for certain things, too, but I just thought that the $9 entrance fee was high, especially if we already have to pay extra for other things.

2. The pumpkins were brought in from another place, so it was not a REAL pumpkin patch. Maybe the other pumpkin patches we'd been to weren't REAL either, but the other farms carried lots more pumpkins and different kinds of pumpkins as well. The "pumpkin patch" area was just kind of a disappointment and didn't provide many photo-ops either.

3. There just weren't many good photo-ops, besides the circle cut-outs in pictures. Don't get me wrong, the cut-out pics were cute, but I also like pics with lots of real pumpkins in them. There just weren't enough pumpkins around.

4. There was no petting zoo or pumpkin painting. I know petting zoos sound nasty, but kids LOVE them. This place only had goats and you could only touch them through a fence. Last year, Elina got to hold a baby chick! And I know I can do pumpkin painting at home, but it's still pretty exciting for kids to do at the pumpkin patch.

Overall, it was still a good family outing and I'm glad we got to see this place first-hand. Now I know that next year I will probably go back to one of the other smaller pumpkin patches that don't have the corn maze. The smaller places are more geared toward little kids, so I think those places just suit us better for now.

We had lots of fun, but it was not a good photo day for Eli. He just looked so serious and sad while we were there...probably because we made him miss his nap. This was the best picture we got of the kids with pumpkins. Maybe I should Photoshop some more pumpkins into the picture? After all, we're supposed to be at a pumpkin patch, right?? Here's the picture from the pumpkin patch last year:Wouldn't you be slightly disappointed, too? Or am I asking for too much?

The Best Compliment in the Whole World

Today I took the kids with me to a doctor's appointment. This doctor has seen me over the years, so he's known me and Elina pre-Eli and post-Eli. I mean, it's never an ideal situation when I have to take both kids with me to an appointment, but honestly, when they're both there they aren't horrible. There's been no crying, whining, screaming, or complaining whenever we've gone. Certainly, things always take longer with kids in tow, but it's really not a nightmare for me. Whenever we go, the kids just play or sit and eat snacks. Like I said, nothing too awful.

At today's appointment, the kids were just quietly playing with a toy together. As the doctor was finishing up, this was the conversation we had--

DR: Ok, W, what's your secret?
Me: What secret?
DR: How do you get your kids to play so nicely and quietly together?
Me: Oh...I don't know.
DR: I have 3 kids and I have never seen them play like this. Usually at Elina's age they're always saying, "It's mine!" So, what's your secret?

Well, I didn't have a secret to divulge, so there aren't any answers here. I just told him that I think a lot of it has to do with their personalities. Elina is a people-pleaser and Eli is an easy-going guy who always wants to do what Elina does. I think over the past few months they have created their own balance. Elina always wants a playmate, so she knows that if she doesn't share her stuff then Eli won't stick around. And Eli wants to join in the "big kid" fun, so he knows not to grab stuff away from Elina or else she won't stick around either. It's weird, but in a good way.

But don't get me wrong...they're still kids. So there are days when I want to pull my hair out, when both kids are crying in my face, when Elina doesn't want to share, when Eli throws a tantrum, and when I want to actually lock myself in the bathroom for "me time." I'm not trying to toot my own horn or show-off my kids because they are definitely not perfect, but the compliment was enough to make me smile from ear to ear.

Isn't it strange that I consider this the best compliment in the whole world? I guess you won't think it's strange if you're a parent. No longer is the best compliment, "You look AMAZING in those jeans!" or "Have you lost weight?" Because I don't look great in "those" jeans anymore and I definitely have not lost weight since I've had children.

BUT I guess I do have some pretty well-behaved children!

Huh?

Elina and L always say, "HUH?" after something out of the ordinary happens. Usually, one girl will say it and look at the other girl and then they both laugh. It's cute. One day I tried to act like them. Here's the reaction I got--

Me: [after something had happened] HUH??

L and Elina look at me with a confused expression.

L: Why are you saying that?

Me: That's what you and Elina always say when something strange happens.

L: [looking at Elina] No, we don't.

Me: Yes, it is. You guys always say, "HUH?" [mind you, I am doing the impression perfectly]

Elina: Not like that!

Then they proceed to say "HUH?" a few times to show me how they really do it.

Oh well. It goes to show that parents can never be cool...no matter how old your kids are. We just don't do it like they do.

What's funny is that now Eli says it. The thing is he says it right on cue. It's always right after something happens or if he's confused. It's hilarious.

During Elina's preschool last year, she and the girls started saying "chipmunk" all the time. Supposedly, it was hilarious because if one girl said it, all the other girls would instantly crack up. Sometimes Elina and L will say, "HUH??...Chipmunk??" So here is Elina trying to teach Eli how to say that...and the thing is, it actually sounds like he's kinda saying "chipmunk." Weird!

Comedy Tour Part I

This month we are actually heading up to Austin 2 times...both times we are going up to see comedians. Isn't that funny? (Hahaha.) This past weekend we went up so I could see Anjelah Johnson with J. B didn't think she was funny enough to warrant his attendance. J and I thought she was hilarious based off of her "Nail Salon" video on Youtube. She's a Mexican-Native American girl who can totally do a Vietnamese accent. Anyway, we spent Saturday night at J's apartment (since the show was Saturday night) and B was nice enough to stay in to watch the kids while J and I went to the show.

J and I were really nervous because we didn't know if Anjelah Johnson would actually be funny. Maybe only her "Nail Salon" bit was funny. Well, she was actually really really funny. Her humor is very clean (which is pretty amazing these days) and she knows how to do good ghetto impersonations. J and I had a great time and we'd go see Anjelah Johnson again in a heartbeat.

So, what did we do during the rest of the time in Austin? We arrived in Austin Saturday in time for an early yummy lunch at Hyde Park Bar & Grill. Then we headed back to J's apartment to go to Mueller Lake Park, across the street from her apartment. This park is AMAZING. It has bike/hike trails around this pretty pond, a unique playscape, and tons of trees and grassy areas. (Seriously, why does Austin have to be such a cool place?? B and I would love to live in Austin, but it doesn't seem that B's job would ever take him there. Boo.)

Anyway, the playscapes were made by a company called Kompan, a European playground company that builds its play structures inspired by public sculpture. The playscapes were unlike anything we had ever seen. They were interesting to look at and interesting to play on. B had just as much fun as the kids on the playscapes. He was always looking around to see if certain structures were available for him to play on. This one time he started walking toward this structure and this 10 year old girl was also walking toward it, so B said, "Oh, uhhhhhh...were you going to get on it?" And she nodded, so B (like a true gentleman and ADULT) let her get on and he backed off. See, this is what I'm talking about! That's how much fun this place was! Here is a collage of all the fun B was having. The top right structure is a swing and the bottom right one is Kompan's version of a merry-go-round. Fun! In this pic, B and J are both playing on a structure (after the 10 year old girl got off of it) and having a blast.

In this video, Eli is sitting in this little yellow bowl that spins around. He laughed so hard while B spun him.


Eli loved going down the slide in this next video. I love his facial expression because he's scared as he's going down, but when he gets to the bottom his face is so happy.


In this last video, Elina and Eli are on the "swing." Eli absolutely loved it and was smiling from ear to ear. Unfortunately, Elina started to get scared.


It was just a perfect day outdoors...cloudy, cool, and breezy. Elina brought her new bike so that she and J could ride on the trails. B and I played with Eli on the playscapes. Then Elina and J joined in the fun with us. Then we went and took much-needed family pictures all around the pond.

The only bad part to the weekend was Sunday. We were supposed to go to the pumpkin patch up in Marble Falls, TX (an hour away from Austin), but couldn't because it rained almost all day. Bummer. Elina was so excited to go to the pumpkin patch...and so were we! Oh well, now we have to try to go again on another weekend.

Making It Work

Today L was at our house to play after school. Both Elina and L were dressed up and playing in the play kitchen. L was in a black dance leotard and Elina was in a white wedding dress. L was cooking on the stove and Elina was setting the table. I guess it had been agreed upon that L was the mommy and Elina was the little girl. Here's the conversation I overheard while walking past the playroom--

Elina: L, how about we both be mommies?
L: Hmmmm...ok.
Elina: Because I want to be a mommy, too.
L: Ok...how about I be the mommy that's good at making food and you be the mommy that's good at making drinks?
Elina: Sure!

It was the cutest thing. I just love how kids can find ways to all be good at something.

Learning to Read

About a month ago, we bought Elina a set of BOB books to see if she'd be interested in reading at all. See, my dream wasn't to have Elina read early or anything...my dream was to have Elina learn to read and to love it. It didn't matter to us whether we taught her to read or if a teacher taught her to read....as long as she loved it.

Before Elina turned 4, she was really great at rhyming, so I thought I would try to teach her a few words using rhymes. One of my friends in Portland had managed to teach her son to read like that, so I figured I could try it. We only did the -AT words, like cat and fat. She was starting to recognize the words fine, but I slowly realized that she was only recognizing them because she had memorized the order they appeared on the easel. Sometimes I would mix up a word or two and she would always get caught up. So after that I let up on trying to teach her to read. I just felt like she wasn't really "getting it" and I didn't want to push it. I wanted her to build phonemic awareness, not memorize a bunch of words.

So now come the BOB books. They're really simple books with hand-drawn pictures that slowly introduce letters and rhymes. Elina needed a lot of help reading the first 4 books. She could make all the sounds in the words, but she couldn't put them together to form a word. I have to admit, I got really frustrated because I didn't understand how she could make all the sounds and not figure out what the word was. It would usually go something like this--

Elina: [seeing the word "and"] aaaaa..nnnnn...ddddd
Me: Ok, try to say the sounds more together and a little faster.
Elina: aaa...nnn...ddd
Me: Good, now faster.
Elina: aaa..nnn..ddd [still not putting the sounds together, just saying them separately faster]
Me: Ok, do it again, but remember to do it faster.
Elina: aaa..nnn..ddd [same thing as before]
Me: You almost have it! What does it sound like you're saying? It's a word we use all the time.
Elina: aaa..nnn..ddd....aaa..nnn..ddd [still not getting it, but looking desperate]...ummm...arm!
Me: Elina, there's no "r" sound and no "m" sound in the word you are trying to read.
Elina: Oh.

She had a lot of trouble in the beginning and I was slowly losing patience. So we slowed down the pace at which we were reading the books because I didn't want her to not enjoy reading the books just because I couldn't hold it together! B told me I needed to settle down (since he is the calm one). He told me, "If she could blend those sounds the way you want her to, then she would already be reading!" Hmmm...I had never thought about it that way. So I learned to calm down. I let her sound things out, but then I showed her how to blend the sounds a little and to hear the words.

Then something happened during Book 5 of the series. She started to get it. She would sound the words out a few times, then she'd sit there and think, and then she'd say the right word. I was amazed and she was amazed! We just looked at each other in shock. It was so funny. I actually had tears in my eyes when she started to get it.

She still isn't the best at blending sounds together, but she's really good at listening to the sounds to figure out what word it should be. It's really amazing to watch her figure it out. She definitely still needs help, but she's getting there. We're just so proud of her!! Now she'll pick up BOB books on her own to read and she can't just wait to finish another book all on her own. What a big girl!

In these videos, I taped her reading Book 6 for the first time. You can hear how she's sounding things out and figuring out what words are on the page.


This second video shows how independent Elina wants to be. Whenever she thinks she knows something, she interrupts my attempts to help with, "Mommy, I know." She does this with reading and with piano. So in this video, she thinks the word "hid" is "hit," but then she figures it out with some help.