We are in

We are officially out of our old dump, out of my parents' house, and into our new apartment.  Too bad AT&T sucks and won't have our internet running for another 2 weeks.  Don't even ask why we have to wait so long to do a self-installation.  For now I am briefly browsing from Brandon's lab.  That's all.

Potty train... or not.

My mom just bought Violet a toddler potty.  She seems so ready to start training on it. Sure, having only one child in diapers at a time would be great.  But sometimes I wonder if she is really ready for this-- or if I am really ready for it.

Here's an example: This morning she wanted to use her potty.  So I let her sit on it and after 10 minutes when she started playing around I told her she needed to put her diaper back on.  She would NOT let me put it on and kept saying, "No, more pee pee!" I'm beginning to think that she just likes the excuse to be naked.  Later she was playing around it and she took out the inner seat (the pee-catcher, if you will) and put it on her head and said, "Hat!  Hat!"  Luckily there was nothing in it.  Is it selfish to not want to start this ordeal yet? I heard that most babies revert back to diapers once a sibling is born anyways.  And I doubt they make panties small enough to fit her butt. Well, I'm sure she'll be ready soon, but I'll wait until she stops putting it on her head.

DC with the Poodster

Violet and I went to visit my sister in DC this week.  I don't have a ton of pictures because most of what we did was home improvement projects, but don't be fooled-- that's very fun for me. We did a ton of shopping and got three rooms in her new condo painted.  And I was at least as excited as she was about how everything looked when we were almost done.  (I say almost because on the last night when I was going to help her finish painting and unpacking, I fell asleep at 9.  That's what pregnancy does to you.) My favorite part may have been the food, and it never ceased to amuse Brittany that I could finish every meal and still have room for dessert.  On Friday we did get to do some tourist-y things, so here are a few pictures of that.

Violet and me at the zoo.  As you can see my belly is finally getting big, which actually makes me happy, since Ashley told me when she came that I didn't look pregnant; I just looked fat.

   

Here I captured the most disgusting moment on the trip.  I know it just looks like Violet and Poodle are looking at a gorilla, but the gorilla was vomiting and then eating it.  And repeating the process.

Running through the misters may have been Violet's favorite moment on the trip.  Brittany and I had just walked .8 miles to not see a lion, so we were tired and hungry and wanting to get back.  But Violet insisted on stopping at every one of these and screamed when we had to drag her away.  If it weren't for the 7-11 just outside the zoo on the way back and its delicious slurpees and one dollar pizza, I may not have made it.  (Poodle also made it easier by carrying Violet most of the way.  I'm not very athletic to begin with, and having 15 extra lbs on my belly makes it pretty hard to carry her .)

Riding the metro was also a thrill for Violet.  It got to the point where if a bus or train came and left without us, she would start crying because she thought we were supposed to get on it.  It was nice to have her so enthused by the little things on our trip.

The only bad part of our trip was travelling back home yesterday.  Our plane was delayed because it was sprinkling and they told me I would miss my connecting flight in Atlanta.  So they had me wait at the airport for hours to get on the first flight and had me booked for an 11 PM flight from Atlanta to Houston.  After three hours at the gate, Violet started running along a platform by the window.  I figured I would let her since at this point it was all I could do to keep her from having a total meltdown.  Then a lady came up to me and said, "That is REALLY annoying, could you please get her to stop?"  So I took her down and she totally lost it.  She had a full-blown toddler tantrum complete with kicking and screaming right there in the airport. Frustrated, I muttered to Violet, "Go scream by the lady who thought you were annoying.  I'm sure she thinks this is less annoying." A couple of people around me started laughing when they heard that, so at least I got some sympathy.  Violet slept through most of the plane ride, so that part was easy.  In Atlanta I found an earlier flight to Houston and asked if they could get me on it.  They told me that they could, but my checked luggage (car seat) wouldn't get there until midnight when the other flight landed. So I took the later flight, but when I got to Houston, the car seat didn't turn up anywhere.  When I asked about it, they told me, "Oh, your luggage came on the earlier flight."  And I said, "The earlier flight that I asked to get on that they told me my luggage wouldn't be on?"  Yep, that one.  Oh well.  At least I'm home now and the majority of the people I ran into were very understanding and helpful. Violet was a toal trooper, considering that she's a toddler who spent 12 hours in the airport.  I got lucky with that.

Last one for awhile

As I will be travelling later this week, this will be my last post for awhile.  This weekend we went to Natural Bridge Caverns.  I was a little concerned because last time we took Violet in a cave, she screamed the whole time.  Well, this time she loved it.  She kept pointing to things and saying, "Cave!" or "Wow, big rock!"  She walked almost the entire 1.5-mile trail by herself and was enthralled at every stop.  And when we were all done she got to take her picture by a dinosaur, which made her happy.  Brandon even said that the information they told you about the geology was "mostly correct."  Very impressive.

 Since the breakdown of the AC unit we have been staying at the Petersons', which has been heaven for Violet.  I'm pretty sure if Brandon and I left she would never notice.  She thinks she is just one of the sisters and with all that blonde hair, who could argue?  So she spends her days following around her cousins and fighting for a spot on Bethany's lap, because I guess she figures that if she treats the cousins like her sisters, then she may as well treat her aunt like her mom. She is going to be sad when we move out.

One year ago

Right now there is a heat wave going through Houston.  The heat index has been around 110 degrees for the past few days, and the upstairs air conditioning unit is broken.  It's actually not too bad, but when I think about what I was doing exactly one year ago in Canada and Washington, it makes me wonder if Brandon can find any job openings in Calgary when he graduates.  I was:

hiking through a rain forest

walking along cool, foggy Rialto beach

 tossing starfish into Discovery Bay

 swimming in a glacial lake

 hunting for a waterfall in a gorge and looking out for bears

drinking snowmelt off a rock

and seeing the most beautiful lake in the world.

Oh... and it never got above 80 degrees.

This is why I worry about our next child