KerryAndGabe.com

Something that makes me happy: Theoretically, being caught up with photos would make me happy.

Something I’m thinking: I’m thinking about ways to reduce our electric bill. Wow, I know the last month was a hot one, but I still didn’t expect to see our bill that high. Yikes!

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping for cooler temperatures soon. I’m a big fan of the fall.

Something happening around the house: Our broken toilet in the master bathroom is finally fixed! Yay!

Something I’m reading: Nothing, really. I’m not going to finish this month’s book club book before Wednesday’s book club. I’m ok with this. This will be the first time that I’ve attended book club without having read the book.

Something I’m watching: More from Supernatural. We’re still on Season 1.

Something I’m playing: More Carcassonne. Not much Words with Friends.

Something tasty: Twice this week, I made fresh pasta sauce with our tomatoes and other veggies in The Produce Box. That’s a yummy way to use the tomatoes (and makes me tempted to have a little vegetable garden).

Something Maddie is doing (30 months old): She is now officially 2.5 years old, and I swear I’ve written her letter. I haven’t had a chance yet to organize the photos, but I do hope to have those done soon. We had her 30-month conference with her teachers. She’ll be moving from the daycare to preschool in about 6 months - wow! They have no concerns about her development, and she seems to be doing very well in all categories.

Something Cullen is doing (31 weeks old): He’s now officially 7 months, and he’s crawling all over the place. He’s still mostly sticking to his army crawl and is getting faster at it. I love how he crawls across the room towards me when he’s upset now. It’s so adorable. He had carrots for the first time (before I burned the rest of the batch). He loved them! I’m going to have to get some more carrots for him. We have been doing a few simple combinations like peach/banana/oatmeal and prune/avocado (which gets mixed reviews from Cullen, but the first time he loved it).

Something I am struggling with: I’m struggling with making baby food this week! Things have been going quite well, but this week I burned a batch of carrots and discovered that the peaches were moldy before we had a chance to use them. What a waste of fresh, organic produce! Oh well, I guess I’m still learning.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: We went to the Jack Johnson concert on Saturday. This was one of the items on my list!

Something I’m looking forward to: I’m looking forward to meeting with Cullen’s specialist on Thursday so that we can finally get some answers. I’m looking forward to some other stuff, too… our last ribbon dancing class, a possible movie with my hubby, book club, the cleaners, and a visit from Gabe’s parents.

Something captured: Before the Jack Johnson concert last night.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: Buying clothes for the kiddos. It’s so much more fun than buying clothes for myself!

Something I’m thinking: I’m thinking that another trip to the Smithfield outlets is not in my future…perhaps ever, unless maybe I’m passing right by it on the way back from somewhere.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping we didn’t go overboard too badly when buying the kids’ fall wardrobe. Something tells me that we have a bit more than we will really need.

Something happening around the house: My parents came to visit this weekend. We were originally going to visit them at their house, but we had a long week and they agreed to visit us. We had a great time!

Something I’m reading: Um, let’s see. The Poky Little Puppy, Elmo Says, books about Winnie the Pooh, Richard Scarry books, snippets in Parents magazines, The Three Little Pigs, and other kids’ books. I didn’t do any reading for book club. I’m really starting to doubt that I’ll finish this month’s book.

Something I’m watching: We watched another disc of Supernatural and the finale of Hell’s Kitchen. Supernatural had a few scary episodes early in the season, but it isn’t scaring me nearly as much now. Some episodes still make me jump a bit, though! We’re still on Season 1.

Something I’m playing: Ooh, it was a great week for games! We installed the Carcassonne app on the iPhone. I’m loving it! It’s nice to play a “real” board game. I’m still playing Words with Friends. Cullen also slept long enough for us (with a few interruptions) to play Tichu with my parents! It gives us a little hope that we might be able to do “normal” things like that here and there.

Something tasty: We went out to eat with my parents and sister last night, and then we came back to the house. My mom, sister, and I went to the grocery store to get dessert. We found a dairy free brownie mix. The brownies were quite tasty!!!! It was a treat to get something chocolatey like that, since most easily accessible chocolate has milk.

Something Maddie is doing (29 months old): We went shoe shopping for her this weekend since she is outgrowing her current set of shoes. This was a very frustrating experience, and I think I’ll write up a separate post for it. She is definitely into her books these days. She wants us to read to her constantly and can sit through some lengthy stories. She talks nonstop and makes me laugh all the time. Yesterday morning, she saw Gabe putting powdered sugar on his pancakes and said, “Daddy, I want snow on my pancake!” Cute. Since we’ve been feeding Cullen, she’s very into feeding her baby doll. We got her a baby doll high chair, so she’s excited about that. And baby continues to poop all over everything (no, she is not a potty doll. My child has an active imagination). This morning, she spent a good hour with a wipe cleaning up baby’s “mess.”

Something Cullen is doing (30 weeks old): It’s been a crazy week with Cullen. He had the follow up to his bladder infection testing on Tuesday. We were hoping that they wouldn’t find anything, but they diagnosed him with kidney reflux on both sides. We won’t know much more until the appointment with the urologist later this month. We may need to get Maddie tested as it is very commonly found in siblings. I’m guessing that they will put him on a maintenance dose of antibiotics, he will have to be tested periodically, and he may require surgery if he does not outgrow the condition. In better news, we have declared that little dude is crawling! He is definitely on the move. He showed off for Nana and Papa this weekend, and I have some video to post soon. He easily can sit for lengthy periods of time. He also enjoyed some more new foods this week with the introduction of oatmeal (as a thickening agent), peaches, and butternut squash! Little Man is loving his foods! Oh, and we dismantled the co-sleeper. He hasn’t been sleeping in it for a few weeks, but it made a nice bed rail and place to put things like books. We put the Snug Tuck pillow back into place. Cullen has also slept in the pack-n-play in our room two nights in a row for a little bit at a time. There is hope.

Something I am struggling with: I’m struggling with patience as we have to wait a couple more weeks to find out more about Cullen’s kidney reflux (and find out if Maddie needs to be tested).

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I’m going to the Jack Johnson concert next Saturday!

Something I learned: Almonds are not nuts. They are a fruit.

Something I’m looking forward to: The concert with friends next Saturday.

Something random: I miss playing poker and board games sometimes, but I love the life we chose with our kids!

Something captured: We got some new camping style chairs for the kiddos.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: Getting better after being sick!

Something I’m thinking: Not much. I’m exhausted.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping for a calm week.

Something happening around the house: The cleaners came on Friday, but whatever they did to the floors is awful. It left some kind of filmy, slippery residue in the kitchen, utility room, and master bathroom (including the shower). It’s gross on bare feet and dangerously slippy. Not cool.

Something I’m reading: I didn’t have much time this week for reading, but I did attempt to read a little of Special Topics in Calamity Physics. I did not get far. I’m feeling doubtful about finishing by the end of the month, but maybe I’ll set aside some time or something.

Something I’m watching: We watched another disc of Supernatural. It doesn’t seem quite as scary as it did at first. Of course, that does vary depending on the episode!!!

Something I’m playing: I’m getting my butt kicked in Words with Friends on my iPhone.

Something tasty: Maddie and I made a dairy free blueberry streusel this morning. YUMMY. Cake for breakfast? Sounds good to me.

Something Maddie is doing (29 months old): It’s hilarious how she has to do everything herself (though not always hilarious at the time). It cracks me up when she will undo something that we have done for her just so that she can do it again. Like yesterday, she wanted to wear a green hair bow. I told her that the green one didn’t match, but how about this pink one? She said no, and then she took the pink hair bow from me, stuck it into the bag, and pulled it out. She then said, “how about this pink one?” Hilarious. Maddie is very into books and having us tell her stories (I told her the story of Goldilocks with Maddie in the story instead of Goldilocks - she loves it!). Her favorites at the moment are The Three Little Pigs (she was obsessed with wolves long before the discovery of this book), The Poky Little Puppy, and Pinkalicious (still). Maddie loved her first ribbon dancing class this week (and did quite well!). I’m looking forward to more sports, dance, and music lessons.

Something Cullen is doing (28 weeks old): Little dude had a follow up appointment due to his bladder infection and we will be getting some further tests done this week at the hospital. I’m hoping that we do not find anything serious (or anything at all, really). Cullen tried some more new foods this week: prunes (out of necessity, and he had them all over his face!), acorn squash (loved it!), and green beans (hated them!). He’s also a big fan of avocado mixed with banana as well as avocado mixed with prunes. He’s not a big fan of avocado by itself just yet. I’m not sure what I might be able to mix with green beans to make them tastier for him. This week, I will probably try making butternut squash, peaches, and maybe peas. Little dude is trying hard to crawl. He gets all around the living room by rolling and pushing himself along. I don’t think he can always go where he wants to go, but he definitely gets around. He has done a little bit of getting on his knees and rocking, so we feel like crawling is going to be really soon. He can balance in a sitting position for a pretty long period of time, though he isn’t so stable that I don’t sit nearby and spot him!

Something I am struggling with: Ugh, a nasty summer cold. I am pretty sure we all had it, though it is hard to tell with the kids since neither of them ran a fever and the congestion with this one wasn’t as bad as some. My throat hurt quite a bit, and I think that Maddie and Cullen may have had sore throats as well. It’s so hard to tell when they can’t accurately express how they are feeling. Maddie did complain while eating a few times that her mouth hurt, so I think she must have been feeling the same thing.

Something I learned: The same instructor who does the ribbon dancing class teaches basketball and soccer skills (two separate classes) to two year olds. We might have to give one of her other classes a try. She seemed to be very good with the wee ones!

Something I’m looking forward to: More ribbon dancing and a visit with my parents (hopefully everyone will be well this time).

Something random: We did a tiny bit of tax free clothes shopping for the kids and sorted through bags and boxes of outgrown clothes to decide what to keep, give to friends, and donate. Whew!

Something captured: My babies sure do love each other (for now).

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: Going out to a concert with my hubby (and friends) made me happy! It is always a little strange getting out of the house without the kiddos. It makes me feel like we need to do it more often!

Something I’m thinking: Um, August already???

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping that the tests that we have to do for Cullen come back without any serious problems. I’m trying not to worry too much.

Something happening around the house: Right at this moment, Gabe has the kids upstairs in the bonus room. I’m hearing kids’ songs and Maddie’s constant babble. Everyone sounds happy, and I think I’ll join them soon and finish this later!

Something I’m reading: I finished Little Earthquakes in time for book club this week. I’m trying to get started on Special Topics in Calamity Physics, which is our August pick for book club. I have tried starting this one in the past but haven’t gotten too far. Maybe I’ll have more success this time.

Something I’m watching: We watched King of Kong, a documentary about competitive (classic) video gaming. It was entertaining enough. I told Gabe that if he got laid off from his job, it is not acceptable for him to pursue world records in arcade games.

Something I’m playing: It would be nice if I could use this category for board games or card games, but I haven’t had much opportunity for those lately. I do get to play Words with Friends on a daily basis. I’m still playing a little Scramble 2.

Something tasty: We had fajitas tonight with friends, and they were tasty (though a bit spicy!).

Something Maddie is doing (29 months old): She is doing ok without the paci, but bedtime has been a more lengthy process. She babbles quite a bit before falling asleep. Her naps have been more challenging as well. She had a very rough night last night with lots of waking, so we are really hoping she’s not getting sick. Maddie has been asking us to read lots of books, and she has started reciting some fairly complicated books almost word for word. Repetition, repetition, repetition. She’s very into doing everything all by herself. If you do something for her, she makes a point of putting whatever it was back to the original state and then redoing it by herself. Parenting a toddler requires quite a bit of patience.

Something Cullen is doing (27 weeks old): Poor little guy has had a rough week. He started on Monday night with a fever and vomiting. He had a little congestion, so we thought he must have a sort of cold or virus when we took him to the doctor on Tuesday. Wednesday was his 6-month check up. Since he had gotten worse, they decided to take blood and urine samples and run some cultures. The blood test showed an elevated white blood count, pointing to a bacterial infection. Unfortunately, the urine looked abnormal and the cultures grew bacteria. So, he is being treated for a bladder infection. We will find out more this week with a follow up visit to the pediatrician. He is going to have to have some further testing at the hospital. I’m trying not to worry about the guy too much until we know more, but obviously that’s hard to do as a Mommy. The pediatrician focused on his illness, but we did talk about his 6 month well visit a little bit. His weight was 16 pounds, 10 ounces (30th percentile), length of 27 inches (68th percentile), and head circumference of 17.5 inches (98th percentile). Dude has a big noggin. The pediatrician commented on Cullen’s “advanced” babbling skills. He has been cooing at us and squealing more often. He has been rolling more to get places, and you can just tell he wants to crawl. He’s not quite getting on his hands and knees, but he’s getting closer. He is able to sit for brief periods by himself, not just in the tripod pose. We’ve been introducing him to foods, and this week he had banana, avocado, and sweet potato. He’s hitting a bunch of milestones all at once!

Something I am struggling with: Cullen’s health issues. Sleep. Keeping up with photos.

Something I learned: I am learning a little bit about kidney reflux, one of the things that they are testing Cullen for soon.

Something I’m looking forward to: Maddie’s ribbon dancing class and a possible visit with my parents.

Something random: I love how Cullen touches my face. I think it’s his special way of telling me that he loves me. It’s not an exclusive affection for me as I’ve seen him to do it to certain others as well. Of course, he does prefer me over all others right now. He’s all about Mommy!

Something captured: I will now always think of this as “The Shimmer Wall,” immortalized in song by Barenaked Ladies at last night’s show. It was a big deal for Gabe and I to get out of the house and see a concert together!

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: Lazy Sundays with my family (though we did make some plans for after nap, so today isn’t totally lazy).

Something I’m thinking: I’ve lost over 40 pounds since January!!! Yes, I know that some of that was due to giving birth to Cullen, but I’m counting that in my numbers, thank you very much.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping that my grandpa gets well soon. He’s not been feeling well and is currently in the hospital.

Something happening around the house: Intermittent ants. I hope that isn’t a sign of what’s to come. We need to call the pest control people this week and put a stop to the parade before it’s a real problem.

Something I’m reading: I’m almost finished with Little Earthquakes for book club this week. I think I can finish it before Wednesday! I’m enjoying it. She’s really hit the nail on the head with various baby and child issues. Some parts have really made me laugh because they are all too true!

Something I’m watching: I don’t think we watched anything this week, aside from maybe an episode of Losing it with Jillian or Hell’s Kitchen. I want to see Inception, but I’m not sure when or how that is going to happen.

Something I’m playing: We wanted to play some games with friends on Friday evening, but the kids did not cooperate. Oh well, next time. We are still playing Words with Friends and started playing a boggle-type game (Scramble 2).

Something tasty: We had some tasty peaches from our produce box this week. I love the smell of ripe peaches! Yum! I tried pureeing some and putting them in pancake batter this morning, but I don’t think that it worked out too well. The pancakes were fine, but they didn’t taste very peachy.

Something Maddie is doing (29 months old): Thursday, we decided to say goodbye to the paci. She has been using it only at night and during naps for a while. We had wanted to take it away entirely a while ago, but she has had lots of major transitions this year. I should do a separate post about the paci.

Something Cullen is doing (26 weeks old): Cullen had a big week, too. He turned 6 months old - I can’t believe it! He also had his first taste of solid foods. We decided to skip the yucky rice cereal this time and go straight to banana. We might try cereal later once we have some fruits and veggies to mix into it. I’ll have to do a separate post about his first taste of solid foods.

Something I am struggling with: I’m struggling with the space on my hard drive. I’ve been taking more video clips lately on my iPhone and regular camera. They are taking up space, and I don’t have time to deal with them! I need to figure out a system or something.

Something I’m looking forward to: Dinner with friends, Cullen’s 6-month appointment, book club, and a fun-filled Saturday!

Something random: My friend Shannon says that Vermont is random.

Something captured: I think Cullen wants to crawl!

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: Planning (and going on) vacations makes me happy!

Something I’m thinking: I’m thinking about getting some of those new designer diapers from Pampers. I saw them in Target the other day, and I was tempted!

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping to take better photos of Cullen than I have been taking lately. I’ve been lazy and many days the only photo I have taken has been on the iPhone. The iPhone’s photos aren’t as good as the small camera (and definitely not as good as the SLR, obviously).

Something happening around the house: We had our friend Shannon watch the kids on Friday so that we could go to a dinner and a movie. It was strange being out of the house together without the kids. This was the first time since Cullen was born that we managed to do it. The next time will probably be for the Jack Johnson concert next month.

Something I’m reading: I started reading Little Earthquakes, the revised book club book for July. I don’t know if I will be able to finish it in time or not. I have plenty of time, theoretically. I just haven’t made much time for reading lately.

Something I’m watching: I was sad that Babies left the theaters before I could see it. Darn! Guess I will have to netflix it. I did manage to see Eclipse and Toy Story 3 in the theater. Wow, I can’t believe I saw two movies in one week! We also watched the first few episodes of Supernatural which is a bit creepy so far.

Something I’m playing: Gabe and I have been playing a lot of Words with Friends and iAssociate on our iPhones!

Something tasty: We had dinner at Lucky 32 Friday night for the first time in a while.

Something Maddie is doing (28 months old): She was doing great with potty training, but we had a couple of setbacks this weekend. Yesterday, she had a tiny accident while playing with a buddy. She wet herself a little and stopped herself and did the rest of the potty. But then after bath, she peed on the floor before getting her clothes on and announced happily that she had done so. Nice. She did the same thing again this morning, so I’m not sure what’s going on with her. We aren’t making a big deal of it and tell her that “peepee belongs in the potty.” Maybe she’s just trying to get attention. She had no other accidents this week, not even at night. I can’t believe how few nighttime accidents that we have had so far (only a couple in that first week). In other Maddie news, she continues to love singing songs. She loves her baby brother. She is very much into doing everything herself from climbing into her high chair or car seat to pouring her own drinks to dressing herself. She refuses to let us dress her and has to do it ALL by herself. She’s pretty good at it, but she’s not always the fastest dresser. Parenting a toddler takes a lot of patience!

Something Cullen is doing (24 weeks old): He started sleeping on his belly this week. I think that he’s more comfortable. He hasn’t miraculously slept through the night or anything, but I think we’ve been able to get him to sleep a little longer in the bassinet sometimes. Maybe. He still spends most of the night in the bed (NOT on his belly). Cullen gets compliments on his smile and his blue eyes everywhere he goes. He has a great smile. He’s so pleasant to be around (most of the time!). He loves his jumperoo. He seemed to be rolling over with more purpose this week. It seemed like he was rolling to reach things and for movement. He is good at spinning around on his belly when he’s playing on the floor. He explores everything by putting it in his mouth. He drools excessively. He’s wearing 9 month sized clothing (and has been for a little while). He’s getting close to being able to sit on his own.

Something I am struggling with: Keeping up with photos. Now that the first half of the year has passed, I had hoped to start on “volume 1″ of our photobook for 2010. I still need to organize quite a few photos from the first half of the year (including getting them on the website…I am still in April for those).

Something I learned: I learned that the front camera on my iPhone does not have as good resolution as the regular camera. Oh well, it’s still useful!

Something I’m looking forward to: Gabe’s mom is visiting soon, and we’re going to go to the beach for a couple days.

Something captured: My kiddos. They were both amused to see themselves on the iPhone while I took this photo with the front facing camera. Maddie had been singing “Where is Thumbkin” to Cullen, hence the sock puppets.

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: Our new iPhones!

Something I’m thinking: I’ve been thinking about some blog posts that I want to write…just haven’t had as much time as I would like to do it.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping that Cullen gets over this nasty cold soon. Poor guy has been congested and coughing for most of this week.

Something happening around the house: Gabe and I have been setting up our iPhones, syncing them with our contacts/laptops/calendars/email, and researching apps. Fun!

Something I’m reading: I finished Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games series. I’m looking forward to the third book, coming out later this year!! I started reading The Lightning Thief. I’m having fun reading some of the books that have been sitting on my shelves waiting for me. Still not sure I’ll find the motivation for July’s book club book.

Something I’m watching: We’re hoping to watch Alice in Wonderland tonight.

Something tasty: We’ve been eating a lot of (vegan) fruit cobbler! Last night, I made cobbler with fresh peaches and blueberries. Yum!

Something Maddie is doing (28 months old): She’s doing fabulously with her potty training! She only had one daytime accident this week. We’re no longer setting timers, and we don’t even have to ask her about the potty that often. She’s doing very well with telling us when she needs to go. She decided that she was done with nighttime diapers on Thursday evening. She’s had just one nighttime accident so far.

Something Cullen is doing (22 weeks old): Poor Cullen has a bad cold. Fortunately, he hasn’t been running a fever. We took him to the doctor, anyway, on Saturday morning since his nights have been so rough. I wanted to make sure we had his ears checked and such, just in case he had some kind of infection but wasn’t running a fever. Cullen is very interested in putting whatever he can find into his mouth. His favorite thing to chew on at the moment is his own foot. Toes in the nose! He’s been sleeping poorly and prefers to be held or to be next to Mommy in the bed.

Something I learned: I’m learning all kinds of stuff about my iPhone!

Something I’m looking forward to: Book club!

Something random: I’m playing Words with Friends now (some friends have been begging me to play for a little while now).

Something captured: One of the first photos taken with my iPhone (before I realized that the protective film on the back was causing the photos to not be as clear as they could be).

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: My smiley little boy.

Something I’m thinking: Why are weekends so short?

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping that Gabe has enjoyed his Father’s Day!

Something happening around the house: I did some more organizing of the kitchen cabinets and pantry. It looks pretty good now!

Something I’m reading: I started and finished The Hunger Games and started on the second book in the series, Catching Fire. So far, I’m enjoying the series! I still can’t get motivated to read Devil in the White City for book club. We’ll see how I feel after finishing Catching Fire. I have a feeling I’m going to read whatever I’m in the mood to read!

Something I’m watching: We didn’t watch much of anything this week…

Something tasty: I made stuffed peppers with the fresh bell peppers from our Produce Box this week. Yum!

Something Maddie is doing (28 months old): It was a big week for Miss Maddie!!! We officially started potty training on Tuesday. She has done very well, and we are so proud of her. Aside from her 7 accidents on Wednesday, she hasn’t had more than 2 or 3 accidents a day. She had one accident Friday morning and hasn’t had another one all weekend!! Of course, there’s still plenty of time left in the day, so we’ll see what happens. Maddie also enjoyed her first popsicle from the ice cream truck. We finally caught him (actually her, as it turns out). Maddie is 28 months old today!

Something Cullen is doing (21 weeks old): He gets excellent marks for being cute and smiley. He’s failing at sleeping in the bassinet and sleeping continuously. I still have hope that he’s not following in his sister’s footsteps when it comes to sleep, but that hope is starting to fade! It’s a good thing he’s so cute. He’s starting to show some interest in our food, so we are thinking about doing solids sometime soon.

Something I am struggling with: Yesterday morning, I noticed that my tick bite had a circular, bullseye rash. Uh oh. So now I’m being treated for Lyme disease. I’m almost positive that I don’t have Lyme but STARI instead. Either way, finding the bullseye rash was a bit scary! I’ve been exhausted, but it’s hard to say if that is related to my tick disease or the fact that my infant won’t sleep.

Something I learned: I learned about STARI, including the fact that my sister had it several years ago.

Something I’m looking forward to: We might get to see Gabe’s basketball game tomorrow. He’s already injured himself twice in this league - a jammed thumb and a somewhat twisted ankle. Fortunately, both injuries have been minor.

Something random: It’s a good thing that the diagnosis between Lyme disease and STARI doesn’t really matter as the treatment is the same (antibiotics). I’m just glad that it isn’t the case that the treatment for one means certain death if misdiagnosed (like in an episode of House).

Something captured: We went to a special swim event at work for kids 4 years old and younger. Maddie and Cullen both seemed to enjoy it!

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: Hearing my daughter say, “I lub you, Mommy” tonight when she was going to bed.

Something I’m thinking: Today, my parents have been married for 40 years.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping to pre-order my new iPhone this week. Yep, that’s right, we decided against the Droid Incredible with Verizon and now we’re going for iPhones. I’m excited.

Something happening around the house: I did some kitchen organizing with the pantry and spice cabinet. I still have a little more work to do, but I spent a lot of time on Saturday cleaning things out.

Something I’m reading: I’m almost finished with Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella for June’s book club meeting. I’m not sure what I’m going to read next. I’m having trouble getting motivated to read Devil in the White City (July’s book club book). I feel like I want to read lighter stuff, especially since my time and brainpower are limited.

Something I’m watching: We watched The Blind Side last night and really enjoyed it. I think since we don’t get much chance to go to the theatre these days, we’re going to try to make a point to watch movies at home with Netflix more often. Speaking of the theatre, I was able to sneak out on Friday night with a girl friend to see The Karate Kid. I really enjoyed it! I thought they did an excellent job of the remake. The movie was different enough from the first one to seem like a different movie yet stayed true to the basic story lines and had many references to the original.

Something tasty: Our first fresh corn on the cob (which I prefer off the cob) of the season.

Something Maddie is doing (27 months old): Maddie made some big strides in her potty training preparation. I call this phase, “potty awareness.” We’re not actively potty training, though I think that this will happen pretty soon. She has asked to go to the potty for almost all of her BMs this week. She’s so proud of herself. Her diapers are still often wet, though she will sometimes ask to do that on the potty, too. She is getting really good at dressing herself. Today, she got something on her shirt and wanted to change. She changed both her shirt and her shorts with no help from us. She went to the drawer, picked out her new clothes, took the old ones off and put the new ones on. She has been working on these skills for a while. This has been a big week for Maddie. In addition to her potty successes, she had another swimming lesson and continues to excel at puzzles. At her swimming lesson, she went completely under water for the first time and LOVED it. She has been a little timid in the water lately, so this was a big victory. She still seems nervous every time she gets into the pool, but she usually warms up and then has a great time after a few minutes. We bought Maddie some new puzzles this week, and I have to say that she is very impressive with the jigsaw puzzles! We bought 3 puzzles of varying difficulties - 12, 24, and 48 pieces. I was pretty sure the 48 piece puzzle was going to be too challenging. I thought that the 24 piece may also be too hard for her to put together by herself. We tried the 12 piece first. She put it together in less than 5 minutes, completely by herself. In fact, she was trying to teach me how to put together puzzles. First, she collected the corner pieces and told me about them. Next, she showed me one piece and one of the connecting pieces. “See the pink here? And the pink here?” Hilarious! I am very impressed by my little girl. She can put together the 24 piece puzzle without help from us (and does it over and over and over). We haven’t brought out the 48 piece puzzle yet, but I am thinking we’ll have to do that soon!

Something Cullen is doing (20 weeks old): We took Cullen to the doctor on Monday for reflux issues, and the doctor recommended that I cut dairy out of my diet as a first step. Well, I’ve been through this before!. I have been dairy free for almost a week, and I believe it has already made a difference. Cullen was spitting up often and was not taking good naps before the trial. He is spitting up rarely now, seems to be in a better mood, and has been napping better during the day. Now, if we can just get him to sleep at night for more than 2 hours at a time (and sleeping in the crib/bassinet would be good). I am still holding out hope that we’re in midst of the “4-month-regression”. Several of my mommy friends have indicated that their infant went through a regression around that time. Hopefully, it will just be a short phase and we’ll get back on track to making progress on sleeping through the night. Cullen went swimming for the first time this morning, and he seemed to love it! He’s so cute in his little swim trunks and rash guard. Cullen has been more interested in toys and has been happy playing on his tummy for greater lengths of time. He’s fascinated by the remote control, as Maddie was at this age.

Something I am struggling with: Food! Cutting out dairy isn’t as bad this time as it was the first time. Some of the substitutes are coming back to me. Pizza is something I miss the most as there really isn’t a reasonable substitute. Quesadillas are also tempting and without substitute.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: We bought tickets to see Jack Johnson later this summer! Seeing one of his concerts is on my goal list. His music is meaningful to our relationship, so we are excited to see him perform!

Something I’m looking forward to: A swim event for kids under 4 years old at work on Friday.

Something random: I almost forgot to take Cullen’s photo today! Good thing I still have a few more hours. Something tells me that this one isn’t going to be an awesome photo.

Something captured: The neighbors’ yard had a midnight makeover. Maddie’s response was profound: “it belongs in the potty.”

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey

Something that makes me happy: Long weekends in the mountains with great friends!

Something I’m thinking: I thought about writing this yesterday from the mountains, but we were too busy having fun.

Something I’m hoping: I’m hoping to sleep well tonight. We had a great time this weekend, but we stayed up too late every night.

Something happening around the house: We’re home!

Something I’m reading: I started Devil in the White City which is July’s book club selection. I didn’t get very far and should probably start and finish June’s selection first!

Something I’m watching: We rewatched the first four episodes of Glee with the Leslies this weekend. I’m glad they liked it!

Something tasty: We were treated to yummy breakfasts at the Leslie Lodge this weekend. We had pancakes, french toast, and blueberry scones. Yum!

Something Maddie is doing (27 months old): Maddie had a great time with her best friend, Keira, this weekend. She and Keira had fun hiking in the woods, playing in the park, creating artwork, running around, and dancing. On Saturday, she was having so much fun that she refused to nap. That was partially our fault considering that we blew the lunch/nap schedule by going hiking at a nearby park. She didn’t nap well today either as we thought she’d sleep in the car on the way back. She only slept for 20 minutes which made for a very cranky evening. It’s clear that Maddie needs that daily nap and needs to stick to her schedule! Earlier this week, she said, “Mommy is my best friend.” How sweet!

Something Cullen is doing (18 weeks old): Cullen had his 4-month appointment this week and weighs 15 pounds, 9 ounces. According to our pediatrician, his weight was in the 60th percentile. His length was 92nd percentile and his head circumference was 98th percentile. He still hates the car as evidenced by our weekend trip to the mountains. He’s regressed with his evening sleep, but I hope that is just because we weren’t at home this weekend. He will sleep in our arms but doesn’t seem to want to sleep in the bassinet. On the plus side, he went almost 8 hours between feedings last night!!!

Something I am struggling with: We are struggling with finding a good time of day to travel with the kids. I’m not sure that such a thing exists right now.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: Nothing specific.

Something I learned: Maddie needs her daily nap and traveling any distance in the car with the two kids is a challenge. While we knew both of these facts prior to this weekend, they were reconfirmed for us.

Something I’m looking forward to: Hopefully seeing my parents this weekend.

Something random: When making Easy Oreo Truffles, don’t attempt to use fake Oreos.

Something captured: I presented Maddie with all the hair bows that matched her outfit. She wanted to wear all of them. Why not?

Others writing The Sunday Somethings: Audrey