Catching Up

There has been so much going on!

This will be a bit of a scattered mess, so hang in there with me.

Maia and Ruby are playing together a lot more these days.

Well, Maia plays with Ruby and Ruby tolerates it.

Ruby is 9 months old today!

She is such a sweet little baby. Ruby loves to make us laugh by making faces or reaching for Maia's hair. Anytime Ruby toots or sneezes, she looks up at us and laughs as if it's the funniest thing she's ever done. She's babbling a lot more and likes to clap her hands.

We haven't been getting a lot of sleep these days for 3 main reasons.

1. Ruby is about to cut 4 teeth

2. Ruby is on the verge of crawling

3. Maia is learning to use the potty

And it's #3 that we're losing the most sleep over.

I don't care what anyone says, diapers are the best! They are easy, contain messes, and are very portable.

Potty training is hard.

And I have NO IDEA what I'm doing.

This haunts me in my dreams.

Maia is doing really well. I'm so very proud of her. It seems she has a love/hate relationship with using the potty. She really wants to keep her panties/pull-ups dry. However, I think she wants to keep the potty dry too. We've been going at it for about 2 weeks now and looking back, I can say that we've made progress. It's exhausting. I'm exhausted. I think that I should get a treat every time Maia uses the potty.

I should clarify, I keep saying "I." Aleks has been an active participant as well when he's been home. Aleks has bravely taken on the challenge of finding us a home in Wichita. The first time he went, we found a house we loved in our price range. It was perfect. Except for the school district. We were prepared to make an offer, but after a lot of thought and discussion, Aleks and I decided that it would be best to try and find a house in a better school district. Mostly because the salary of a professor doesn't make private school an option and I have no desire to homeschool. So, he had to leave for Wichita again. Thankfully Aleks found another home that we love in a great school district. We're currently in the process of making an offer and we'll let you all know what happens!

Anyway, I no longer remember what my life was like before the endless hours spent sitting on the floor of the bathroom, encouraging Maia to relax, and sit on the potty for just a little bit longer.

Also, our house is on the market. I'm hoping no one comes with a black light and sees all the dried pee drops that I'm sure are scattered throughout our house.

Too graphic? I'm sorry.

Did I mention that I'm exhausted?

Ruby's taking it all in stride. And I hope she's taking notes too. I don't know if I can do this again. Maybe I'll have Maia potty train Ruby...

A few other things. I'm making a quilt. Here's just a glimpse of what it looks like. Aunt Gretchen, are you proud?

Aleks planned the sweetest day for me yesterday. He scheduled in a nap for me, sent to me have drinks with my girlfriends, and then made me a delicious dinner. With candles and music and wine. It was really nice to reconnect after a crazy two weeks. We should all be so lucky to have a partner in life like Aleks.