BINGO

Before we had EV a co-worker of mine told me that she would let her kids have a few Halloween candies but gave them the option of turning in the rest for a toy.  I thought that was such a great idea and was excited to try it out this year (since the last two years we just told EV that her candy were "treasures" and were just used for sorting and playing).  Well, it worked out beautifully!  As per our Halloween tradition, we went to our dear friend's neighborhood to take pictures and go trick-or-treating.  The kids were dressed as one of the three little pigs (EV), the big bad wolf (Weston), and little red riding hood (Madelyn).  The kids did great and got tons of candy. 

Once we got home, EV was excited to dump it all out and sort it.  She was also very excited to eat it.  So, at first I told her she can have 5 and turn in the rest for a toy.  She started counting but would grab a handful and call it one, another handful and call it two.  So instead we decided to give her a small bag and told her that she can fill it up with all the candy she wanted but once the bag was full that was it.  Then we told her in a very excited and full of anticipation voice, that she also had the option to turn in the rest of the candy to mr. candyman and get a new toy or book.  (We use this MISTER (ajhushi in Korean) to help us with lots of things, like Mr. diaperman came and took her diapers away, but I digress).  So EV got super excited, she handed over the rest of her bucket and asked when we can go get her toy.

The next day we went to the toy store and out of all the options, she picks this BINGO game and a book of stickers.  EV has a love for puzzles and things that require her to figure things out, so I thought this would be a good addition to her collection of games.  Yes, to say that she loves this game is an understatement.  She wants to play BINGO morning, day, and night.  It's a bit scary how obsessive complusive she can get.  I guess it's better that she plays BINGO than wanting to eat all that candy.

Home Renovation 101

We have been living in our current home for 6 years now.  A year and a half ago, we made an attempt to sell our house because we thought my parents were going to move in with us.  Circumstances changed and my aunt was able to help my parent's out.  At the time we were sad because we actually really liked our house.  After putting the house on the market and falling in love with another house, when things did not work out, we found that there are many things we do not like about our current home anymore.  However, we love our neighborhood, our back yard, and the memories we have made in our home.  So, we have decided to renovate and make the changes we want instead of trying to find the perfect home (which isn't as easy as you would think).  There has always been little things I wanted to change here and there, but this is a complete make-over.  We are only 1 month into this process since we have made the decision and this is where we are/what we've learned:

1.  Find a bank.  So, when you decide to do any major home renovation, the bank will have to be involved unless you have lots of money saved up.  The problem is a bank will not loan you the money until you have a blueprint that they can appraise.  You can't have a blueprint until you know how much money you're going to have.  You don't know how much money you're going to have until you know what your new home is going to appraise for.  You can't get an apprasial until you have a blueprint.  Then you're back at square one.

So what's the solution?  You make a lot of assumptions.  You assume that you can remodel your house to appraise for a certain amount so that you can get 80% of that to do the remodeling.  It's a vicious circle and a lot of gambling.

2.  Find a contractor.  There are many options out there and many types of contractors.  Intially we were going to have a friend who does general construction to help us piece everything together but then after we went to the bank we realized that we may need someone who does this regularly.  So, through a co-worker we got introduced to a really awesome family business that will be the project manager for this whole process.  They take care of everything!  From helping us identify the right bank, to building the blueprints, to finding sub-contractors to do the work, to supervising the remodeling, to helping pick out materials, to keeping us within the budget, everything!  We also found out that we have mutual friends which made it all the better.

3.  Build a blueprint.  Now we are getting into the meat of things.  Although the nerve-wrecking part is that you don't know how your finances will work out--again you are basing everything on several assumptions.  But this is the fun part.  Based on our current blue-print, we start moving this wall here and that room there.  You can really start envisioning what your renovated home will look like.   This is also the part where you start developing real hopes and expectations, you start day-dreaming about your renovated home, and can't concentrate.  Now that we have a bubble design of what we want, the architect is going to draw everything out to scale with all the details.

We are just getting started but we are super excited.  We have cut back on eating out, buying clothes, and going out.  Life will be a little messy and we'll even have to find a place to live temporarily when they actually start construction, but since we plan to live here long-term, we think this is well worth it.  I'll try to take pictures and document the process as we go along.

Potty vs EV's Will (2:2)

EV has been potty ready for awhile--she stays dry in her underwear, tells us when she needs to go, and can hold her pee until she is ready to let it go.  However, the usual scenerio is, she's in her underwear, she tells us she needs to go, she sits on the potty for a little bit, then says she needs her diaper while crying.  There's no convincing her to try going in the potty as long as she knows she has the option to go in her diaper.  No bribing, begging, coaxing, assuring would convince her to use the potty.

Solution:  Last week we told her that Mr. Diaper Man called and will be coming in 7 days to take all the diapers from the house.  At first she was actually excited and was saying how she's a big girl and that she will be using the potty in 7 days.  As the countdown continued, she started getting more anxious and unsure.  On the last day, she quiety came to me and said that she doesn't want Mr. Diaper Man to come.  I assured her that it'll be okay.

Day 1:  EV wakes up and is excited about wearing underwear (not really thinking that eventually she'll have to go pee).  She plays, goes grocery shopping with daddy, eats lunch but refuses to go pee.  After lunch, we try to convince her to go pee--she starts crying and saying she's scared.  We comfort her and she says she will not go.  We make the decision to put her down for her nap without a diaper because if we do then she'll always hold out until naptime to go pee.  We are sure that she will wet herself but after 2 hours of napping she wakes up and she's DRY!!!!!!!!!  We were shocked!  Poor baby--she hasn't peed since we took her diaper off at 6AM!  She's miserable, cranky, and in pain.  She sits on the potty and asks if she can watch some videos.  So I concede and let her watch videos on the iPhone.  She's whining and suddenly she clenches my arm and then she PEES!!!!  Potty: 1pt

After she pees what seems like a gallon of pee--she is super happy, proud, and excited.  She wants all her treats now.  She's dancing and singing and lauging.  She plays, eats, and the afternoon passes into the evening.  We go to buy her chocolate ice cream to fulfill our end of the bargain.  We come home and she has to pee but refuses.  It's late, she's tired, cranky, and it all seems hopeless.  We turn on the bath and she's in agony.  The bath water makes her want to go pee.  She refuses.  I am confused--didn't we have a victory?  Shouldn't it be all better now?  Isn't she officially potty-trained?  I guess not!  I tell her it's okay to pee in the bathtub.  She takes a bath, pees in the bathtub, and gets ready for bed. 

To give her a diaper at night, now that is the question.  We decided to keep her in her underwear and change her later.  We check in on her at night, she has peed, we change her. 

Day 2:  It's a new day!  EV wakes up and immediately asks for her underwear.  She goes with daddy to breakfast club early morning and is in an overall good mood.  As we are getting ready for work and school, she says she needs to pee.  We sit on the potty but no pee.  She is dropped off at school and we tell the school the situation and absolutely no diapers.  I think of her all day.

Jimmy picks EV up from school and is told, "EV is a very very strong-willed child."  Apparently, they tried putting her on the potty every 45 mins and would let her sit for long periods of time but she would absolutely refuse to use the potty.  She naps and pees.  She plays outside and pees.  EV's will:  2 pts

EV comes home and tells me that she peed in her underwear and the she doesn't like peeing at school.  She says she wants to pee at home.  She sits on the potty and is noticeably uncomfortable.  She refuses to pee.  We have dinner and afterwards, she starts crying.  I immediately take her to the potty and that's when the heart wrenching crying begins.  She's peeing little bits at a time and cries, cringes, and cries with every drop of pee.  She's sweating, she's hysterical, she says, "Mommy, I don't want to be a big girl.  I am a baby.  I want my diaper."  My heart is breaking and I am wavering.  I call Jimmy in and ask if we should give her a "d-i-a-p-e-r".  Jimmy says that we have to be strong and not give in.  She pees a little more; she's clenching my arm now; she's in so much pain.  After what seems like hours, she's peed a good amount and says all done.  We cheer and give her some sprinkles as a treat.  She paces back and forth, then runs back to the bathroom saying she has to pee.  She sits on the potty and cries again and pees a little more.  We do this 2 more times.  Then finally, after the third time back on the potty, she just lets go.  She pees and pees and pees.  She says that she feels better and that it doesn't hurt anymore.  We tell her how proud we are, especially how she went back to the potty every time and did not have any accidents.  Potty: 1pt

She takes a bath, gets ready for bed, and goes to bed in her underwear (around 7:30pm).  We check in on her at around 11pm and she's still dry!  We were shocked, but decided to go ahead and put her in a diaper, unsure if she can stay dry the rest of the night. 

So currently we are tied 2:2 between the potty and EV's will.  We are on Day 3.  It's going to be a long week but I am confident that we are making progress.  Now we just have to convince her to go poop...

Addiction to online subscriptions

So, I've jumped on the online subscription bandwagon and it's sucked me in and I don't know how to get out (or if I really want to)!  What do I mean by online subscriptions?  They are different types of services where you pay a monthly fee and get a box of goodies.  Here are my current subscriptions:

Wittlebee--I love this subscription!  I pay $40 and get a box of clothes for EV.  I can pause whenever I want to and I have my very own stylist.  I let them know what kind of clothes, season, style, color, print, etc. that I want, including detailed notes about what I like and do not like, and then I receive a box of hand-selected designer clothes for EV.  So far, I have received two boxes and have loved almost every piece that I got.  I wish they had a service like this for adult clothes.

Birchbox--I think my anticipation was much higher than what I got, but I was still happy with my first box last month.  This is a subscription for beauty products, such as make-up, cleansers, lotions, hair products, fragarences, etc.  It's $10 a month and you can cancel anytime as well.  I think the only thing is that the samples are smaller than I thought.  Although in my last box, I got a full-sized liquid eyeliner that retailed for $15 so it made my box worth the $10 I spent.

Little Black Bag--This is my current obsession (thanks @MaryLee)!  You pay $50 a month and get a box of bags, jewelry, accessories, and makeup.  You pick your first item (I picked a purse worth $72) and then the stylists will pick an additional 2-3 items.  After you submit your payment, that's when the addicting part begins.  You can trade out any of your items for other items for 7 days.  All items are fully refundable.  I love my bag and one of the jewelry pieces I currently have in my bag; I'm just waiting for the right trade for my other jewelry item.  Plus, on Monday's and Thursday's they have new inventory so I'll wait it out until Thursday before deciding on my bag.

I also have a few other subscriptions that I want to check out (but since I'm a sucker for these, I'm sure I will try out others as I learn about them):

-Conscious Box--a monthly delivery of pure and sustainable products
-Glambag--this is similar to birchbox but it looks like the samples may be larger (at the same price!)
-KiwiCrate--this is a monthly subscription of crafts and activities for kids with all materials included

Off to Maryland!!

The last two weeks have been super crazy for our whole family--with pappa bear being preoccupied with GoldRush, momma bear trying to juggle work and EV, and getting ready for our trip up to Maryland, it's safe to say that we all are now trying to get our brains and body back to normal to start a new week tomorrow.

We spent the last week in Maryland and boy did we pack it in!  We left Monday night at 7:30pm and arrived at grandma and grandpa's house at 6:00am on Tuesday.  After some breakfast, we went to the hotel to check-in and let pappa bear get some sleep.  We went to go visit great grandma in the afternoon and had dinner at grandma's house.  Wednesday morning after breakfast at the hotel (which EV ate twice--once when she woke up at 7am and again when momma bear went to go eat at 9am), we headed into the city to visit the natural history museum.  We spent the morning looking at fossils and learning about dinosaurs, then headed to eat lunch at the Old Post Office atrium food court (found it on Scoutmob).  Unfortunately, we did not make it far before EV fell asleep and therefore ended up taking her nap in the car.  For the afternoon, we went to grandma's house so that we could meet up with relatives: aunts and cousins galore!  We met up with some second cousins and went to Chuck E Cheese--the place gave momma a big headache but EV you were having the time of your life!

Thursday morning we decided to keep it low-key and visit a park--what a great park!  It had a huge playground, a carousal, and a choo-choo train.  It kept us busy for the morning and made us hungry for lunch.  For lunch, we went to have some Peruvian chicken.  Yum!!!!  After everyone's nap, momma bear and pappa bear included, we headed over to grandma's house again so that we could meet up with some more aunts and uncles.  We headed into Virginia, played at an indoor playground, and had really good Japanese buffet food.  

Since it had been raining Thursday night, Friday morning was much cooler than the previous couple of days.  So, we decided to take the chance and go to the National Zoo.  Boy oh boy, did you have a good time.  We saw zebras, cheetahs, lions, tigers, panda bears, elephants, gorillas, monkeys, and much much more.  You couldn't stop talking about all the animals! (Side note:  I don't think I have heard you talk as much as you talked on this trip!  You definitely love to talk!  You also made us laugh more and understand you more on this trip!!).  We had lunch at the zoo then headed back for your nap.  After your nap we made our way into Baltimore to meet more aunts and uncles.  Here you got to meet 4 of the largest dogs you have ever seen.  I was so proud of you--you were not the least bit scared and you embraced them as if you have been around big dogs all your life!  In Baltimore we ate Maryland blue crabs, snow crabs, and corn on the water.  You were having the best time.

Saturday was our last day and unfortunately we were not able to do anything we planned as it rained hard all day.  So, we spent our last day with grandma and grandpa, eating good food, and making games out of plastic bags and paper.  Although it was spent mostly indoors, it was a good day.  After dinner, we got ready and headed back down to Georgia.  We were sad to leave but thankful we had a week to spend time with family.  We love you and miss you all!!

Our summer so far...

I can't believe it is already the end of June!  I find myself busier than ever with work, church, family, and friends.  Since my last post, I have been on work travel twice and the beach for vacation.  In addition to traveling, we have said good-bye to old friends, hello to new ones, and nice to see ya again to friends we haven't seen in awhile.  I've had crazy work deadlines and Jimmy is busy preparing for Rush.  We've gone to birthday parties, celebrated father's day, hung out at the pool, had a garage sale, and spent time with friends and family.  I've been spending time thinking, praying, and planning for the new ministry year for the working moms community.  So yes, it's already the end of June but we have done so much and we still have so much more to do!

So, what is EV up to now?  She is becoming a lady.  It's amazing how quicklyl they grow and mature.  We have conversations and I can now see and understand her thought processes.  She's able to articulate her emotions and her thoughts.  She has an incredible memory.  She is considerate, loving, funny, persistent, indepedent, sensitive, perceptive and insightful. She is constantly talking and likes to narrate EVERYTHING--"Look mommy, I am eating a bagel; it has cream cheese on it. Mommy is all done with her bagel and is wiping her mouth. Look mommy, daddy is sitting next to me.  Daddy has a bagel, EV has a bagel.  My bagel has cream cheese on it..." and on and on and on.  She puts a smile on my face when she says things like, "Mommy, please turn up the air.  Look at me, I'm sweating."  or "Mommy, you look pretty today." The mornings when she wakes up before us, she'll tiptoe quietly into our room, peak in and take a look at us, and then go back to her room to play by herself until either we are ready to wake up or she gets too bored.  She likes to play jokes and she loves laughing.  She loves to sing and is singing all the time.  She loves to swim and getting more confident in the water--she can jump high and far.  She swims across the pool with just pool noodles and no help.  She has high standards for herself and gets frustrated when she cannot accomplish what she thinks she can in her head.  She gets embarrassed when she gets in trouble in front of others.  Her current favorite book is Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Suess.  Evangeline, you are truly our joy and in times of frustration or discouragement, we look at you and are reminded of God's love and blessing.  I am so thankful for the moments we share and I look forward to more.

Things to come next month:
--4th of July
--GoldRush
--Trip to Maryland
--Camping

Mash Up

EV has really been getting into singing.  Her current favorites include, "Yes, Jesus Loves Me," "Happy Birthday to You," "Row Row Row Your Boat," "The Wheels on the Bus," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," and the "ABC Song."  The other day Jimmy mentioned that Baa Baa Black Sheep, ABC Song and Twinkle Twinkle all are based off of the same notes/melody.  The next thing we know EV is singing Baa Baa Black Sheep and finishing it off with the ABC Song (when she was supposed to be taking a nap).  She doesn't start really singing until about 15 seconds into the recording; it's actually really cute how she corrects herself, although she's still a little pitchy.  So, without further ado, here is EV's mash up of Baa Baa Black Sheep and ABC song.

EV's Mash Up of Baa Baa Black Sheep and ABC Song