One week!

One week from today Nadia, Ian, and Paul's parents will be starting the drive to Florida in our van. They will be spending two nights in Fernandina Beach, Florida with Aunt Diane and Uncle Jim before they pick Oliver, Paul, and I up at the airport in Orlando on May 8. I started packing a few days ago because I was trying to do an inventory to see what I had in the way of summer clothes and shoes for Nadia, Ian, and Oliver. Oliver has plenty of clothes because of hand me downs from Ian. The vast majority of Nadia and Ian's shorts and shirts were not purchased as sets but rather were purchased individually at yard sales or from clearance racks. I was pleased that I was able to pair tops and bottoms up pretty easily. I made a short list of shorts that would provide matches for the shirts that currently don't match any of their shorts. I discovered that Ian and Nadia both needed sandals. Grandmas are quick to help out. Paul's mom got Ian a pair of denim shorts (which go with just about anything), and my mom got Nadia two pair of sandals. I am going to a large community yard sale this Friday and Saturday; if I don't find Ian a pair of sandals I'll be heading to the mall this weekend so he'll have some for Florida. He's been wearing the same sneakers for 19 months, but the hole in the front of one of them was getting rather large so I pitched them in the trash can this morning and brought out a pair the next size up from his closet.

I am hoping that Oliver can go a whole week without any accidents. He had gone more than two weeks without any not that long ago, and then he really fell apart over the past 10 days. Three times over those ten days he had a #2 accident while on a playground (twice at the indoor one at our church and once at an outdoor playground). All three times I had taken him to the bathroom right before he started climbing, and he had peed on the potty every time, but obviously I can't schedule when he goes #2. He hadn't had a #2 accident in weeks, but we only recently started going to playgrounds again. I guess while he's up there playing he doesn't want to come down and go to the bathroom?

Then on Wednesday morning he wet the bed. I thought well it had been a few weeks since I washed his sheets so it didn't bother me too much, but then when the same thing happened on Friday I decided to start waking him up if he slept past 7:00 am in case that was the problem. On Sunday morning I woke him up at 7:00, but he had already wet the bed. I was not happy about washing his bedding three times over a period of five days! Our water bill is already way too high. We miss our previous home, which didn't involve a water or sewer bill (which at this house costs us about $125/ month). I am going to try even harder to make sure he doesn't drink anything after 6pm, but sometimes he gets himself a drink. Then to add insult to injury, on Saturday afternoon he had a #1 accident on the kitchen floor. It had been months since that happened. Sometimes it feels like potty training will never end with this boy, but I know that's not true, and I know that some kids have a much harder time than Oliver is having. This too shall pass. Aside from wetting the bed yesterday morning, he didn't have any accidents yesterday.

Below you will find a short video of Nadia playing the piano this morning. Last week she started playing songs that involved playing more than one note at a time. This was VERY exciting to her so she learned this song rather quickly. Now she's working on some songs that involve playing three notes a time (two with one hand and one with the other hand). It's so much fun to watch her learn! Ian wants to learn to play the piano. I haven't decided yet when I'll start giving him lessons.