Happy Thanksgiving

I know I'm a day early, but Thanksgiving is a very busy day in the Whitney household. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday. There is so much to be thankful for this year, even for those of us that have been negatively impacted by the current state of the economy. We will be having about 6 or 7 guests for dinner tomorrow afternoon. I'll be sure to say a happy thought for all of you as we sit down to eat tomorrow, I am forever thankful to you all for your friendship.

Snow Play

I'm sure there are many more days of snow play in my future, but hey, if she likes it then more power to her!

Yesterday I took Katie shopping for a new pair of winter boots. I swear her feet grow an inch a month, so she'll need another pair shortly after Christmas I'm sure. What led to this shpping trip taking place yesterday was that since it started snowing a few days ago Katie has been asking non stop to go outside and build a snowman, of course I wouldn't let her play in the snow in her little canvas shoes, so shopping we went. She picked out a pair that actually matches her snow suit pretty well and then we came home for a nap. As I was getting ready for school she started up on playing outside again so I bundled her up and sent her outside. For those of you who don't know, Daniel and I are NOT big snow people. It's not so much that we mind the snow, but we wish it would stay off the roads and sidewalks, and not make the air so darn cold. Katie, on the other hand, thinks the snow is absolutely fabulous. She spent most of last winter so sick that she didn't go out much, so I think it almost felt like the first time for her. She made snow angels, rolled down hills, ate it, licked it, threw it, and made her very own version of a snow man (which was really just her throwing snow to the same place time after time). She went out twice, and from what I hear she didn't want to come in, but eventually gave in. I didn't get any picks since I was gone most of the time she was outside, but I'll get some next time.

3 year old power trip

Daniel and I have been struggling with this for a few days. Katie's attitude lately is out of control. I know it's just a phase that she's going through, but I seriously just don't know what to do. I am NOT a very patient person, I've gotten a lot better about it over the years, but I'm still pretty easily riled. It's as if she knowsjust what buttons to push to really tick me off. On several occasions I have had to walk away and lock myself in my room for a few minutes so that I could just cry it out for a few minutes until I calmed down.

We have been very good about creating consequences for her actions, but it just doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. At this point she has had almost all of her toys taken away from her, and told that she won't get them back until she behaves, but she still acts up. They talk about owners needing to take there dogs to training classes, well, our dogs need to take Katie to training classes!! As people ask what she wants for Christmas I literally tell them NO TOYS!! At this point I would rather her get clothes that aren't going to fit her for two years....

UUUURRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH

I don't mean to make this blog all about complaining but I'm glad to have a place to vent, so please just deal with me as we go through this wonderful phase of toddler-hood.

Exhaustion has set in....

So, last year Katie was "sick" like every three weeks. It was like clock work, I could count on her waking up with a fever, then coughing and sneezing her head off for a few days. We saw the doc about it quite a few times, but they just kept saying that it was just a cold and that she would et over it. They also told us that a lot of kids have one winter like that and then they seem to only get sick a 'normal' amount of times after that. Well, I'm here to tell you that they were wrong! As soon as the weather started changing Katie started with the same symptoms from last year. Her nose runs like a leaking faucet, and she coughs and sneezes all day. I feel so terrible for her, but atleast we haven't had any fevers yet this year!!

I've been feeling a little under the weather too. I've had a head ache off and on, I'm tired and my stomach has been bothering me. I'll get over it though!!

That's all for now, Katie is at her aunt and grammy's house for the night, so I should probably get some stuff done.

Orienation

I have orientation for school this afternoon. I'm pretty excited! I'm really looking forward to this program. There is an extreme amount of satisfaction in knowing that I will be graduating nine months from now and that I can continue to further my education after that if I want. One of these days I plan to finish my associates degree in business mgmt too, but it's not really at the top of my list right now. The economy just isn't such that I'm to have muc luck finding a good paying business job any time soon.

Katie's good too! She managed to earn two of her toy boxes back the other day. She really wants the rest of them too, but they will come with time, and of course good behavior!!

That's all for now! I'll make every effort to post pics from the past few weeks soon in the next few days.

Checking in

It's been a while!

We've been pretty busy around these parts.

I am officially enrolled in school, I have orientation this Wednesday and classes start next Monday. I go Monday thru Thursday, 5:30 -10 pm. The program is 36 weeks of classroom study, then 6 weeks of an externship. I'll be done with both July 31.

Daniel has been working a ton. They are still on 6 days. Katie and I miss him, but we can definitely use the money, so we try not to complain too much. He has 18 months in on November 18, which means another pay raise. Contract negotiations begin in April, which is when we'll find out for sure if he has a job for the long run or if he'll be laid off again. We have our fingers crossed that they'll decide to keep there group and he'll have a long term career.

Katie has been very busy with everything. She had a GREAT time Trick-Or-Treating. It was the first time she got to go, and I'm glad we waited to take her as I'm sure it's an experience she'll never forget. Her friend Hunter came over and went with her, which just made it all that much more fun for her.

What else? Oh! The baby topic. Well, after a lot more discussion we decided that we would still give this month a shot. So I should be able to test in about 8 days. If I didn't get pregnant this month then we are going to take a break for a few months. I really hope I am pregnant, but I'm not going to let it get me down if I'm not. If I am pregnant now the baby would be due just as I graduate from my program, which I think would be perfect since I could finish school, have the baby and then get a job instead of getting a job and then needing time off a few months later to have a baby. Since FMLA only works if you've been there a year and the employee has more than 50 employees I'd really rather it happen the first way.

The animals are doing great. Cocoa is growing like a weed. She is house broken and is learning to sit and lay. Yoshi is still as crazy as ever. He loves having someone to play with. George is not really so sure about having two dogs in the house. She is getting more adventurous and starting to check Cocoa out a little more each day.

Well, I'd better get going, I am determined to get my house cleaned up before Thanksgiving. I should really be doing laundry now!!