6 months later (potty traning and new home!)

Wow so much for my new year's resolution to blog more. 6 months later and here I am to update. In just 3 fast/slow weeks Roman and I will be on a plane on our way to TX for good! Matt will follow behind in August. Today was our last day with Elvis has he was adopted by a wonderful, sweet family. He was getting way to aggressive with Roman and our new puppy Zeus. Plus Roman and Zeus would never leave him alone! The poor old guy deserves to relax in his "retirement years."

We just started potty training Roman 3 days ago. Today I broke down and cried because I felt like I was scarring him for life. I have to pin him down to the toilet when I KNOW he has to go and he screams "I don't want to" or "no potty!" and I'm scared he won't potty train til he's a teenager at this rate! However after that mini break down he had several hours of success which lifted my hopes and renewed my strength. The last 2 days we did the naked from the waist down method but today we put him in underwear. I'm hoping if he can feel the wetness it will help out. The last two days he's just peeing all over everything and not caring. Today though (after a crappy morning- literally) he went 3 whole hours without an accident. That includes a 1 hour trip to the legal office! However as soon as I posted the good news to facebook he wet in 3 pairs of underwear back to back. *le sigh* Then he went another hour with no accidents including a walk to Elvis' new home around the corner and back...hmm maybe that's the key. He won't have accidents out of the house! (HA. HA!) So for now the potty training experiments continue. I refuse to give up because I know he is ready. He's just stubborn and doesn't want to stop playing to sit on a boring potty! Tomorrow we'll try letting him stand on a stool and pee on some cereal...

 So why were we at the legal office for an hour? Oh you know, just signing some closing documents for our brand new house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to Casa del Barr! This beautiful 2 story, 4 bedroom, corner lot home is OURS! I never ever thought I would live in a beautiful home like this. I dreamed of it of course. Especially after seeing all my high school friends homes growing up. But me? Psh we were strictly apartment people! Or other people's homes people...but we won't go there. But this baby is ours. We have been saving and saving since Matt's first deployment for a home. And turns out with the VA loan we didn't have to put a penny down which means we will actually have a "cushion" in our savings for those oh-so-unpleasant home owner things like broken water heaters and busted A/Cs! *phew* Hopefully I can get things set up and nice so that way I can get my license as a home care provider! I want to keep 2,3,and 4 year olds and do preschool in my home. Then after school I want to have a few school age kids and do tutoring! I'm praying the Lord will provide this. My dream has been to own my own preschool for a while now and this could be the first steps...of course if things don't work out and money is too strapped I can go back to teaching. But I hope that we can make it at least 3 years until Roman starts kindergarten.





Another cool feature of this house? It's only a few homes down from my Aunt Stacy! Oh AND my "germany family" is ALSO getting stationed in Hood so I'm praying that they find somewhere near us as well. I'm VERY spoiled to having Jen across the street!!!




Hopefully with this whole "stay at home mommy" thing I'll be able to update more often. I just wish I had cool things to post about like my favorite bloggers Kelle Hampton (Enjoying the Small Things) and Jen Jones (iheartorganizing). Even my buddy Jen Parrish (Parrish Platz) posts about cool crafts she does!

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Make Over and Ketchup!

So Decemember was CRAZY in the Barr household! First and foremost- Daddy came home!!! I had known for a while that he would return early Decemember but couldn't say anything for security reasons. Roman had been horribly sick the week of Matt's return running high temperatures, diarhea, rash, etc. I stayed home Thursday-Friday with him much to the school's dismay. I took him to the Dr on Wednesday after having a high temp (103F!!!) for 24hrs but she said it was a virus and it'd run it's course but to bring him back on Friday if the fever persisted. Matt came home on Thursday and poor Roman was so out of it, in a feverish haze, that he wasn't quite aware that- wait, this is my Dad! Matt was bummed that Roman wasn't more excited but he quickly saw how yucky he felt and understood. Friday morning, Matt's first morning home, we were back at the Dr because Roman's temp was STILL up and he had developed a rash over his upper body. Well yes it was a virus but he also had an ear infection AND his tonsils looked "beefy" but since she was already giving him antibiotics for the ear she didn't test for strep. After 24hrs on the antibiotics my poor baby finally started perking up.

Once Roman was feeling better he wasn't quite sure of Matt. That first night home, even though he was sick, he was bringing Matt toy after toy as if he was showing his Dad all that he had missed while he was gone. He also let Matt give him a bath and put him to bed. But a few days later he went on a Mommy Only thing and he's still sort of there.

Roman will play with Dada happily, especially legos and cars which Dada seems to do better than Mama. But when Roman wants to read a book or chill out in a lap it's always got to be me. Matt will try over and over to call Roman to him but that only makes Roman cry harder for Mama. I'm still working on that...

When school let out for Christmas Break the Barr family headed to London with our friends the Lucas Family: Christa, Ryan, Madi (4), and Abbi (2). London ROCKS. Our favorite place we've been to. No it's not as beautiful as Rome or romantic as Paris but it is fun! And it's in ENGLISH!! It sort of felt like being "home" and the people are SO stinking nice. Like old men, ladies, and teenage boys all helping a woman with a stroller up and down many "tube" stairs!! Once again I was in love with the public transportation. I wish Texas had more subways and busses!

Highlights from London:

Buckingham Palace (although the Changing of the Guards was cancelled)
London Eye at twilight/night!
Tower of London (crown jewels were my favorite. Also seeing Tower Green)
Westminster Abbey (so beautiful and pretty. Plus I saw some of my favorite historical people's graves: "Bloody" Mary, Elizabeth I, etc. I was disappointed to learn that Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon are elsewhere.)
Sherlock's Pub for some steak pie and fish-n-chips
Apollo Victoria Theater where I saw WICKED!!!
London Zoo (monkey exhibit is AWESOME- they try and jump on you!!)
Picadilly Circus/Oxford St for some window shopping and a short but psychotically busy visit to Hamleys, England's largest toy store.

We tried to hit up the British Museum but only a few minutes in there we learned it wasn't kid friendly. I had also scheduled us to see the National History and Science museum, Pollock's Toy Museum, British Library but we did not have enough time/ stamina with 3 kids under 4! Roman behaved VERY well I must say, especially considering he didn't sleep well ever. This is always a battle on vacations.

In Decemember Roman learned some new things. He mastered "no" and "uh uh" with a head shake. He can open doors that have handles (not knobs). He grew at least an inch! He knows most animal sounds and associates the names with him (though he doesn't say the names yet). We broke the paci once and for all after Christmas. This was hard because he had it 24/7 in London as "security". I snipped the tip off the paci hoping he'd just not want it and be fine. Nope. He was P.O.ed! He's chuck it and keep crying for HIS "ni-ni" but we held strong. A few nights of endless crying for 45 minutes and he's done with it. Now he'll still ask for it but I just tell him "No, you're a big boy." and that's that. However bedtime isn't as easy anymore. He wants Mama to rock him. Sometimes that doesn't even make him tired so he'll have to fuss for 5-10 minutes until falling asleep.

For Christmas Roman received lots of legos, cars, and even a four wheeler. I love watching him build legos over and over, drive cars around while saying "vrrrooooom" and lining all of his cars up, and he can even ride his power wheel's by himself (it has a button on the handlebars instead of a foot peddule). His face is ecstatic when he's riding on it.

We have also bought a new male Siberian Husky puppy named Zeus. He is still with his litter as he's only a month old but we got to go over and pick him out when he was 3 weeks old. Roman LOVED all those dogs. 6 puppies and 3 adults! He's so rough on poor old Elvis (banging toys on him and laughing evily) so we're hoping a young, energetic puppy that will soon outgrow him will give him a new friend to play with and grow up with.

No snow in Germany except once while we were in London and once right after Christmas. Both times the snow covered the ground but melted by night time. I'm torn between loving not freezing to death, slipping on ice, and having dry shoes but part of me loved snow- at least looking at it! Christmas didn't feel right without it. It also didn't feel right because I was vomitting on Christmas Eve and we'd just returned from London so we didn't do our "traditional" things. Oh twell.

So that was Decemember for the Barr's! Matt's still on block leave and I'm back at work and Roman is back at school. Check back for another update soon. By the way, how do you like the new blog layout? I'm still looking for something personalized but figured it was time to take down the stork since Roman was born 17 months ago!!!

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The "no"s have begun

While trying to get Roman dressed this morning he was doing his squirming and screaming and trying to flip over. It's always fun when he's in "that mood." Well when I told him to stop and put his legs in his pants he looked at me and in his twinkly baby voice very clearly said "No." Then just in case I didn't understand him (because I said "What did you say?!") he shook his head and said "Nu-uh."
Got it that time Mom?
Sheesh! Of course I bust out laughing. He glared at me. I got the pants on and turned to put him in my lap and he actually kicked at me while making the bratty "ugh!" sound that I *insert sarcasm font* absolutely LOVE hearing from kids. Yikes. I had to call Matt and let him know. He said he'd have laughed too. But now I have to get serious and nip this in the bud!

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Sickness

When they tell you a child will be sick for the first year they're in daycare- they aren't exaggerating. And don't you just love snooty comments from stay at home moms like "that's why my child isn't in daycare." No it's not. It's because you don't have a job. And one day your child will go to school where they will be constantly sick for the first year and miss out on valuable education time whereas my child will not only be advanced from being in "school" his whole life but he will also have a strong immune system. So there! Bah. People should keep their comments to themselves unless asked for them.

Roman has had this awful cough the last few nights. Saturday it started as a throat tickle cough. Sunday at nap time it progressed to rough cough. Sunday night he was coughing so hard he was gagging and turning colors and screaming in between which didn't help with the whole breathing thing. I tried 2 different german cough syrups (all natural) and a german balm safe for kids and then said screw it and used Vicks even though it's not recommended for kids under 2. I also gave him a dose of tylenol because there's no WAY his throat didn't hurt after all that hacking. He still coughed for about an hour after all this but finally we got some sleep. But not good sleep. I woke him up the next AM and he was NOT happy with me and tried to roll over and go back to sleep as I changed him. He's never done that! He had a very cranky day at school and home.

That night (which was last night) he did much better since we started right off with the cough syrup and vicks. Oh and he has a humidifier and his bed is propped up! Coughing didn't start until 5am. I gave him so meds and more vicks but he still coughed until I woke him up at 6:30. And me? Yeah I never got back to sleep. Blegh!

Even with the lack of sleep my kids at school have been awesome. Mostly. They're anxious, like we all are, but still sweet. I received an apology letter from a girl who had a rough day yesterday, a picture from another girl, and a note from a boy saying I was the best teacher in the world and he liked me. :-) Kids rock.

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Smartest Kid Award goes to...

Roman is 15months and 3 weeks old and he can now sort the colored shapes into his sorting ball!!! He received this white ball with the cut out shapes and plastic shapes to fit in them for his birthday. The ball is "self checking" because the color of the plastic shape matches the color outline of the shape cut out in the ball. Does that make sense?! Anyways it just shows that Roman can recognize colors and similarities in things which (not bragging or anything) is an 18 month milestone! ;-) My kid's awesome. I know this. He also can say nose and point to it (or mine) and now he grabs his belly when you ask him. Gah he's just so darn cute!

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Sadness

I love that I have the first 6 months or so of Roman's life documented so well and then nada.Well one quickie 8mo post. Seriously?! I realize how much I LOVE reading my older posts so I WILL get better. I love to write so why don't I more often?? Maybe it's because lately (well since I was pregnant actually) I have struggled with severe fatigue. My dad claims I'm just lazy but nope not the case. I YEARN to do things and cry because I'm just too stinking tired too. Then when bruising and joint pains became an issue I had some bloodwork done and basically I'm not anemic nor do I have luekemia (THANK GOD!) but I may be in the early stages of arthritis or lupus. They will repeat the tests in 3 months to know more. In the mean time I'm just supposed to caffinate up? Jen asked if working out gives me more energy and maybe it would if I stuck with it but after a week I am then physically exhausted and not just mentally.

I can finally say with confidence that my mental health is back to normal. Thanks to counseling and medication this Mama is no longer struggling with depression! I will be on medicine the rest of my life since depression is a recurring thing with me but I don't care. I get mad at myself when I think about the first few months of Roman's life and how I wasted time being miserable when I should have just gotten help.

Roman, oh Roman. He is not 15.5 months old and already hitting terrible twos! Maybe that means he'll grow out of it faster-ha! He's about 26lbs (probably more now) and I don't know how tall. He is very smart and pretty vocal- even if I'm the only one that truly understands that "shish" means "fish." He LOVES books which makes this Mama EXCSTATIC!!! He has even memorized his favorite book ("oos" by David Shannon) and can "read" it to himself in his crib. How crazy is that?! Some other words he can say (I just "tested" him last night with his flashcards!):
mama
dada
dog
woof woof
milk (nik)
fish (shish)
apple
banana (nana)
tractor
car
vroom vroom
choo choo
*snorts* for pig
shoes
bye bye
MUAH and blows a kiss
ball
mooo for cow
teef (teef teef! when he wants to brush them)
night night (ni ni- this also means pacifier)
more (mo)
please (pees)
thank you (tank chu)
uh oh
*puts hands on head* for oh no
*holds hands out palms up* for what happened?
no no
eat
nose
baby (buhbuh)
up
down
oo-oo-aa-aa (monkey sound!)

I think that's it... We are so proud of him!

Matt is still in Afghanistan but we can say he'll be home before presents! His deployment was shortened PTL! He's had a rough time with this deployment. I hope we transition back to normal fairly easy.

We're headed to London for a few days over Christmas break!! We're traveling with Matt's friend/bunk mate and his family who I've never met but feel like I know thanks to Facebook!

School has been 100% better this year. It still has it's kinks but a) having a curriculum makes ALL the difference and b) I know (mostly) what works! Currently I'm on day 2 of parent conferences. They've all gone very well! I have one more left...Here we go!

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Happy 8mo Roman!!

Roman "crawled" (more like belly flopped/scooted) for the first time today- on his 8month birthday! Just after getting off the phone with Daddy (who's in Afghanistan) and telling him "Nope no crawlin yet!" Lil booger.

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