Still kicking

Yes, I am still alive. I know I haven't posted in forever, but I blame my princess on that. She loves to be wherever I am at and "help" with whatever I am doing and after 3 or 4 posts that I had started were deleted, I gave up for a while. As she is asleep right now, I have a few minutes to write, before I am going to go crash. I am finally working part time and I am LOVING it. It is one of the best things to happen since Jolee was born. I love getting to spend more time with Jolee. Life is so much better when I get to be home more. Working full time nights was starting to drag me down and I was losing far to much of Jolee's childhood for me to be happy. I am trying to make the most of each day that I am home. We have done quite a few zoo trips. Our day usually starts off with breakfast. Then I turn the radio or a CD on and we dance. Jolee is a great dancer! I want to put her in ballet when she is a few years older. Jolee loves to blow bubbles, but I have to hold the bottle or she will dump it everywhere. She is actually pretty good at blowing bubbles. She likes to build towers with blocks or legos and then knock them over. We are working on learning more sign language and talking more. She knows how to sign: food, water, milk, cracker, more, again, hungry, cuddle, dog, peach, color, thank-you, please. Jolee says: mama, dada, hi, bye, more, cracker, hungry, dog, baby, peach, apple, keys, puppies. She probably says and signs a few more words, but I can't really think tonight. She also is working on learning animal sounds. She woofs like a dog, quacks like a duck, moos like a cow, meows like a cat, and opens her mouth like a fish (it is hilarious). She knows how to use keys to unlock locks and open drawers. She likes to climb and do anything dangerous. She loves getting the mail. Lately she has been getting in a lot of trouble for trying to run rampant in the grocery store and for trying to run and hide in the parking lot. NOT good. She is going through another growth spurt and has been super snuggly, so I have been slacking on housework and spending more and more time just holding and cuddling her. She loves to cuddle. We are again trying dairy products with her and she is finally able to tolerate them! She is really enjoying yogurt. She still has mostly soy, but dairy is officially been added to her diet. It is going to be so much easier to cook without having to check ingredients all the time. Randy continues to enjoy teaching in Nogales and we are planning on him continuing to teach in Nogales for at least 3 more years, but possibly much much longer. With Randy having to drive an hour and 15 minutes each direction, it is getting to be more and more pricey with raising gas prices and Jolee and I are missing having him home. With all of this, we are starting the process of looking for a home in the Rio Rico area. I always said that I wasn't going to move again until we move to Idaho, I guess I was always wrong. I am still running (just ran 4 miles tonight). I ran a 5K a few weeks ago and I will be running a 12K in December and another 1/2 marathon in January. I am having the pleasure of helping one of my very good friends train also. It has been a blast to run with her and help her "learn" to run. I miss having Randy with me, but it is much easier to run with someone closer to my height and not have to try to keep up with Randy. We continue to be doing well and we are excited and a bit terrified at the thought of a new home and the changes that go along with it (having to find a new babysitter, YIKES!). Love you all, Sarah

Oh, I almost forgot, Jolee is working on potty training (yes, I know it is early, but we are using cloth diapers and I am very motivated to help her learn to use the potty). She is starting to both sign and say potty. She loves to say peepee and poopies. She is getting better and better at telling us when she needs to go potty and she running to the bathroom. When I was over at a friend's house visiting teaching, Jolee had a piece of toilet paper and proceeded to wipe her fully dressed bum. I think I will have to start working on teaching her that the potty is a private place. I think I am up for a lot of embarassment in the next few months.