Whoa! I didn't know Mom and Dad could sing!

We had a fun weekend! To celebrate Bill's mom's birthday and his parents anniversary, we went to a karaoke bar in Birch Bay. Bill and I were the only ones who sang though, but it was still really fun. We did a duet of "California Dreamin", and then I sang "Bette Davis Eyes" and "Forever in Blue Jeans" and Bill sang "Teddy Bear" by Elvis. The bar was small and we didn't know anyone except Bill's family so it's not like we were risking making fools out of ourselves and having people know us. Of course it helped that we also had a few drinks which made us less inhibited. Next time we'll practice our songs more so we knock the socks off of our fellow karaokians (that sounds too much like Kevorkian).

You Might Be a Housewife...

if you like the "vacuum lines" so much you take pictures and post them on your blog.




Or maybe, in this case, "housewife" is a synonym for "insane."

:)

Pumpkins!

It was a busy weekend! We got rid of the hot tub! Maybe Bill will post about that sometime.
We celebrated my birthday a bit and did a little Halloween stuff too. Bill got me a digital camera
and some cool scrapbooking/cardmaking stuff. My parents got me some awesome teaching materials from Lakeshore and a pretty locket necklace. Sunday afternoon we went to the YMCA "Trick or Trunk." Caley dressed as a Chinese doll and Amelia was a little bunny. Caley got some candy and lots of little tattoos which will hopefully help her relearn to poop in the toilet! I spoke a little too soon in the last post, she's still learning. Thankfully though she's got the pee part down. Thank you Jesus. We also carved some pumpkins! Enjoy these pictures.

Caley and Captain Jack!!

Poop in the Potty, Poop Goes in the Potty...

Caley's trained! Yay! I'm sure she'll have the occasional accident, but for practical purposes she's potty trained! She finally picked up going #2 in the toilet on Sunday, then had an accident Monday, but on Tuesday went in the toilet three times! On Sunday when she went, I told her she'd get a surprise after her nap and it was making cupcakes and frosting them. She helped put the ingredients together, pouring the batter, and then frosting them. It was really fun and an educational activity too. After that we told her if she went in the toilet, she'd get to have a cupcake.
I feel kind of bad rewarding with food, but if that's what she needs to get motivated at first, that okay. Thankfully she normally only poops once a day.

So that's the exciting news in our house. She is growing up so fast, sometimes it feels like she doesn't even need me and Bill around to help her do stuff. Now if she'd learn to do her laundry (and mine!) and drive herself around I'd be totally obselete.




Amelia's happy about it too!

My new favorite Sesame Street song

This one's good too...

Update

Amelia is 1 month old today, and the past month has just flown by. I'm sure I'll be saying the same thing in 10 years, and I know it's cliche but time really does fly when you're having fun. Amelia is becoming a bit more predictable and we're all sleeping enough most of the time. I can't believe Caley is close to being 3, she amazes me in so many ways.

The new thing this week is potty training, which we've been attempting for the last year or so, but now she's finally getting it. It's like something has finally clicked in her brain and she's able to control her body more. On Sunday night this week I told her that Monday would be "no diaper day" and it was, until about 1pm when I'd had enough of her deliberately peeing in her training pants. I got mad and was very unChrist-like to say the least. By the evening I had calmed down and she had a few successes. So for the rest of this week when we were home she wore training pants and a diaper when we were out. I have tried to take her potty often, sometimes practically forcing her to sit on the toilet for the count of ten. We also have been really reinforcing when she does go potty and especially when she initiates. If she pees she gets a stamp like before, but after 5 stamps she gets to choose from the prize basket. Now we are starting to especially reinforce when she is dry. It's just seemed to click for her though, and it's about time! Yay for Caley! She may have a few accidents now and then, but at least the potty training is underway.



We visited Astoria last weekend for my parents 30th wedding anniversary. They had a big party and it was a lot of fun. They even had a cake just like their wedding cake. My aunt and uncle from Wyoming even came. Caley had fun playing with Jesse and she even went to a football game. Actually Amelia went too, and we got to see a movie! I was really nervous that she would get hungry and we'd get called out of the movie (she hasn't had a bottle yet) but she slept the whole time! Thanks Mom and Dad! By the way, The Borne Ultimatum rocks!In the words of my friend Kathleen, "Jason Borne is a badass". http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bourne_ultimatum/

The Girls

I can't seem to figure out Shutterfly, it's not letting me upload any pictures, it just crashes. So here are a few recent pictures of our girls.
Caley has lately loved practicing to be a mommy...she reads to Ernie and Grover...

Gives them milk...

Then tucks them in for night-night...


Complete with Yellow Blankie!


She also likes to read to Amelia!



Amelia likes to sleep--a lot.

Farewell Mr. Lincoln...

Today we gave away Lincoln, the bunny. We decided that he wasn't getting the attention he needed or deserved since Amelia was born. Actually last weekend we let him out to play and then forgot about him! About 3 hours later we realized he was gone, but thankfully he'd just escaped to the next-door neighbor's yard. Maybe another time we'll get a bunny again, when the kids are old enough to help care for him. We gave him to a family that lives pretty close, so maybe we'll get to visit him occasionally. Until then, we will miss you Lincoln, we wish you Godspeed.

Practical Caley

Caley has been working on potty training. If she pees or poops in the toilet, she gets to put a stamp on her "Potty Train" sheet. There are about 30 spots for stamps on the sheet and when she finishes a sheet she gets a present. Eventually, we'll work up to filling in multiple sheets for a present until she is fully trained. Yesterday she finished her first sheet, so we went to Toys R Us and she chose a present! We were thinking she'd choose a toy or maybe a ball or car. After walking through the whole store, she decided on a Tinkerbell umbrella! We offered her other toys, but she was set on the umbrella. It was even raining when we left so she got to use it. And she beamed holding it at church today walking in the rain to Children's Ministry. Caley's so practical, just like her parents. Way to go girl!

A Project in Progress

Just like Jesus worked as a carpenter, Bill has been working on an octagonal picnic table. He started in early July as an anniversary present, and he's hoping this project will be the first of many. Along the way he's made numerous trips to Home Depot, bought a mitre saw, made the garage a little dusty, and learned a lot. Here are some pictures of the process.

Amelia Diann is here!

We are now a family of four.

Amelia Diann Gerlach arrived 2 weeks early on August 6, 2007. In the last week we've learned that God has a sense of humor and incredible timing. We had a false alarm on Thursday Aug. 2 in which we thought my water had broken, rushed to the hospital after dropping Caley off with some friends, only to be sent home 2 hours later.

They say that second labors are usually half as long as the first, but for me it was 3x as long. My water broke at 4am on Monday morning and she was born at 5:36pm. They started me on a pitocin drip after a few hours of non-progress, it was like my body needed to be reminded what to do. It was actually a blessing because the biggest fear I had of this labor was that it'd be so short there wouldn't be enough time to get the antibiotics in my system to guard the baby against Group B Strep. Bill and I took naps and watched some TV, and he ate the lunch from the hospital since I wasn't allowed to. And Caley got to visit us, which was really nice. Once my body was in active labor, it took about 3 hours for Amelia to be born. She was 6lbs, 14ozs and 19.5 inches long. We chose Amelia because it was a name we both liked (actually we considered it with Caley but it got bumped) and Diann as a combo of our mom's names Diana and Ann.

The first week is going really well, Amelia's sleeping a lot which is easing the transition for all of us. Caley's a little blindsided, but always asks to hug and kiss the baby, and has even been waking at night and yelling, "See baby!" Cute, but not at 3am...

So enjoy these pictures and more on our Shutterfly site (link to the left). Jesus is good to us!

4 weeks to go!

We are now 36 weeks pregnant and the clock is ticking. Tomorrow we are having another ultrasound and hopefully we won't be getting any huge surprises like, "It's a boy instead." When I was about 35 weeks pregnant with Caley we had an ultrasound and got a full on picture of her "girl parts" and it was very reassuring that I wouldn't have to return everything that was pink. No name yet, but we're working on it. Her bassinet is in position, her clothes are folded and put away, the infant carseat is in the car, and Caley is often staying, "Baby come out." You tell her Caley! I'm sure she'll get a little shock when she realizes the baby is staying and that she'll have to share all her stuff, but she'll get over it.

Other than baby stuff, we've been staying busy with keeping up the house and the yard. We celebrated our 5 year anniversary on July 6 by camping out in the backyard. We bought a gazebo tent and put Caley's full size mattress in it, complete with sheets and blankets. That's the extent of "roughing it" for now. Our friends the Hursts were kind enough to watch Caley for the night. Bill has also started working on an octagon picnic table that he's building. It is an anniversary present, which is convenient because the 5 year gift is wood. Whoever came up with what's supposed to be the yearly gift, I don't know. Next year I can look forward to something that's candy or iron (http://www.findgift.com/Anniversary-Table/). Maybe Bill will weld something for the yard? We also had a garage sale with some friends from college and it was fun! The pictures above are from that day.

Life is good, it's not too hot, and we're about to have one more in our family. Thank you Jesus.

Heat Wave

One way to cool off this summer...

Shoreline blogs

I'm writing about once a month on the Mars Hill: Shoreline blog, check it out!

The link is to the left.

It's so...quiet

My parents have Caley for a few days. They were originally going to take her to Astoria next week but it works out better to do it now. It's "Caley Camp" which is like "Cousin Camp" minus the cousins. When I was little my brother and cousins and I would go to Grandma Runyan's for a few days and give our parents a break, so the tradition continues.

When we got home from church we didn't really know what to do with ourselves. It was so quiet in the house, I felt almost useless. It was like Caley was just napping but I'd check her room and it'd be empty. Very surreal. It's nice to have the freedom, but I'm glad it's not like this all the time. We'd be so lonely without her! It makes me wonder how we spent our time before she was born.

Tomorrow I have no plans. It's so weird to think that. I don't even have to be home in the afternoon to let Caley have a nap. I get to see what the world looks like from 1-4pm!