Random Stuff

*If Lucy doesn't get my attention the first time she says "mommy," she starts calling out "Lindsey." Something about your child calling you by your first name just seems funny. Maybe it is because not many people call me by my full name anymore; I seem to be better known as Lins or Ling.

*This is what I was trying so hard to remember last night, and just couldn't. Every night before bed Lucy goes "Mom, can you ask me a favorite?" Translation: "Mom can you do me a favor?" That is followed by "Mom, can you ask me a question?" Translation: "Mom, can I ask you a question?"

Lucy and Houdini

Lucy LOVES her new big, big girl bed! She had previously been in her toddler bed, but when we moved we switched her to a full size bed. I have never seen her so excited about something. Mom and I could hardly get the sheets on the bed because she kept wanting to get up! Lucy has done fantastic in her new bed, room and house. Once we started staying here she stopped talking about going to her other house. She sleeps all night, though she is getting up earlier to come into our room. We are hoping this is just an adjustment phase. The only thing that bothered her was Ribby not being with us right away. Ribby was staying with Sarah and AJ while we moved, and I think Lucy was a little concerned if she was coming back. When we told her on Wednesday that Ribby was coming home, she asked Kevin if Ribby could sleep with her.
While Ribby does not sleep in her room, Lucy does enjoy the occasional snuggle with her during the day. Ribby, much to our dismay, prefers the sofa at night. Much easier to wash a quilt than a sofa.

Speaking of Ribby, she has turned into Houdini. That is how Kevin and I refer to her now. We have always had her kennel trained because she suffers some separation issues and when we leave she eats things. She has chewed on my vacuum cleaner, our wedding album , a few shoes and many of Lucy's toys. We have just come to the point that she needs her kennel, and until we moved, she seemed fine with this. Her kennel has always been her hiding place when things get too crazy, and she loves it. Now when we leave, she pounces on the front of the kennel until she gets a way to squeeze out. Knock on wood, she hasn't chewed anything....YET, but I do worry about her getting stuck while sneaking out.

Things that make me giggle:
*Lucy just stormed off because Kevin changed the channel to basketball. "I don't like basketball...hmp. I am going to MY room." Then she comes back out to tell me "Daddy turned off my cartoons." She loves to tattle on him.
*Lucy always says she is a princess, ballerina, etc. with her dresses on and sparkly shoes. Nana said something to her today about a princess and her response was "I am not a princess today. My mommy made me wear this." She had on jeans and a tee-shirt.

Home, Sweet Home Part 2

The Hooper House has been busy this past week. We moved. As exciting as it is for us to be in our new home, where we picked out everything from the lot to the light fixtures ourselves, moving is never fun. I never realized how much stuff we've accummulated throughout the last 4 years. More than that, I never realized how much of that stuff belongs to our 2 year old. I think she had more than both Kevin and I combined. I think I made 5 trips to Goodwill in the last month, the workers even recognized me at one point and said "back again?"

The workers were still working the morning we started moving in, but overall most is done. Of course, there is that never ending to-do list for our builder to work on. Everyone we needed right away, called and came out right away, except for the electrician. We needed him to put in a different outlet for our garage doors. He still hasn't came. Finally, today, after a week of manually putting the door up and down, we had a DUH moment and just used an extension cord. If you've ever had an electric garage opener, you know what a pain it is to have to do it manually. Especially in rain/snow at 6:45 am.

Kevin, along with his brother, sister and her husband spent the day Saturday moving boxes as I stayed here and unloaded. An added benefit of being pregnant :) Although, I do have to say, I hated not being able to do things for myself. On Sunday, we had movers come to move all the furniture. What a lifesaver that was, although I think we still made about 10 more trips to the old house to get what wouldn't fit on their truck.

Everything has come together perfectly. All the furniture is where I had pictured it, the curtains I had picked out look great. Thanks Dad for hanging all of them! Our house definitely is feeling like a home.

Kevin and I want to say a BIG thank you to his brother, sister and AJ for all their help and for watching Ribby over the weekend. And also to my parents for watching Lucy, letting us stay at their house for a few days, and for all the handy work!

Home, Sweet Home

I have been waiting what seems like forever to tell everyone this, as has Kevin, but yesterday it was made official....Kevin is going to be a Wichita Wingnut this season. A what? Yep, you read it right, a Wingnut. They are the new independent league baseball team based here in Wichita and Kevin is going to be their shortstop and face of the franchise. So, our days of moving throughout the country are on hold for now, until he accepts his first mangerial job. It is so comforting to know that he is going to be home with us girls until at least this time next year! Spring training is about 5 days in April, then the season begins May 7th. We are so thankful for him to have this opportunity to transition himself from player to manager, as he will be one of the older veterans on the team.

Click here to see a news clip from the press conference!

Click here to read more about the Wingnuts!

Will we ever be ready?

Our family room
The hallway
Empty cabinets

We are closing in on the "move" date, which we still don't know for absolute sure. We are hoping Friday, along with our builder, but each time we go out to the house we just don't see how. We still need front and back porch steps, a few lights hung, oh and our front door hanging up would probably be helpful too!

We have packed box after box, and it still seems like we have TONS more left to pack. It is amazing that some of our stuff has been packed for over a month and we don't miss any of it. I've made numerous trips to Goodwill, and our trashman is probably ready to kill us, but I'm sure there is much more to come when we unpack.

Kevin and I packed most of Lucy's room today. She is in for a rude awakening in the morning. She spent the day with Nana and then fell asleep on the way home, so she has no idea! All of the kitchen is packed with the exception of a few sippy cups, paper products and the toaster! A big thank you to my mom for feeding us dinner tonight and for the next few nights! The best

resturant in town is definelty Mom's Diner, especially the brownies and ice cream for dessert!

edited to say: spellcheck is not working, so I apologize for any mistakes! and also that it won't let me put any spaces between paragraphs!

Boxing Baby

Lucy has now discovered that she can competively compete with Kevin and I while we play Wii. We only have the sports package, and usually just do the training events and the fitness tests. I got boxing on my fitness test today, and Lucy wanted to play, so I set it up for her to "work the bag." Kevin and I usually only get somewhere between 18-22 bags, and the little stinker got 18 2 times in a row! It was great! Her arms were moving so fast, and she just had the look of determination on her face! She was so excited that she did it all by herself!

Hey Mom....

*I need more milk. Please.

*I need to go potty.

*Go take your shower, put on your jammies, then come back and check on me.

*Can I help the baby when she needs to go potty? Yes, honey. Thank you.

*Don't wake me up early.

*Can we take Laney for a walk in the stroller? Yes, honey. Thank you.

*5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Blast off another rocketship.

*Can you put Muddonna's (stuffed animal) shirt back on?

All said tonight, while Lucy is laying in her bed, supposedly going to sleep. She "went" to bed 40 minutes ago. Still yelling "Hey mom..."

edited: Make this an hour since she went to bed.

An hour and a half past bedtime and she is still up. Now she is singing "Brown Girl in the Ring" from the Wiggles. I guess anything to stay awake.