the kids

since potty training kate, she has been waking up unusually early. she used to be a sleeper, but this last week she has been waking up at 6, 6:15, 6:30. not cool. yesterday morning, it was 5:40 "moooo-ooom. moooooooo-ooom. mooooooo-ooom. i have to go potty." on the positive side, dry diapers at night, which is something that her big brother has yet to accomplish. go kate!

speaking of which, yesterday was kate's second day completely accident-free! yes folks, that means we had poop in the potty. we celebrated with a family dance party the other night after dinner. exciting times here with the pié family!

also, since potty training started, i've noticed kate thinks she's now 13 and has started calling jesse and me "dad" and "mom". what?! you're 2! oh well, it's pretty darn cute to hear, so i'll let it slide. i've also noticed over the past few days, jacob has been calling her "katie". double cute. it's kind of nick-namey, and nick-names to me are a sign of affection, so i am gonna go out on a limb and say jacob likes his sister. they play well together for the most part, when jacob isn't taking a toy from her or closing the door on her. yesterday i found them up on her bed singing the little einsteins theme song as loud as they could. it was an adorable moment that i wish i had caught on camera.

big girl update

i started potty training kate on monday morning. we didn't leave the house all week (well, i got to go to small group). so we had lots of time to practice. by wednesday i was ready to quit and try again in a couple months. but for some reason, i stuck with it. thursday was a little better. then on friday she only had one accident. talk about a confidence boost for this momma!
in the midst of potty training, i realized that it was time to upgrade kate to a big girl bed. i didn't want to put her in the situation where she would have to climb out of her crib to go potty. so saturday afternoon we ventured to ikea to get her new big girl mattress (her crib converted into a full/double size headboard and footboard). this was kate's 1st time away from the house without a diaper on. a BIG deal for me. she did amazing! no accidents!
on the way home, we stopped to get some materials from lowe's and our car battery died. a kind person helped us jumpstart the car and we headed down colrain ave (never been there before) in search of an auto parts store. of course it was dinner time, so we grabbed a quick bite at mcd's and headed over to wait for 45 minutes while they replaced the car battery. we made a quick stop at target to get a quilt for her bed. and while i was taking kate potty, at target, my cell phone dropped in the toilet. in the pee water. sweet. thank goodness my phone partially floated, and thank goodness for purell!!!
we got home after having been gone for 6 hours (quick trip to ikea- yeah right) and discovered our fridge is not functioning properly and all the items inside are slightly warm. oh yay. calling the repair man first thing on monday.
today at church kate had no accidents again. she is such a big girl and i am so proud of her!

"kate, make a happy face to show me how much you like your new big girl bed."

random thoughts for this monday morning

• jesse went back to work today, after being off for about 2 and a half weeks (with the exception of the ChristmasTown performance nights). i already miss him and it's only 9am.
• we should find out today the results of jesse's bloodwork to see if he indeed has a gluten allergy/sensitivity.
• kate swallowed "a money" last night, aka. a dime. so you know what i'll be doing for the next couple of days.
• speaking of the bathroom, i am making a second attempt at potty training practice this morning. here's to dry pants!
• it's going to snow tonight and tomorrow, 3-5 inches! and this makes me quite happy. :o) jacob's been asking to go sledding and now he'll maybe have an opportunity to! (and now i'll legitimately be able to wear my new boots).
• we haven't "done school" for about 4 weeks now, and i am looking forward to getting back to business this week. (but maybe not such a good idea on potty training day?)
• i had a wonderful weekend and am feeling so very blessed to have such a wonderful husband and very dear friends!
• i have no idea what to cook for dinner. white chicken chili? hmmm... maybe.

weekend fun!

jesse and candace were so kind as to plan a fun weekend in celebration of my 30th birthday. it all started with a night out with friends. we had planned to have dinner out before we headed to the brian regan show, but a burst of snow at rush hour on friday night caused traffic to be backed up all over the entire northern kentucky area. we sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic for over 2 hours, with a quick stop at mcd's for dinner(not the bonefish we had planned), but made it to the show with just a few minutes to spare! we laughed our faces off and all agreed that it was well worth the whole "sitting in traffic" thing. :o)

sitting in traffic

the gang

after the show, we left the guys, and the girls took me to a hotel for a girls night. saturday morning we had breakfast followed by manicures and pedicures. after a restful afternoon, jesse and i took the kids to candace's, who gave us the wonderful gift of a night away, kid-free. after dinner out, we headed to owenton, ky to stay the night at elk creek winery and hunt club. it was beautiful and restful!



i am so thankful and feel so blessed after this fun weekend! i enjoyed all the relaxing, but one thing is for certain, i sure did miss these little faces.

umm... gluten free

this could possibly be the only time i will write about gluten free. but there's also a chance that my life will become consumed by it. time will tell. over a week ago my dearly beloved husband chose to try going gluten free in hopes of ridding himself of this skin irritation he's had for a long long time. it's brought him to the point of misery, and seeing him suffer, i am as eager as he is to figure out the cure. so 4 days ago the new eating style 2 week test run began. by day 2 at dinner time i was frustrated, maybe even crying. and then a good friend gave me some coaching, giving me a lot more confidence.
tonight we are having one of our family favorites, white chicken chili, which happens to be, you guessed it, gluten free!! i've made this recipe at least 15 times in the last 2 months, for company, for new moms, for us (almost weekly). i've made so many alterations to the original recipe that i decided to call this one my own. here it is:

white chicken chili
3 cups cooked and diced chicken breast
1/2 cup onion finely chopped
2 cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained (i've also used black, which was DE-licious, but kinda takes away from the "white chili" name. i guess you could call it "black and white chili", but that doesn't sound as appetizing)
2 cans chicken broth
1 can (7 oz) chopped green chilis
1 cup frozen corn *optional
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt or regular salt
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup half & half
shredded cheese for topping

i cook the chicken, set it aside and let it cool, then cube it. in the same pan, i cook the onion until tender, then add 1 can of broth mixed with the corn starch to make a "gravy". in the crockpot goes the chicken, gravy, other can of broth, beans, chili, and seasonings. i cook this on low for 3-5 hours. just before serving i add the corn, sour cream, and half&half and make sure it's heated through before serving. yum! i top mine with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

anyone who tries a lower fat version of this, let me know how it is.

and since no post is complete without a picture (right mom?), here is a picture i took today. it could have been kate or jacob, but whoever it was, it made me laugh.

joyful (and pictures)

life is sure busy with a 2 and 3 year old! apologies to my mom for not updating my blog.

the month of december was sure busy for our family. but in the busyness, there was a lot of joy.

the first 2 weeks of the month had us at many holiday gatherings- work, small group, and friends. we also enjoyed a quick weekend visit from my dad. the kids had fun playing and hanging out with grandpa dennis. we left the house once, to make an important trip to trader joes. :o)
parties were followed by a few days of quarantine- trying to not catch the puke virus of 2010. :P we didn't want to be sick for our trip!
which brings me to the 2nd week of december when, after it was missing for almost exactly a month, my diamond re-appeared! the sparkle caught my eye as i was picking up one of kate's barrettes off the floor of the car. amazing thing is- jesse had just vacuumed out the car just 4 days earlier, but in his hurried-ness he had forgotten to vacuum the front. isn't God so good!? so while we were in pittsburgh for christmas, jesse and i were able to take the ring to the jeweler he had bought it from, and they were able to create a new setting and get the diamond back in it's place. it's just like new and i am so happy to have it back on my finger! :o)

this christmas was extra special because it was the first time our kids have really understood what's going on. they actually listened to, and were able to repeat some of the story back to us, as we told them about baby Jesus, mary and joseph, and the shepherds and the angels. christmas lights were SO exciting for them any time we were driving around at night. it's so fun seeing christmas through a child's eyes!

if there's anything as joyful as having your own children, it's getting to enjoy nieces and nephews! we were able to do just that as we spent time family over the holidays. we were able to be in pittsburgh for an entire week, visiting family and relaxing.

highlights of the week include getting to see great grandma vollbracht (who we don't get to see that often, but she was getting ready to return to CO from her 3 month visit to PA),seeing the kids' big cousins who stayed in town long enough to visit with us for a few hours,

a trip to visit aunt joey at the pittsburgh aviary (where she works in the hospital),

a trip downtown pittsburgh (just jesse and me, complete with a trip to starbucks, it felt like we were dating again!),

isn't he handsome?

i took a picture of my starbucks cup because i thought it was funny the barista spelled my name correctly and then must have second guessed herself and "corrected" it. ha ha ha!

holding and squeezing baby Easton and baby Jezze,
and for the kids- opening presents of course!

christmas with the mclane's

christmas with the pié's

it's always good to be back home after being on a trip. we've kept busy this past week. jesse's been finishing up his work at the museum as one of the soldiers in the annual ChristmasTown event. we're glad to have him back with us, and also glad to have his beard shaved off too. :)

we celebrated christmas with friends and jesse's birthday and new year's eve in the span of 36 hours.

jacob and kate's daddy was "a really big soldier". kate can't stop talking about it!

i am not one for new year's resolutions, probably because i can never keep them longer than a week or two, but this year i have several things i'd like to accomplish.
1. more time in the Word (keeping Christ as my priority)
2. more time with family (the dishes, laundry, and computer can wait!)
3. eat healthier (gotta lose the 10 lbs of holiday gain)
4. exercise regularly (gotta stay healthy so i can keep up with my kids!)

that's realistic, right? any suggestions on ways to achieve my goals are more than welcome.

merry christmas and happy 2011!