Exciting news!

******TMI ALERT*****POTTY ALERT******

Here are some exciting news going on in our neck of the woods lately. Ophelia is starting to go potty!!! We have had several poopies in the potty now! The trick has been to put her on the potty right after mealtimes (that's when she usually goes in her diaper). Mommy and Daddy have been noted to do a "potty cheer dance" to keep Ophelia on the potty and encourage her to go. Then when she poops, we throw her up in the air, yelling "wooo-whoo" and telling her what a good job she did. I think she enojoys all the fuss and attention :) Have not had any pees in the potty yet...partially because it is hard to time those and also I don't put her on the potty other than after meals. We will be working on that...Here is a picture of one of our little triumphs:

******TMI ALERT*****POTTY ALERT******



When I asked her to smile for this picture, she stuck her tongue out instead...funny girl.

I look at my blog and realize that it has been a year since I started it! The sad part is that with each month less and less posts are being posted.I need to work on that, because I love that this blog is like a photo/video journal of our family and it is fun to look back and see how things change, how I change, how our family changes...speaking of family changes...I guess that is also the reason I have not been up on the blog as much as I used to. I have been soooo tired lately, by the time Ophelia goes to bed, I am totally beat too and fall asleep on the couch pretty much every day. For the past month I have been also feeling really nauseous and who is the cause of all this??? This little buddy:



YES, IT'S TRUE! I am 11 weeks pregnant. It is really exciting! Just as exciting as Camille, my sister-in-law, being pregnant too and we are 6 or so weeks apart! She is due on January and I am due in February. Two little cousins are on their way into this world! Talk about excited grandparents :) Wow :) The due date is actually February 22nd, a day after my b-day, what a present that would be! Also, come to find out it is going to be a leap year, so if the baby comes 1 week late, a 29th of February birthday is unavoidable.

When we ask Ophelia if she wants a baby brother or a baby sister, she bluntly says "no!". Yesterday she asked for popcorn instead. She would rather take popcorn at this point than a little sibling. Well, it just means that she NEEDS a little sibling. A little someone to take care of, to think about, to share things with, to wait for, to talk to, to play with, and to share mama's and papa's attention with (that's going to be the hard part). The day after I told her that there is a baby in my tummy, Ophelia told me she has one in her tummy as well...A couple weeks later, she also declared that Papa has a baby in his tummy too. Wow, it is going to be crowded around here with three new babies on the way :)

Ophelia is becoming a little babbler, she loves to talk on the phone and if you happen to actually listen to her, she will talk and talk and talk. Too bad 90% of it is still untranslatable into English or Russian, but she does have a lot to say! She also can sing a ton of songs: popcorn popping, snowman, follow the prophet ("fa-la-la-la prophet" according to Ophelia), ABC's, itsy-bitsy spider, I am a child of God, head shoulders knees and toes, spi moya radost' usni, daleko daleko and others tha I can't think of right now. We need to set up a candid camera to record some of these, so I can post it.

We have NOT been enjoying the 108-110 degree heat that has been going on for the past month and is here to stay for another month (at least). It does not help me feel less tired or nauseous, that's for sure. I did say that I moved to Texas for the reason of loving the hot weather, but... there is an exception to that, which is being pregnant. I wouldn't mind it as much if it didn't make me feel light-headed, exhausted, and queezy. Can't wait for some cool weather! Or Rain!

That is all for now, in the headlines in the newpaper of our lives.