TV Commercials

I had the opportunity to tell Joanna, "We don't let TV tell us what to do" the other day. She decided she wanted some chocolate during a commercial for Lindor Truffles.

Joanna's third birthday was a special day.

Three! Today is Joanna's third birthday.

She woke this morning and I told her it was her birthday and sang her "Happy Birthday to You" and she smiled.
We went to church and on the way Joanna said "Happy Birthday to Thomas and Joanna."
Her friend Kadie gave her a big hug today as we were all saying goodbye. It was so cute.

I got a phone call from my special friend, Audry, a.k.a "Buddy." Today is her birthday as well. It really is unique! Really, just how many people out there have a special friend and a child sharing the same birthday?

Here is a photo of Joanna showing everyone that she can say "three" with her fingers. She's been really proud of this ability as it has taken her a lot of practice to hold down that pinkie finger with her thumb.

We had a birthday party at 3p.m. today, 10/10/10.

Joanna had a fabulous time as 4 generations of our family gathered together just for her. She is as loved as she is loving. I think she is a special blessing to everyone in our extended family.

We were happily surprised by a call from Uncle Jon and Aunt Barbara. Joanna still pronounces Barbara sort of like "arbra" but that's o.k. :-) She remembers them exactly.

Jason and I got Joanna "Beauty and the Beast" and Nana gave her the pink flip-flops she asked for. Big Momma gave her my Raggedy-Ann doll, cleaned and looking nearly brand new. Rachel gave Joanna a green courderoy Christmas dress. The latter two will make a fantastic Christmas photo together. Neena (Brenda) gave Joanna a plaque about her special birthday being 10/10/10 and wrote a letter about the date's meaning. Jason helped Joanna open presents--not sure what happened to me--perhaps a Thomas-diaper change. I have no idea who got her half the presents but she got so many that I feel overwhelmed to be honest. I'm not complaining... I took a few of the toys and put them away to bring them out in a few days or weeks, when she needs something different. It just makes sense to me to do this.

Everyone has been so generous to give their time to come or call today. Joanna and Thomas are some really blessed children to have so many people to love and care about them and spend time with them.

Kids update

Thomas was stomping around the house in a size 3T T-shirt that has a
picture of a dinosaur wearing boxing gloves. He looks like a little
man in his boy clothes. He's wearing 24-months sized pants and some
tops too, but the 3T fits with the sleeves rolled up. He's so handsome
and sweet. Just exactly like his daddy. He ate his first strawberry
today. He liked it, but he made the same kind of goofy faces that he
made when he ate his first tomato.

Joanna has a stubborn streak to her. I don't know where that came from...
She is absolutely precious though. Last night, she grabbed my fork
from dinner and took it with her little red chair to the kitchen sink
and washed it off (water only) and laid it on the counter top. Does
she watch every move I make or what? It is so neat to see her do
things herself. This morning she went to "school" aka "Miss Kristie's
Castle" and I mentioned to her to tell Miss Kristie when she needs to
pee and poo in the potty. She said, "I need to go pee in the potty,
now." So I went ahead and took her. She did it! I'm so proud. She went
poo a little in the potty tonight as well. I gave her the "two
chocolates" except they were little chocolate chips instead of big
Hershey kisses. I mean, it was like 9 o'clock! She didn't say anything
about them not being big (didn't even hint at complaining), they were
still "two chocolates."

Poo on Saturday

Joanna went poo in the potty today. Twice. Without help. All by herself! Nobody even asked her to go. She is just growing up! Hooray.

This morning, Joanna woke up early and went potty and then went back to sleep. Thomas woke up at 7:15 and I got up and we went to the grocery store. I was out of coffee filters and I just had to get that checked  off my things to do list right away! We had a neat time. I don't recall taking only Thomas to the store with me. I enjoyed that time with him this morning. He said "bye bye" and waved to the cashiers. That was really neat. 

Thursday night, Thomas signed "more" and "finished" at dinner. He was mimicking us, but he was doing it alright! 

We arrived home and were greeted by Joanna. She had only been up a few minutes. She was cuddling with Daddy. She had already got out of bed by herself, gone potty and also poo-poo too! All by herself! She told Jason about going potty, but he didn't know she'd done number two. So anyway, I came in and she helped me bring in a couple small bags. After we got the bags in, I saw the poo and I was so happy for her! We got really excited and gave each other "five" and dumped the potty chair contents into the toilet and Joanna flushed it down and we said bye bye to the poo poo. Yay! We washed our hands and Joanna got two pieces of chocolate (Hershey kisses). Later just before nap time, she went in the bathroom unannounced and went poo poo again. I told her she could have her two chocolates after nap and she went along with the idea. 

She was really geared up today before nap, I mean, going potty is exciting! So, it was hard for her to get settled down. I did let her watch Nemo to fall asleep. I usually just read to her and we cuddle, but that really wasn't working today. Within a few minutes of simply staying still to watch Nemo she was out.

Once she was asleep, I put the two chocolates in her little pocketbook with her small bubbles as a surprise. She liked that and carried her purse for a while and wanted to take it with us when we left for the balloon festival. She ate one chocolate at home and one in the car. 

Joanna and the potty adventure

Joanna went poo in the potty today. Twice. Without help. All by herself! Nobody even asked her to go. She is just growing up! Hooray.

Potato Casserole

Here is a yummy potato casserole.

2 pounds frozen hash brown potatoes
1 pint sour cream (light works fine)

10 3/4 ounces can cream of celery soup
10 3/4 ounces can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt, adjust to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, adjust to taste
1/2 cup butter, melted and divided
3 cups cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups corn flake crumbs

Servings: 12

Container: 9" x 13" baking dish, lightly greased
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour


Preheat oven to 350º F.
In a large bowl, mix frozen hash browns, sour cream, soups, onion, seasonings, and cheddar cheese. Add 1/4 of melted butter to potato mixture. Spread into prepared baking dish.
Combine corn flake crumbs and 1/4 cup of melted butter and spread over top of casserole.
Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Serve hot.

Not a Brown Hot Dog

Recently, Joanna has stopped adding her just-one-snake-not-two-snakes request when she wants a hotdog. Now asks for a hotdog and adds, "not a brown one" and I have NO IDEA what she is talking about. Aren't all hotdogs brown? Well, there are those red ones, but she has never had one that I know of. So, here's to a new mystery to figure out!

She also has started asking for other ways to prepare things. Again with the hotdog, she's started asking me not to make it too hot. Sometimes, it ends up being a tad too hot so she has to wait until it cools. I'm still getting used to only needing to microwave something for 15 seconds.

This morning, she looked at the hotdog (yes, a hotdog for breakfast) and asked "Is that a brown hot dog?" I asked, "Why don't you taste it and tell me if it is brown." (I mean, obviously it looks brown, so there must be something else to this.) I promise a post if I figure it out.

This girl loves hotdogs!