March 19 - Blond Resurgence

I'm sure all of you have seen articles about how recessive genes (blond hair, red hair, blue eyes, etc) will eventually be a thing of the past. Whenever I read an article like that I expect to start seeing a lot more brown haired, brown eyes kids running around (or at least the majority). Interesting enough-I just realized today that almost all the kids in Julia's class at Baby Gator AND at Clear Lake Montessori had/have blond hair and blue eyes. Amazingly-EVERY girl in her class has the combination. Maybe our genes are realizing that blonds have more fun? At least during the rumbling and tumbling toddler years? Just a fun observation!

March 15 - Ready for Summer

The Yamo family had a HEALTHY weekend here in beautiful Houston. Both days were clear, sunny and warm (high around 80). On Saturday, the bean and I went to the pet store to buy Amelia some dog food and shampoo. For anyone with small children-I highly recommend the pet store. There is so much for the kiddos to see-fish, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, birds, dogs, cats. It's amazing! Also-weekends are pet adoption days at most stores and the cats were all out this Saturday. As dedicated readers know-our little bean is a feline lover and had a great time petting all the kitties. After the pet store, we went to the library where had a great time being 'bookaneers.' Then we went to the park and bagel stores. After a much needed nap, the Radford's came over and we went to the park. The girls had a fabulous time playing together. Afterward, we all had pizza at our house. And all that was just on Saturday!

Yesterday was a little bit more chill, with a trip to the grocery store and Target. The bean has a new bikini..I couldn't resist, it was just too cute!! We also got some cute summer dresses and outfits. Target has some great deals right now if anyone is looking to beef up their kids summer wardrobe.

March 10 - Germs, Germs, Go AWAY!

It has been quite a week in the Yamo household. I came down with a stomach flu last week, J.D. had the flu over the weekend and our little bean has an ear/sinus infection. Except for a trip to the park on Saturday (where Amelia decided to roll around in a mud) it was a rough weekend. Luckily, J.D. is finally feeling better and Julia has a few days of antibiotics on her (her energy level is through the roof!) and she is feeling great during the day. She isn't sleeping well at night, but I'm hoping she'll be 100% better in a few days. Mommy and Daddy need their sleep!

Oh-I have a fun, cute update about the bean's potty training (I say 'training' loosely because we aren't really potty training her-we just have the Dora seats and if she tells us she wants to use one, we put her up there). She peed on the potty the other day for the first time and she has tooted (yes-I typed "tooted." You can refer certain things as 'toots' when one's an adorable toddler) twice. We think she is kind of getting the hang of it! Go Bean!

March 2 - milK

The bean has a new favorite word: milK (emphasis on the 'k'). She still loves her previous favorite word (apple-she goes nuts at the grocery store when she sees the fruit display) but for the last few days, milk is #1. When I picked her up from school yesterday, all she said on the way home was 'milk, milk, milk!' It was adorable!

So-did you all have a fab weekend? Ours had its ups and downs. Saturday we went to Barnes and Noble for Biscuit story time. We were a little late and missed Biscuit, but the bean was able to color with the other kids and had fun walking around the bookstore. I also found out B&N has story time every Saturday for kids, so you know where you will find us from now on!! That afternoon we went to the park (it was a beautiful day) and she had a blast on the swings and slide. After such a great day....we didn't have such a great night. Our little bean came down with a stomach bug and was up multiple times throughout the night sick. I think I did 4 loads of laundry between 10pm and 4am. Poor thing-luckily she seemed fine on Sunday.

On Sunday we went to Babies R Us, where we bought little Dora potty seats (to fit over our toilets). So far she's ignored them (I think that first experience sitting on the full sized potty scared her a little) but when she is ready-we'll be ready!

Not much else is going on in Casa de Yamo-except Amelia pulled a Guinness and ate an entire box of crayons today! Have a great Tuesday everyone!

February 21 - Sticker Craze

Happy Sunday bean followers. Are you enjoying your weekend? Ours has been fab. Friday night I went to a candle party with a new friend in town and met a lot of fun people. I'm starting a book club here and met some fellow book lovers, so that was very exciting!

Yesterday, J.D., Julia, Amelia and I went to our neighborhood park to check out the play area and we all had a great time. Jules loved the swings while Amelia loved chasing the tennis ball. Later in the day, Hannah and Tammy came over and again it was fun for all. The girls are so adorable together. Hannah loves to sing and Julia loves to dance so they are a match made in heaven. They were running around the house holding hands, dancing and giggling. They also had a great time playing with stickers-wow, it is crazy how much they LOVE stickers!

Today, the bean, pooch and I went to yet another play area (a new play scape behind the elementary school near our house). Amelia ended up rolling around/laying in a mud pit at one point then tried to follow some boy scouts into the school (where they were holding a big meeting) so needless to say, it was not a mundane trip! Julia had an amazing time going down all the slides and best of all-we met some new friends! Right before we left a couple came with a 1.5 yr old named Iris and they live right around the corner from us. I see play dates in our future!

February 18 - Potty Time

Okay-let me start off by saying there are certain words in the English language that I don't care for and 'potty' is one of them. Unfortunately, 'toilet' is another one so I've been testing out 'potty training', 'toilet training' and 'using the bathroom' but let's face it-none of them really roll off the tongue. I guess we're going to go with 'potty training' since that is what they say at school.

So in the bean's new classroom, the kids range from 18mon to 24mon. There are a few little potty's/toilet's and the teachers train the kids when they are ready. They don't force it on any of the kids and over the last week or so, Jules has started to take more interest in the potty and has sat on it a few times. Well-the other night when we were home, she grabbed J.D.'s hand and pulled him into the bathroom and pointed to the toilet. He asked if she had to go and she said 'yes' so we put her up there. She was a tad freaked out because it was an adult sized seat and we ended up putting her down after a few seconds. But she pooped about 2 min later! So...amazingly, it seems like she is grasping the concept of potty training. This is very exciting..because when I say changing her diaper is like wrestling an alligator, I am not exaggerating. It gets more difficult by the day. The little bean does not want to stop playing and I was getting concerned she'd be a late bloomer (concerning potty training, which is apparently how I was as a child).

February 10 - Hannah, Hannah

Greetings bean fans! I am still searching for my usb cable. I've decided to just buy a new one this weekend so I can start uploading photos. I am sure you are all going into 'Julia Withdrawal' without your weekly dose of dimpled cuteness. Luckily, my wonderful sister-in-law posted a photo of the bean on her blog so I am copying it here. This photo was taken a few weeks ago when she was staying with Grandma Yamo. As you all know, our little bean LOVES cats and all she wanted to do was snuggle with old man K.C. That included hugging and snuggling with him in his cat bed. Beyond adorable!!

In other news, Julia is spending more time with her 2.5 yr old friend Hannah, and they are really cute together. Sometimes they hold hands and run around. It is enough to make any one's heart melt. We have a little table that they eat at together....I will get a photo soon and post it!! Julia also loves to say 'Hannah Hannah Hannah' and chants it all the time. Her other favorites now include nodding her head yes or no and saying 'no.' She also loves her monkey themed bathroom and has been attempting to do a forward roll (without our prompting).

Oh-I forgot to mention that we did a mom-tot gymnastics class this past weekend and the bean L-O-V-E-D it. She especially loved the beam and wanted to walk across it the whole time. I'm probably going to sign up for weekly classes so I'll try to get some photos.

And how adorable are my niece and nephew (Victoria and Andrew)? Jules and I plan to fly out sometime in the next few months to visit. I am so excited to see them both (and of course, psyched to see Greg and Jill too). I can't wait to pinch Andrew's chubby little cheeks! And see the girls play together. I really hope we are able to get together a few times a year so the kids grow up as cousins and more importantly, friends.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

February 1 - Wallpaper Fun

The Yamo family is completely unpacked (woo hoo!) and we are finally settled in. We have a new fridge, new water heater and best of all.....Internet access. Life is good! We're looking at paint samples and started stripping wallpaper this past weekend. There is wallpaper in the kitchen and bathrooms. We decided to start in the master bathroom and luckily the outer layer peels off easily but the glue is a chore to scrape off. Let's just say my arms are getting in a great workout!

In bean news, she LOVES the new house, especially the staircase. Any chance she gets she zooms up the stairs. We have to watch her like a hawk! She also loves to run around the backyard and loves all the space in her room. We went to Ikea yesterday and she fell in love with the little kids tent (above). Right now it is in our family room (I'm still amazing we have enough space for something like this) and she loves to dance in it!

Julia is also becoming fast friends with Hannah, our good friend's daughter. Hannah is 2.5 yr old and adorable. It is amazing how active the girls are together. I have some cute photos of them together and I'll post them once I find the cable to download photos from the camera.

Well-off to pick up the bean from her new Montessori school-hope you are all having a great Monday!

January 21 - Almost Settled In

Hola! J.D, Amelia and I are in Houston but not quite settled in. The seller was "too busy" to sign the final documents yesterday (I find it hard to believe this dude couldn't find 10min in his entire day to take care of it....) but the documents were signed and mailed today so we should get the keys tomorrow. We are currently staying with our friends Nic and Tammy (thank you guys for your hospitality) and we're looking forward to moving into our new house tomorrow!

And the bean is having a GREAT time playing with Grandma and Uncle Chad in Tampa. I fly back on Saturday to pick her up and I cannot wait to see her. I miss her so much!

January 8 - Rented!

Great, fantastic, awesome, amazing news everyone.....our Gainesville house has been rented out for the remainder of our lease!! The new tenants signed a lease today with our landlord. That is a HUGE cost savings for us. Woo hoo!!

In other news-J.D. is in Houston completing his first full week of work. So far he is enjoying it (ths week has been mostly training type stuff). I am busy, busy, busy trying to pack up the house (the movers will be here in a week!) Luckily I work at a distribution center and have an unlimited supply of boxes, tape and packing material!