More Family Milestones

In addition to Hayden learning to use the potty, here are a few other significant events for us of late:

1) 3 Blog entries in a month! That's momentous for sure =)

2) Avery cut her first two teeth on 8/18. It's taken the teeth a long time to push through the gums, but they've finally broken through! The worst part was Tues morning as Avery was eating Cheerios. She put one right in the front of her mouth where the new teeth were trying to come through. Avery bit down and then started crying, with alligator tears rolling down her cheeks. SO sad. Fortunately she's been doing better since then.

3) Avery also started saying "Hi" a few days ago! Sometimes she says it when she waves, other times she says it as she crawls toward someone. At first I thought she was making the "hi" sound without recognizing its meaning, but I'm pretty sure she is really saying it as a word! Cool!

4) We are closing on our new house, and expect to get the keys within a few hours! I'll post more about that sometime in the future.

Thanks for reading =)

What are the chances?

Last night Matt and I watched the indy-film "Primer." The movie was somewhat interesting and somewhat nauseating. (I won't discuss the film here, but it was cool and totally clean- in case you're interested.)

So to clear my head of the movie's theme before trying to sleep, I picked up the latest issue of "Family Fun" magazine. I don't usually read the Mailbox page, but last night I did. And this is what one reader submitted:

I have a soft spot for mushrooms, so when I saw your Enchanted Clay Toadstools, I knew I needed some for my kitchen. The whole family got involved (those are my daughters June, age 7, Ivory, 3, and Robyn, 5, in the photo), and we all made our own toadstools.

June, Ivory, and Robyn?!! What are the chances of that? (If you don't remember, June is my grandma's name and Avery's middle name.) None of those names are particularly popular now.

Kind of weird. But it did the trick for getting my mind away from Primer for the night!

Potty Training Hayden

After much deliberation, we've decided to work at potty training Hayden. I know he is ready to be more in control of his "output." However, I've feared it will be a long process since Hayden is the kind of kid who seeks out ways to be wet, dirty, and sticky. I worried that having wet or dirty underwear wouldn't be motivation enough to use the toilet when needed. But Hayden has to learn sometime, and I figured it will never be easy so I might as well try now. So two weeks ago, I put Hayden in underwear and we had a conversation that went something like this:


Me: Hayden, it feels good to keep your underwear clean and dry like big boys do. To keep your underwear dry you need to put your pee in the potty. So what are you going to do if you are playing and it feels like some pee needs to come out?


Hayden: I'm just going to keep playing.


And that's what he did. In fact, within an hour of wearing undies he actually pooped in his pants. I know this is to be expected, but seriously, it's a pain to clean up poopy underwear. At that point Hayden said he wanted to wear a diaper anyway, and quite honestly I was relieved,


After taking several days to recover from the trauma of the poopy underwear, I decided I really need to give this potty training thing a good effort before we move to our new house in a few weeks. Mainly because I would rather have Hayden's accidents happen on the nasty floors in our rental house than on our brand new carpet in the new house. So we made potty training irresistable for Hayden...


... by offering candy rewards when he uses the potty. On the one hand, I'm disgusted because I can just picture all that sugar just sitting on Hayden's teeth (though we've been brushing more often since the candy rewards began). But at the same time, it's working! Hayden is making great progress, much more than I expected so far. It's going to take some time for him to become proficient, but I'm so pleased with how well he is doing. GOOD JOB, HAYDEN!


ps. Here are a few pics to show you why I didn't think Hayden would be interested in keeping himself "clean and dry."

The Latest and Greatest with the Eubanks

"Busy but good" is my typical answer to the question, "How's life?" And most days that is true! Here's a little update on life at the moment...

MATT continues to enjoy his work, for the most part. He has had a lot on his plate at Cisco lately, but we're always thankful that he has a good job in times like these, when many friends have either lost jobs, had hours cut, or had paycuts. Matt has also been busy trying to find a new tenant for the townhouse in Charlottesville, something that is taking longer than we hoped. In his spare moments, Matt has been reading Warren Buffet's biography and he's sad that he's coming to the end of the book. We had a nice Father's Day celebration yesterday that included spending some time at the Silicon Valley Duck Race (fun, but would have been even more fun had we arrived in time to actually see the race!), ordering in pizza for dinner, and eating raspberry shortcake for dessert. The boys painted some pottery pieces as gifts for Matt, and Matt proudly took them to work this morning to display on his desk.

CALEB was disappointed that preschool ended for the summer! He's really enjoyed it. He doesn't play with Matchbox cars quite as often as he used to and doesn't talk much about different cars he sees on the road. Instead he has become more "people-oriented", creating stories and fantasies about different people/creatures using toy figurines (as well as their cars). Caleb and Hayden are both looking forward to our trip to Buffalo later this week. Here is Caleb's To Do list in Buffalo (he asked me to write it down for him):
1. Hug Grampa Ceroky in the airport
2. Bring our old car seat with us
3. Pick out clothes for Grandpa Eubanks
4. Put birdseed in Gramma' Ceroky's birdfeeder
5. Play in the basement and the driveway
6. Plant flowers with Grandma Eubanks

HAYDEN continues to get into stuff! There have been so many times when I've caught him smearing stuff in his hair... yogurt, applesauce, barbeque sauce, hair cream (at least that one was somewhat appropriate). He is so tactile! He copies everything Caleb says and does- so much so that it's scary! He loves to play with Avery. He loves to wear his Mickey Mouse ears and ride his tricycle, but in his mind he is wearing his motorcycle helmet and riding his motorcycle.

AVERY is such a sweetie. She is sitting up now, eating tiny pieces of table food and cheerios, and not quite crawling. We're also still awaiting her first tooth- I think it will be at least a month before it's here. She laughs at the boys and loves to be included in their play. Breastfeeding is going great, which I am SO thankful for.

ROBYN (that's me) is ?? Busy but good =) Somedays the kids drive me nuts, but I try to remember what a blessing it is to have 3 children and I have spent more and more time praying that God will help me to be the best mom and wife I can be. I have been getting shots in my foot to treat a neuroma that's been bothering me for almost 2 years. The shots aren't helping much, so it's quite possible I'll need surgery- yuck! Recently I decided to replace our nasty looking kitchen chair seat covers. Admittedly, Matt ended up doing a lot of the work since he's stronger and faster than I am! But the chairs look much better and it's such a good feeling to cross something off my list.

We have been house hunting for about 5 months now and along with it we have been looking for wisdom in choosing a school for the kids. Right now we are leaning toward private school, and this fall we will investigate them more aggressively. At the moment we have a bid in on a house that we would love to get! Hopefully we will know by tomorrow if we got it.

Friday we leave for Buffalo and we're quite excited to see our family and friends again! Whew, I think that is enough for now!

Oops...What about February?

Clearly I am still not doing well when it comes to keeping the blog updated! I suppose I've been a bit preoccupied...

February 2009 was momentous for our family in several ways. This month Caleb started attending the Clement School MWF mornings. He loves preschool! The parking lot at Clement is very small, so the teachers escort the children to and from their cars everyday. This is a major convenience for me because I don't need to load and unload Hayden and Avery each time (and I didn't even realize drop-offs were done this way when we chose this preschool!). But I thought for sure Caleb would NOT be happy about this arrangement. To our surprise, he's done great! In the mornings he just says goodbye and doesn't look back. He loves his teacher and the other children in his class, especially his friend Lily. It's been a wonderful experience thus far.

On Feb 8 our church did a special dedication service for Avery. This was a very nice occasion and we were able to celebrate it with a bunch of our friends (who don't usually come to our church on Sundays). As our friend Eric held Avery and prayed a dedication prayer, Avery smiled up at him, which almost got Eric choked up. =)

The next day, Feb 9, Matt left for a 10 day trip to Europe. He traveled to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, and London. The trip was quite successful, but we all agreed it was a VERY long time for Matt to be away! Matt brought home some great souvenirs though, and he did have a good time seeing some of the sites in the different cities- especially visiting our old stomping grounds in London, as well as Paris (where we honeymooned).

Fortunately for me and the kids, Matt's parents were able to come stay with us while Matt was away. We had a great visit with them! The boys love playing with Grandma and Grandpa, and it was nice for them to catch up with the kids and spend some time getting to know Avery. I was able to squeeze in a few extras too- like doctor appointments and shopping!

That is February in a nutshell!

Congratulations, Matt!

Hope you don't mind if I brag about my wonderful hubby a bit... But last week when Matt went into work, he was welcomed with a great surprise. He just received another promotion! It's his second one in less than 2 years. Way to go, Matt! We're proud of you!
Step aside, Mr. Chambers... =)

Livin' Large

Last week I took Avery and Hayden to the doctor for well-checks. It turns out that Hayden isn't the only big kid in the family. He weighed in at 31 lbs (85 percentile) and measured 37.5 inches (>95 percentile, as always). So far Avery is giving Hayden some good competition! At 12 weeks she weighed 14lbs 4oz (95 percentile) and measured 24.5 inches (92 percentile). Caleb has always been tall, usually around th 75th percentile for height and 50th for weight, but he's starting to look like the runt in the family. =)

I'm growing more hopeful that this means we have some fun days of playing basketball together ahead of us. Probably just wishful thinking, I know, but that's ok.

Hello 2009

Historically I haven't been big on New Year's Resolutions, but this year I decided that setting some goals for the year isn't such a bad idea. So here are some personal goals for 2009 (in no particular order):

1. Go to the dentist. Do I dare admit publicly that I haven't been to the dentist since I was pregnant with Caleb? Time for a visit.
2. Do a better job of keeping up on current events.
3. Eat more vegetables.
4. Improve my listening skills.
5. Lose that baby weight. I think a New Year's Resolution list HAS to have a weight loss goal to be complete. Bonus points if I lose the weight before my 10 year high school reunion =)

As 2008 quickly draws to a close, I am dutifully trying to eat up the delicious chocolates that Matt gave me for Christmas. I need to get rid of them so I can start working on #5 right away in the new year. I love it when a plan comes together.

Goodbye 2008

Our family finished out this year with quite a bit of fun. After an enjoyable Christmas in San Jose (with my parents visiting), we headed down to southern California for a mini vacation. On Sunday we took a leisurely drive to Disneyland, stopping at San Miguel Mission, Solvang, and The Getty Center along the way. The stop at San Miguel was unplanned, but very valuable to us as we learned that a mission is a GREAT place to stop on a Hwy 101 roadtrip when the kids need some time to get out and stretch. Caleb enjoyed it so much that he asked to stop at "that old church" again on the way home. Solvang was nice to see (though we only drove through), and we really enjoyed the Getty Center for the brief time we were there. It's definitely a place we need to visit again when we have more time.

We spent Monday at Disneyland... along with everybody and his brother. It was extremely crowded, and therefore too difficult for us to do much. The lines were quite long and the streets were so jammed with people that it wasn't even fun to walk around and enjoy the sights. A bit disappointing for us, although the kids still had a good time. We took the monorail to Downtown Disney in the afternoon to get away from the masses. We ate an early dinner at Rainforest Cafe, and that worked out perfectly! The kids did great, the food was decent, and our friends Daniel, Mika, and Mia joined us mid-meal! It couldn't have worked out better. We crashed with exhaustion Monday evening and decided to spend Tuesday first at Downtown Disney and then relaxing and checking out the area. It was one of those trips where we felt like we didn't "accomplish" a ton, but one where we truly enjoyed being together as a family. That's what it should be about anyway, right?

Matt already posted some pictures on facebook, maybe someday I'll add more here. But it was a great way to end the year. Looking forward to 2009!

Celebrating One Month with Avery

Avery June Eubanks joined our family on October 20 at 3:29pm weighing 8lbs and 21 inches long. It's hard to believe an entire month has already passed since her birth. Avery has been a great baby. She only cries when she is hungry and tolerates her brothers' energy quite well. (As I write this, the boys are shrieking as they have "Monster Time" with Daddy... Avery is just sleeping away in her bouncer seat in the kitchen.)

We've all enjoyed having a baby girl here with us. Caleb and Hayden love to hold her, touch her, and give her slimy kisses. Caleb is very kind and gentle with Avery, and really looks out for her. Hayden is not so gentle, but just as well meaning. The adjustment to 3 kids has been ok. Adjusting at home has been relatively easy, but adjusting to taking 3 kids out of the house has been the challenge.

And for those who want to know: the labor and delivery went well. I went in at 4:30am to be induced. The pitocin was started by 6am. By 1pm I was really feeling the pain of the contractions (to say the least), and when the nurse checked my cervix I had only dilated from 3cm to 5cm during the previous 7 hours. At this point I asked for an epidural. I was so relieved when the anesthesiologist walked through the door a short time later. The epidural was started successfully. Within the next 2 hours I dilated the remaining 5cm. And with one push, Avery was born! She was blue and bruised from coming out so quickly, but otherwise everything was perfect.

My recovery was easy this time. In fact my biggest complaint was the sore spot on my back from where the epidural went in. My hospital experience was good, and it was a treat to just phone in my order for every meal. If only it was that simple at home...

It was great to have our family's help for the first few weeks. We've also been blessed by the many meals our friends have prepared for us. They say the first 6 weeks are the hardest, so we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! (At least, I think so.) We are definitely still short on sleep, but I guess that is par for the course. It's also my excuse if any of my sentences are less than coherent!

Oh yeah, we have a blog

Yup, it's to the point of being embarassing! Baby Avery has been here almost a month, and we have yet to do an official welcoming blog post. Poor third child! We will try to do better about updating the blog... maybe for her one month birthday she will get a proper blog welcoming.

In the mean time, we are enjoying our 3 wonderful children and wishing we were getting more sleep. =) More glorious details to follow!

Budding Interests

One of the fun things about parenting is watching our boys' interests develop over time. Caleb has been a car kid from the start. Since he was 18 months, he's loved kneeling down to drive toy cars on the couch. One of the first words Caleb said clearly was "wheel." He used to drive his Matchbox school bus on the couch and focus intently on the wheels, saying, "wheel, wheel, wheel." The Matchbox collection has grown to about 100 cars now, and, honestly, he really treasures about 80-90% of those cars.

Caleb's interest of course extends to real cars too. When he meets new adults, he says, "Hi, what kind of car do you drive?" To answer "a black car" is not acceptable. Caleb wants to know the make and model. And if you say, "I drive a black Honda Accord with fog lights and a sunroof" you'll score extra points for the additional details. Caleb can identify over 30 models of cars on the road. I'm sure he would know more, but unfortunately he's limited by his mother's knowledge of cars. (I just don't know the different types of Mercedes, Lexuses, Volvos, and BMWs very well. Though, in my defense, it would help if they had more creative names than letter-number combinations like XC90!)

Hayden has been a sports kid since he was just a few months old. He LOVES balls. Recently Matt was watching baseball on TV and changed the channel to a different show, and Hayden started protesting saying, "Baseball!" Right now Hayden's favorite is basketball. And I will admit that I am pretty excited about that. We recently bought him his first full size basketball, and Hayden grinned the whole way home, holding tight to that ball. Actually, he also bounced it off the back of my seat in the car playing catch with it, and for Hayden that was great fun. (Not so fun for me though.) We have a Little Tykes hoop and Hayden will take real shots, rather than just walk up to dunk the ball. He holds the ball over his head and says, "Ball Shot!" It's too cute. Though sometimes the words come out sounding like he's saying something different and not so cute =)

I used to think that when young children showed such a strong interest in things that the parents must push it on them from a young age. But I'm realizing what a strong role genetics plays. It's exciting and scary all at the same time.