Introductions

OK, I guess I officially have a blog now. I've been debating starting one up for the last few weeks, since my sister (The Amazing Missuz J) started hers. I recently moved away from smalltown Utah to Albuquerque, NM, leaving behind my parents and my sisters (my bro having already moved away to Dallas), and I've really been loving reading about all that's going on with her and her sweet Sophie Gene. Reading her blog led to lurking around on a few others, particularly Dooce, which everyone seems to have read, so that makes me nothing special there. I've also been encouraged by various friends and therapists to do some journaling, and this seemed like a cool way to do it. However, after reading many of the exploits of ms. dooce, I began to revise my blogging plan (ok, wait a sec, my mother could conceivably read this, hmmm, could be an issue). I've always been a little, shall we say, private? I typically don't share much about myself with people I'm not close to, and sometimes not too much with those I am close to, so, this is a bit of a reach, putting myself out there. And, mom, if you ever do end up reading this, you are required to inform me of your presence in the blogosphere.

Following in the example of my brilliant sis, this blog will be focused on the goings on of my immediate family here in Albuquerque, namely, The Krause House. I am a Stay At Home Mom with two kids, Madeline, age 5, and Zachary, age 3. I wish I could post current pics of them, but since I am brand new to this blogging thing, and don't have a digital camera, that might be tough. I have some old ones, and will try to figure out at some point how to post them.

Madeline is a beautiful, brilliant little girl (I know, this is her mother talking, but really, other people can corroborate on this one). She's just finishing kindergarten, and is doing fantastically well, considering the major upheaval she went through this year. In Utah, kindergarten was 2&1/2 hours long, and she was in a class of 29 students with 2 adults. In my experience with elementary students, from teaching computers in an elementary school for 2 years before I had my kids, this mainly means kindergarten wasn't much more than herding little bodies and trying to make sure no one got hurt. She was doing great, and exceeding expectations left and right. In Albuquerque, however, kindergarten is over 6&1/2 hours, and it was a HUGE adjustment, especially for a little girl who was none too excited to leave her original kindergarten class in the first place. The good news is, her new class has 19 kids with 3 adults. For those of you familiar with student teacher ratios, you will know this is a major improvement. They expect a lot more out of kindergarteners here, and she was definitely resistant at first. I don't know who that was harder on, me or her, but it seems we got through it, and I think she even likes her new school now. Just in time for summer vacation.

Zachary just turned 3 last month, and mommy decided it was time to potty train. I HATE potty training. I felt like he was showing signs of readiness (i.e. telling me when he needed to be changed, showing interest in the toilet, etc.), and decided this was as good a time as any to take the plunge. I've found that a good clean break from the diapers seems to be the best plan of attack. This lets them know that you're serious, but also opens the door for days, maybe even weeks, of cleaning up accidents. Then, it becomes who can stand the messes longer. Sooner or later, the child will decide he doesn't really like soggy training pants, and leaving puddles all over the house, and will choose to use the potty, hopefully before the mother has gone crazy from the constant stream (ha ha, very punny) of said soggy pants and puddles. We're making progress, but it does sometimes feel like living in a fire drill, every time he mentions pee pee, I get to drop everything, and run, don't walk, to the bathroom, with the child most likely tucked under my arm or tossed over my shoulder. Good times.

The Krause House family is rounded out by myself, age 31, and my lovely spouse, Clark, age 43. As I previously mentioned, I am a SAHM, and have been since the birth of my first child, almost 6 years ago. Sometimes it's hard, the staying home thing, especially since moving to a new town where I don't know anyone, but the joy of being able to be home with my children far outweighs the loneliness (well, most days anyways). Clark is currently a Vice President over recruitment at Albuquerque Economic Development. Which doesn't tell you anything more than you knew 2 sentences ago. He basically works hard at recruiting businesses and industry to Albuquerque. He's a good man and a great dad and we all love him tons.

I think that about wraps it up for introductions. In future posts, I will try to include more day to day information about us, and the adventures of raising kids. Ta ta.