Potty Training

All of a sudden, Evan has really taken off on his potty training! It seems like we've been trying to get him to do it FOREVER, but it didn't really work, until today.

His personality has always been to just watch things that are going on, and what people are doing. Then one day he'll just start doing whatever it was he was watching. While learning to talk, he never jibber-jabbered, he simply started saying words. I guess I should've expected the same thing to happen with potty training!

Most of the time, he was just too busy to go to the potty. He'd start to play and just not want to take the time to leave his toys to go potty. But all day today, he was without a pull-up. He'd yell, "I need to go potty!" and then run off. We were even able to put him in underwear this afternoon, and he did great!

He only had one little mess when we were having a pillow fight in the living room. I'm sure it was because he was laughing so hard and consumed with fun that he didn't think about it. A little bit of pee fell on the floor, and he looked at me with big round eyes... then we said, "run to the potty!," and he did. Every time he went to the potty, he'd run out yelling, "I goed to the potty!"

It kind of blows my mind that we won't have to buy diapers for him anymore soon... I'll try not to be too sentimental, because it really does make me happy. But that also means he really won't be a little boy much longer... I'm already trying to resolve myself against being the mother of a boy. One day he'll get married and leave home (which is what I want), but I know that things will change one day. Every day brings me closer to that moment. I only hope that I can raise him to be a good human being who cares about people and loves the Lord with all his heart.

How did a post on potty training turn into a sappy post? I'll try to pull it together...
:)

What's It Gonna Be??!!

Today Nick & Alia find out if they're having a baby boy or girl! We're so excited to find out what it is! I've been going back and forth on if I think boy or girl, and I'm still undecided. Just when I think it'll be a girl, I start to think boy. But the good part about this, is that it's not up to me, and it'll be fun no matter what!

Good luck, Nick & Alia! We'll be praying that the baby cooperates and that we will know if it's a Mija or Mijo! Love ya'll!

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By the way, we found out that it's a baby girl! Baby Brynley Joy! We saw the ultrasound video, and she is simply gorgeous! We can't wait to hold, hug, and kiss her!

Before & After

First of all, I'm sorry that I haven't been posting as often lately. Since having my second child, it's harder to make time to blog. I have all of these ideas floating around inside my head, but haven't actually had the time to sit down and write them out. Either that, or I forget what I'm going to write about the second that I sit down to do it! Oh, the life of a busy Mom...

When Aubrie was born, we decided not to repaint her bedroom. I had already painted it a pretty orange color, and we just decided to use what we had and save some money. We bought plain colored bedding, hung up pictures that we already owned, and bought a beautiful mobile from Etsy. Her room was cute, but lately I've had the bug to really turn it into a girls' room. Aubrie is such a little girl; meaning she loves helping me pick out her clothes (already!), loves accessories (gets very excited when I walk into stores like Claire's), shoes, etc. She's still tough like her brother, but she's definitely going to be into girly things. So, why not have a room to match her personality!

Chris got to stay in his pajamas all day yesterday and play with the kids, while I was upstairs painting the room. I think it turned out great! I still want to add a pink stripe around the top of the room, and will maybe change the crib bedding (after our Utah trip) to pink. Aubrie actually started making the famous "oooohhhhh" sound that Evan used to make as a baby when she saw the curtains and pompoms above her bed. I'm glad she likes it, and I had a blast painting it and being creative!

Before (minus the pink curtains. There were brown curtains in before I took the picture, but I moved them to our bedroom to keep out the morning light).

After:

Fun Conversations

Evan: "Daddy, can you cock this gun?" (nerf gun)
Chris: "Where are you gonna shoot it?"
Evan: "At her." (pointing to Aubrie).
Chris: "We don't point guns at people, Evan."
Evan: "But she's a girl..."

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Evan: Where is Aubrie's (breasts)?
After Chris and I did a double-take,
Chris: Where are her what? (very calmly)
Evan: Where's Aubrie's (breasts)?
Chris: Oh! You mean her DRESS?! We took it off so she wouldn't get dinner all over it...

It was so hard to keep a straight face during this!

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This wasn't really a conversation, but it was soooo funny! We were having a pillow fight today, and Chris threw a pillow at Evan's head. Evan shook his head around like a bobble-head! I guess you had to see it, but it made me laugh so hard! And then right after that, we were still throwing pillows around, and all of a sudden Evan turns to me and asks, "So how was your day today, Mommy?" Right as he finished talking, another pillow smacked him in the head! It was so funny! I love family moments like this, and my little man makes me laugh so much!

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We are now in the "why" stage with Evan. He asks why about everything! Here are some examples:

"What is in a fork?"
"What is in your leg?"
"How do we talk?"
"What's in a banana?"
"Do you have a weewee?" (had to laugh at that one).
etc.

Ear Piercing

My sweet baby girl got her ears pierced today! Chris and I took the kids to the Woodlands Mall to play in the play area, and on a whim we decided to take Aubrie to get her ears done. We've been wanting to do it for several months, but the opportunity just never worked out.

We stopped at both the Icing and Claire's, but they were both packed and just didn't seem right. Just when we had decided to wait, I noticed a Merle Norman right next to the play area. I was so excited, because that's where my Mom took me when I was 9 months old to get my ears pierced! There was only one person working, so it added a small challenge by not being able to have two guns pierce at the same time, but the saleslady was really good and sweet. We were the only customers in the store, and there was a small play area right outside the store where Evan could play to keep himself busy until the big moment.

Aubrie sat still for the first few minutes, but had decided she had had enough and started squirming in my lap. Chris was very helpful by holding Aubrie's held still while I held her in my lap while the actual piercing happened. The lady was super fast and it was over in no time. Our little baby girl cried for a few minutes (screamed is more like it!), but we expected that from our sweet drama queen. It was worth it, though, because she looks so beautiful!!! And she's doing great with her ears now; not messing with them at all, as if she doesn't remember it happening at all!

before

after

Evan wanted Brie in the car with him; it was so sweet! That is, until she started touching the steering wheel...

While playing, I said "boo" to her, and she picked up on it and kept saying, "boooooo" to everyone she met!


This little boy was so sweet. He took a liking to Aubrie and followed her around, hugging her.

This is when Evan told me, "No pictures!" I guess I was embarrassing him!

So, I had to go into stealth mode. That's why the pic is sideways...

On our way to the car, we stopped at the pet store in the mall. Aubrie LOVES puppies, and had a blast playing with them.

Evan couldn't care less about the puppies, and only wanted to look at all of the reptiles. He's all boy, that one.

I Love It When...

... babies talk in their cribs waiting for Mom or Dad to come and get them.

When Evan was little, I could leave him in his crib for sometimes 30 minutes while I finished getting dressed, making breakfast, etc. He would just talk and play. When he wanted out and had started learning how to say people's names, he'd go through the list of names, just waiting for someone to come get him.

Now that Aubrie has started saying names, she kind of does the same thing, and it's so cute! She doesn't go through all of the names like Evan did, but she definitely calls for Mommy, and when that doesn't work she switches to Daddy. She even said Bobby once! She's not as patient as Evan was, and starts crying after a few minutes if I don't go and get her.

It's so cute listening to her calling for us, but it shows me just how much she's growing up! Pretty soon she'll be big like Evan. So I'm going to soak up these precious little moments and enjoy every sound she makes while this small.

We Have A Walker!

Aubrie took her first steps today!! Chris and I were standing in the kitchen, and Chris got Aubrie to stand up on her own next to him. She took one step towards the island before she grabbed it to hold on. We were so excited that we made kind of a loud noise, and she got scared and cried for like 5 minutes! Then we decided to let her try it again. She is a quick learner because she took several more steps the second and third time we stood her up. She laughed each time she fell backwards, so cute!

Evan was around 15 months when he started to walk, so it looks like Aubrie beat him by just a few days! She'll be 15 months in 4 days. It also took Evan about a month to really get the hang of it after he took his first steps, but I bet Aubrie catches on within a few weeks. I only say that because of their personalities; Evan is more laid back, while Aubrie is a hands-on go-getter type. She'll want to walk quickly so that she can chase her brother and cousin around!

(I have a video, but it's on my phone, and I have to figure out how to get it on the computer. Check FB if you want to see it!).

Evan Turns 3!!

Oh. My. Goodness. My little boy is 3!

Evan has gotten so big over the past year. It's crazy to look back at pictures from his second birthday and to see how much he has changed. He talks so much clearer than a year ago, and it often feels like I'm talking to a "real" little kid, rather than a baby or toddler.

He LOVES to pretend with his toys now, and comes up with such funny stories! It's so cute to watch him weave stories together from what he is learning and put it all together. For example, while playing with an Iron Man toy he got for his birthday, he uses phrases from Buzz Lightyear, makes him sit with other toys at a picnic breakfast, etc, all within about 5 minutes. I love his imagination!

He's been going through phases where he only wants "Mommy." He even told Chris, "but I don't love you!" Chris is better than me, because it didn't even phase him! I would've been balling. But Chris just knew that he didn't mean it, which of course he didn't. He'll tell me, "But Mommy, you're my friend." These phases last for a few days at a time, and then he's back to his normal easy-going self. He amazes me because just when I think he's going to throw a fit, he'll just look at me and say, "ok." Love him to pieces. Every. Single. Piece. I'm going to enjoy every minute of it, good and bad, because I'm noticing that it all goes by so fast. I'm going to enjoy the fact that he cries for me to hold him because he misses me, not be frustrated that it's something else I have to "deal with." He may not be doing that in the near future...

I'm trying to think of everything I can about him so that I can write it down and not forget. He's just such a sweet little boy, and he makes my heart melt. It hits me every time I see him that he's turning into a big kid, and I have mixed feelings about that. I always wanted to have a son so that I could watch him grow into a good, strong, handsome, smart young man. Now that Evan is getting older, I can actually start to see him turning into that person, and I love every minute of it.

(I have pictures from his 2nd birthday on our external hard drive, so I will go through those photos and post them very soon).

Mother's Day 2011

What a wonderful Mother's Day this year! I woke up to Chris saying, "Don't worry about the kids; just get dressed and I'll get everything ready for church." I couldn't help myself, and kept trying to help get things ready to go. It's hard to break the habit. :)

It was also Evan's 3rd birthday yesterday, so we decided to let him open his birthday present before we left for church. We got him a cool basketball hoop. His cousin Aiden has the same hoop, and Evan LOVES it! Although, he doesn't quite understand that you're supposed to try and shoot the basketball in the hoop all the time. So far, his favorite part of the hoop is to knock it over...

After Evan opened his present, we rushed to get in the car and head to church. After church, we ate lunch at Doneraki mexican restaurant, and it was good! We met Mama D, Nick, Alia, & Aiden, Bobby & Allison, Clay & Amanda, and my Mom near the Gulfgate Mall. It was a great lunch with several surprises; one of which was my brother announcing that he and Amanda were going to have a baby! They are due on December 19th! It's been one year since they had a miscarriage, so we are very excited about this little baby!

After lunch, we went back home where the kids played and Chris gave me a foot rub. I could get used to this Mother's Day stuff! It was a great Mother's Day!

(no pictures since our camera is still out, and I don't know how to put pics from my phone on the computer...).

Seizure?

Chris got a call this morning from Aubrie's MDO teachers saying that she had had 2 "seizure-like" episodes. While she was pretending to sleep in the middle of the floor, one of her teachers walked over and picked her up. Her teacher noticed that Aubrie was kind of limp and heavy, and just hugged her really hard. She said it happened again about 30 minutes later while they were playing on the little train playset in front of their classroom. No jerking or eye-rolling, but they said it was just strange and out of character for her.

After Chris and I rushed over to the church, both with adrenaline pumping and hearts pounding, we got to hold her and she was as happy as could be! It was a relief to see her smiling face when we walked in the building, I must say. I made an appointment with our pediatrician's office, and we saw Dr. Parkerson (not our normal doctor) at 1:30PM today. The doctor said that it didn't sound like she had had a seizure because she had been responsive afterward. She said that most children her age also don't have the "silent" seizures; there is usually the jerking and eye-rolling to go along with it, and a period of unresponsiveness afterward. So, we aren't scheduled for any follow-up testing, as of yet. We are watching her to see if it happens again so that we can witness it for ourselves. Then we can make more decisions, if it happens again.

Please be praying that this is nothing, and that she doesn't have any more "episodes," whatever they may be.