G-Pa........

G-pa, I know you've been waiting for a big shout-out on the blog.

Well.... Today is your lucky day. :)





Yesterday, while we were sitting around, I asked the girls what they loved about G-pa.

Holynd said: "G-pa takes me on a bike ride!"
Sloane said: "Yep"

Happy Birthday G-Pa!!!!!!!!!! We love you!

Yep.

Pregnancy Tidbits

I'm approaching the third trimester (Am I? Is it 27 or 28 weeks? You'd think I'd know by now) and it's wearing on me. I'm getting very tired. It's no mystery why; This is my THIRD pregnancy in a very short time and my body is getting quite worn out. Not to mention the fact that Sloane isn't walking yet, which means I carry her for a better part of the day.

However, this has probably been the pregnancy I've most enjoyed, even with the sickness. I think it might have to do with the fact that I'm getting quite sure there aren't going to be many more pregnancies after this one. I've kinda just given in and let myself get very fat and happy.

I think my kids have enjoyed me more in the last couple of weeks then they have in a long time.

*You wanna eat crackers for breakfast? Sure!

*You wanna drink all the water in the bathtub? Why not?! That sounds really hydrating!

*You wanna order pizza and lay around in my room while watching movies all night long?! No argument here!

Sometimes we load everyone up in the Volvo and just drive with the windows down and the music up. The girls love it.

There's one mistake I ALWAYS make when I'm pregnant. It's something I don't realize until I'm done with the pregnancy. I always wish I would've let myself get away with more. During pregnancy, I find myself saything things like, "You don't need a nap" "You shouldn't let that go" "Nope, not gonna eat that" "Pregnancy is not an excuse to not fold the laundry"..... the list goes on. I spend the entire pregnancy beating myself up because I'm not the person I am when not pregnant.

But that's just it. I am NOT the same person. My energy is drained and my body is worn down. (Back-to-back pregnancy worn down).

Because this pregnancy was a HUGE shock, I decided that it could be my ultimate excuse. I was going to take lots of naps. Yep, I am gonna eat that. Laundry can wait. That will just have to wait until after the pregnancy is over.

I was going to let myself be exhausted and that's exactly what I've done.

And you know what???

BEST. PREGNANCY. EVER.

99

99 Days Left... Look what came to my door today in honor of the Double-Digit Celebration.

Carters.com + 11pm + Two Excited Parents + Nothing On Tv = :)

Notice: That pictures stinks. My carpet is NOT that dirty and those outfits are WAY cuter then they look.

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Sloanie and summer are something else. Summer to Sloanie is a time to either be in a swimsuit or naked. Both of which cause her parents to give her juicy strawberries and lots of Rootbeer. Sloane is one happy baby this summer.

Strawberries are basically the only fruit Sloane will eat. She eats a lot of them. Sometimes she eats them off the ground. Sometimes, after she leaves a trail of strawberry slobber, Matt has to go out and spray for ants. Ants love to follow Sloanie around.

Holynd's summer day includes a dip in the glorified bathtub. Sloane won't go near her because Holynd thinks it's awesome to spray Sloane with the hose. Holynd loves summer because it means her strawberry-lemonade filled sippy cup can float around in the pool and when she gets thirsty, she can just pick it up, drink and throw it back down in the pool.


I love summer because all of this occurs outside away from my kitchen.

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Do you know what else has happened recently?? Besides my inability to stop buying baby boy stuff?

Holynd is now a potty-pooper.

I think she may be potty-trained. Maybe. I'll be 100% convinced when she moves out on her own.

The only problem I have now is Holynd's new attachment to her Pull-Up Princess Panties. She doesn't want to wear her real panties. She says they're not panties. Guess what though? I don't care. Not even slightly. Really. Ask me if I care. I'm a parent who believe in picking your battles. This is not a battle I'm willing to fight anytime soon.

The Final Decision

Ok friends. It's been about three weeks since I received my pictures from PeekABoo. After many (many) hours of deliberation. (Yes, hours). And many more hours staring at my walls.... I've finally decided which ones will be printed and put up for all to see. This is very exciting for me because right now, most of my walls are still bare from when we moved.

The decision was a hard one because ALL the pictures we got from PeekABoo were wall-worthy. What made the decision even MORE difficult was the fact that I'm getting more pictures done in the Oct-Nov time period. (Little brother needs some wall space too!) So, after all things considered here they are!

The following two will be put on Gator board and displayed in easels.

The following four will be hung in my dining area. These ones seems appropriate because they're going next to a quote that reads: "In life you have two options, to laugh or cry. We choose to laugh. At ourselves. A lot." These will be framed. I'm actually thinking of attaching ribbons to my frames and hanging the pictures down from the ribbons, but we'll see. Sometimes my brain is a lot more crafty then I body likes to be.

The following three are the ones I'm most excited about. I'm actually having these done on Canvas prints. It's something I've seen other people do and I've coveted their prints every time I've seen them. I would've loved to do all my prints in canvas prints because I love the look so much, but you can't have everything. ;)

There you have it.

Believe it or not. I've already decided how baby brothers pictures will correlate in. I just hope he's as cute as my girls.... :p

We're off to play at the Splash Park. We had another potty training success and so everyone wants to celebrate. I'm starting to think that Matt and I want to celebrate as much as the girls do.

Happy Wednesday!

PS: My baby boy nursery stuff is here. I *think* I've found the furniture I'm going to order. I *think*. However, this will require many more hours of deliberation and staring at the nursery before a decision is made. (Loving husband, I would also like to have a few things measured and marked.) I would post pictures, but right now the nursery looks like a scene from Hoarders. I kinda made the mistake of unpacking all the baby girl stuff in that room when we moved in. So now I'm repacking that stuff for storage and replacing it with things that I've found for baby brother.

PPS: Pregnancy might make me EXTRA obsessive.... Might.

I Made It!

Oh... Potty Training...

What can I say about Potty Training....

I can tell you that I hate it. It sucks. I wish it would go away. I wish Holynd had never decided to be trained.

I liken potty training to a very strict diet. You'll feel better eventually. It'll do everyone good, but in the beginning, it basically sucks all the fun out of life. You feel awful and you miss your life before the diet started. You start to wonder if the diet is really worth it.

Have I made anyone want to jump-up and potty training their toddler yet???

Now, the problem with Holynd and potty training is not Holynd. She's amazing. As far as #1 goes, she hasn't had an accident in weeks. She goes without being asked. She even will ask to use the potty when we are out in public. She stands up and proclaims, "I MADE IT! HIGH FIVE!". The problem with Holynd and potty training is me.

I have the worst attitude about it. I lose sleep over it. I basically have non-stop nightmares about huge accidents that I have no control over.

The first time Holynd had a bad accident was Tuesday. We were getting everyone ready to go to the doctor for our ultrasound. I knew Holynd was due "for that", but I figured that she would wait until we had her "special" Princess panties on to go. (Pull-ups. They seem to be a swear word among the potty training community. Judge if you must, but they're the only reason I'm a functioning human being. Without them, I would be in the corner, rocking back-and-forth, muttering nonsense to myself.) Well, I was getting Sloanie dressed before putting her down for a nap. Everything was fine until I heard Holynd start to sob.

"There's poop on my leg!" She screamed.

I went into the bathroom where her princess potty is and discovered what had happened. Holynd had tried to poop on the potty. However, she didn't sit all the way back and pooped all over the potty seat instead, resulting in a huge p-double-o mess. This was VERY upsetting to her. In her panic, she had tried to wipe herself off with toilet paper. This created a bigger mess and a bigger problem.

I tried to remain positive. She had tried! This was a good sign! Right????

I turned on the shower and started to clean-up. I had to leave most of the mess behind while I went upstairs to get Sloane her bottle for her nap. Upon returning to the mess, with Sloane screaming in her crib because she can't figure out why Holynd is screaming in the shower, the smoke detectors all over the house start going off.

I will repeat. The house picked this moment to catch on fire.

I stop and look around. I trust my pregnant nose enough to determine that the fire is NOT in the basement where the girls are. I stand there staring. Do I get them out? Do I go try to find the fire? Where is my phone??? We're never going to find out where we're having!!! The Lord does NOT want us to know if this is a boy or a girl!??! Why else would He let my house catch on fire at this exact moment.

I decide to run upstairs and find my phone and see if I can determine what the heck has caught on fire!

I run into the kitchen. Nothing. I run into my bathroom. (Maybe I left my flat iron on?). Nothing.

I still can't smell any smoke. I call Matt. "The house is on fire and Holynd is covered in poop!".

Meanwhile, the smoke detectors are still going off. I keep trying to figure out what to do. Do I just grab the girls and run outside?!? Mental images of me carrying out Holynd, naked and covered in poop flash into my mind.

Then, the mental image of the fireman coming into my house and seeing the poop covered bathroom pops into my head.

Now, I'm nauseated.

As I approach the bathroom where Holynd is sobbing because she thinks she is a complete pooping failure, I realize something. There's smoke coming from the bathroom.... Wait, that's not smoke, it's STEAM! FROM THE SHOWER!

For some reason, the builder of this household thought that the perfect place for a smoke detector would be right outside the downstairs bathroom door. I ran into the bathroom, shut off the shower (Holynd still screaming) (Sloane still screaming), and grab a towel to fan away the steam.

It works. No more fire.

I sat down in the hallway and think to myself. "Heavenly Father, if there ever has to be a house fire.... Please don't let it happen when Holynd is covered in poop."

I. Hate. Potty. Training.

Since then, Holynd is, again, terrified to poop on the potty. We're working on it. Meanwhile, I am still using Pull-Ups when we go out into public and at night. She wears normal panties when we're home during the day. We have to coax/bride/beg/pray to get her to even think about pooping on the potty since this experience.

I fully expect her to bring up this experience when she's older in therapy.