Caroline Time

Life here is going well and we're loving our new family of four. Landon is such a sweet baby. He's not the best sleeper right now, but I know it's just a phase of his life that will pass too soon. While we miss our sleep, these are still precious moments with our son that we will never get back and we're trying to soak it all in.

Leading up to his arrival, we tried to do some extra special things with Caroline. We had talked about taking a small vacation to the beach, but in the end, we didn't want to spend that money with a new baby coming. We decided the better option was to do some fun things around town. Anyone who really knows Aaron knows that he is a movie guy. He loves movies. He could pretty much watch just about any movie just because it's a movie. So, we talked it over and decided that it might be a good time to take Caroline to her first movie. Like her daddy and her great-uncle Brent, she loves Buzz Lightyear. So, perfect! Toy Story 3 it was. We waited until it had been out for a while to avoid the crowds. We picked a happy Saturday (the day I turned 37 weeks pregnant) and headed to the theater.







When we arrived, Caroline was really excited to see the huge poster of Woody and Buzz in the lobby. When he bought our tickets, Aaron mentioned that this was Caroline's first ever movie at the theater, and the manager brought her out this straw to commemorate the occasion.



We went all out for this event. We ordered a kids pack that came with some candy, popcorn, and a drink, which came in a small plastic cup with Toy Story characters on it that we brought home and washed. I drank her drink because we also got her her very own green slushy. She loved that. This was also her first time having popcorn. She loved that too.









She did great during the movie too. She really enjoyed it. The first time Buzz came on the screen she gasped and said with pure joy in her voice, "It's Buzz!" I loved seeing her eyes light up and seeing how fascinated she was with the huge screen. I told Aaron we could have just brought her in and let her watch the ads before the movie and she would have been happy. It was a fun day.

Landon!

Our little man arrived yesterday at 8:57am! He and I are both doing good, just a bit tired still!

More to come!

Baking

Caroline is my little helper. She helps me match socks, fold laundry, clean the toilet, pick up the house, and she loves to cook and/or bake!









Peanut butter banana muffins...a yummy start to any day!

Busy, Busy

As I'm always saying on this blog...life is busy and flying by! We're close to the end of my pregnancy and we're getting geared up to meet our little man.

(sorry it's a bit dark...I should have opened the blinds)
We're using the same bedding set we used for Caroline. We were both pleasantly surprised with how much different the room seemed from her room. Aaron said, "Now those are manly polka-dots." The room is finished except for the glider we're still waiting on to be delivered and Aunt KK is working on a canvas and some other artwork for the walls.

I am especially excited about this lamp. I had been looking for one and couldn't find anything. I was planning to just use a white base we already had and add a green lamp shade, but I couldn't find the right color green. I was getting frustrated when I came across this lamp...on CLEARANCE! It was $8. I was absolutely ecstatic. I also love the wooden blocks for a small end table. They are a hand-me-down from our good friends and I LOVE them!

This is Caroline's big girl room. She loves it and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. (Please disregard the slightly messy bed...it's hard for me to make it right now with my huge stomach and she's not too good at it either yet. :) ) Aunt KK is working on a fairy canvas to match.

The sweet ladies at church threw me a baby shower a few weeks ago. It was lovely and I had a great time.

The hostesses and me. :)

We've had a bit of a baby boom at church. Here I am with the other four ladies who are expecting. From the left...5 weeks, 13 weeks, 24 weeks, 34 weeks, and 40 weeks. Charlotte (40 weeks) has already had her sweet baby.

Caroline was really enamored by baby Aiden. He's just precious!

We're excited about our little man!

Adventures in Potty Training

I knew the time was coming, but I was dreading potty training. I was looking forward to not changing diapers (at least for now!) but not looking forward to the actual reality of potty training.

I did some research and reading and we came up with a strategy we thought would work for her. The first morning (pictured above) I sat with her in the bathroom for 2 hours. She ate Cheese-its and crackers, Cheerios and drank milk. Nothing. We waited. We read books. We sang songs. I finally pulled out the laptop and found some clips of Elmo singing on YouTube. We waited. Nothing. I went to the bathroom twice waiting for her to go once! She had finally had enough and her little bottom had a red ring from sitting so long. I decided to let her stand for a minute. Of course, immediately after standing she goes potty. Luckily I was able to get the laptop out of the way before we had a short circuit.

Ahhhh, the joys of motherhood.

That first day she went on the potty twice. I cleaned up a lot of accidents and changed a lot of panties. I praised her for going twice. Oh how big a deal I made of it. She got M&Ms as a reward.

The second day was a lot better. I think we went from only going on the potty twice, to only having 2 accidents. She got LOTS of M&Ms that day. I was so proud of her and was feeling a bit smug about how spectacular she was doing.

Then the stomach virus hit her. My poor sweet little girl. During those hard 48 hours, she did have some accidents, but she truly, truly made an effort to let me know she needed to go. It was just A LOT harder to make it to the potty in time. Bless her heart.

Now, about a month later, she's doing great. She is not by any means completely trained. She still has accidents and we're still wearing a pull-up to bed and if we have to be out of the house for a long time. I'm scared of the first in public accident. It will come though. I feel it's absolutely inevitable.

She no longer gets candy for going, and she no longer sits on the little potty. She has graduated to the big potty only. She's doing great.

Potty Funnies:
After she went potty at church last week, I also decided to go while we were in there. She stood back against the stall door and clapped for me. "Good job Mommy! You went potty!" she said. (I've GOT to write that one in her book...)

Yesterday at church she used the small potty made for kids that is in the nursery. (It's an actual toilet that flushes and everything, just smaller and child sized.) Anyway, she calls it the baby potty. We were about to leave the room and she bent down and put both arms around it. I thought she was going to kiss it, so I cried out, "Don't put your mouth on it!" She didn't. She did, however, hug the potty and say, "Oh, it's a baby potty. It's so cute."

My daughter, the ham.

One is Silver and the other Gold

We've been having a great summer so far. I do feel the need to clarify though that we don't have a pool. It totally seemed like we did when I reread my last blog! We have some very close friends who do and we are luckily able to swim with them often. We thought about buying a house with a pool, but decided against the responsibility. I would be a paranoid mess worrying about other children falling while at our house. So, no pool for us.

At the end of May we were able to meet up with our good friends at the beach one day for shopping and dinner. It was so wonderful to see them and catch up on their life and catch them up on ours. We loved spending time with them and truly wish we could do so more often.


We have shared so much with those two over the years I could tell story after story. Good times, bad times, hilarious times, emotional times...you name it, we've shared it. She and I grew up together...then she went off to college a year before I did...met a guy...I came along the next year...her guy introduced me to Aaron and the rest is history. They fixed us up. It was a lot like that Colin Ray song, "One Boy, One Girl." The lyrics..."he finally gave in to his friend's girlfriend when she said there's someone you should meet..." are very close to what happened to us. The Lord truly blessed us with friends such as these. We love y'all...and miss you so much.

Moving here 5 years ago was a hard transition for me. There was a time I felt I would never have any friends here and I felt sorry for myself. I was wrong though. We have some wonderful friends here. People who love us and love Caroline and would do anything for us. I'm so thankful for each of these in my life.

Our collective kiddos. Caroline has so many wonderful examples to look up to!

In other news...my pregnancy is, well, somewhat difficult. I'm fine and the baby is fine, but I've had a much harder time this time around than I did with Caroline. I think having another child to look after has definitely played a part in the difficulties, but I have been struggling. Struggling to keep the house clean, the laundry done, the meals cooked. Energy has escaped me for the last 7 months, and now as I have 8 weeks left, I pray that I will be energetic and happy. I have been more of a complainer lately and I don't like that color on me. I want to milk my last few weeks with just one child for all it's worth. I want to hear each of her laughs, be melted by each of her smiles, and catch each of her falls. I pray for patience and energy.

Playing Catch Up

I know, I know. Many family members want to strangle me for not updating in over a month. I really am sorry and have no excuse other than we've been super busy and I just haven't had time. Please forgive me!

We've moved into our new house and really love it. I cannot begin to explain how wonderful everything has been and how blessed we are. We are so thankful for this home.

Summer is in full swing around here and we're loving every minute of it!





Oh how excited she was when she realized she had drawn a triangle by accident. She gasped and exclaimed, "Look Mommy! A triangle!" She tried to draw another one, but couldn't quite get it. The teacher in me was remembering all the lectures and power-point presentations I've seen about Early Literacy. I remember seeing some very similar drawings and scribblings from other children around her age and learning about how this is the beginning of being literate. W-O-W. My sweet baby is growing up.



She loves this tricycle. LOVES IT. Her legs are not quite long enough to reach the peddles, but she's working on it as often as she can.



The pool is another favorite summer activity for her. She can now "swim" with her water wings on. I think she's going to be a little water rat. She loves to be in the pool!




All in all, we've had wonderful start to this summer!

Coming soon to The Craig's Corner of the World:

Fun with Friends and Adventures in Potty Training!