She's Got Her Big Girl Panties On.

I am such a proud Momma and am so happy to say that are sweet girl is potty trained! Once she was ready, it didn't take long and now I am only buying diapers for one of my babies!

I can't take much of the credit or any of the credit really, since it was Shawn that got her started. I was at work and he sent me a message to let me know that he was going for it. He set timers and took to the bathroom every 20 minutes, making her try each time and although there were a few accidents, a week later she was doing great and now we are almost a month in! We still do a pull-up at nap time and bed time, because I don't want to clean up wet sheets just yet, but she really is doing great. She wakes up dry from her nap and has been dry a majority of the time in the morning.

Don't get me wrong, this potty training thing hasn't been all rainbows and butterflies. Pooping in the potty has been the hardest thing, which is why we stopped trying a couple months ago, and she may or may not have had an accident as I was typing this. Since we started fresh, things have been much better and even though she sometimes still gets upset when she has to poop, she is instantly calmed when the process is over and she gets her reward. Chocolate. How fitting for our girl with the huge sweet tooth!

We are just so proud of how well she is doing and can't wait to see what she gets into next!

I'd Rather be Camping.

I'd rather be camping, or so saying goes. Over the weekend, we took the kids [Em almost 2.5 and Soybean 8.5 months] camping with some family and friends. We planned the trip a while  back, so even though there was rain in the forecast we were all a go. We packed up early Friday afternoon, hit the road and had our portion of the campsite set up by early evening

Before we knew it my in-laws had a huge patch of paella going over an open fire and we were all stuffed full of chorizo, shellfish and chicken by sunset.

After that things went a little down hill for us. Soybean was once again coughing and when he started with stridor around 0200, we put both kids in the car and hit the road for the nearest Emergency Room. Luckily he wasn't as bad off as he was just last month, so steroids and some cool air was all he needed to get himself in good enough shape to head back to the campsite.

At any given moment I could of said, enough, and I would have if I truly needed to. I could have took our little family of four down the mountain and back to our safe home. Out of the woods, out of the cold nights, but adventure was calling. Had I not listened to the adventure in me I wouldn't have been able to see Em's face light up as she told me about the waterfall she saw while on a hike with her Daddy. I wouldn't have been able to show Soybean just how much I loved him while we stayed back in our tent and spent the morning snuggling and reading.  I wouldn't have been able to see Em get a thrill out of just running back and forth between campsites. I wouldn't have been able to see my kids bond with their grandparents, Aunt, Uncles, cousin and friends. I wouldn't have been able to watch Em eat 15 chocolate covered pretzles and laugh because I was sitting there doing the same. I wouldn't have been able to laugh with my Hubs as we ran to the car in the middle of the night freezing, because we gave the kids all the good stuff to keep warm [don't worry, we brought the kids with us]. Or have my heart melted as Em asked for us to sing "Jesus" in the car because Sawyer was crying and have her tell me, "he's hungry, Momma!" [I just love way she says, "Momma."]

So, are there things I would have changed, absolutely, but that is what life is all about. Embracing the adventure, learning with the hiccups and hopefully planning better for next time!

Cold air. Dark Night. Warm Fire. Bright Stars.
Here's to next time! I'd rather be camping, or at least adventuring. 

April showers bring May flowers.

The month of April started off quite rocky. We had our first admission to the hospital with our little man, on his 7th month birthday, and I'll be the first to admit, I hated being on the other side of things. Watching our little guy work so hard to breath and wanting nothing more, but to physically transfer any of his discomfort  to me, but also knowing full well that was impossible, was just heartbreaking. I stood in the ER room, just praying for him to be instantly healed.

And although the Lord does not work on our time table of "instantly" he was healed and our stay in the hospital was, in the grand scheme of things, short. Even so, we spent the first half of last month just trying to recover from our little hiccup. Follow-up appointments, reactions to medications and just trying to keep everyone healthy, meant lots of canceling and rescheduling our typical day to day activities. So, with everything a bit off-kilter last month, I am eager to start the month of May.

Today our little man is 8 months old, which means in exactly 4 months he will be ONE, which means it's time to start planning that big first birthday bash. I'd say I was kidding, but I'll be honest, I am already feeling the urge to get the ball rolling on his celebration.

This little guy has brought me so much joy and even though I've worried more than I should about his weight gain (he's 21+ pounds), that he doesn't sleep through the night or seem to be on MY time table for when he should be doing this or that, he is perfect. He loves to sit up and watch the world around him, back himself into corners (literally), chew on just about anything (he has 3 teeth) and just as we have told him he needs to do, make his presence known with all the happy squeals. Just this past weekend in church, I realized it's time to cut the cord and leave him in nursery, because he was talking non-stop. This my friends, is a huge deal to me. So, don't laugh when I say that next week, which just happens to be Mother's Day, I may cry when I drop him off at nursery. He loves to sit and play with his toys, talk and watch Disney with his sister, and eat books while Mommy tries to read them. He is such a joy to be around and is almost always happy. He is the definition of content and there are days that go by that I can honestly say he doesn't fuss one bit. He has added such a wonderful dynamic to our family and we are so, so blessed to call him ours!

Here's to the start of a beautiful month!