1+2+0=4?

1 is fine, I said.

2 for me, he said.

any for mommy, he asked.

none for mommy, i replied.

2 for me, he re-stated.

very good, i retorted-amused by what was becoming a game. Sticking his head back in our bedroom, he was just making sure, '1 for daddy?'

that's right-1 for me, 2 for you, zero for mommy.

What could be worthy of such a drawn out discussion of distribution? Only pacifiers. This came on the tail-end of a naptime 'need to go potty' bonanza. Sunday afternoons are much needed down time for Christy and I-and the boys generally take good naps. Not today. Every time I would sink off to sleep, we would hear 'daddy, need to go potty.'

When you hear parents talk nostalgically about the times when they would hear the pitter patter of little feet down the hall, do not suppose this is the sound that we hear down ours. Rather-the fast-paced, ground-pounding of Jayden's happy feet send the seemingly peaceful timbers of our floor into a frenzy when they hear his door open and the race begin.

Your toilet may not make electronic noises when in use, but Jayden's does. And his potty, i believe, has gone haywire-and even when it does not collect its intended product, it still emits its celebratory noise. This noise became an irritant this afternoon when we were trying to take a nap and every 15 minutes heard the celebration music of the little potty that could.

Let me finish where I began. Eventually, Jayden brought me a cache of pacifiers-obtained from an assortment of squirrel nest locations such as under the bed and in the tiny crevice where he sticks his legs in his bed (we can never find them, but he can)-eventually 4 of these precious items were places neatly on my resting chest. Christy and I laughed as I received 400% more pacifiers than requested, and Christy received her desired zero-and Jayden continued to run from room to potty to bed and back again repetitiously for what seemed like the entirety of our nap.

We are grateful for times to laugh together at the little things in life.

sweet glimpses & projects

it has been incredibly wonderful weather here in dallas lately - which has been SO nice! i do love cold weather, but i have decided that with young kids - it is for the birds - you can only handle so many days inside! the other day i got sweet duncan on a blanket outside and was able to capture some sweet photos. the big brother on the other hand - is not into taking pictures - it is a bit frustrating - when i try to get a picture of him he gives me the cheesiest smile and closes his eyes - not exactly what i am looking for. so you will have to enjoy sweet duncan right now b/c he can pose perfectly for his mom!

i also wanted to show pictures of my newest project! i saw something similar to this at pottery barn and decided that i could make my own moss balls and put them on sticks - and so i did! i am really pleased with how they turned out. i actually was at pottery barn the other day and decided that i liked my creation better than theirs! so yeah for moss balls!

ps. the hearts on the table are a project that jayden made at our art class we have sometimes during our friday play group from church. it was such a fun project - they shaved crayons and then melted them in between wax paper. it was so cute! thought it was a good valentines addition to the table decorations!

Potty Training Fun!

so i finally decided to just try it out. my friend inspired me by telling me that she blocked three days out in calender for potty training so that she would make sure she would take the time for it. i took her inspiration and ran with it! monday and tuesday were marked in the calender for potty training. and i have to admit - as timid and fearful i was about this whole process, it has been WAY better than i could have imagined. i tried to document the experience with the following pictures:

the book that i used: Potty Training 1-2-3 by Gary & Anne Marie Ezzo

it was wonderful (in my opinion) it didn't stress me out about

trying to have jayden be perfect from the start, it had different paces that you

could go depending on your life and how your child is, it gave great practical suggestion

on food for your child, and it talked about the physiology of the 2 systems and how they

work in teaching your child

the first attempt at a training doll:

not successful (i wonder why?) jayden was suppose to feel if he was "clean & dry" the two

goals in potty training - not going in the potty - staying "clean & dry" but unfortunately

jayden was scared to death to go near this animal and so we had to find another

"doll"

the bear that worked! and the treat that jayden had picked out the night before at the

grocery store. (in the book they recommend that you take your child to the store

and have him pick out a bunch of fun, salty (thirst desiring) snacks and fun drinks)

this worked great because it caused some anticipation about the process and it was also a

great rewarder when he did stay "clean and dry" and used the potty to stay "clean

and dry"

the rewards:

(sorry not the greatest picture - for some reason jayden isn't into smiling in the camera any more - when i ask him to smile he does a really cheesy smile and closes his eyes - nice.)

so the outcome of the two days was great!

we started monday morning with two "accidents" but around noon he finally got it -

he figured out how to do it himself and ever since then he has been doing amazing!

we went to lunch yesterday (which you aren't suppose to do according to the book - whoops!) and he stayed dry (in big boy underwear), he took a nap in his big boy's and stayed dry

and then he woke up this morning and continued on with the same thing.

(i didn't have him try to wear underwear at night - b/c the book doesn't make you feel like

you need to and said that it usually comes later)

another amazing thing that happened today was that he started going by himself and

became even more independent with it. so we were eating lunch, and he went to the

bathroom and came back and said mommy "come see" (which he hadn't been doing

now that he got the hang of it) so i went into the bathroom and there was #2 in the

potty. we hadn't even worked on that because i was just trying to get one skill down at a time

(that is what the book recommends :)). so i was floored - he figured out how to do it

all on his own - such a big boy! he went again this afternoon after nap - so i am

super excited - because we all know that the #2 is way worse to clean than the other!

so sorry for the long post but wanted to document everything that happened!

i know we will have many accidents and this is just the beginning but i was so encouraged by

the start that i feel like it will be okay and the worst part is over.

be encouraged mom's! it can happen!

Grandma's 88th Birthday

this past wednesday (january 13th) my grandmother turned 88 years old. amy, alex, and all the kiddos headed down to waco for a nice birthday lunch for her at Sironia. it was a sweet time for all of her granddaughters to be with her and 3 of her 4 great-grandchildren. this is probably my grandmother's last birthday (here on earth) so it was an especially sweet time for us to all be together.

happy birthday grandma - we love you! i hope i look as wonderful as you do at 88!

life as us

just wanted to add some cute pictures of what has been going on with us. the boys are at such fun ages. duncan has just started to sit up and is getting so much more interactive! it is so fun!

he had his 6 month appt today with not so good stats:

weight: 14 lbs (<5%)

length: 26 1/4 (30%)

FOC: 17 (25%)

i guess everything was okay except for the weight. little d is not gaining weight like he should. i think it has a lot to do with my supply going down due to the pregnancy - so basically i need to supplement a lot more than i have been doing and increase the concentration of the formula to 22 kcal/ounce (as opposed to the normal concentration of 20 kcal/ounce). i am hoping that i still can nurse him a little until he is 9 months - so i guess we will see how it goes. we have an appointment in a month for a weight check to see how he is doing.

okay - now for the pictures!

Christmas

sweet cousins in their matching pj's!

jayden playing with his new farm set

doesn't J look adorable? and so grown up!

sorry about the sleepiness but a family picture before opening gifts!

sudan family for the annual picture

i am really behind on blogging . . . obviously. and i haven't downloaded the pictures from my actual camera - just my dad's pictures and the ones from my phone. but i thought i would use these to at least capture the moments b/c if i don't do it now - i don't know if i ever will!

we had a great christmas! we in waco with my family and it was so fun having all of my siblings and their families spend the night under the same roof together - i don't know how long it has been since we have done that.

jayden was kind of into christmas - i think i had bigger expectations for him like usual - thinking he would LOVE it and be so excited about unwrapping the presents and it would be like pure bliss - but the actuality of it was that he would kind of unwrap presents but then play with the toys that he liked. it was still fun! he loved celebrating Jesus' birthday!