First Train Ride

So Hannah has always been fascinated with trains. Last weekend we went to the San Antonio Zoo (just the train part) and the whole family got to ride. Hannah thought it was great until the whistle started blowing, then of course like lots of other sounds to her it was TOO LOUD! After awhile she finallly took her hands off her ears. I thought this was a very accurate picture of how most of the ride went.


Jeremy and Caleb on the train.


Me with the kids after the train ride. It was VERY HOT outside.


Family picture after the train ride.

Pictures!

Hannah's very first tee-tee in the potty! We were SO excited...from then on, she loved to go in the potty. Now we're actually just on the big potty, no more little pink potty.


The kids first bath together...it was actually really late and I was like whatever it takes to get them both clean and in bed ASAP.


This speaks for itself. I had RED polish out to pain Hannah's toenails, I go to the other room and come back, she is quietly sitting on the couch smiling at me.....I run over to her and carry her to the bathroom, after I scolded her to NEVER open the polish, I had to take a picture before I cleaned her up. She didn't get one drop on the couch or the floor...whew!


This was Calebs first time swimming and first time in a BIG pool. We were at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Waco. He absolutley LOVED it. Hannah was still kinda unsure, she just wanted to sit on the step and watch everyone.


Me and the kids in Waco at Grandma and Grandpa's house swimming.

Hannah's Prayers

Ever since Hannah was born, I pray for her every day. At night I always pray basically the same thing, goes something like this:

Dear God, thank you for my sweet Hannah, I pray she knows she is a treasure and a blessing and we love her very much. I pray she would sleep good tonight, have peace and rest all night long. I pray you keep her healthy and well. I pray for her salvation and that she would come to know you at an early age, and that she would be able to understand the spirit of God early on. Give us wisdom as we teach and train her in the way of the Lord. I pray these things in Jesus Name Amen.

So sometimes now at bedtime I ask her if she wants to pray. We've been talking about how when we pray we talk to God and he helps us, and how he just likes to hear us talk to him. So last night this is what she prayed:

Dear God, thank for my boo-boo and help it get better, give me peace and I pray at an early age, Jesus Name Amen.

So precious....she's getting the hang of things. I just thought that was pretty sweet.

While Daddy's at Camp..Part 2......

I was so glad to have mom here....serioulsy she was a life saver. So to continue....mom came Wednesday night. Caleb woke up a couple times during the night....once again, I gave tylenol and nursed him. Seriously, his tooth is right there....I can see it, it just hasn't broken the skin yet...poor kid.

THURSDAY was ok....no more throwing up for Hannah, this time just diarrhea. She was still eating and drinking, and pottying....but we have put the panties on HOLD for right now. Sweet kid....she makes it to the potty most times, but with this little inconvenience, we decided that pull-ups were DEFINITELY the way to go. I'm not chancing any major accidents with this one.

So for something kinda fun....we had gotten a little swimming pool from Wal-Mart, put it in the front yard and let the kids swim. So cute!! I"ll definitely put pics up soon....except I think Jeremy has the cable I need to put pics on the computer with him at camp, so it will have to wait until the weekend. Hannah played, she kinda thought it was just like the bath tub. Caleb liked it, but he kept reaching over the side to eat the grass and leaves from the yard. Then he wanted to lay down on his stomach and scoot around.....so he didn't last too long in the pool.

Thursday night....poor little Caleb....so fussy, not wanting to sleep, pulling at his ears, low grade temp, I'm thinking NO WAY does he have an ear infection. We don't even have any doctors around here yet.

So FRIDAY I call my friend who is a nurse and she has a little girl that is 8mos old....I'm trying to find out who some good docs are around here.....she informs me that her little girl has been SO sick with stomach stuff, dehydration, they've been to the hospital with IV"s etc....she got sick the same time Hannah did. I'm praying oh, I hope Hannah's bug is minor and that this isn't gonna be a wide-spread virus throughout the church. It's so hard when little babies get that....they can get so sick so fast.

Anyway...we find a local doc in town....to go to a pediatrician you have to go to San Antonio or Victoria mainly...nothing in Kenedy. Anyway we went to a super, super nice doctor here.....I'm thinking we may all just use this guy for basic stuff, and use the pediatrician for like well-check-ups to get all the major stuff checked out. Anyway he checks Caleb out....NO ear infection. He is perfectly healthy.....just having a TERRIBLE time with teething. I don't remember Hannah having this hard of a time. Hopefully the nights will get better.

SATURDAY...DADDY CAME HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were all so excited to see him. My mom stayed until the very end...what a huge blessing. She stayed at home while the kids napped and I could go help unload and clean up stuff at the chuch after all the youth left to help out a little bit. Hannah is still having diarrhea....this is like day 4, so hopefully it will be over soon. Caleb slept all night last night...YEAH.

All in all this was the busiest week I've had in a LONG time. The Lord really does sustain you even at times when life just kinda stinks, it's not fun, you're not sleeping, and you miss your husband. So I know that some of these things are really minor compared with a lot of people problems and troubles....so I'm trying not to complain too much, just sharing the facts. I really have been very blessed and have a wonderful family. I have a great husband, wonderful parents, wonderful in-laws, and I really do love my life....there are just often bumps in the road that make life just a little inconvenient at times.

While Daddy's at Camp....

MONDAY:
The kids and I are surviving on our own for a few days. The youth left for camp on Monday morning and the get back on Saturday. I thought I can handle this for a few days....mom comes on Wednesday night to stay for a few days, so until then we're great. Monday was good, we went swimming at a friends house, Hannah would rather sit around the OUTSIDE of the pool and just watch. She really isn't crazy about the water, while Caleb loved it....he splashed and splashed in his water toy. We came home, everyone had baths, ate dinner, and off to bed. It was a little weird because you know you just hear more noises than usual at night. I wasn't really scared....I just decided that I really like having Jeremy around.

TUESDAY:
We wake up, the kids slept all night (monday)...with the few exceptions of Hannah trying to get up and go potty during the night. So we get up to go get Caleb around 8am and Hannah is on the floor trying to get a book from under his bed, somehow the door to Caleb's closet fell off and landed on her finger and kind of on top of her. She's screaming, I pick her up, quickly assess to see where the injuries are, is there any blood...you know the motherly look over. I notice her 3rd and 4th fingers on her right hand are red, kinda bleeding, and getting bigger. I thought...oh my goodness did she break her fingers. I call the pastors wife to see who and where a doctor is just in case. I call the Family Practice Clinic, the doc is out of town, and they have a temporary one coming in at 2pm, and they don't do x-rays in the office.

So I'm deciding....do I just watch it, put ice and elevate it.....yeah right for a 2yr old whose attention span is like 10seconds....finally I make a decision we're going to the ER. I load up the kids and off we go......I couldn't find anyone to watch Caleb, so he's joining us. Actually the ER visit was very nice....I think we were the only ones there. We were in and out in 1hr. Hannah let the doctor look at her hand, and she even got 3 x-rays ALL BY HERSELF in the x-ray room. I wa holding Caleb peeking at her through a door....such a big girl. Conclusion...no broken fingers....just really bruised and swollen. So who knows how much the tab will be for that one. Our co-pay is $100, so we'll see how that goes.

Back to the house....its a normal day the rest of the afternoon. We eat dinner at a couples house from the church. That night I put the kids to bed....and I'm ready to sleep. This is how the night went:

12am......Caleb is screaming. I think he has another tooth coming through....I give him tylenol, nurse him (anything at this
point to make him go to sleep), put him back to bed. Hannah stayed asleep through the whole thing.
1am........I get back in bed.
3am........Hannah wakes up, she says she has to potty. We go sit, nothing. I change her diaper because it's soaked.
3:15am...Hannah back in bed.
4am........I hear footsteps in the kitchen...I get up and Hannah is there, so I decide she can just sleep with me, I go get her
pillow and blanket, come back to the kitchen and she THROWS UP all over the floor. You've got to be KIDDING ME!!
This can't really be happening. I clean the floor, put towels down in our bed with a basin, and tuck Hannah in. I told
her if she needs to throw up again please use the pink bucket, not my bed.
4:30........Caleb screaming again. Give more tylenol, nurse him (once again I NEED SLEEP), back to bed.
6:15am...Hannah wake up (in bed with me) she grabs her pink bucket and is sitting there. I said, "Are you ok, are you gonna
throw up", "Yes mommy"....she then very neatly throws up in the pink bucket. I clean it out, wipe her face, give
water, and she goes back to sleep.
7:00.......Caleb awake and ready to start the day.

Whew....we made it. Seriously I'm functioning in survival mode, and was so glad that mom was coming Wednesday night for a few days. Hannah is ok, I think she just has a minor stomach bug. Now through the whole night...really I was ok, I had prayed so much for me to have peace and to be able to handle anything that happens....maybe the Lord was testing us.

WESNESDAY:
Nothing major happened.....Hannah had a few episodes of diarrhea....I thought has is this going to work with the whole potty training thing....she made it to the potty which I am SO thankful for. We went to Wal-Mart got some groceries and stayed at home. Mom made it by about 8:30pm and we put the kids to bed.

I'll be ready for Jeremy to come home and he can once again share in these wonderful life experiences. Seriously they are having a good time at camp...it's been a good week for him to get to know the youth more. Next year, hopefully I'll be there with them.

Potty Training Update

Well, time for a little update. Hannah is doing wonderfully. She has been in big girl panties for like 4 days now. We even drove to Waco on Saturday and she wore panties for the trip. The pink potty was in the back just in case. She pottyed at Dairy Queen, HEB (twice in 1 trip) Chick-fil-A, Panera Bread, Ashley Furniture Store, and Grandma and Grandpa's house. She was very excited to use the "big" potty at all these places, she just didn't like the the "very loud flush" at chick-fil-a. We did have to use the potty on the side of the road several times....we just pulled right over immediately at the little voice saying "mommy i need to go potty".....of course instantly the car pulls over. She sits on the potty like such a big girl with her hands over her ears the whole time because the cars speeding by at 70mph are loud to her. So such an adventure. I would have loved to take a picture but I thought that might be a little invasion of my sweet little girls privacy, so I'll just cherish the memory. So cute.

So during all this potty training business, I've come to a conclusion. I know that some children are ready to be potty trained early, some even as young as 18mos from what I hear (Yeah for those kids and parents)....but I have decided, I am not the one that needs to be trained to take my precious one to the potty every 30min....once they're older and can tell me they need to go...MUCH EASIER. Hannah tells me every time she has to go, I think we've had only 2 accidents in like a week and a half. I was so nervous about this whole thing and it really hasn't been bad at all. We'll tackle the nap time/night time issue later, she still wears pull-ups for sleeping. So thanks for thinking of us, I love to hear your comments.

Potty Training...task completed!

Ok, so for those that have potty trained in the past...way to go to you parents! This is something that well basically I had been avoiding, kinda dreading....I thought I'm already busy enough, how in the world am I going to do this. Well, it all starts on this past Friday morning. Hannah woke up, came to our room, got in our bed. I checked her PJ's to make sure they were dry (sometimes her diaper leaks at night)..yep all dry, so she gets in our bed, then she says "Mommy, my diaper is soaking wet"...I check her and she leaked EVERYWHERE...all of her clothes, all on OUR SHEETS...yuck. So I thought, today is the day. We went to Wal-Mart, got a pretty pink potty with a cushioned seat...and I was ready to go.

We got home about 11am, she said I need to go 'tee-tee"...she sat down and she really went!! This was the first time she'd gone potty at the house where I actually witnessed it. We did the potty dance, high fived, took pictures and everything. She proceeded to go 4 more times by like 3pm. So...we put on a pull-up and went with it. I didn't really know what to do...diapers at nap time and night time, pull-ups during the day, when do I do panties??? So for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we did pull-ups. It was kinda hard because we went to Victoria one evening, and went to Chilis, and she totally didn't want to go in that big potty with the LOUD flush. Sunday, I told the nursery workers my plan, she pottyed 3 times during church....such a BIG GIRL!

So today, Monday, I thought, we're going straight to panties...no more diapers, no more pull-ups. Oh and just for those that want to know, she has pooped in the potty 3 times. Once yesterday, and twice today. WHOA....I had always heard that that was kinda the hardest part. So I'm pumped. So, back to today....she has done excellent....no accidents yet. She's pottyed like 9 times so far. I made a sticker chart (idea from the Spiveys)...I set it up where I ask her if she needs to go EVERY 30 MINUTES...we go sit, and if she goes she gets a little start sticker (and an M&M). She loves it.

So it gets to nap time....I'm thinking, is this a huge mistake.....do I leave her in panties?? I'm prepared, I can clean up a mess. I put her to sleep in panties, after about 15min she gets up and says "Mommy I need to go tee-tee"....we go sit, she GOES, and we go back to bed. YEAH! Is this too good to be true. I'm hoping it stays this easy. She is doing a great job. Tomorrow she will be exactly 2yrs and 8mos old....so I thought it must be about time.

So for those out there...keep praying that this will be a success, I'm prepared to take her pretty pink potty wherever we go if I have to. I'd love to have just one baby in diapers atleast for awhile. I'd also like the slight increase in our finances : )
Pictures to follow soon (tasteful ones I promise).