Success!!!

After several days of trying to get Parker "unscared" of the potty by doing a lot of talking and sitting on the potty with our clothes on, Parker has finally been successful!!!

We went today and bought an incentive chart and stickers to help motivate him even more. As you can see, he put three stickers on the chart just this afternoon.

I am so proud of him and am hoping that he will continue to progress with his potty training. Thanks for all of your advice and support. We will keep you updated on our progress.

Baby Steps

With Parker's 3rd birthday quickly approaching, I am spending more and more time thinking about the dreaded task of potty training. I am not sure why I feel so intimidated by it, but for some reason, this is the first parenting issue that has truly been daunting to me.

Unfortunately, Parker is not making it any easier for me. So far, he has shown no interest in potty training. We bought him a potty almost a year ago, have read books about using the potty, and talk about it several times a day. He even knows that he gets a sucker if he is successful. The problem is that every time I ask Parker if he wants to try and use the potty, he starts crying and screaming. This morning he even told Cory that he is scared of the potty. What? That is news to me!

As a result of learning this new piece of information , I decided that our first step is going to have to become less scared of the potty.

So today I let Parker sit on his potty both with and without his diaper on. We were not successful but at least he was not crying and screaming. I would definitely say that it was a step in the right direction. A baby step but at least it was a step.

I would love any advice that any of you moms out there might have about potty training a VERY stubborn and strong willed child. If I don't figure out something soon, I may have the only first grader in the world that is still wearing diapers!!

This picture cracked me up...doesn't he look so much like a man relaxing on the toilet?

Miss Independent

Hey, Mom! I know that you just fed me dinner. I know that I finished an entire grilled cheese sandwich, peas, black beans, and two helpings of oranges...but I'm still a little hungry.

Don't worry, Mom... I know that you are tired and don't want to fix me anything else, so I'll just climb up in this chair all by myself and finish what Parker didn't want of his dinner.

I would hate to be a bother, mom. I am almost 16 months old and I can start doing lots of things all by myself to take some of the burden off of you. Just let me know if there is anything else you need me to do...I'd be more than happy to give it a try!

Conquering the Jungle Gym

There is a section of the playscape at our park that Parker tries to climb every time we take him, but he always stops on the second or third step because he gets too scared. Yesterday, he finally conquered his fears and climbed the entire thing without any help from us. He was so proud of himself and did it over and over again. If you listen closely, you can hear him in the video saying, "I'm not too scared."

Happy Birthday Jewell!

Happy 3rd Birthday Jewell!!

Last night we went to Jewell's circus themed birthday party, complete with a clown that did magic tricks, painted faces, and made balloon animals. I have been a little worried this week about how Parker and Eden were going to react to the clown, but they both did great. (Although Parker wanted nothing to do with the face painting,)

We had a great time celebrating with lots of our friends. It is still hard to believe that our kids are turning 3 this year...where has the time gone. It has been so fun to watch Parker and Jewell grow up together (they are almost exactly 2 months apart) and I am excited to see what the next year has in store for both of them. We hope you had a great day Jewell!

Getting a sticker from Dusti the Clown

A captive audience

Helping with a magic trick

Mommy and Eden

Getting a sword balloon from Dusti

Jewell blowing out her candles

Yummy!!!!!

Eden ate her first bowl of spaghetti tonight. She has shown an early interest in using a fork and is doing pretty well with it. I helped her with the first few bites and then I turned her loose.

FORTY-FIVE minutes later, she was still eating. (I am not exaggerating!) She finished the entire bowl all by herself.

And thanks to the awesome bib that Aunt MerMer gave her, the clean up was relatively easy. Luckily it was bath night and we went straight from the dinner table to the bathtub.

I definitely think there will be a lot more spaghetti in Eden's future.

A Road Trip, An Ear Infection, & A Busted Lip

This has been a crazy week!

It started last Sunday when I found out that one of my good college friend's father had passed away. My heart was absolutely broken for my friend. She lost her mom to breast cancer when she was in high school and now she has lost her dad to cancer.

The funeral was scheduled for Tuesday in Amarillo. Both of my sisters and my college roommate all decided that we were going to make the trip, but we all work and couldn't take off but one day.

We left Monday afternoon after work about 4:00 and drove the entire way that night. To make things more exciting, the last two hours of the trip involved lots of snow, some ice, and very poor visibility and we did not get to Amarillo until close to midnight.

Despite the nerve wracking drive, we had a lot of laughs on the way there, including "getting lost" in a very small town and my sister almost filling up my gas tank with diesel gasoline.

The funeral was such a wonderful celebration of my friend's dad's life. He was an amazing man and there are not enough good things that could be said about him. He will truly be missed by many people.

As soon as the funeral was over on Tuesday, we loaded up and started the long drive home. I made it home by 11:00 that night and was tired beyond explanation. It took several days to recoup from the trip but I am so glad I was able to go and support my friend during this extremely difficult time in her life.

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On Wednesday, Eden started acting very fussy. She wasn't eating and wanted to be held all the time. Her nose started running and she was coughing but she wasn't running any fever so I didn't know what to think about it...teething, upper respiratory infection, ear infection.

After two days of not getting any better, I decided to take her in to see our pediatrician this afternoon. Turns out she has another ear infection. Hopefully the new antibiotic will kick in soon and we will have our happy, easy going little girl back in no time.

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To top the week off, while we were waiting to be called at the doctor's office this afternoon, Parker fell off the slide they have in the waiting room and busted his lip. This is his first busted lip and it was a doozy! So instead of trying to comfort Eden at the doctor's office, I was now having to comfort a screaming, bloody Parker.

On a positive note, I am thankful that we don't have any family portraits coming up this weekend! And I'm hoping that the fat lip will hurt so much that Parker won't want to suck his thumb while it is so swollen!


I am not sure what the weekend will bring for our family but I am hoping that it will not include any more illness or injuries! Hope you have a great weekend!