Giving Thanks...

Thanksgiving did not play out the way I had planned, but I'm thankful my sweet man was home to help. 

We had to miss Thanksgiving with my family because I was sick. 

I was bummed to not see all of my family, but I felt like death and all I wanted to do is sleep.

So I slept.

Amelia was so upset, she cried. 

And then cried some more. 

She wanted to go to her Aunt E's and see her cousins. 

Daddy saved the day. 

He got them into the kitchen and let them bake cookies. 

Amelia came around and ended up telling me, "I really wanted to go see Kandace, but it would have made me sad to leave you here all alone, so I'd rather be here with you."

At first, she was saying they could just leave me home and they could go. HA!

I sent them with their Daddy to see his side of the family on Thanksgiving Day.

I wasn't up for another meltdown over not seeing cousins.

My sister-in-law sent me these pictures while they were at her house.

They played dress-up and had a fashion show.

They had the best time with their cousins/best friends!

And even though I wasn't there to enjoy it, I count my blessings. 

These three, beautiful people are at the top of my list. 

“Thanksgiving-giving thanks in everything-

prepares the way that God might show us His fullest salvation in Christ.” 

-Ann Voskamp

Love to all,

Thanksgiving Time Is Here...

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week. I love this time of year!

I had my first Thanksgiving meal last night at Journey Women's Group + my second Thanksgiving meal tomorrow at Journey Homegroup + two Thanksgiving meals with our families next week and that = Jill needing stretchy pants in the very near future. My love runs deep for homemade cranberry sauce and dressing. 

Amelia and Sydney had a Thanksgiving program at CBS this morning. 

Amelia is a head taller than the boys in her class.

My tall girl!

You can't tell it in this picture, but Sydney was pretty excited to be on the stage with her big sister. She talked about it all morning.

They asked all of the little ones, "what are you thankful for?"

The first kid said, "my mama and daddy."

And every kid after that started saying, "my mama and daddy."

I started praying that Sydney would say the same thing.

And she did.

I could just hear her saying, "when I not get spankin'" or "poo-poo."

Because the word "poo" is hilarious to a two year old and it's one of her favorite words.

The child has a way of keeping me humble. I never know what she's going to do or say.

She looked so stinkin' cute on that stage!

They asked each child in Amelia's class "what is Thanksgiving?"

I loved hearing their answers.

Amelia said, "I believe Thanksgiving is a time for my family to get together and praise Jesus."

So, it's best they put a microphone in my kids face and not mine.

Because I might have said, "dressing and cranberry sauce!"

Amelia was pretty sad that her Daddy was missing their program.

So thanks to FaceTime, he was in Oklahoma for work AND in Arkansas at CBS.

My little pilgrims.

I love these two so much.

And I appreciate their teachers so much.

They're all precious ladies and put so much time into teaching the kiddos.

We went to CFA for lunch and played with some friends from CBS on the playground.

Long naps immediately followed.

It was a good day.

I'm thankful for Community Bible Study.

Love to all,

First Dentist Appointment...

Our pediatrician told me to take Amelia to the dentist.

That was last year at her four year well-check. 

I sort of put it off for another year. (Mom of the Year, right here)

We brush our teeth very well, at least twice a day, so I've never worried much about cavities, but Amelia just had her five year well-check and I KNEW she would ask Amelia if she had been to the dentist. 

And she did. 

Luckily, I already had the appointment made, so I assured her that we were going in just a few days.

This dentist has the best waiting area for kiddos. The girls would have played there all day.

Amelia went first with x-rays.

Sydney didn't cry but was really nervous.

They just looked at her teeth to check for cavities this go around - no X-rays or cleaning.

We wanted her to have fond memories of the dentist and want to come back.

She enjoyed watching Frozen on the ceiling. 

She was really concerned about where Amelia was, so we let her watch Amelia getting her teeth cleaned and counted.

And then she let the doc count her teeth!

Their favorite part was the new toothbrush, treasure chest, and stickers.

Neither of them had cavities and for that, we are thankful!

The doctor did ask Sydney to get rid of her paci. She shot him a dirty look when he mentioned it. She has 6 months before going back. I'm thinking she'll give it up by her third birthday...we can hope.

Love to all,

Potty Training 101: Just Wait

 She can swim by herself.

She can work electronics by herself.

She can dress herself.

She can feed herself.

She can brush her teeth by herself.

And she now goes potty all by herself!!

Two weeks ago, she decided she was ready! And girlfriend hasn't looked back.

She even spent the weekend with her grandparents and kept her panties dry during the night. She got up and went potty in the middle of the night! She doesn't even do that at home, she wears a pull-up to bed.

The best advice I was given on potty training was from my friend, Niki.

She told me that trying to potty train a one or two year old was insane and to just wait until she told me she was ready. She said most children aren't ready until they're three years old.

Sydney has been in pull-ups since outgrowing her size 6 diapers.

And ya know, there's always that part of us as mothers that compare our kid to other kids. Or we compare our own individual children to each other.

And ya know what that leads to? It leads to stress and tears and lots of outfit changes.

Because my kids do things later than other people's kids.  And Amelia and Sydney have not done one single thing at the same age. Not ONE SINGLE THING.

Every kid does their thing in their own time. And we know that and we say that, but much of the time, we still try to push our kids to do things when we're ready for them to be ready.

Sydney is 4 months away from being three years old. Amelia was even older than Sydney before deciding she wanted to get rid of the pull-ups.

And even though there were times that I was tempted to go all 24 hour/potty training bootcamp on her, I kept hearing Niki's advice in my head.

And I was okay.

How crazy, that it's more about us (as parents) being okay than about our kids. Sydney was totally okay peeing in her pull-up, it was me that had issues with it.

I refused to be the parent that was constantly frustrated with accidents, every time I turned around, because I was trying to force her to do something she wasn't ready to do.

I'm so glad that I chose this route. It was easy and it was a happy experience for us both.

Now if she would just tell me she was ready to get rid of that paci. :)

Maybe by the time she is 3!??

Still waiting on that one.

So potty training 101 = JUST WAIT. Let them decide when the time is right.

It's way less stressful that way and makes for a happy baby and mama.

We're so proud of you, Sydney Faith!

Love to all,