Potty Trained...FINALLY!

My 3 1/2 year old(today to be exact) has been out of diapers since 2 weeks before he was 2. However, this last year and a half has been very hard with teaching him not to have any accidents at all. Potty training has definitely been the hardest thing I have done thus far in parenting. Anyways, after much prayer for wisdom, patience, and guidance(I am SO serious! All I had left was prayer!) my 3 1/2 year old is completely potty trained!! I cannot tell you how happy we are about this! Our days are so much happier and calm. I really am so proud of Parker!
Derek and I had to kick into gear and be strict with some things so that Parker would start making his own decisions and go potty by himself w/out depending on us to tell him when to go. It is so crazy but since we did this he has not only had zero accidents(after the first few days) he has grown up in many other ways too. He has become more independent and happy to do things on his own. I heard that first borns would let you feed them with a spoon for the rest of their lives if you(as the parent) would let them. I do realize this is not true about everyone...however..it is true about Parker. He is independent in some ways and many ways he still likes to depend on us for things. His brother, however...is very independent on everything. We have seen Parker grow up in the last several months.
He has:
- stopped being scared of things that used to scare him,
-started making decisions on his own,
-dressing himself, putting his shoes on by himself(even if it is the wrong feet),
-doing favors for me around the house,
-making his own pb and j sandwiches,
-helping Daddy cook,
-helping his brother do things, etc.
Even though it is hard to see my sweet first born grow up, it makes me so happy to see that things are getting easier with him. Parker was a GREAT baby. Then after he was one he got a little harder. Don't get me wrong. Derek and I have had to work with him on all of these things. He did not just stop being scared, and willingly putting his shoes on. We had to make him be around loud noises even for just a little while and tell him there was no reason to be scared. We made him put his own shoes on even though he pitched the biggest fits. We made him go to the potty by himself(at home) even when he would rather have us take him. It wasn't easy. But, so far...it has paid off! We constantly get advice from others and it has helped tremendously. We have learned quite a bit about potty training that I hope will help with our other children.
But, my Mom asked me today(or yesterday) what I feel like has made the difference with Parker's pottying. What did we do that changed how he handled it. I didn't think of this at the time. But..duh...I should have. I honestly believe more then anything what has helped the most with ALL of these things has been PRAYER! When things have gotten tough Derek and I agree in Jesus Name that Parker will start to go potty w/no problems. Or fill in the blank. We will pray that over him every day out loud so he hears us. We constantly tell him that he is a smart boy and that God will help him with whatever things we are working on. Once again...I have had angry moments. I hate to admit that but it will about push you over the edge when your child has been potty trained for a year and he just poops in his underwear for NO reason. Or that when you tell him that he can't drink juice for lunch he says "well, I can drink water." Yeah, I know...if he gets that...he gets the whole pottying thing. I guess all of this is to say 2 things. First, we are SO proud of our son. Even though some things are hard...he really is such a good boy. I am sure some people would love for their biggest issue to be potty training. :) Second, if you are having issues of any kind with your child, the answer is prayer. God will give you guidance! He will! Even if it takes a year and a half!

Ann Marie's Room & Garage Sale Finds

My Mom is my decorator. Did any of you know that? She is the one who comes over any time I need to hang something, re decorate something, or paint something. She.Is.Martha.Stewart. Not literally, but she is. And she is my Mom. :) Which makes me happy. I have been telling her that AM's nursery was starting to get on my nerves. It was "done" not but not really. Things had to be hung and decorated. I still don't have any of her clothes washed. They are organized. I will wash them. When it gets closer. I still have 12 weeks left. I have also been telling my Mom that I wanted some new accessories. I wanted to change what was over my mantel and we just brought my coffee table back into our living room. It need decor BAD. Today, I scored, BIG TIME at a garage sale in our neighborhood. I heart garage sales. If you live in B'ham and not garage selling on Saturdays you are missing out. FYI: Mountain Brook has the best garage sales ever! My parents used to go every Saturday just for fun. I love it. They don't have garage sales that good here. A few here and there. Either way...here is AM's nursery and my great findings.

The frame was given to my Mom from a client. The changing table/dresser was given to us by a client of my husbands.

GARAGE SALE! I bought this awesome hanging shelve today at the garage sale for a whoppin $10!! I LOVE it! The knobs are painted pink and green. My Mom hung hooks at the bottom so we could hang her pretty smocked dresses. The doll was my collectible doll when I was little. A long with a gazillion more that I have in the attic. The shelf and drawers will be used for her bows. You know what I love most about this piece? It could go anywhere in my house. And be of good use.

The crib was given to us by the same client of my husbands. My Mom bought the custom made bedding from a garage sale in Mountain Brook for $75!!! And I bought the framed letters from Hobby Lobby for half off. We just changed the ribbon out on them. My Mom and sister found the ribbon for me. It is perfect, bright and colorful. Exactly what I needed for her room. We rent this house so we aren't going to paint her room. So anything that brings color in is a plus.

Angle from her door. The armoire is from Micah's nursery. My husband bought this off of craigslist for $35.

GARAGE SALE FIND! Bought this jar for $5. It is great to sit on my coffee table...and that is all I have on it. Lets be real, having kids prevents you from sitting much on the coffee table.

GARAGE SALE FIND! Bought this window with the mirror in it today for $3. The brown doors behind it are from my china cabinet. Pretty cool, huh?

Oh Baby Girl

Here is a picture of our sweet baby girl. I haven't updated on her in a while. Well..maybe it is because I have two sweet, active boys I chase around all day..but I don't feel like there is much to update on. Besides the fact that she seems pretty calm in the womb. :) She is not nearly as active as her brothers were in there. As I type she is "moving like crazy" compared to how she normally is. She does seem to move the most at night and then if I wake up in the middle of the night(and she gets woken up) she REALLY starts to move. My last appointment was a 24 week ultra sound. It was SO neat. It was 45 minutes long. My boys stayed with my Mom and Derek was able to go with me. They check everything at this appt. Her heart, brain, femur, thighs, belly, all of her organs, etc. They do not tell you this before you come but when you are getting the sonogram done they will flash between 2D and 3D. I have never had a 3D ultrasound before. We saw her sweet face, hands, feet, legs. It was so real. Like I could just pick her up.
Anyways, all that to say, everything came back perfect! She looked just beautiful. She was so calm that one time the tech had to shake my belly to get her to move. Never happened with my boys. ha. I right around 3 months left. I still get nauseous randomly and I just started taking medicine for the awful acid reflux I was having. I feel a lot better now. I also have aches and pains. I guess it just comes with this being my 3rd. It is SO worth it...however, I have NO idea how people like Michelle Duggar have 19 kids! Whew! I am thinking one more and that is it! :)

If you look closely it looks like her right hand is throwing up the Hook Em Horns sign. Well, rest assured that I do NOT think that is the case. I am not even sure if that is her hand. Either way...she will not be a UT fan. :)

Video from Zoo

San Antonio Zoo

Last week we took the boys to the San Antonio Zoo. We have been waiting until it cooled down to take them. We went a year ago and loved it! It is only about an hour away. I want to get a membership there. Simply because once we are paying for Micah too it will only take going 2x in a year to cover the cost of a membership. Anyways, it was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun with Daddy too!

I was very curious to see how Parker did with the goats this year. Last year once they came towards him he was terrified! I was SHOCKED! He loved it! It is amazing how much your child can grow, physically and mentally, in one year! Here he is feeding the goats.

Daddy and Parker having some one on one time.

Brushing the goats hair. Micah did this too. However, he was not a fan of feeding them. :)

One on one time for Daddy and Micah.

Cool picture huh? That is a huge crocodile swimming by as Parker and Derek stood there.

If you see that big "rock" to the right of the picture in the water...you are actually looking at a HUGE Hippo!

Instead of looking at all the cool fish, Micah and Parker wanted to jump off the rocks. Boys...Boys...Boys.

Parker's turn to jump.

Attempting to get a picture of the two of them. I tried other times too...never got a good one. Oh well. I think this one is kinda cute though.

Sweet Micah chillin in the stroller. He is super quiet in the stroller. My kids have always enjoyed their stroller. Thank the Lord!

Parker not cooperating and taking a picture for me. This was right when we got there.

We ended the trip by eating at Freddie's. We had yummy steakburgers, hotdogs, and ice cream!

Digging in some good ice cream!

A Visit from The South

My husband's parents, Aunt, Uncle, and cousin all came in town a few weeks ago. I am SO bad at grabbing my camera when everyone is in town. :( We had a great mixture of eating out at yummy places and cooking some hearty dinners. We hope everyone had a great time! My boys sure love having their Papa K and Mama Lynn here. :)

Micah, Parker, and John-Marc(Derek's cousin who is 2 weeks younger than Micah)at Mighty Fine Burgers. Don't you love their matching Spiderman shirts? John-Marc is ADORABLE!

Parker sitting in the front of the boat on Lake Austin. It was a lot a fun until we got caught in the rain on our way to eat dinner at Hula Hut. That was the 2nd or 3rd time Derek's family got caught outside in the rain here. What is crazy is that it hasn't rained that much since they were last here!

Micah and I on the boat. We sat together in the back.

Its Been Too Long...

Hi Everyone!
Guess what?! I am back! ha ha. I haven't been blogging because of our poor internet. We had the lowest plan out there and it was not fast at all. In other words, it was close to impossible to upload pictures. It was fine at first. Then it just got worse. Anyhow, Derek hooked up our DSL last night and everything is SO much faster. It took me not even 2 min. to upload the pictures below...whereas before it would have taken me 20 min! Now you understand, right? Here are my sweet boys!

Roll Tide Baby!


Micah is a GREAT driver on his ride on toys. So, Parker decided to hitch a ride with him around the house. ha ha.