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.

Question for Other Mama's

I have a question for all of you Mama's out there who deal with the same family dynamics I will soon have.

I have had it heavy on my heart lately that I do NOT want to leave my 2nd born son, Micah, out in any way especially when Ann Marie comes in to the picture. Those of you who don't know. I have 2 sons and soon a baby girl. So many things about Micah are so much easier then Parker was. Even though Parker was a great baby...Micah is so great and easy too. We are very blessed. But what happens is because Micah is so easy he just doesn't have to be heard. You know...and his brother, the 3yo, does. I am worried because I have to buy new clothes for Parker simply because he is my first. I will have to buy clothes for Ann Marie because she is my first girl. And then there is sweet Micah. He will always get his brothers "Pass me downs". I absolutely do not want Parker to get attention because he is the oldest, and Ann Marie to get attention because she is the only girl(that might change one day) and then Micah to feel left out. Even now, I catch myself trying so hard to not overlook him. I try to love on him extra hard because I don't want him to feel this way. I love this boy sooooo much...I almost tear up...I can't describe the love I have him. The same way I feel about Parker. It would break my heart if he ever felt something different from Derek and I.

So, my questions is: if you are a Mom of two(or all) of the same gender children in a row how do you handle it?
And if you are someone who happened to be the one in the family who falls under this category how did your parents handle it?

I want to be so loving and fair to all of my children. I do realize that children's perspectives are off sometimes and sometimes...they are going to feel left out...no matter what. But, I want to be able know with everything in me that we do not do that.


Oh my word. I could eat this boy up! :)

What happens when...

You move your 18mo into a big boy bed & into the room with his brother? A lot. Ha ha.
So, the biggest transition we have gone through lately is moving Micah into Parker's room. They both now sleep in twin beds and I really do like their room...considering we live in a rental home(I would do more if we owned this house). The transition has been fairly easy. However...there are still things we are having to figure out at the time being. So...here are some bullet points about my kids and this transition.

My 3yo:
-He understands to be quiet and not wake Micah.
-He understands to get in his bed and not get down. Don't play.
-He is now having go to bed a bit later then Micah or go to sleep in our room until Micah gets used to Parker being in there.
-He has decided to wake his brother up EARLY the last two mornings. At first I was fooled and it didn't even cross my mind that he woke up his brother. Until this morning. Grrrr....
-He can sleep through Micah waking up(which hasn't happened much).
-He loves Micah sleeping in his room. He now calls it "our room" and calls the nursery Ann Marie's room. Sweet.

My 18mo:
-If Parker is in the room he will play, play, and play for an hour and half before going to sleep...even when Parker does not participate(reason why we decided to not put them to bed together...just until Micah gets used to it.)
-He didn't discover he could get out of the bed for a week. That was nice while it lasted.
-Doesn't matter what time it is...even if it is dark. If he is wide awake he will crawl into his brothers bed and play.
-He is sleeping better in his big boy bed then his crib.
-He naps GREAT in there.
-He loves his bed.
-He loves being in the room with his brother.

So...even though we are having to tweak things temporarily, our boys are doing really good with the transition. Even though at 6:00 this morning I was talking with God about wanting this to get better...I believe God reminded me how it is good that we are doing this now and not when I am 9mo pregnant or when Ann Marie gets here. So far...Micah has done a great job with transitions. Right now, his age is busy, busy, and more busy. He is into everything. He doesn't pitch fits hardly at all...I have seem him pitch just a few in his 18mo of life. I am very grateful for that. He is very consistent with his moods which I am so thankful for. He is so darn cute and I love him to pieces. Oh yeah...he LOVES his ride on toys. Which cracks me up. He rides his fire truck all over the house and thinks it is his. IF anyone else is on it he is not happy. Parker didn't care much for ride on toys. It is so cute seeing him throw his feet forward to get himself going. ha.

Parker is growing and understanding things more and more. I love it. Honestly, it is getting much easier with him. Not that it has been horribly hard or anything. But he will go get diapers and wipes for me. He told me that Micah's diaper was full the other day. ha ha. I can take him anywhere and he is really good. As long as that boy has plenty of sleep he is good. We are getting over whining so much(thank the Lord!). And doing better with pottying(after almost a year and a half!!!). We are talking about putting him in preschool but not sure when. Maybe Jan. but probably not until next Sept. He is very lovie and snuggily with Derek and I but not so much anyone else. When his cousins or friends try to hug him he is not all about it. ha. He knows the difference between his right and left and is learning to recognize his letters(I just haven't put much emphasis on this one). I think he is so smart and so sweet to his brother. He talks about Ann Marie like she is here. He knows she is in my belly. But he says "Mom, are you buying those for Ann Marie?" "Mom, look at Ann Marie's room!" I think he is going to love her so much and be a huge help.

Speaking of Ann Marie. She is doing good. She is moving all day but not kicking me nearly as much as my boys did. Derek hasn't even felt her yet. By this point he had felt the boys. I am about to be 19 weeks pregnant and you can't even tell I am pregnant! I just look fat! I have to tell people I am pregnant and that I am having a girl. This is so different for me. With the boys you could definitely tell I was pregnant by this point. I, honestly, am not happy with the way I look. But what I can do? Nothing at this point. Acid reflux has definitely kicked in. Yuck. I go for my 20 week appt. in 2 weeks. I am half way there! But...feel like I still have forever before she will get here. Yesterday and the day before I had waves of nausea! ugh! Crazy how different pregnancies can be. Oh...one more thing..I made her 3 bows last week. The first time I have made bows. They are super cute and I only hope to get better at it. Hopefully it will save me money.

Here are some pictures. I haven't been camera happy lately. Sorry. But here are my cute boys!


Messes do not bother him at all. Yummm...Chocolate pancakes!

He LOVES balls!! If you look closely you can see his toe coming out of his footy pjs. Probably time toss these.

Parker in action. My kids think it is so fun to jump off the short wall behind our couch onto our couch. Yes, they have gotten hurt. And yes, it is kinda dangerous. But they love it and they are boys. Boys will be boys.

Trying to get up there with Park.

Don't you love his get up? He will dress up a gazillion times a day. He liked me taking pictures of him in this. ha ha.

Dreaming of Bows, Dolls, Pink, & Purple

What does that title mean? If you read in my previous post I was going to the Dr. this week to find out for sure this baby in belly is a girl. And it is!!! I am very happy about that simply because I already bought her quite a few things. Oops. ha. I thought I was having a girl and I believed the sonogram tech would have given me a 100% sure answer at 12 weeks but she is not the Dr. and probably couldn't. However, even though I REALLY thought this baby was(is) a girl every time I purchased something I got a tad nervous. ha. ha. Thinking my husband is going to kill me if this baby is not a girl. I waited forever at the Drs. office but luckily I didn't have my kids. The nurse did the ultra sound first and said it was girl and then Dr. Seeker came in excited as ever when he saw that it is a girl. He threw his arms in the air and said "You can say now that we are 100% confident that this baby is a girl!" Lol! He is so sweet! Now I think about it all of the time. That I am having a girl! This is so wonderful and perfect! I have 2 amazing, handsome, hilarious, sweet little boys that I would not trade for anything...and now we are just going to add a sweet little princess to this crew. I know she will love her brothers so much and they will love her so much too. Not too sure Daddy knows what to expect with a little girl...but I know he will be smitten. He is excited! I loved how Dr. Seeker was showing me her face, and her belly and he was calling her "pretty". Alright, now it is time to soak in loving my sweet boys...and of course my wonderful husband.
This random but as of yesterday my 18mo little boy is sleeping in a big boy bed in his brother's room. Well, now it is Parker and Micah's room. We put his twin bed up yesterday and moved their room around. But did not anticipate putting Micah in there yet. We decided to just try it out last night and for the most part he did great. Took a while to get to sleep. He was talking and standing in the bed. But after he fell asleep he was out until 7:30am. He napped in their today once w/out Parker and the other time while Parker napped. It is kinda weird though because now Micah's room is "empty". All his furniture is in there but nothing else. :( Not his clothes or him. And no one will be in there until Ann Marie gets here. Kinda sad....my baby is growing up!
No pictures here. Thats all folks! But it is BIG news!

Amelia Island, 2010

Here are pictures from our beach trip which was so great. We relaxed, did not use our cell phones much at all, hardly used the laptop, played at the beach and pool, ate lots, enjoyed time with Derek's whole family(mom, dad, sister, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents)and enjoyed time with just us. It.was.exactly.what.we.needed.
It was our first time flying with Micah and Parker has flown several times before. He loves to fly. Micah did pretty good. Better then I thought he would do. Although we LOVED the beach and when we landed Parker said "Are we going to the beach? I want to go to Florida!" He had know idea we were in Texas. ha ha. I am glad we are home and ready to move on to the Fall. I am hoping the Fall here is cooler then normal and it gets here faster. We will see. But...life is good. Of course Derek came home to such a busy week at work. He worked from 7am-2am one day. And it is almost 9pm right now and guess what? He is still working. :) Just means the business is doing good. So...even though it is hard to deal with some of the time...we are blessed. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Derek and I on the back porch of our condo. We were going on a date that night. Ummm...to Zaxbys. Ha! We don't have a Zaxbys here and we love it. It was a good cheap date. We talked a lot. I loved it! I love spending time with this guy! He is the best!

Micah playing in the sand about to take pictures. He looks like he is holding a cigarette. He is NOT.

After pictures Parker getting in the ocean fully clothed. Oh well...

Derek's Aunts, Uncles, Mama Rose, Papa, Dad, and Mom.

This picture is so sweet.

Derek and Parker. A little dark. But good picture.

LOVE this picture! They are so handsome!

Parker in his new Monster PJs.

Micah giving me some kisses. He is not stingy with his kisses at all.




This is how far the shore went out. I loved it because the beach was flat and when the tide came in it was shallow and not rough at all. It was a great beach for toddlers.

Organizing Bug

FYI: I just read through what I typed and there are lots of errors. I do not feel like going back and fixing them. So you can laugh at them and move on. :) Also...I go on Tuesday to find out for sure that this baby is a girl. The first go around they told me they were 95% sure it was a girl. Same thing they told me with Micah about being a boy. But, I sure am ready to know they are as sure as they can be that she is a girl. :)

I knew that last week was the beginning of the end for some things in The Mills household. First, it was the last week of eating bad for us. Second, it was the last week for me to hold off all the places in my house that needed to be organized. Third, it was our vacation...which for me meant the beginning of vacation which was great...however when it ended it felt like the end of the summer. Let me explain these:

Since being preggo Derek and I have eaten SO unhealthy for us. I haven't felt good. Even last week during vacation I was sick twice. But we decided before we left that after vacation we were going to start eating healthy again. Derek wants to lose weight(I think he looks GREAT! However...he really wants to lose a few pounds.). I simply want to eat better for me. I don't intend on losing weight, however...that might happen since I am it is like night and day how different I am eating. Anyways, we switched out E-mealz(Dave Ramsey meal plan) to the weight watchers point meal plan. And have been doing good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. I have had some ice cream at night which I justify by eating so well for me during th day. I hope this last for me. It is hard not to think "I am pregnant! Who cares?" But...really...it cannot be good eating fast food a gazillion times a week. Right?
Next...organization. This is what I titled this post because the organizing bug has come over me. For some reason right before we left for vacation I had this desire for it to be Fall. Which for me, Fall comes with structure...wonderful smells, clean house...great weather. I also have thought how even though this baby girl will not be entering this world for quite some time there are things that need to get done at me house. So, I started on Monday. First, I went through every toy we own inside our house and Parker and I filled 2 trash bags full of toys to give to Goodwill. This ended up being a teachable moment for me with Parker on giving. And it felt great. For a split second I thought about selling the toys. But I am SO glad I didn't! We were able to put everything in the bags and take it straight to Goodwill that afternoon. As I went through all of the toys I organized them too. We are going to sell the coffee table we have in the play room to make space in there. This coffee table opened up and it had great storage room where I stored lots of toys. Now...there is nothing it in! Woo Hoo!
I also cleaned out my refrigerator and freezer completely. Tonight, a organizing task that has haunted me for a few months now I completed! Yay! I have the boys clothes in bins with the sizes on the front of the bins. They were all in Micah's closet. The bins were getting out of control. I was piling up clothes on top that people had given me, along with things both boys had grown out of on top of some things I bought for Ann Marie. It was bad. Well, to me it was bad. My husband had to work late tonight so I pulled EVERY bin out of Micah's closet and then ones out of Parker's closet. Would you like to know how many there were? 10 PLUS 2 bags full of clothes and piles of clothes on the floor. One reason why I was so inspired to do this is because our good friends are about to have a baby boy in 5 weeks. I have SO many clothes because of my sister and sister in law have given me all of their's and my own kids clothes. I knew I had clothes to spare. I went through them all and filled up two bags full of clothes, shoes, etc for baby Noah. Then, I reorganized all of the sizes and hopefully have everything looking good now. Anyways, I still have quite a few more projects. But to have gotten this much done in 3 days for me is really good! I am proud!
By the way, I posted some pictures below from our wonderful vacation at Amelia Island. I have more and maybe one day I will post them. Ha! Also...I love my friends blogs who are so cute...simple...short...and to the point. I CAN NOT DO THAT but wish I could. So if you don't read everything I write. That is ok...my feelings are not hurt. Because I probably wouldn't either. :)

Micah and his sweet 2nd cousin, Jordan. Isn't she so adorable?

Micah in a baby pool on the beach...which was a life saver. Great idea Mama Lynn!

Parker just loved being in the water...beach or pool.