Random April Photos/ Easter 2009

Potty Training Update After a Week

Here is an update a week after we have started Potty Training:

Emma Claire has done amazing!!! Once again for school on Tuesday and Thursday I packed lots of panties, socks, pants, shoes, ziplock bags, and a towel.

On Tuesday, she told her teachers several times that she needed to go potty. Once, she was in the gym playing and ran to her teacher with her potty insert (to go on the big potties) and told her she needed to go potty. Yea, for Emma Claire stopping playing with her friends to go potty!!! She even went poo-poo at school that day. Only once she had a slight accident but I really don't call it one. She went to tell her teacher she needed to go potty but she was changing a diaper. When she was able to get Emma Claire to the potty she had leaked a little bit in her panties and they had to change them. She was doing her best to hold it! Yea, for Tuesday at school!!!

On Thursday, she did great once again. She told her teachers several times she had to go, but once she had a little bit of poo-poo already in her panties. She did finish in the potty though, so yea for Thursday!!!

On Friday, she did have a funny at school. We had practiced that morning calling our teachers if we needed to go poo-poo so that we would have any accidents in our panties. So, while at school she told her teachers she needed to go potty!! They took her in restroom and sat her on the potty to do her business. While she was going they walked off to tend to the other children. Once they heard Emma Claire call that she was all done they went in to help her finish up. Her teacher, Mrs. Haley, said she had gone # 2 in the potty she she was so excited and telling her how good she had done! Yea, Emma Claire. BUT, then she slipped on something. There was # 2 in the floor! They have no idea how it had gotten there because they weren't in the restroom with her. They don't know if she had gotten up to soon or what, but Mrs. Haley said her shoe didn't like it very much! It was so funny to hear Mrs. Haley tell me her story. It is not something I would normally put on her website but I wanted to remember to tell Emma Claire this story when she was older about her first week of being potty trained. I say, Emma Claire gets a high five for Friday too!!! Who knows how the accident happened but she was in the restroom using the potty!! I am so proud of her.

I think Emma Claire has had a wonderful week of potty training! She did great at school, great at home, great at church, and woke-up from all naps and bedtime dry! She is growing up way too fast but now we are ready to diaper # 2. ; )

Comments:


comment by GG on 03/23/2009

Hooray Emma Claire!! We're so proud of you. Soon you can help Mommy put the diapers on your baby brother or sister.

comment by Pepaw and RaRa on 03/21/2009

Hi-5's Emma Claire! We are so proud of you! Are you sure you are ONLY 2? 2 smart you are girly! We love you!

Baby #2 - First Dr.'s Visit

I could not have asked for a better first's doctors visit for our new little baby. I saw Dr. Moore and she was so wonderful! I got to hear the heartbeat, which was between 157 and 161, and have my own check-up. She said the heartbeat was a good strong one! All along I thought I was having another little girl because everything has felt the same up to this point. Sickness and all. BUT, when I heard the heart beat I wasn't sure what to think. Emma Claire's heartbeat was always real high, like in the 180's. I know that it doesn't mean anything but it still made me wonder..... Since I was already 14 weeks when I saw the doctor we will be going next Friday, the 27th, for my first ultrasound. There is a possibility they can tell what it is so I am keeping my fingers crossed. If not, we will be going in 3 or 4 weeks to find out what we are having. YEA!!! I am very excited about having baby # 2. Until I go and have that first visit where I can hear that heartbeat I am kinda uneasy. I just wanted to know that my baby was okay. Can't wait to let you know what I find out next week!!

Day 3 of Potty Training Boot Camp

What a big girl!!!! Emma Claire woke up dry again this morning! That is 2 naps and 2 bedtimes with dry panties.

I thought today was going to be a struggle because I had to go to the doctor, which I'll tell you about later, and Emma Claire was going to a friends house. This was her first outing since potty training. I wasn't sure what to expect.

I loaded her a bag with lots of panties, pants, socks, shoes, ziplock bags, and a towel. Before we got in the car I made her try to potty so that we wouldn't have any accidents in the car seat. She did potty, so yea for Emma Claire!

It took us about 20 minutes to get over to my friends house and Emma Claire did great. No accidents in the car seat. Just in case I had taken her potty with us in case I heard, "Mommy I need to POTTY!!". Kelly (Michael) was so great!!! We took her potty in, put it in the bathroom and explained to Emma Claire if she needed to go potty to tell Mrs. Kelly and she would take her to go potty. Kelly has a little girl named, Tanner, so we thought Emma Claire might follow her lead when she went to go potty. It was actually a good transition for Emma Claire because on the next day she would go back to preschool and there would be a room full of kiddos to help her get excited and forget about going to use the potty. So, off to the doctor I went.

I was gone for about an hour and a half to two hours to the doctor and then I was back to get Emma Claire. As I rang the door bell Emma Claire came running. She had on the same shirt she had on when I left, no pants and a black to-to! She looked so funny. Kelly quickly said that Emma Claire had done great! She had not had one accident. What a relief. I knew then that she was ready. Thank You SO MUCH Mrs. Kelly!!! Before we left I made sure to take Emma Claire to the potty and again she went potty for Mommy. Yea!!!

On our way home Emma Claire started saying, "Mommy I need to Potty!!" So I quickly pulled into a church parking lot and pulled out the potty. Emma Claire thought it was so funny she was going potty out in the open. I thought, well, you gotta do what ya gotta do. She kept telling me she was cold so we put her boggin on and she was good to go! I have a picture on my cellphone so I will try to see if I can get it on here.

Emma Claire has done so great with her potty training boot camp. She had a great rest of the day home with mommy and tomorrow we will go back to school. Lets keep our fingers crossed!!!


Comments:


comment by RaRa on 03/21/2009

Funniest yet "cutest" thing I've seen in a loooonnng time Emma Claire!! You ALWAYS make me smile! :)

Random March Photos

Welcome Baby Jacob Parker!!

Day 2 of Potty Training Boot Camp

She did it!!!! Emma Claire woke up dry this morning!!!

Emma Claire normally wakes up about 7:30 in the mornings so of course I didn't set an alarm. I had tossed and turned all night waking up everytime I heard her move in her bed. At 8:15 I woke up and she still had not moved a muscle. I quickly got out of bed to get things started for the day.

When I went in to wake her up I was expecting to find that she had, had an accident. She had slept all night and she had even slept late. Either way I was still proud of her. BUT she was DRY!! I slowly woke her up, told her how proud I was of her, and asked her if she needed to go potty. Again, Miss Grouchy, said No. So we decided to get some books and read in the bed with Daddy before he had to go to church. We had been laying there 15 to 20 minutes when she grabbed my face and said "Mommy, I go potty," so up we went. What a success! She made it to the potty with no accident.

Today was a little harder because Benjamin had to go to church this morning for services and tonight for a business meeting. It just so happened the time he was home was the time she was napping. Are you kidding me??!?!!

Emma Claire had an over all great day! She caught herself everytime she started to potty and took off running. She always finished in the potty but sometimes her panties were a little damp from where she was trying to hold it in. She also went Poo-Poo in the potty twice!! I was so proud of her!! We celebrated with a candy treat once and a MM's treat once. She also woke up from her nap dry again today! Way to Go, Emma Claire!!!

We are now in the bed for night Number 2. She has had such a great two days that I am expecting a slip up somewhere. I know she can do it, but I also know that she is only two; mistakes are gonna happen. Who cares! Can I say again how proud of her I am.

Tomorrow will be a big change for her. I have got to go to the Doctor in the morning so she will be going to stay with a friend for a little bit. I know that she will do fine but I still wonder if she's 'ready'.

I will keep you updated on Day 3 Tomorrow! Good Night.

Day 1 of Potty Training Boot Camp

Today was our first day of the 3 Day Potty Training Boot Camp and Emma Claire did great!


I will give you the gist of the Boot Camp and then I will talk about our day. The concept of the whole thing is that you throw away all diapers and go straight panties; not just during the day but for naptime and bedtime too! For 3 days you stay at home and just focus on potty training Emma Claire. You don't ask them if they need to go potty because you want them to learn to be aware of when she needs to go potty. You constantly remind them to tell mommy and daddy if they need to go potty. You do this over and over and over. Bedtime and Naptime are just the same. You tell them if they need to go potty while in their bed to call mommy and daddy and we will come take you potty. The concept sounds great! Potty train in 3 days and then your done? Does it work???

Well so far, for us, YES!!!! We got Emma Claire up this morning and told her that our diapers were all gone, (and they were because the one she slept in was the last one we had in our house) and that we were a big girl now and were going to start wearing big girl panties. She was so excited. We had been talking about it for a couple of days because she has really been wanting to start using the potty and wearing panties. I had told her we just weren't ready to start yet. On my days off she would already wear panties and go tinkle and poo-poo in the potty so I knew she was ready. It was just time for commitment. So this weekend we found three days and we were ready!

We had everything ready for the day when she got up. I had stamps, MM's, suckers, and big treats for when she had really done a great job. And of course LOTS of panties. Emma Claire started off great. The first time she went she was standing in the bathroom, but didn't make it to the potty. It was all uphill after that though! We all stayed close together so we would be ready for any sign that told us she needed to go potty. When ever she took off running toward us, we knew. We would grab her up and run to the potty. After that first accident she always finished in the potty. YEA!!!! We went through about 7 or 8 pair of panties, but some of them were just a little damp where she caught herself starting to go.

At naptime I was nervous that it was going to be a long afternoon. When I laid her down I explained to her that if she needed to go potty to call Mommy and I would come get her and take her to the bathroom. I laid her down at 1:30 expecting to get a call soon. By 2:00 I never heard her call me and she was sound asleep. At 4:45 I went into her room to wake her up and expecting to find a mess. But I didn't!!! She was still dry! I woke her up and told her how proud I was of her and asked her if she needed to go potty. Of course miss grouchy said NO! It wasn't long after that she caught herself and took off running to the restroom.

The rest of the afternoon was great! No accidents at all! We still have not gone poo-poo, but I'm not going to get worried yet. As of now, 9:45 pm, she is in her bed sleeping with dry panties. I'm not sure what the night will hold but I will still be super proud of her. She has done so great and has not started to stress mommy out at all yet. My baby is growing up too fast! I will keep everyone updated tomorrow on Day 2 of Boot Camp.

Comments:


comment by Pepaw and RaRa on 03/15/2009

Good Job Emma Claire!! We are sooooo proud of you. You are such a BIG girl. Your Mommy and Daddy are good planners. The rest was up to you and YOU DID IT!! Yea!! We love you!

Emma Claire's Two Year Check-Up

I took Emma Claire to the Dr. the other day for her two year check up and Dr. Dirk said "They don't make them more healthier and perfect than that!". It was so wonderful to hear even though I knew she was great! ; )

I was nervous going into the visit because the last time we went was such a disaster. Emma Claire had the catheter done and since then she does not like unfamiliar people looking at her and much less touching her. I had explained that morning everything Dr. Dirk was going to do and we would practice. He is going to look into your ears, into your mouth, and into your eyes. She thought is was so funny that she was getting to stick her tongue out. Needless to say she did great. She sat there let him listen to her heart and look in her ears like a pro. At one point he was rubbing her feet and stopped and she picked them back up, sat them in his hands and said "Moe gin". Which meant, she wanted him to keep rubbing her feet. So Funny.

Once the visit was over he said that Emma Claire was way ahead of the game. She was very smart and skilled beyond her age. Where most children are just learning to put two words together for a sentence she is now using 8 to 10 in a sentence. Then we talked about her Asthma. I wanted to know how we would know if she was growing out of it or not if we were continuing to give her all the medications she takes. On a regular day she takes two breathing treatments with her nebulizer and 4 mg of Singular. Dr. Dirk said the only way we would know is to start taking her off some of her medicine so we decided to try taking her down to only one breathing treatment a day and taking her Singular. At the first sign of any wheezing or coughing she needed to go back on her full medicine. However, after only two days of only having one treatment we found out she couldn't handle it. My poor baby coughed and coughed and coughed. It wasn't worth it for her. So, we are back on our medications as normal and will wait until she is a little older to try again.

AND, we are once again big for our age! She measured at 36 inches for her height which is 92 percentile for her age. She weighed 33 pounds which is 96 percentile and her head was 49.3 cm which is 90 percentile for her age. We sure do have a growing girl!!

As we were leaving Emma Claire gave Dr. Dirk a big hug, said "Thank You", and headed for the door. As she reached the door she turned to me and said "Give him kiss?". Dr. Dirk said "what did she say?" I told him she wanted to give him a kiss. He said "Girl, you know exactly how to get my morning started off great!". With his arms wide open Emma Claire ran over and give him a kiss on the cheek. It was such a wonderful visit!

Comments:


comment by GG & Poppa on 03/15/2009

Emma Claire - We had no doubt that the doctor would find you "perfect" in every way!!

We love you SO BIG!!

comment by Poppa on 03/15/2009

Emma Claire - At the rate you're growing, you may pass your Daddy some day..keeping him the "runt" of the litter.

comment by RaRa on 03/12/2009

I am thankful her spirits were calmed. She is blessed to have parents that take time to teach her. You did a great job Ashley preparing her for the things to come that made the visit so relaxed. And man . . . she is growing up way too fast! Dr. Dirk's not telling me anything I didn't already know in that they don't make them any better or more perfect! I love you Emma Claire! You will always be RaRa's baby no matter how BIG you get!

Old House/ New House

We are thrilled with the foreclosure we've found! God has richly provided.

Here are a few pictures of our new house. Everything is not complete but I knew everyone was dying to see it. Enjoy!! I will post more when we are done with all the updates.

 Everything is not yet complete...

Emma Claire's First Prayers

Emma Claire has started asking to say the blessing for her own food. It is so cute and funny at the same time to hear what comes out of her mouth. Here is a sample prayer:


Mommy will say "Thank You, God, for....."

And then Emma Claire will repeat "Thank you, God for....."

And the list begins.....it always begins with "Friends, then food, cup, Thank you, God, for, clothes, bed, pillow, Leah, Thank you, God, for lights, toys, blanket, and 4-wheeler. Amen"

You never know what she is going to say and if the list is going to have 2 things on it or 50. I guess it depends on how hungry she is! Ha!

Comments:


comment by RaRa on 03/11/2009

Sweet! The important thing is that she is "thankful". I tend to ask for short prayers when I'm hungry too Emma Claire! RaRa loves it!

Poll Results: What will Emma Claire do when we take her to get her first haircut?

I wasn't really sure how well her haircut was going to go. I had no clue what she was going to do. We got there at 11:00 and JJ's was a great place. They had slides and tunnels, a kitchen, video games, movies, riding cars to get your haircut in. They had all kinds of things that sparked her interest. Until it was time for the haircut. The lady that was going to cut her hair was named Clarissa. She was so patient. Emma Claire went between 3 different cars trying to decide which one she wanted and then she didn't even want one at all. We ended up doing the haircut in Mommy's lap. I sat in the chair with her facing me while Clarissa cut her hair. A cool side note was that Clarissa had the same birthday as Emma Claire! It didn't take two seconds and then she was done. The most drama came when they wanted to take her picture for her first haircut. She didn't want to have anything to do with them taking her picture. We did eventually get one of her playing in the kitchen. You will have to check out the pictures and video of her first big girl haircut.

Scream bloody murder and not let them do a thing.                                                                2%
Be too involved into all the toys and rides to even know they are cutting her hair.                  67%
Make Mommy hold her in her lap while they cut her hair.                                                     14%
Only let them get half-way through her haircut before she decides they are done!                  18%

Total votes: 57

Comments:


comment by Poppa & GG on 02/27/2009

Emma Claire: Mommy & Daddy found the neatest place for your first haircut and we had so much fun going with you.

Emma Claire Turned Two!!!

Yea!! Emma Claire turned Two!!! She had such a wonderful day. Last night Poppa and GG came in town to be here for the big day. At 1:00 we had a party in her classroom at school. We took cupcakes, a balloon and made treat bags for all of her friends. When we got there her friends had made a sign for her and hung it on the door. We had such a great time and Emma Claire ate 3 mini cupcakes. (Let me just say the next day she had a tint of pink in her diaper from all of the icing. ; )


That night we invited our friends Katie and Leah, along with Poppa and GG, to go to Chucky Cheese. It was perfect for Emma Claire. We ordered Pizza and had 70 tokens to spend on games. Emma Claire and Leah ran from ride to ride putting 'money' in and Daddy ran around playing games too. I'm not sure who had more fun. We were there for a good 2 hours and Emma Claire was worn out. It was the perfect treat for her special day.

I am excited to start the adventure of having a big two year old baby girl.

Happy Birthday Emma Claire!!!

Comments:


comment by Poppa & GG on 02/27/2009

Emma Claire: Poppa and GG had sooo much fun celebrating your 2nd birthday with you. It will always be a special memory for us. We LOVE You BIG!!!

Emma Claire's 2nd Birthday

We had Emma Claire's Birthday Party at School with her friends.

Poppa and GG got to come in town to help us celebrate!

We finished the night at Chucky Cheese for Pizza and Games.

Aunt Katie and Leah also came to help us celebrate Emma Claire at Chucky Cheese!

Cute Stories about Emma Claire

Cute stories about Emma Claire over the last several days:


**On one of my green days Emma Claire was spending a lot of time with me in the bathroom. And let me say she did very well entertaining herself. She decided that she needed to take one of her babies potty. She opened her little potty lid and so carefully placed her baby on the potty. She said "potty, okay", "You want a book", "I be right back, I go get a book, okay?" In a few minutes here she came back with a book for her baby. She laid it in her lap so perfectly and told her baby to go potty and said, "I Cean". She went into the living room and came back with her vaccum. She quickly vacuumed all the rugs in the bathroom and then squatted down in front of her baby and said "Did you go potty? Yea, Yea, Yea." She picked her up looked in the potty and said "There no potty in there!"

**The other night we had a dinner at Benjamin's work for prospective students. After the meal they had someone getting up to speak so Benjamin took Emma Claire into the restroom because it was impossible to keep her quiet for the whole speech. While in the restroom Emma Claire was again entertaining herself. Benjamin said she would go in each stall, shut the door, give herself a spanking, and say "Obey. Okay. Okay." I'm not sure if she was making fun of her mommy or just reminding herself to obey.

**We were home the other night and Emma Claire started saying "Nanny, Praise Da Lord. Praise Da Lord." We finally figured out that she was singing 'If Your Happy & You Know It Praise Da Lord'. Nanny (Ms. Shelia at church) had taught her to sing it that way and when she would say 'Praise Da Lord' she would put both hands up in the air. It was so cute.

**Emma Claire has learned how to say her blessing before she eats her food. It is the greatest thing ever. She will fold her hands and say "Dear God, Thank You For Food. Amen". The way she says it is even better. Imagine listening to an Old Southern Baptist Preacher say a prayer and that is just what she sounds like. "DEAR GOD. Thank you for food. AaaaMMMMeeeennnn".

**Emma Claire loves to climb. The other night in our living room she had laid down her chairs that go with her table and started climbing on them. To herself she started saying, "No climbing, it's dan-grous". We had no clue where she had gotten that from. After questioning her I asked her if she climbed on chairs at school and her teacher Mrs. Kelly told her not to because it was dangerous. Of course she said yes, so guess we need to be limiting our monkey time at home.

**On Wednesday nights Emma Claire has started going to Puggles at our church. She LOVES it! She will talk about Puggles all week and want to go to class with Mrs. Ashy. On the first night of her class she told us that God made the Stars and then would break out singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." It was all we heard for a week. This week she learned that God made EVERYTHING and it is so funny because she can't say it without throwing her arms around in the air showing what all God made. It is so impressive how quickly she has caught on after just going for two weeks.

**RaRa sent Emma Claire a package the other day that had a pair of new tennis shoes in it. She thought they were the grandest things. She walked around school the next day pointing her toe out and saying "See my new, new shoes?" She is such a hoot. The funny thing is, is that my classroom is all the way on the other end of the hallway. It took us about 15 minutes to get there because she had to stop and show everyone her new, new shoes.

Random February Photos

Emma Claire, I Love You

Emma Claire, Mommy is so sorry that it has been several days since I have updated your website. Mommy has been very sick with your baby brother/sister and hasn't been able to sit long enough to type anything. There hasn't been much going on the last few days except for your First Art Show at school which Mommy and Daddy LOVED going to, you cutting your two years molars and dealing with your yucky nose, having our friends the Baldwin's (Boone's Mommy & Daddy's) going away party, and you being sooooo sweet to Mommy while she has been sick. There are not many things that can put a smile on Mommy's face when I am feeling a little green but you seem to always do just that. I never knew that I could love something so much until you and your daddy came along. I can't even wrap my arms around how much God must love us when I can't even comprehend how much I Love You. I will always remember the sweet little kisses you have given me and said "Mommy feel better", you rubbing onmy tummy telling your brother/sister to go Nite-Nite and rest, you hugging Mommy's tummy and giving your baby kisses, and sticking your head in the bathroom to check on Mommy and simply saying "I Love You, Mommy". Emma Claire, Mommy will never ever forget those moments and I pray that I will always do everything I can to show you just how much I Love You.


I Love You, My Sweet Baby Girl,

Mommy


Comments:


comment by Chelsey on 02/24/2009

Ok so i'm in tears from reading this one! So sweet! Emma Claire you have a wonderful mommy who loves you so so much! You were so sweet to take care of her while she was sick. I love you both!

comment by bq2 on 02/14/2009

I think this is the best journal entry ever. Emma Claire, you have an awesome mommy! She does so much for you and for me, and we don't thank her nearly enough. I love you both so much!

daddy

comment by GG on 02/05/2009

Emma Claire: You have the BESTEST Mommy! Poppa & GG are sooo thankful God made her for you.

comment by RaRa on 02/05/2009

Sweetest thing I have ever read Ashley!! You have a special mommy Emma Claire! Thank you for taking care of your her. RaRa loves BOTH her babies!