Potty training. Success?

After coming home from our trip to Charlotte, we've really been working hard on potty training with Grace.  I would really like to have her completely trained before the baby is born.  So I came up with the bright idea of offering Grace "a really big surprise!" if Grace would tee-tee in the potty.  She got pretty excited about her "pies" (surprise) and sat on the potty willingly this morning.  Much to my amazement, she tee-teed like a pro.

So I gave her one Hersey kiss (candy that I bought on clearance the day after Easter and saved just for potty training) and it worked!  She was so excited about her "big pies" (big surprise) that an hour later she announced to me and David, "I need to tee-tee in duh pah-ee."  (I need to tee-tee in the potty).  So we rushed her to the potty and sure enough she tee-teed in the potty again.  Of course we made a big to-do about it and gave her another "big surprise."  

Not an hour later, she needed to go again.  So far today, she has tee-teed in the potty SEVEN times and not once in her diaper!  We are so excited we can barely stand it!  Now if we could just get her to poo-poo in the potty...maybe we should offer her TWO big surprises for that...

There's a first time for everything

Grace's typical bath time routine involves either me or David filling Grace's bathtub up with warm water, adding plenty of bubbles, and tossing in several toys for her to play with.  Then we put Grace in the tub, bathe her, and finally turn the water off before the tub overflows.  Since the tub is off the kitchen, I sometimes leave her to play while I clean up dinner.  She's such a noisy bather often singing songs like "Woe, Woe, Woe, A Boat" (Row, Row, Row Your Boat) or "Spongebob Stare Pans" (Spongebob Squarepants) at the top of her lungs that I don't worry about her playing in the tub alone.  Of course, I check on her often in spite of being able to hear her.

Well, earlier tonight Grace was playing in the tub and David and I were sitting together in the kitchen chatting when Grace got real quiet.  Then we heard her running down the hallway to her room.  I went to check on her when she slammed the door shut, leaned against it and said, "I not weddy for you yet, Momma!"  (I'm not ready for you yet, Momma!)  I responded by telling her I needed to dry her off with a towel  and put her pajamas on so she wouldn't get cold.  Her response was, "Dare's poo-poos in my baff tub!"  (There's poo-poo in my bathtub!)  

So I checked the bathroom and saw all of her bath toys lined up neatly on the side of the tub.  Not unusual for her.  She typically does that before getting out of the tub.  Then I leaned closer,and sure enough there were poo-poos in the bathtub.  Oh my.

So I grabbed Grace and took her upstairs to our bathroom and showered her off (her third bath of the day).  When I was finished cleaning her up I headed back downstairs to scrub her tub clean (for the second time today).  While cleaning we noticed poo-poos on some of her toys.  Gross!  She must have been playing with the poo-poo!  So I threw all the toys away.  

Now could someone please explain to me why she will poo-poo in her bathtub while she is in it and not poo-poo in the potty?

An exciting day at the pier

Since we may have oil hitting our shores in the next few weeks, we decided to go fishing before the oil hits.  

While David was fishing, Grace decided she wanted to swap sunglasses with me.

How silly do I look wearing her Dora sunglasses?  

Soon a fish took the bait so we let Grace reel it in.  She didn't want to touch the fish, but was happy to get the pliers for us.

She wouldn't go any closer to that croaker.  I think his "croaking" scared her a bit.

We noticed five different alligators out by the pier.  That's the most we've ever seen out there at one time.  The pier was crowded closer to sunset.  Some were new neighbors and others were visiting some of our longtime neighbors.  Several had never seen alligators that close before.  David, the kind man he is, changed one of his hooks out for a bobber and teased a gator right next to the pier so they could see him even closer.  The out-of-staters couldn't take enough pictures.  They really enjoyed it.

It certainly was an exciting day at the pier.  We met new neighbors, saw the gators, caught a few fish, and spent a lovely evening together as a family. 

Repurposing an old chair

Remember this old chair?

I finally got around to reupholstering it with some fabric I got a couple of months ago.

 I think it's a great improvement.

Now it finally has the girly look I want for Grace's room.  I'm certain Grace will love it.

Indy finally has a room to sleep in...

We actually finished converting our office to the nursery before we drove up to Charlotte

But this is the first opportunity I've had to post the pictures.

I must admit that I'm very pleased with the outcome.

We're still fishing

Grace wanted to go fishing today.

So we walked down to the pier and saw one of the alligators swimming along the oil berm.  So far, the oil hasn't hit our shores yet.  I hope the oil continues to stay away from our bay.

Grace sat by her Daddy and practiced fishing for a bit.

Then she cast her line way out into the bay.

As patient as she was, she didn't catch anything.  She kept saying she needed a hook for her fishing pole, but we still think she's a bit young for one just yet.

We really enjoyed the family time at the pier and it's so nice just getting back into our normal swing of things.

Bringing new life to old frames

While in Charlotte my mother-in-law and I went to a garage sale and found this beautiful mirror for only $5!

After I got it home, I covered the mirror with paper and used a little spray paint to give it new life.

Then David and I hung it in Grace's room next to her bed.

And Hope brought me this old frame when she came by to visit.

It too received a good sanding and a fresh coat of paint.  And I was finally able to frame the artwork that David and I bought on our  last cruise.  I adore this piece!  It is a limited edition color lithograph on Unryu-shi paper titled "Tarlatans" by Douglas Hoffman.  I love his work!  After giving life to the old frame and providing a home to this treasured piece of art, we finally hung it over Grace's bed.

 And here is a picture of her room with her mirror to the right of the bed and the framed art above it.

Breathtaking views

The sunset today promised to be spectacular.

And we were not disappointed.

We walked down to the pier to witness it.

There was a storm rolling in between the clouds.

Giving us a double sunset.

The storm was moving quickly and the clouds were a sight unto themselves.  They were so low you could almost reach up and touch them.

Soon we headed back home to watch the storm roll in.

That, too, was quite dazzling.

Lingerie shower cake

My baby sister Hope is in a wedding this weekend for her longtime friend, Stephanie.  Stephanie is getting married in Panama City Beach, FL and Hope is hosting a lingerie shower for her.

This is the cake I made for the shower.  I do believe my cake decorating skills are improving...

Congratulations Stephanie!  We wish you and Albert a lifetime of love, laughter, and grace.

My pregnancy this week

Today I went in for another OB checkup.  It has been 3 weeks since my last appointment.    I gained 3 pounds since that last appointment.  No surprise there after all the eating out we did on our trip to and from Charlotte. And all those yummy desserts Mom cooked while we were in town like lemon pound cake and molasses cookies. And the two trips to Cheesecake Factory just for cheeses cake..  In fact, I'm surprised I didn't gain 10 pounds from all the desserts alone.  Those 3 small pounds I gained give me a total of 14 1/2 pounds gained thus far. 

My blood pressure was 100 over 60.  I couldn't believe it was that low.  Maybe I'm some kind of freak whose bp drops under stress?  Anyway, Baby measured 2 1/2 weeks ahead of schedule.  And my stretch marks are growing in spite of religiously slathering myself in cocoa butter stretch mark cream morning noon and night... Sigh.  I'm glad David says he loves me in spite of what my tummy looks like.  I also have a nasty cold but my doctor said my lungs sound fine so no antibiotics for me.  Just Halls cough drops and Chloroseptic spray for my sore throat.  And Tylenol for anything else... 

My next OB appointment is in 2 weeks on June 1. 

There's no place like home

After two days driving in the car, we are finally home!  We made it safe and sound and arrived very tired.  It was a hard drive for us all.  David was still feeling very sore and gets tired quickly.  Climbing in and out of the minivan was really tough on him.  I tried my best to drive "softly" meaning starting and stopping slowly and avoiding as many bumps as possible to keep from jostling his organs, but that's really hard to do in Atlanta traffic and on Alabama roads.  And Grace got car sick and threw up less than an hour into the trip.  Chloe was, well, Chloe.  She didn't like being left in the car while we went inside restaurants to eat, but was really well behaved.  None of us really had much of an appetite.  After arriving home, I unloaded the minivan and rested for about an hour before heading to the grocery store.  Now that we're here and comfortable, we plan to rest and recover.  There's no better place to do that than at our home sweet home.

Pickin' strawberries

Yesterday, Bethany and I took Stephen and Grace to a local strawberry patch to pick strawberries.

It was a beautiful day and we all had a lot of fun.

We each got a cardboard box or two.

And we headed out into the fields.

It didn't take long for the kids to get the hang of it.

It was easy pickings because strawberries were everywhere!

It certainly was a lot of fun.

And just a little bit messy.

Soon the kids got tired and sat down to contemplate all the strawberries we picked.

We picked a lot of strawberries in a short amount of time.

Just over 10 pounds to be exact!

The strawberries were gorgeous, succulent, and sweet!

Stephen and Grace were so adorable.  They held hands and headed to the tents to wait for a snack.

We got them homemade strawberries slushies.

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Which they loved.

Then we let the kids play with the old-timey water pumps and rubber ducks.

After that they moved over the mazes.

When they couldn't find the path out, Stephen and Grace made their own path.

We all had a wonderful time strawberry pickin' together.  I can't wait to do it again!