Potty Party

After several months of failed potty training attempts, we were about ready to let Jayden stay in diapers for life. As a last resort, I decided to steal this idea from Cakes Likes a Party: a Potty Party! We told Jayden a week before the party that his diaper days were quickly coming to an end, and that as of Saturday he would be wearing only big boy underwear.

I bought him some super cool undies and stocked up on lots of small gifts {cars, play doh, games, etc} for the party. Every time he went in the big boy potty he got to unwrap a new gift and get a little treat. He spent the day in his skivvies, and we spent the day persistently asking him "Do you have to go?"

I was honestly skeptical that this method would work on my "strong willed" child, but it totally did! He has {as expected} had a few accidents, but overall it was a huge success. So for all you parents out there struggling with this transition, I highly recommend the potty party!

Blessings

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Baby It's Cold Outside

And rainy. And I love it. Because I got to spend the day in my PJ's, sip salted caramel hot cocoa, cuddle with my babies, and light a fire in the fireplace! What is it about a fire that makes the house feel so cozy?

Today was the perfect day to stay inside since both the kiddos were wide awake at 5am this morning {Jayden woke up with a nasty cough, poor guy!}, so plenty of napping and lounging around was in order!

Here are some pics from our weekend...hope everyone had a great one!

Bathing Beauty

Gracie is so snuggly {and happy!} after bath time all bundled up in her hooded towel. How pinchable are those cheeks? 

And if I Fail, then I Fail

I have always struggled with fear. Not "afraid of the dark or spiders" kind of fear. The kind of fear that causes insecurities and keeps me from trying new things or meeting new people. Because what if I fail? Or worse, face rejection? Or what if people see my flaws and think less of me?

Anyone notice the recurring theme here? God didn't give me this timid spirit, but rather it's my inward focus that is holding me back. And as many insecurities as I have, the worry that people would even notice my flaws is a form of vanity. Can I shift my focus outward and stop dwelling on what people will think of me?

Lately my fears have been around failure. What if I can't live up to the expectations in my new job? What if I am not being the perfect mother to my children? What if my relationships fail?

And then I am reminded of the story of Esther. She had the courage to face death in order to save her people from it. "...And if I perish, I perish" {Esther 4:16}. And if I fail, I fail. And if I am rejected, then God will comfort me. And if I _____, then _____.

What's the worst that can happen? When you are weak, He is strong. Let's take some risks!

Sweet Voice

Gracie recently found her voice & it is the sweetest thing I've ever heard! And it's a good thing because she goes on and on and on...I think she takes after her daddy :) Love coming home to this after a long day at the office!

(You will probably have to mute the music at the bottom of the page to hear her)

The Night Is Young

Both of the rugrats are asleep for the night, which means I'm gearing up for a full 8 hours of sleep tonight. And then I'll wake up fully rested in the morning, get in a quick workout, and take my time getting ready for work. Before jumping in the car, I'll take a few minutes to savor the sunrise and spend some quiet time reflecting on my day ahead.

And then I'll wake up from the dream...at 2am, because someone's hungry :)

Happy Halloween!

We had the gang over for some yummy food, drinks, football, and of course, trick or treating! Hope everyone had a lovely holiday!

Sashes to the Merchants: fame.

Love this blog post from Sashes to the Merchants, so thought I would share! :)

Sashes to the Merchants: fame.: For all of us women in this online world, I feel like there is a dirty little word that it’s about time we talked on for a minute. the...

Awkward and Awesome Thursday!

Awkward:

“Your baby is so cute! How old is he?” … Well, SHE is 3 months old. Yes, she is bald and chubby J

When your neighbors stop by unexpectedly at 4pm and you are still in your pajamas enjoying a “Say Yes to the Dress” marathon.

Getting a massage and realizing half way through that you forgot to shave your legs.

Awesome:

Getting to drink all the caffeine I want without worrying about it passing through to my baby!

Fall decorations and smells. It’s second only to Christmas décor!

Pinterest! Thanks Jess for the exclusive invitation!

Spooktacular

We took the kiddos to Halloweenfest at Sea World on Sunday with “the cousins” and it was so much fun seeing all the kids dressed up! It was super crowded at the park…apparently free candy really gets people interested in sea creatures J

I was also reminded of one of the benefits of living in Santee. When we left our house it was sunny and warm {shorts & t-shirt weather}, but by the time we got to Sea World I was yearning for a coat & waited a ½ hour for a hot coffee J I guess east county ain’t so bad after all!

Next Chapter

Well the past12 weeks have flown by, and I can’t believe I am back at work today. I am heartbroken, nervous, and relieved all at the same time. Heartbroken that I won’t be waking up to Gracie’s precious little smile every morning or snuggling with her on the couch all day. Nervous for my babysitters and hoping that both kiddos don’t drive them to insanity. But also relieved to be getting structure back into my life {and for once wear an outfit and not have to worry about getting spit up all over it}.

These past couple of months have been so challenging but rewarding at the same time, and I’ve been able to truly reflect on how blessed I am to have two healthy, beautiful children. Even in the most frustrating moments {and there have been LOTS of those}, I am thankful for my family and so proud to be Jayden and Gracie’s mama. And I am encouraged to be the type of wife and mom that God would be pleased with. The kind of woman that puts her husband and kids before herself; one that finds pleasure in serving her family.

I have also been struggling with guilt & crazy emotions the past two weeks…wondering if being a working mom was the right decision, and worrying that my kids aren’t getting the best from me. But I’ve realized that working is a means of providing and caring for my family as well. You don’t have to be physically with your children all day to provide for them. Plus I have the benefit of having the BEST babysitters that truly want to spend time with my kids. In a perfect world, things would be different…but for now I am at peace with our situation. And I will stare at this picture on my desk all day and fight back tears…happy ones, sad ones…grateful ones.

Tummy Time

Normally this girl will have nothing to do with sleeping unless she is being held. In fact, she isn't really happy anywhere but in someone's arms. Which makes getting anything done around the house pretty difficult. But I have found the secret...this girl loves being on her tummy. Which gives my arms a much needed break! :) I even got a load of laundry done today...well, it's washed anyway...still working on the folding part!

Long Time No See

Not that you have missed much. With a newborn, the blogging has definitely fallen on the priority list…but so have the interesting things to blog about {Unless the details of sleeping, eating, feeding & changing diapers thrills you}. So I apologize if this blog takes a slight detour from the usual and turns into a babyfest…but that’s just my life at the moment. I’ll start with how our little bundle entered the world on July 28^th {her due date, btw!}…

The night before I walked LOTS of laps around the park by our house to try to get things moving along…and apparently it worked! At about 9pm that night, I noticed that my contractions felt different…slightly uncomfortable, but they were still very sporadic. It wasn’t until about 2am that I started noticing them coming at regular intervals, but I didn’t want to jump the gun so I went downstairs to watch some TV and have a snack. At about 3am, I decided {well, J kind of decided} that they were consistent and painful enough to go to the hospital. I figured we still had several hours of labor to go, and I really didn’t want to wake up Jayden or my family, so we took our time. J took a shower…I packed my bags and put on some makeup…and we finally left the house at 3:30, just about the time my contractions were getting pretty uncomfortable. Well, we got to the 163 South freeway and all of the sudden I got a little scared…not only were the contractions extremely painful, but I also felt a lot of “pressure”…J sped up and started running red lights…Jayden was delirious…and I was panicking a bit. We got to Mary Birch at 3:45 and when they checked me at triage, I was fully dilated and ready to push. They wheeled me into the delivery room at 3:51, and Grace Olivia was born at 3:57am. What a blur. But she is beautiful and healthy and perfect!

We are definitely adjusting to having a family of four…and it’s rough at times I’ll admit, but we are truly blessed! And now I'm off to sleep...for two hours :)

Santee SprayGrounds

This morning’s playdate was at Santee Lakes and the Spraygrounds at the park. We have never been there before, but Jayders loves playing in water so I knew he would be about it. We pull up & first thing I see is a BUSLOAD of kids…of course a daycamp also decided today would be the perfect day for a spraygrounds visit. Jayden was definitely a little intimidated by all the kiddos at first, but Madeline grabbed his hand {he loves getting bossed around by the older girls} and coerced him into the waterpark…he was totally hooked after that J

Packin’ Cukes

Yesterday we got 10 pounds of pickling cucumbers along with our usual box of CSA produce. Good thing Nani & Pops were on hand to help out with this project; one {Pops} to play with Jayden, and the other {Nani} to help pack & pickle the cukes! This was a pretty long process, but in 5-6 weeks we should have some delicious pickles {and LOTS of them!!}.

Best Thing About Going to Sea World = The Cow?

Last week Jayden & I went to Sea World {turned out to be military appreciation day, which = crowds, which = not so awesome}, and despite the people traffic we had a great time watching the dolphin show and checking out the new Turtle Reef.

But the best part came on our way home…we made a pit stop at one of my favorite places…Chick-Fil-A! Yummmm. And I thought Jayden’s highlight of the day would be all the cool animals we saw at Sea World, but instead he couldn’t get over the Chick-Fil-A cow that paid us a special visit during lunch. He was soooo excited about this cow…