Im so Thankful! Part 1.

Starting from the beginning, I was talking to my sister Shannon on the phone Friday and maybe a little on Saturday about how the whole family (my side of the family -minus my mom, because my parents are divorced, so the "whole family" has to exclude a parent) would be spending Thanksgiving together at my sister Kelly's cabin up in Blue Ridge. The last family reunion was last August, and we were all there, but Dave, who is my sister Shannon's husband (and of course my mom, because it was my dad's side of the family- reunion.) Needless to say, we have all resigned ourselves to not really getting to spend many holidays together. My sisters have husbands and spend time with those families too so sometimes its real hit or miss. I have kids and, me being a stay at home mom, buying plane tickets is not easily affordable. Anyhow, Shannon and I were talking about how nice it would be to see each other for the Holidays, and I am in my 3rd trimester so I wasn't sure that I would be able to fly, nor did we have the money to spend on 2 tickets, just before Christmas and the delivery date. We talked and Shannon said that if I was game, that she was going to look into tickets.

Sunday I woke up super early. Laid in bed awake from 4am til 5 when finally I went downstairs to set up coffee to brew and eat some cereal. I was standing in the kitchen, and checked my phone and saw that I had an email. OMG!!! It was a flight itinerary for later that morning... as in I needed to get Josie and I packed, and me showered and FAST!!! As it turns out, that email was not the tickets that she bought... about a half an hour before we would have had to leave for the airport, Shannon texted me that she had not purchased that flight, nor did she realize that it was a flight that was going to be leaving in a couple hours hahaha. So I called he and we ironed it all out and since I was packed and ready and so was Josie, we were able to get a flight booked for a couple hours later, so I was able to sit down and let my head stop spinning from the craziness and the tiredness... we were able to go to Starbucks and Sarah met us there to say bye to Josie and give her hugs and kisses.

We made it to the airport on time, Michael parked and got us all situated up to the security line, which was sweet of him. We all miss each other already. Josie decided that she was going to have a god potty training day all day! Each and every time that she had to go potty, she told me, and we went to the bathroom and she used them, even public self flushing toilets! EVEN THE ONE ON THE PLANE!!! Can I tell you how small those damned bathrooms are? OH EM GEE! There was not enough room for my 31 week pregnant belly to bend or squat down hardly with a toddler in front of the potty so that I could pull her pull up down. She hasn't gotten savvy to the pulling up and down her own pants or pullups yet. That will come soon I hope. Anyhow, we made it here. The plane landed at 6:30 Atlanta time, and Brian was at the airport to pick us up. We had about a 35 min drive to the house, chicken noodle soup was made and ready for us, with cheese bread and grapes, mmmm. Finnegan waved when we came in and flashed us a HUGE smile. It was awesome. I had to wash my hands first and Josie's because we were just at the airport all day, and where as we had washed our hands several times, it just needs to be a good habit. Finn stayed up about an hour past his bedtime to visit more. Josie said "Night" over and over again, for the first time ever. We got our jammies on when Finn did, and we were soon to go to bed after. I was delusional tired. We called Daddy to say night to him. He said that the house was too quiet. :( I told him I was sorry and that I missed him a bunch.

Good thing is though, my person's family decided to stay home for this Thanksgiving, and they said that they were hoping to come eat with Michael, so he will have some people to share Thanksgiving with. Im just sad that I wont be there to witness Michael's cooking, because truth is, he wouldn't cook if I was there, I am pretty sure about that anyhow.

Today I woke up earlier than I would have liked to, but thats just how it goes. I got to spend time with Finn before he went to daycare, which was super nice. He is such an adorable sweet boy. Today Josie and I get to just hang out and readjust to the new time of day, etc. I need a nap today, to try to recover from me waking up so early and waking up during the night etc.

Most of all I am excited to see us all be able to surprise my dad and Grandma with our visit. We are hoping for tears. We never get to spend holidays all together. I wish Michael was here so bad... He wishes he was here, that he could visit too... but we have to choose and pick how we can. I have to wait to post this, in the off chance that my dad checks this blog regularly, I don't want to spoil it. So, til tomorrow this post will remain in draft form.

Nevermind, the cat is out of the bag. My dad knows, lol. He called Shannon to talk about something and she couldn't keep herself from spilling the beans. *sigh* Oh well. We still get to be together for the rest of the week. :)

Tis the Season

I can't believe that we are already in the holiday season. One day it seems like time is passing normally, then all of a sudden there are days when I am surprised at how far away a date is, or how close a date is coming. I love the holiday season, I love a house decorated with trees, and lights and ornaments, and Christmas Villages, smells of the season like yummy things cooking, or nice woodsy smells of tree's and fires in fire places. Thanksgiving is a week away. I will be doing a bunch of cooking, and hopefully I can get some of the things done the day before, like the desserts so that those are out of the way. We were going to do something other than a Turkey, and then I was like.... but why? Turkey is good, and its traditional, and no one had an amazing idea for an alternative, so lets save the mixing it up for Christmas dinner I say, and everyone agreed. I am assuming that Michael's father will be having a meal on thanksgiving, but if we are eating at that time, then we will just have to make time to visit later in the evening. I don't think its imperative to gorge ourselves if not necessary, and anyhow I am pregnant and my digestion is so darn slow, that if i overeat, I will be in pain and need to sleep til Christmas, but wont be able to get comfortable enough to fall asleep lol.

Today I kinda got on myself about how is Josie supposed to take potty training seriously, when I am not seriously working on it with her, as in she knows that if she is wearing a pull-up that she doesn't have to go to the big girl potty every time otherwise there will be a mess. So today, we are low on Pull-Ups, and I want to save them for when she is sleeping because thats a reasonable accident time. She did pretty well. She is much more willing to use the potty when there is no pull-up as a safety net... and I am happy, that means that this is all happening at the right time. I need to just really stick with it, unless she has a major aversion to continuing potty training. We can do this!!!

On another side note, the baby... (which Michael and I have a couple of names that may be used still... it depends on what she looks like when she is born) she was kicking right behind my belly button, it was very odd feeling, but kinda neat. She even did it when Michael got home from work and he got to feel it, he swears it was her butt, but I think it was a foot or a knee. Also this is the second day where I have really noticed that I am having Braxton Hicks contractions every a couple times a day. During them, I cannot walk at my normal pace, in fact its best if I sit down and wait it out. Nothing to worry about, just one of those pregnancy things that some people have and some people don't. Its hard to fall asleep at night, because I can NOT get comfortable, then when I am asleep, anything wakes me up... so I don't get a lot of continuous sleep, but I am going to chalk it up to mother nature's way of getting you used to sleep deprivation with life with a newborn. Que cera cera though, right?

Ok, this is a late post that I am sneaking in at the end of the day... Maybe my person will enjoy reading it tomorrow, which is Thursday!!! Thursdays are my favorite days of the work week, because our favorite shows are on, and I go over to her house and we watch them together, sometimes there is coffee and treats and other times its just our good company. Either way, its our day, and I love her for wanting to share her Thursday nights with me.

Who used the big girl potty on April 30 2009?

JOSIE DID!!!!

No, I wasn't able to take a picture on the potty, the camera was downstairs, and i couldn't leave her all alone during her big achievement to grab the camera, so I took a post potty/celebratory juice/ 3 min after picture. I woke her up with kisses and noticed that her diaper was dry, so I didnt have to change it yet. I had a brilliant question, I asked her if she would like to use the big girl potty, to which she enthusiastically shook her head Yes! So I carried her into the bathroom, pulled down her jammie shorts, took off her diaper and put her on the Winnie the Pooh potty seat, and she smiled her sleepy head smile and jabbered and pointed at the toilet paper, and i told her that she could use some after she goes pee pee, and then.... *drum roll * IT HAPPENED! For the first time ever! She PEE'D IN THE POTTY!! I yelled YAY! and clapped my hands and told her how proud of her I was, and smiling from ear to ear I gave her some TP and she wiped up and threw it where it goes, and I Swooped her up in my arms and danced around the bathroom with her, bare bottom and all. 

I then put her diaper back on and jammie shorts, and was taking her downstairs with her and her "t" (blanket) and thats when she asked "aah daddy?" with her hand out conveying a question. (translation: Where's Daddy? He would be so proud too!) I said Daddy is at work, but don't you worry, Im about to text him and tell him what a big girl you are!

Kisses and Hugs for Josie! 21 months old, and she wanted to use the potty and did it!

Even if the potty training doesn't start for a while, Im happy for her and her ability to try new things. My baby girl really is having big moments continually proving to her mama, that she's becoming a big girl like her big sister Avery. :) 

Click here to hear how Josie'e mama loves her like a rock.