The Potty

Apparently it's that time.
Yall know that I am usually behind on transitions with the kids because (a) I don't like them and (b) we have had great success thus far with letting them take the lead and show interest.

Enter the Big Potty.

one night at Community Group a few weeks ago, one of the little girls ran upstairs and exclaimed that Lincoln was in the bathroom and had take his pants and diaper off and was trying to use the toilet. I ran down to find exactly what she described, and proceeded to set him on the toilet and let him do his thing. Then when he was done he goes "I wanna wash hands."

Okay.

Funny thing is we've never worked with him on this.

Since then, he randomly tells us he needs to pee-pee, and when he does, we do the same setting-him-on-the-toilet(mind you, backwards) routine. We don't do it every time, just when he asks so far. I call this the "introduction phase".

Now, when he went to stay with his g=parents last week, God bless them, they kept with it! They even bought him a training potty that sings to him when he succeeds.

This week, we've added something: rewards. :)

But Lincoln's easy...he gets a stamp on his hand when he uses the potty and you'd think we gave him a hundred dollar bill.

Sunday, he pooped in the potty for the first time! Then later on that day, I could tell he was doing #2 in his diaper, then he caught himself and yelled "Mommy!! I got to potty!!" So I sat him on the potty and he finished his stuff! He got double stamps for that.

Anyway - that's where we're at. I haven't read a darn thing on potty training yet so we could be completely going about it the wrong way...who knows.

I'd love to hear your stories of what worked for you. (well, your kids). :)

10 Months

Mr. Noah Jackson is 10 months old today!!! I forgot how FUN this stage is! This little tiny man has really come to life in the past few weeks.
Though he is not walking yet, he pulls up on everything and can stand independently for sometime now. He can almost stand up independently...but not quite there yet. Lincoln loves getting Noah's hand and making one of us get the other so we can "walk" Noah. Most of the time, Noah likes this, too. (Most of the time - ha).
Noah still loves your undivided attention and to be held, but you can find him more and more playing contently by himself in the toy room, or climbing in and out of toy boxes around the house.

Noah and Lincoln seem to play more and more each month. This past week or so, they've really interacted more than usual. Lincoln found out Noah loves playing ball, too...and that Noah can even catch!

Noah's still a good sleeper. He takes a few naps a day, and wakes up around 8:00. He is till on formula in bottles every 3-4 hours. He doesn't eat baby food anymore. He has no teeth still, but the boy can EAT (or gum, I guess). He loves everything, too...literally. I haven't found anything he doesn't like yet.

He messes around with Lincoln's sippy cup, but we haven't really got him started on this yet.

Noah had his first overnight outing with us this past week. One night he stayed with Mimi and Papa and then he went with Gran-Gran and Poppa for 4 nights after that! They all said he did great.

And thank goodness we're still not experiencing the attachment issues at church. Man that would be nice to skip that phase. :)

Overall, this little guy's been a pretty easy-going baby. I can't believe it's almost in that acceptable-party-planning range where we start getting ready for his 1-year birthday.

Just Plain Bored

What do you do when you're bored, waiting for the kids to wake up so you can go visit your sister/mother and go to the basketball game? Write a blog. Um, except I can't think of anything to say. So I apologize in advance because I know it probably gets old just looking at pictures, but I'm a little too giddy about my new camera right now.
So have a fantastic weekend...enjoy this first week of December...and Go Tigers (we're playing for third today).

My Latest Love

So I did it...I got the camera. And though I'm completely lost on how to use it at the moment, I've been having fun trying/reading/figuring it out.
The likely first subject of my training?
Bruce Wayne.
But then the kids woke up and the fun has begun. :)
I am in love.

Special Day

For many reasons, today is special. The obvious, that I turned 29 (not so special number but oh well!) and have been blessed to be raised in a home by loving parents who have continually shown me the way of Christ. In my 29 years, I've come to know just how rare this is...and even rarer that they are still happily married.
So thank you, Mom & Dad for demonstrating true commitment to each other, your children, and your relationship with the Lord.
I was watching. :)

SECONDLY, I get to see my precious kids tonight!!!!! They've had a past 4 days of just down-right being spoiled the good ole way in which grandparents are suppose to and I am so thankful they carved out this time, devoting it to loving on Noah and Lincoln. From all I can gather, they're gonna be sad to leave!

Jason and I celebrated all afternoon/night yesterday and that time was seriously PRICELESS...I loved every second of it. It was so nice to go out, Christmas shop for the boys, and not have to worry about rushing home to relieve the babysitter! Oh - and I got another necklace out of the deal :) I say "Another" cause I got one last year, too - I'm liking this tradition!

So how am I celebrating tonight?
Bethany and I are going out to eat before....
Basketball, of course. :)

Go Tigers.

He's Coming!!!

The doctor said today that she might not make it to her next appointment...that baby Tucker is DEFINITELY on his way!!!!!!!
I can't believe I'm about to be an Aunt!
And my best friend in the entire world is about to be a mother...
Now - Baby Tucker - if you'd like to make your entrance on Thursday, we can share a special day and you can bet your aunt Melissa will spoil the life out of you (okay - I'll do it anyway, even if you're not born on my birthday!)
Super excited.

Getting Renewed

These precious things:

Have gone to spend the week in Crossett with these wonderful grandparents:
Leaving mommy and daddy to a QUIET house. Yes, I was sad to send them off, but feel blessed that Gran-gran and Poppa don't live too far away and they can enjoy them for a week! (and that they are happily willing to take on the challenge!!!).

So today, I woke up restful...but quickly made myself "busy" around the house cleaning, laundry, taking out trash, etc...

And ironically, the whole time, I had popped on a Mark Driscoll sermon (which happened to be his Mary/Martha sermon) and became highly convicted while brushing/scrubbing/folding/cleaning that I needed to write "Martha" on a nametag and stick it right in the middle of y dirtied t-shirt. Yes. And, as he discussed, while Martha is not bad, I needed to be Mary first.

So I stopped, got my Mary on, and now I'm back to my day feeling fully refreshed. :)

So far on the kid-less week list???

1. Clean the house (check)
2. Watch basketball tonight with Bethany (kid-free!!!!!)
3. Get the Lincoln tagged/insured
4. Christmas shop with Jason tomorrow night
5. Go on a dinner date with Jason Wednesday night
6. Go ice-skating at the new outdoor rink with Jason (his request actually!)
7. Lunch with my neighbor tomorrow
8. Sleep in a bit more
9. Bible study Wednesday
10. Grocery shopping without kids
11. Help my little sis continue to get ready for baby Tucker's arrival!
12. Watch a movie with Jason
13. Celebrate my 29th birthday this week!
14. Oh - and of course call to check up on the darlings :)