Editting Boredom

I know the editting is pretty over-the-top, but I've been bored (jason's gone) and this is crazy how you can totally change a picture!
So here's to reality (super embarrassing cause this picture was taken on 2 hours sleep the night Amy went into labor):

And here's to editting and boredom:
(I always wanted blue eyes - hehe).

Sorry about the first picture...I know it's a little frightening.

Tucker Alan Hill

Sweet baby Tucker was born yesterday a little after 11:00am.
So thankful for God's little blessing and super excited to see all the plans God has in store for this little guy.
My sister did not have an easy road yesterday but did AMAZING. She is one to be admired. :)

Before Jason and I went to bed Tuesday, we randomly talked about a "plan" in case Amy went into labor that night - good timing! We went to bed around 1:30-2:00am, then the phone rings at 3:30am!
I think I was already putting my shoes on before I said "hello" I jumped up so fast, knowing what was on the other end of the line! Nathan called twice and said she's moving extremely fast so I joined in the urgency and raced out of the house, making it to the hospital in record timing.
*Jason would later tell me of how I flew out of the house and he thought "I don't even think she stopped to brush her teeth! I didn't.

I called the parentals on the way and they were taking turns showering and doing their hair! But I knew Savannah would be there to greet me in a similar manner I would be presenting - I was right. :)

So it was just us, her bother and his girlfriend for some time...waiting...at 4:00am...and we all were laughing about how ridiculous it as that everyone else was showering and getting ready when they might miss it! We concluded that them showering and all would be the joke of the day probably.

Turns out, Tucker slowed WAY DOWN when the epidural took effect and - well, the joke was on us. Yes. Everyone was dressed, rested, ready for the day, and then there was me and Sav - 7 hours later. Ha.

But it was well worth it and super exciting to be on the "waiting" end of it all!!! I'm loving the Auntie role already!!!!!

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.