We have been potty training the last few weeks. It's mainly been Leah as Colin is not quite there yet as far as bladder control and understanding the concept goes. I've heard it takes longer with boys though and I'm not pushing it on him. Leah started holding it at naptime and bedtime so we started putting her on her duck potty right when she woke up in the mornings and after naptime and she did great so we started taking her every 30 minutes. She's been doing GREAT!!! Seriously the kid is a potty training machine. We went to KC and had to stop at pretty much every bathroom on 71South and I-44 between here and KC but she went dangling above gas station toilets as I held her. She still has the occasional accident and doesn't tell us yet when she needs to go but she will hold it and go in the potty so we're definitely excited about that.
It's so sweet because Colin cheers for her when she goes and is so supportive. I was afraid he would feel bad but doesn't seem to be bothered and is just very excited for "sissy". Speaking of cheering, since we cheer for Leah when she goes, she now cheers for me if she's in the bathroom with me. It's definitely hilarious to hear her say "yay mommy - you potty!".
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Fostering
We have started the process of becoming foster parents and are both nervous and excited about expanding our family. It's something we feel like God has placed on our hearts and that He is leading us in this direction so we're following. We are at the very beginning of the process and have just had our first home visit (which we passed woo hoo!). We have to go get finger printed and await the results which take 6-8 weeks, take 27 hours of training, and have a minimum of 3 additional home visits. We are only going to foster ages 2 or younger. It is so funny because we totally thought we were done having children and that our family was complete so we gave away and sold through garage sales most of our baby gear so we'll be starting from scratch when we had both boy and girl stuff covered :-).
I know it will be hard which is what most people say when we tell them but if it's hard on us that's ok because our hope is that we can make it easier on a child. After having Colin and Leah it absolutely breaks my heart to think that there are children out there without homes living in shelters because there are not enough foster homes.
Excited to see what God has in store for us. Every time I start to doubt our decision, something happens to make me remember why we're doing it. I know it's going to be tough but definitely praying for strength from God and looking forward to expanding our family even if it is temporarily. We defintiely love kids so the more the merrier!
I know it will be hard which is what most people say when we tell them but if it's hard on us that's ok because our hope is that we can make it easier on a child. After having Colin and Leah it absolutely breaks my heart to think that there are children out there without homes living in shelters because there are not enough foster homes.
Excited to see what God has in store for us. Every time I start to doubt our decision, something happens to make me remember why we're doing it. I know it's going to be tough but definitely praying for strength from God and looking forward to expanding our family even if it is temporarily. We defintiely love kids so the more the merrier!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Sweet Stories
I've been terrible about blogging but there are two stories about my sweet kids that I want to make sure I write down and never forget. They are just so precious.
Leah's Story
It's been a few months now but Leah was watching "Mack My", which means Mickey Mouse (they started calling him this when they first started talking and she still refers to him as this which I think is adorable). Anyway, in the episode Pluto was sad because Clara Bell got a new puppy and Mickey was paying all of his attention to the new pup so Pluto walked out of the clubhouse with his tail between his legs sad. Leah runs over to me saying "uh oh, uh oh, uh oh". I have no idea what's wrong and then she starts say Pluto and starts crying. It was so sweet and so precious because she was being so empathetic to Pluto's feelings and saw that he was sad. Such a sweetheart. I picked her up and told her Pluto was okay and comforted her and then sure enough Pluto was happy again by the end of the show and so was she :).
Colin's Story
This one I was not present for but my told me that yesterday they were watching Toy Story 1 which is their new favorite movie and the part where Buzz realizes he's a toy was going on and Colin said "Buzz sad?" to my mom. Well I guess she explained to him that Buzz was sad but it was okay and that he found out he was a toy etc in the best way to explain to a 2 year old. Anyway, Colin got down off of her lap and ran to get his "night night" which is his blanket and his most favorite "lovey". Then he proceeded to try to give it to Buzz on the tv saying Buzz needs night night. So precious!
I absolutely love that they have such sweet hearts and are so compassionate at such a young age.
Another cute thing since I'm catching up. After we lay them down at night now, Leah more times than not is crawling into Colin's bed and falls asleep in there with him. It's so adorable. Night before last they both got their pillows and blankets and laid down on the floor together and had a little campout in their room. Now they can definitely get into little scuffles but it's precious how much they love each other :).
Leah's Story
It's been a few months now but Leah was watching "Mack My", which means Mickey Mouse (they started calling him this when they first started talking and she still refers to him as this which I think is adorable). Anyway, in the episode Pluto was sad because Clara Bell got a new puppy and Mickey was paying all of his attention to the new pup so Pluto walked out of the clubhouse with his tail between his legs sad. Leah runs over to me saying "uh oh, uh oh, uh oh". I have no idea what's wrong and then she starts say Pluto and starts crying. It was so sweet and so precious because she was being so empathetic to Pluto's feelings and saw that he was sad. Such a sweetheart. I picked her up and told her Pluto was okay and comforted her and then sure enough Pluto was happy again by the end of the show and so was she :).
Colin's Story
This one I was not present for but my told me that yesterday they were watching Toy Story 1 which is their new favorite movie and the part where Buzz realizes he's a toy was going on and Colin said "Buzz sad?" to my mom. Well I guess she explained to him that Buzz was sad but it was okay and that he found out he was a toy etc in the best way to explain to a 2 year old. Anyway, Colin got down off of her lap and ran to get his "night night" which is his blanket and his most favorite "lovey". Then he proceeded to try to give it to Buzz on the tv saying Buzz needs night night. So precious!
I absolutely love that they have such sweet hearts and are so compassionate at such a young age.
Another cute thing since I'm catching up. After we lay them down at night now, Leah more times than not is crawling into Colin's bed and falls asleep in there with him. It's so adorable. Night before last they both got their pillows and blankets and laid down on the floor together and had a little campout in their room. Now they can definitely get into little scuffles but it's precious how much they love each other :).
Saturday, March 26, 2011
1 Year Pictures
A few pics from our 1 year photo session. We went with a grey and yellow theme for family pics :).
Big smiles for the birthday girl!
His model pose
Such a precious lil girl
Our sweet boy
Been a long time...
Wow, so it's been 2 months since I last posted anything. Crazy how time flies...Well, made it through the blizzard of 2011 in Tulsa. Brad and I were home for 4 days. I was able to work, he went in for like a few hours on Friday and Saturday but the roads were pretty much impassible for 3 days and still bad that 4th day. Tulsa does not see weather like this...at least not until we moved here. Since we moved 2 years ago, we've had 2 blizzards and each year I have wished for snow because I LOVE the snow and knew that would be one thing I would miss from KC. Well, God sure listened when I prayed for snow and we ended up with 2 blizzards :). I didn't mind it at all though because I got to work from home and stay in with the family for almost a week and you just can't beat that.
The kiddos have been through a bout of sicknesses. Colin had strep which was awful for him. Leah was just finishing antibiotics from an ear infection so thankfully she did not get it from him. We went to KC and they caught an upper respiratory virus that we've been battling for two weeks now. We've had to do breathing treatments for Leah for a week and Colin was just a few days. Colin's pretty much over it but Leah's still fighting her cough and congestion, poor girl.
Had a blast in KC as always. It had been since last fall since we'd been there so it was really great to see everyone again and visit our old church. It's crazy how much things change but still stay the same. Picked right up where we left off with best friends and had a really great time. We both took off Friday and came down Thursday night which was great. Brad definitely misses it up there a lot and I do too but not as much since I love being down here with my mom and family. We are definitely going to have to make more trips up now that it's nice out, no more blizzards to worry about, holidays and the twins' 1st birthday are over, etc. Colin and Leah actually did great on the trip too. Made it in 4 1/2 hours on the way back with the twins napping most of the time and only stopping twice.
So updates on the kiddos...they are both talking a lot more especially Colin. He also knows when he's doing something he shouldn't be (like climb on the back of the couch and stand up...yeah he's all boy) and says "no no no no" letting you know that he knows I guess! Leah is talking too and just getting so big. They like to say dog/gog, out, uck, num num, yes, no, hi, and bye. It's so much fun with them talking and trying to communicate. I'm absolutely loving it and am so excited for them to learn more!
They both love to put the shaped blocks in the bucket and are doing great getting them in the right slots!
Seriously a lot of snow. We had plenty of food, no loss of power, and didn't have to go anywhere so I was loving it :).
The kiddos have been through a bout of sicknesses. Colin had strep which was awful for him. Leah was just finishing antibiotics from an ear infection so thankfully she did not get it from him. We went to KC and they caught an upper respiratory virus that we've been battling for two weeks now. We've had to do breathing treatments for Leah for a week and Colin was just a few days. Colin's pretty much over it but Leah's still fighting her cough and congestion, poor girl.
Had a blast in KC as always. It had been since last fall since we'd been there so it was really great to see everyone again and visit our old church. It's crazy how much things change but still stay the same. Picked right up where we left off with best friends and had a really great time. We both took off Friday and came down Thursday night which was great. Brad definitely misses it up there a lot and I do too but not as much since I love being down here with my mom and family. We are definitely going to have to make more trips up now that it's nice out, no more blizzards to worry about, holidays and the twins' 1st birthday are over, etc. Colin and Leah actually did great on the trip too. Made it in 4 1/2 hours on the way back with the twins napping most of the time and only stopping twice.
So updates on the kiddos...they are both talking a lot more especially Colin. He also knows when he's doing something he shouldn't be (like climb on the back of the couch and stand up...yeah he's all boy) and says "no no no no" letting you know that he knows I guess! Leah is talking too and just getting so big. They like to say dog/gog, out, uck, num num, yes, no, hi, and bye. It's so much fun with them talking and trying to communicate. I'm absolutely loving it and am so excited for them to learn more!
That's my pink pony, Colin!
With Kansas Grandma Patti and Logan
Love wearing Daddy's hat
They both love to put the shaped blocks in the bucket and are doing great getting them in the right slots!
Seriously a lot of snow. We had plenty of food, no loss of power, and didn't have to go anywhere so I was loving it :).
Came home last week to everyone taking a nap. So cute!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Colin & Leah's 1st Birthday - The Twins Winter ONEderland!!!!!
Well after months of planning (literally I started jotting down ideas and looking online right after Halloween), Colin and Leah's first birthday was definitely a HUGE success :). There was lots of eye rolling by my adorable husband at my obsessive compulsiveness over the streamer wall and, well, every other little detail but he did admit today, after their party, that he was glad we did everything we did and that it turned out pretty awesome.
We went with a "Winter ONEderland" theme which was awesome for all the after Christmas sales. We also made their birthday banner which I decided we were doing after looking on Etsy and then finding a how-to on making them.
The twins had a blast opening presents although Colin tried to escape the living room altogether a few times :)
The grand finale....the cake smash session!!! Their cakes were so beautiful (thank you Merritt's!) and I just loved their little smash cakes. They of course had such a great time diving in. Leah actually stuck her face down in the cake at one point and was also trying to sniff it, like up her nose. Colin somehow made an icing beard on his face and looked like a baby Santa which was too cute.
Definitely have to say a big THANK YOU to Brad of course for putting up with my craziness over having the perfect 1st birthday party for them and staying up late and getting up early with me to finish everything. Also, to my mom who made the adorable treat bags (all 30 of them), helped decorate, and got up early to do all of the running we had to do the morning of their party. Thank you to my sister, Bridget, who helped the morning of the party watching the twins, sewed my dress up (how did I not notice that spot that was torn when I tried it on?), ran to get ice for us, took all of the pictures, and was my right hand gal during the party :). Last, but not least, thanks to my Aunt Peggy who also helped to decorate the house and treat bags, and serve the beautiful birthday cake so we could watch our babies eat their smash cakes. THANK YOU and LOVE you all SO MUCH!
We went with a "Winter ONEderland" theme which was awesome for all the after Christmas sales. We also made their birthday banner which I decided we were doing after looking on Etsy and then finding a how-to on making them.
We made it with 8 inch letters and the ones on Etsy with 5" letters for this banner were like $50. I definitely did not spend that making ours and it was fun to pick out the backgrounds for the letters. Yes, I'm kind of a control freak especially about minor details such as the giant birthday banner ;).
We also had a hot chocolate bar with "melted snow" (white hot chocolate), peppermint chips, mini chocolate chips, marshmallow, and whipped cream garnishes, "snowballs" (cake balls), and "icebergs" (oreo balls).
Oh the infamous streamer wall. My plan was to make the wall behind the twins' highchairs filled with streamers for the background of their smash cake session. After 3 hours, 2 rolls of tape, and 10 rolls of streamers, we pretty much had it. Brad asked me if I was done beating the dead horse at 10:00pm the night before their party as I'm continuing to tape up streamers, but I was pretty darned happy with how it turned out.
Colin & Leah before their smash cake session. This was the only pic of them both smiling with their party hats on! My sister, Bridget, snapped it just in time!
The twins had a blast opening presents although Colin tried to escape the living room altogether a few times :)
The grand finale....the cake smash session!!! Their cakes were so beautiful (thank you Merritt's!) and I just loved their little smash cakes. They of course had such a great time diving in. Leah actually stuck her face down in the cake at one point and was also trying to sniff it, like up her nose. Colin somehow made an icing beard on his face and looked like a baby Santa which was too cute.Such pretty cakes I actually didn't want to cut their big cake hehe :)
The icing beard...
I love my birthday cake!
Definitely have to say a big THANK YOU to Brad of course for putting up with my craziness over having the perfect 1st birthday party for them and staying up late and getting up early with me to finish everything. Also, to my mom who made the adorable treat bags (all 30 of them), helped decorate, and got up early to do all of the running we had to do the morning of their party. Thank you to my sister, Bridget, who helped the morning of the party watching the twins, sewed my dress up (how did I not notice that spot that was torn when I tried it on?), ran to get ice for us, took all of the pictures, and was my right hand gal during the party :). Last, but not least, thanks to my Aunt Peggy who also helped to decorate the house and treat bags, and serve the beautiful birthday cake so we could watch our babies eat their smash cakes. THANK YOU and LOVE you all SO MUCH!
Christmas
Christmas was a blast this year. With the twins being old enough to actually kind of open presents and play with toys, it was such a fun time. We did, unfortunately, have a few...."incidents" of sorts.
Christmas Eve Eve, Brad was holding Leah on the fireplace and she decided to pull at the stockings and pulled a stocking hanger right on her little noggin. At first we weren't sure if it hit her or not because of the delayed reaction but the tears came and so did a giant bump. I was freaking out a little, okay a lot actually, and decided we would all make a trip to the pediatric urgent care. After we got there, Colin peed out of the leg of his diaper and all over high pj's which they were already in. Guess what? Yeah no boy change of clothes. We had one pair of pink leggings and a pair of purple socks. So our little guy was in pink leggings, purple socks, and a blue and brown striped fleece jacket. Let me tell you, he rocked those leggings ;). Leah was fine and the bump was actually about half its size once we got to the urgent care and she acted as though nothing was wrong. They basically said she was fine and to just keep an eye on her over the next 48 hours.
Christmas Eve we were at my parents' house and it was getting kind of late and about time to head home. Just as I was going over to get Colin he fell into a low window sill...and bled and bled and bled. Okay I was pretty freaked out over Leah's bump but seeing this much blood come out of my little baby boy, I was mega freaking out. I seriously cannot believe that much blood can come out of one mouth. Once we saw it was from a one big gash on the inside of his lip and 3 small ones from his teeth, we called the urgent cares which were closed and the ER to find out if they'd stitch it. Thank goodness for my dad, the voice of reason, during all of this who suggested we call first because he did not believe they would stitch the inside of his mouth. Well, he was right. The ER called our pediatrician's husband (they own the practice together) and he said if it was the inside, no stitches, but if it had gone through they would. So our poor baby has scar tissue and a small bump on his lip :-(. This is one cautious mama around window sills now.
Christmas itself was great. The twins loved opening presents and Brad and I had a blast watching them. This was actually the first year too that I wasn't really sad the day after Christmas. I absolutely LOVE Christmastime so usually I'm a little bummed when it's all over and kind of wean myself off of the Christmas music but this year I was so excited for the twins' first birthday that I really didn't mind it being over.
Christmas Eve Eve, Brad was holding Leah on the fireplace and she decided to pull at the stockings and pulled a stocking hanger right on her little noggin. At first we weren't sure if it hit her or not because of the delayed reaction but the tears came and so did a giant bump. I was freaking out a little, okay a lot actually, and decided we would all make a trip to the pediatric urgent care. After we got there, Colin peed out of the leg of his diaper and all over high pj's which they were already in. Guess what? Yeah no boy change of clothes. We had one pair of pink leggings and a pair of purple socks. So our little guy was in pink leggings, purple socks, and a blue and brown striped fleece jacket. Let me tell you, he rocked those leggings ;). Leah was fine and the bump was actually about half its size once we got to the urgent care and she acted as though nothing was wrong. They basically said she was fine and to just keep an eye on her over the next 48 hours.
Christmas Eve we were at my parents' house and it was getting kind of late and about time to head home. Just as I was going over to get Colin he fell into a low window sill...and bled and bled and bled. Okay I was pretty freaked out over Leah's bump but seeing this much blood come out of my little baby boy, I was mega freaking out. I seriously cannot believe that much blood can come out of one mouth. Once we saw it was from a one big gash on the inside of his lip and 3 small ones from his teeth, we called the urgent cares which were closed and the ER to find out if they'd stitch it. Thank goodness for my dad, the voice of reason, during all of this who suggested we call first because he did not believe they would stitch the inside of his mouth. Well, he was right. The ER called our pediatrician's husband (they own the practice together) and he said if it was the inside, no stitches, but if it had gone through they would. So our poor baby has scar tissue and a small bump on his lip :-(. This is one cautious mama around window sills now.
Christmas itself was great. The twins loved opening presents and Brad and I had a blast watching them. This was actually the first year too that I wasn't really sad the day after Christmas. I absolutely LOVE Christmastime so usually I'm a little bummed when it's all over and kind of wean myself off of the Christmas music but this year I was so excited for the twins' first birthday that I really didn't mind it being over.
Looking at Grandma's Dancing Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys
What are these things doing?
My goofy kiddos on Christmas Eve (pre-lip injury)
Christmas Day - We loooove our new Disney sofas!
It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sofa!
Dad with the kiddos
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