February

We have had a fun month & I have more pictures from our little weekend in Nashville.

My in laws came up for a weekend. Mo Mo reading to Ellie.

 The day before V-Day, we had friends over to decorate cookies!! Here are Baylor & Ellie decorating!

 My favorite little face~

 Baylor

 Hadley Gray

 Zachary

 Lawson

We had such a fun time!! & enjoyed eating them too!! Chad brought some surprises home the next night & cooked dinner! He is a smart man, knowing that a little blue box makes me one HAPPY girl!! I love my new Tiffany earrings :)  LOVE~

"Mommy, I poopoo my panties"

Yes, we are potty training & we were doing so well... i guess it was too good to be true :(
Ellie did so welll at the beginning. Early February, we had a couple days with a few accidents. Then we got back on track for a few days. But, on Valentine's Day she started poopooing in her panties. UGH!! What a mess! But, I took it in stride & figured it would correct itself. But, we kept having accidents that whole week. We were in Nashville the following weekend & she had a few accidents but did pretty well over all. Even though she announced to the entire jewelry store that "i poopoo my panties" Oh my~pretty funny!!
We were doing pretty good all week once we got back home. Definitely, accidents but not like she did Sunday. I think by the time she went to bed I ran a whole load of her laundry! Pee pee & poo poo in the panties excpet two times all day... Mommy was FRUSTRATED! I wondered, is she too young? Is she jsut not really ready? Do we back track? What to do?!?
I said a little prayer for patience & Monday was a much better day!! My mom reminded me she is young, 2 next week, & we will have days like those. We are still rewarding success with m&m's & suckers. Might need to try a different bribe?!?
I am interested in any suggestions or ideas you mommas may have! Hopefully, we are getting back on track!! I do notice a difference when she is tired or busy playing with friends. I am doing a better job of taking her every hour or so, but sometimes she goes twice in one hour... We are spending a lot of tme in the bathroom!!

Updates

Just a little February updating...
Ellie is going to be 2 next month!!! WOW~ All the party planing has definitely taken my mind off things ;)  We are just having small parties this year. Last year was a wear out!! We decided to have a little lunch with our families & close friends the weekend before her birthday in Nashville & on her actual birthday, we are having her JC friends over.
Ellie is still doing pretty good potty training. The last few days we have had more accidents than we ever had. I think she just gets so busy playing & forgets. 2 days in a row she had 3 accidents & then again yesterday 2 more :(  I know it is a work in progress but she overall is doing really well!!
After we were home for New Year's Week she was back & forth napping & sleeping on the floor or in her bed. Then after she spent a couple nights at my parents, she was on the floor every night for a week. I did a bad thing... let her nap on the couch or in bed with me... so we are still working on breaking that... maybe next week. The rest has been nice for me & I love the snuggle time!! But, I am happy to say she has been sleeping in her bed all night!! WHOOHOO~ She is sleeping from between 8-9 til 8-9 in the morning! Her newest trick is being able to open the door! So, her little sweet precious face is the first thing I see when i open my eyes!!!!! Love her!
My update is not the one I was hoping to give. We went to the Dr. Thursday. The bleed had gotten bigger. Baby still looks good, Praise the Lord~ heart beat was 140 & growing normally. We were not able to tell for sure if it is a boy or girl... next ultra sound scheduled for March 2nd!! I am thinking boy... what do you think?!?
I am taking it as easy as I can... no work, no lifting (except when I have to pick up Ellie), no exercise, nothing to make those uterine muscles contract ie pelvic rest :( We are praying for the bleed to be smaller in 3 weeks & for baby to still be growing on track. Pretty much, still the same story... don't know why it happened, don't know what will make it better or worse & time will tell. Dr. Drey was wonderful... he is the dr that delievered ellie. He was very thorough & talked us through it all!!Thanks for all the prayers ~ we appreciate then!!
We are having a little Valentine's cookie making party today!! Hope everyone has a very happy day tomorrow!! LOVE~

16 weeks!

It is hard to believe I am already 16 weeks along in this pregnancy!! We have a Doctor appointment Thursday & will be having another ultra sound done. My friend, Carol Ann, found out the sex at this visit... I am wondering if we will, too!?! Fingers crossed & lots of prayers being said because of the rest of the post...
At 13 weeks, we had a scare. Ellie & I were in Sevierville watching Maggie play volleyball. We had been out all day, played at the indoor water park & gone out to dinner with my family. Well, I took Ellie on to our room for bed & had talked to Chad (he was on call at the hospital). Ellen came to the room about an hour later & when I got back in bed felt a gush. Silly me, first thought 'did i just pee a little?' hmmm?!? Ellen was still in the bathroom, but I went in to check it out. Well, it was bloody fluid. I just sat there thinking... what else could this be other than amniotic fluid.?! Didn't panic right away, but text Chad & my friend Robin from work. Chad didn't respond, he was already in the OR. Robin said go to the ER, it doesn't sound good. My mom came down from her room. I went on and called my OB Drs. answering service. Dr. Arze called back & Chad still had not. So, he said sounded like I was having a miscarriage & I should come on the the ER. Since we were an hour away, I asked if it was crucial we came tonight... it was almost midnight now!? He said yes & went into this whole deal about infection, D&C, fluid & baby not growing ... I was like I know, but if we aren't going to do anything about it what is the point? But he suggested we do, so we did.
My mom, Ellen & Ann loaded up my stuff. We left Ellie sleeping with Ellen at the hotel & mom drove me to Johnson City. I finally text our friends, Lauren & Ryan, to try to get in touch with Chad. Ryan & Chad work together & he knew to call straight into the OR, & Chad called me within about 3 minutes! Thank goodness we know people around here :)!!
So, Chad met us at the hospital. We did some labs, exam, fern test, & (thank God for) ultra sound!! Well, my little eyes saw a bouncing baby right away & a heart beat... whew, Praise the Lord!! So far, so good... still not out of the woods, but feeling better we still had a prayer. Well, 3 hours later, mom had fallen asleep in the waiting room & Chad was on his 2nd cup of coffee... we were given the diagnosis of Threatened Miscarriage. There really isn't a 'reason' & that was hard for me to understand! We were sent home, on bed rest & told to go to the Dr. Monday morning...
Well, Monday FINALLY got here. Chad & I met at the Drs office. Oh, I forgot to mention Ellie just went home with my parents to Nashville. Not sure how much 'resting' you can do with a potty training almost 2 year old?!? Dr. Hallman was great. We talked, he had reviewed my hospital records. I am such a
'what if-er', instead of doing through all the possibilities... we went straight to ultra sound. Right away, baby looked good. He/She was very active with a strong 139 heart rate. The US tech is wonderful, too! She quickly found the spot. I have a 4.5cm bleed behind the placenta. Dr. said no real reason to say what caused this since I am not a smoker or did any crack that weekend!!! LOL (serioulsy he said that!) & there isn't much to say about how the rest of my pregnancy will go, excpet only that time will tell. As long as baby is growing & developing on schedule we will not worry. I am not high risk, not on bed rest because it is not shown to help. I am supposed to take it easy ie not moving furniture or cleaning out the garage (darn I sure was thinking of doing that!! ha) & I can work my weekends still. So, time will tell.... wonderful! Another not real answer but it was the best sound&sight to know that the baby was still doing ok & right on for my dates. PRAISE THE LORD, again... He is good!
Ellie came home that Tuesday... I missed her so! She went to school (PDO) with mom on Monday! She had such a great time... Ann said she had a great day & brought home her first piece of art work!! When we decided she would go to Nashville until we saw what the dr said & my mom left... I cried like i did when she left after Ellie was born. It is so wonderful to have to comfort of mom being close!! i HOPE  she knows how much she means to me & how important she is to me!! I will have to send her a note to remind her :)
I have been napping with El in the afternoons & taking it as easy as I can. We are still doing our weekly errands & playdates. I was only scheduled 2 nights in February, which is great!
We are very thankful for all the prayers~ we are blessed to have such a wonderful support system!

Potty Training

This picture was from August when she was first interested in the potty. I just think it is so cute & I have not caught a picture in action since we have been going at it more seriously.

The week of Christmas, we had a little luck with the potty. I was not really thinking she was ready, but she did go peepee & poopoo a few times during the week. She was proud of herself & got a m&m as reward! While we were in Nashville the week after, no such luck. We sould say peepee in potty or poopoo, we would run to the bathroom, but no results. One night, she said poopoo mommy. I said ok, we walked that way & she started playing with something. I figured it was another flase alarm... well, I felt terrible when she did have a dirty diaper 5 minutes later!

But, since we have been home, she has done well! We haven't had as much luck with #2. Yesterday, I put her down for a nap & a few minutes later she was crying for me. Then she called out poopoo... she had gone in the diaper. But, hey she is only 22 months (TODAY!!) & I am proud that we are on our way!

We went to the store & bought pull ups for outings. Diapers are limited to nap & bed time. My mom had given her some training panties, so we use those at home or bloomers or nothing!! She usually prefers to be naked on the bottom ~lol!! today, so far she had had 5 m's (as she calls them) all for #1.

The girl cheers for herself, likes to wipe & flush then after we wash hands we run to get a m&m!!

GO ELLIE!!!

Christmas Morning

Ho Ho came to our house! Ellie was such a good girl & he ate some of the cookies we left out!!

Here is the scene as she saw it this morning.

It was so fun to watch her expression & excitement.

 Checking out her new kitchen

 A leapfrog scribble & draw ... just like Maddie's!!

 Seeing what Ho Ho left behind!

 The kitchen was defintiely a HIT!!  A friend told me of a blog she read & decided on what Santa would do for her kids. I had already prepared his letter & everything this year but thought it was a good idea. So, at their house every year he brings each child something she needs, something she wants, something she can wear & something she can read. Well, after all that... I pretty much had it exactly~ needed the leap frog learning tool, 'wanted' the kitchen (even tough she didnt know it, but she loves her friends!), a gap outfit to wear & a mickey book to read~it was perfect & I think we will stick with this tradition!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL FOR OUR FAMILY TO YOURS~ love & happy birthday baby Jesus!!

Christmas Eve

It is finally here!! Ellie is all about "ho ho" ~ she says she wants to sit on his lap, but never did. We tried twice this year with no luck.

Chad was on call at Holston Valley. We were going to stop by for a visit but he was too busy. Ellie & I had a few plans... we ran to Target (not for last minute shopping but for these white tights!). Then we were invited to The Clark's for before church appetizers.

Ellie girl before heading to the Clark's. I love this Santa outfit my friend Allyson found for a steal!

 She loves the Nativity Scene my mom gave her. It is little people & she has played with it every day! She even says "happy birthday baby Jesus" ~ so sweet!

 After church, we went to the Hall's for a little dinner. They knew we were alone & were so kind to have us over! We are so blessed to have such good friends as the Clark's & Hall's here in Johnson City!
                                Ellie & Barrett in their church clothes~ they are such sweet friends!

 We got home & were ready for bed!! But Ellie was such a big helper to put cookies out for Santa!

 CHEESE!! She was so proud, even though I don't think she really gets it...

Hope everyone had a blessed day!!! & just a little side note for myself for the future... at church tonight, right after Communion, Ellie signed & said out loud, "all done" hahaha! It was SO funny & some of the people around us giggled. She also said "Peace' at the sign of peace & AMEN!! The girl just warms my heart every day!