Happy Birthday, my Little Princess! (Part 1)

How did my first little girl go from this teeny tiny screaming, but oh so precious and cute little thing...

to this totally grown-up, talking, imaginative, smart, fun, sweet, funny, curly-headed, blonde, and still oh-so-precious 3-year-old!!?

It happened in the blink of an eye, I tell ya!  So before updating anything else, I thought it'd be most important to write about Alyssa's birthday. Oh where has the time gone??  I remember so vividly the day she was born, the following few months (and boy does looking at those pictures above bring back FLOODS of memories from those first few months of her little life... can you see the excitement, nerves, and pure joy in our eyes as parents??  So grateful we have that captured.  Thank you, Steve Fuller!!) and it seems like just yesterday was her first birthday.  Then turning 2 seemed like she was almost in college- and now 3?!!?

The day started out pretty well- besides being a tad bit grumpy when she first woke up.  Kinzley was right there to help her out though...

And of course once Kinz grabbed a present- she jumped right up!

Moment of truth... was it a good present??...

Oh yeah... Disney Princess Figurines

Princess dresses and dolls from Grandpa and Gramz Huntsman

Birthday Breakfast- special request- "white (powder sugar) donuts"!

Already sick of pictures and resorting to silly faces...

 After breakfast we got ready for the day- cute outfit, "curlies curled" and head crowned- and her perfectly genuine smile stretched across her face.

 We packed a picnic and headed to the park by Joseph's work to meet him for lunch.

 While driving to the park, I caught Alyssa in the rear-view mirror practicing holding up 3 fingers- she KNEW Joseph would ask her to show him 3... she continued practicing at the park. 

Oh my sweet Alyssa... if only she knew how much I really do love her.  I try to tell her and give her hugs and kisses galore... but it's something that runs so deep, she may never know until she has her own little girl.  

I love this next picture- that dreamy look she gets in her eye when she's with her dad.

She was beaming like this (below) ALL day.  I loved it.

And a few mushy details to remember for the future- I'll never get over her curly blonde hair.  Oh how I love it.  And her sweet little chicks that just sit so perfectly. and her eyes that tell a story every minute- you can almost see into her mind through them.  The picture below reminds me of all of those things.

And this next one- oh her sweet little hands.  I'll sure miss those in 10 years.  She is so girly and loves having those little fingernails painted as often as I'll do it.  She'd go for a new color every day, but since she knows that won't happen, she just gets a different color on every finger usually.  She puts those little fingers to worke very day lining up her toys, picking them up, packing them away, and running from Kinz.  Then unloads in her room, lines up again, and it goes on and on all day.  She holds her babies with those little hands, sometimes gets them dirty, paints and colors, helps her little sister, and gives the best "squeezes" (hugs) around my neck before she goes to bed.  Oh and when she prays- and folds those cute hands and says whatever's on her mind- my heart melts.

And last but not least- her giggle.  Her real giggle.  Not her little laugh that happens throughout the day.  The one that happens every once in a while- usually a certain dad has to be around for it to really come out.  But there's nothing like a sweet little girl giggle to make a mom smile.

 Sure love you, Alyssa Renee. Can't wait to see what your next year brings!

To be continued later with the rest of her special day...

Life Lately

Oh wow- one day soon... I'll blog more.  HA!  Or maybe not.  Life just goes by too quickly.

So the last update (for those who only know my life according to this blog) was that Alyssa was in the middle of potty training- or 3 days into it.  Well Day 3.. or maybe it was 4... was magical!  I think we started on a Wednesday and Friday we had some friends over for lunch.  Alyssa LOVES Michelle and Brynlee (Michelle is the mom, Brynlee is Kinzley's age).  So she was of course SO excited to tell Michelle about going potty... so excited in fact that she went 4 or 5 times while they were here.  Numbers 1 and 2!  And she's been doin' it ever since!  The next day, she went on the "big" potty all day and hasn't gone back since!  Actually a couple times she's used her little potty... and then laughs about it.  Anyway, that seems like it was AGES ago... but life has been great ever since!!  We LOVE only buying diapers for ONE!!! :)

The same week that Alyssa potty trained, Kinzley switched from formula to Whole Milk!!! HALLELUJAH!!!  SUCH a happy day!  We thought our budget would love it... until I lost 6 of my 7 piano students.  Total bummer.  But, such is life. (A couple weeks ago, I got one more student, so I'm slowly working back up to 7.  Slowly.)

Joseph started school again and is on a "quarter" system instead of a trimester one this year.  It is FAST paced, but he's handling it so well.  He has been so good to put the girls and I first.  He apologizes for how much he's gone- not like he can change it- but he gets a glimpse of the craziness of being home with 2 little ones all day (for the short time he's home), and he appreciates me more.  A lot more.  Especially after Sundays.  :)

The girls and I have been staying busy with preschool!  Alyssa and I do preschool a few days a week here at home and we BOTH love it.  (I might love it just a little more than she does... although she did tell my mom that she LOVES her school and it makes her SO happy.)  We focus on one letter each week, and a different theme each day.  The very first lesson we did was A is for Ant- and Alyssa STILL says, "A for Ant!" every time she sees an ant (which is pretty much every time we're outside).  She has become so much more talkative the past few months and has learned a TON.  She's more familiar with the letters and their sounds, she's a pro at counting and numbers, and she LOVES colors.  She paints almost every day and loves to color pictures.  We go on field trips on Fridays (Airport, Candy shop, Dinosaur museum...) it's been great!  It gives more purpose to our days and always helps me feel more productive.  And Alyssa loves the one-on-one time.  It'll be much easier next year when Kinzley can be more a part of things... rather than having to wait until she's asleep.

Speaking of Kinzley... she is somethin' else, that girl.  I might've been known to label her as "crazy"... just maybe.  She really is a little light in our home, though.  She definitely came pre-loaded with personality and she seems to get more and more of it every day.  She ADORES Alyssa and wants to be JUST like her.  She can't get enough of her dad.  She is ALWAYS the first to greet him when he comes home and does so with a HUGE grin, kicking legs, head on his shoulder, lots of pats, and lots of giggles.  (He melts every time.) :)  Now, the crazy part comes in.  She also enjoys pinching, and biting, and hitting, and all of those violent things kids should NOT do to other kids.  She loves the reaction... getting  a "rise", hearing a scream or "OW!".  It happens ALL DAY with Alyssa.  We have taken Alyssa to church with huge scratches on her face and arms- from her little sister, and explained to friends- it was Kinz.  Kinz is a fighter and we plan on channeling all of that energy into sports.  As long as we can steer her in the right directions, she'll do amazing things.  It's just that steering part we're having a little trouble with at the moment.  But oh how we love her.  I have a whole post in and of itself to write about her... and the little moments I've had with her.  She's taught me so much about motherhood.  She's helped me realize things I've never realized.  She's helped me learn things I may not have otherwise learned without being her mother this brief time that it's been.  I think she'll continue to teach me things as she gets older... in her own little way.  That's one of the things I love about her.  She has her own little way.  And she's not afraid to show it.

Well, I could go on and on.  I need to just be better at recording things when they happen so I don't have to catch up so much.  But for now, just know that life here in AZ is good.  It's hot.  But getting cooler.  The holidays are fast approaching and the excitement in the air is thick- almost tangible.  Alyssa talks about Christmas almost every day.  I love it.  :)  We might just break out the Christmas music soon.  We are enjoying our journey.   The ups make the downs seem so much better.  We have a lot to learn, but we're grateful for what we know.  We have seen miracles happen in our little family.  Our testimonies are growing.  Our girlies are growing.  Our love for one another is growing.  And we are grateful for it all.

Potty Trained!!

(WARNING: This post contains potty talk- words like "poop" and "pee"- and it is all for my documentation so I remember what it was like to potty train. So read at your own risk.) :)

Our summer vacations have come to an end and our last summer goal (well, MY last summer goal) was to get Alyssa potty trained. I definitely didn't want to travel with a newly potty-trained 2 year old, so I wanted to wait until we got back from Texas. She had been showing signs of being ready to potty train for a long time. We even tried it several months ago when we first got her potty. She peed in it a couple times and then asked for a diaper again- so we decided to wait. But this time I was determined to make it work. We'd talked about it SOOO much and really talked up wearing underwear, but I knew it still had to be on her terms.

So thankfully, after we got home from Texas, she seemed ready! We took Monday and Tuesday to rest, and Tuesday night I told her that tomorrow she was going to start using her potty!! She said, "I not wear diapers!" I thought, YES! She gets it- it's going to work.

Then came Wednesday morning... we both started all smiles.

She had peed in her diaper at 6:30 am, and it was FULL... but I still thought she'd be able to go. She sat for an hour at least, downing water and cereal and anything else in sight. Hours later, she wanted to get up and wear underwear... We sang songs, watched movies, and the girl would not budge. She started to pee in her undies once, then said, "Oh! I go pee!" So we'd RUN to the potty, and she'd sit for 2 seconds and say, "I can't do it." This happened a couple times... but she defintely was not letting enough out. I KNEW it was in there.

Then she went down for a nap. I did not want to put a diaper on her and I didn't want to use a pull-up either (since it's just a pink diaper to her), so I laid a towel down, and she went to sleep in her undies. Then I prayed... a lot.

(I seriously have offered more sincere prayers in the last 3 days than I have in a LONG time- that sounds terrible- but these were pretty heart-felt. I was at a complete loss of what to do.)

Joseph got home a little before 5 and tried a few things with her- mostly just "hand in warm water" which turned into both hands and both feet in luke-warm/cold water... it had no effect. Dinner was pretty lame that night, and we were all at a loss for what to do, but we knew it had to come out sometime! We did find a great YouTube video of the poop song (thanks Danelle!!!) She listened to/watched it about 20 times that night... but didn't poop.

Later that night though, our prayers were answered. It was a LONG first day, but by 8:30, I was putting her down for bed, still in undies, and with a FULL belly. As soon as I walked out of the room, she said, "Wait! I have go pee." So of course I thought it was just her little plot to get out of bed... but I let her anyway. We went into the bathroom and I got serious and said, "Alyssa, you have 10 seconds, and then we're going to bed." I counted to 10- nothing... but I could tell she was trying... so I counted one more time... and at about 3 I heard a trickle... our eyes locked... hers got bigger... mine got bigger... we were both frozen... not wanting to disrupt the stream... then FINALLY she finished and we both screamed and clapped and cheered like we've never cheered before. We hugged at least 20 times. And she FINALLY got a skittle. (Ok she got like 10- she could have had ten packages for all I cared at that point.) Oh and she hadn't let it ALL out so she went again 20 minutes later- so we called it "2 times" on day 1. :)

So we both went to bed happy- THANKFULLY! I showered at about 10 that night. And continued praying that Day 2 would go better.

DAY 2-
So Thursday wasn't much better... but it was better. She woke up at 5:30 in the morning and came into my room to tell me she was wet in her bed. Her undies were a little wet, but definitely not soaked, so I felt the towel on her bed- DRY. After sitting and waiting for about 30 minutes, she did pee on her potty. But she still needed to poop! She lasted through the rest of the morning with no accidents, complained about her tummy hurting, then she took a nap. At this point she hadn't pooped for over 24 hours, which never happens with her, (sorry for TMI), but she refused to do that on the potty. And she still wasn't quite sure about the peeing thing. So she woke up from her nap (which she stayed dry for) and while I was doing dishes I heard the bedroom door open, then close. I knew she was awake so when I went over to the door to get her, I saw that she had pooped, and let a little pee out- but still nowhere close to what I knew was in there. So I didn't make a big deal, I just cleaned it up and asked her if she needed to pee. She said she didn't, so we just continued the same routine. Movies, singing, reading, eating, drinking, and SITTING. Nothing was working. Finally that night she peed on her potty, right before her bath. And then I'm pretty sure she went again IN the bath. So Day 2- little pee in the undies, 2 times in the potty, one poop in the undies, and a little bit of pee in the undies.

Day 3-

I was feeling a little bit better after Day 2 and felt like there was a little glimmer of hope... but how in the world could I make her poop on the potty. It was better to let her run around naked (thanks, Jordan, for that tip!) because she definitely didn't want to go on herself. So I felt like at this point, her underwear were like a diaper and if I let her wear em, I thought she'd poop in 'em again. Well she woke up dry this morning, and I asked her every five minutes if she needed to go potty. She finally yelled, "NOOOO!!!" So I stopped asking. :) But at about 7:30am, she was just playing and said, "Oh! I go potty!" So we RAN into the potty, pulled her undies down, I ran out to get something, came back and she had peed!!! So that was a GREAT start to our day! Then after breakfast and getting ready, she did the exact same thing again! So I was feeling pretty good about things!! Still no poop though. Over the next few hours she complained about her tummy, and I just kept offering silent prayers that she would be able to learn and know how to do it!

We had a friend and her little girl come over for lunch (since we can't really go anywhere) and they had been here for maybe 10 minutes when Alyssa said, "Oh! I go potty!" So I ran in with her, and ran back out after she was sitting down to get something... and all the sudden she yells, "MOM! I POOP!!" I RAN back in and sure enough, she had pooped! I could not believe it. We cheered and cheered and cheered. And theeennnn.... over the course of the next 2 hours, she peed 4 TIMES and pooped 2 more times (maybe 3 more). They say things work differently for every child. Alyssa just needed an audience! (Not IN the bathroom, but at our home to help celebrate!) haha So she's on a roll now. She's taking her nap and I'm praying she remembers everything she did this morning.

I have learned so many things that you can gather from reading this entire post, but I've learned most especially that NOTHING is unimportant to the Lord. It is SO weird to pray about "peeing and pooping", but I KNOW she was able to learn in 3 days because of those prayers. Every time she pees now she says, "Jesus help me!" I have also realized once again the importance of family and friends. I got so many encouraging texts and instagram comments that gave me tons of good advice and I'm so grateful for those. I'm especially grateful for one piece of advice to "Give her lots of loves. She'll get it." I realize that in the heat of the moment it is easy to cave and get discouraged and think it'll never work, but in retrospect, it was only 3 short days and I am SO proud of her. I definitely know we have a long road ahead and possibly many accidents, but we are celebrating each little step along the way!!!

Next task:
Learn to go on the "big potty". :/ Wish us luck!!

Blogging

I have big hopes and dreams of being awesome at blogging. So far it's not quite happenin'... but one day! ;) We've had an awesome summer and as soon as I can get all my phone pics dumped onto the computer, I'll be in business. Until then, maybe our new family pics can tie you over. They won't upload onto the post- so just admire the top and bottom of the blog as well as the pics on the sidebar. :) Happy Tuesday!

Picnic at the Park

Kinz was so happy to be at the park today.

A moment

You know how I just mentioned moments? (previous post below...)

This is what I found after "Alyssa's piano lesson"- she does her lessons by herself and it is really cute! Apparently she did really well today. Oh and notice the name of the hymn. ;)



Luckily they were easily removed. :) Her cute face saves her more often than not!

Thoughts, Mothering, and More Thoughts

I've been thinking a LOT lately. If you remember this post from back in September- the one about "ME" as a mom of 2- yeah that day when I realized I'm not who I used to be. I mean I am- I'm ME- but different. Totally makes sense, right? :)

Anyway, I've had some life-changing moments this year (and it's only March!) but they seem to always come from other people who inspire me. Usually my daily talks with my mom inspire me and help me get through the tough parts of motherhood, and of course my daily complaining to Joseph who then reassures me that motherhood is a "calling" and that I'm doing great always encourage me, but one particular friend said something to me a while ago that really changed my life. And I'm so grateful for her and that moment and that she's so willing to be honest and share with me who she is.

Anyway, we had met her and her kids at the park for a fun picnic lunch (which she provided) and we enjoyed catching up on how we had been. I found out she was pregnant with her 5TH CHILD- she's amazing- and we somehow (haha) got on the topic of motherhood. I said something about being home a lot lately since the girls had been sick and then just realizing that I enjoyed being home with them- but that I sometimes felt frustrated that I couldn't do all the things I wanted to do- exercise, craft, yada yada ya... and then she said it- the sentence that changed my whole perspective. I almost started crying right there! She said, "You know, I just decided a long time ago, I'm not a runner, I'm not a crafter, I'm not an artist, I'm not any of those things. I'm a mom. One day there will be time for all of that other stuff, but now's not the time. Now, I'm a mom. It takes up 95% of my time- cooking, cleaning, picking up, dressing kids, feeding kids, driving kids around, etc. So I just accepted it! I am a mom."

OH MY GOSH! What a revelation! You're probably thinking, that's it? But YES! That's IT! I am a MOM. That is what I am right now. And today, while talking to MY mom, she put it so well when she said, "But just BEING a mom encompasses so many other things- being a mom means you are a cook, you are a baker, you are a crafter, you are a blogger, you are a piano teacher. You aren't just ONE of those things, you're ALL of those things BECAUSE you are a mom." Make sense? I love my mom. She teaches me so much. But man, oh man, did she ever mislead me on this whole motherhood thing!? haha (in a good way, Mom!) She made it look like a BREEZE! But it's actually NOT!

I've heard people say that they didn't expect certain things about what motherhood would be like- they didn't expect to lose so much sleep, they didn't expect this and that- well I didn't expect it to be so stinkin' hard! I must have been in total denial the first year and a half with Alyssa, but my eyes are WIDE open now to the stark reality that motherhood is HARD. It is. My mom made it look SO easy- but now I know all (well at least the first 2 years worth) of the joy AND heartache and loss of sleep and nerves and anxiousness and proud moments, etc. that she felt! And she did SUCH an amazing job with it all. So while motherhood is definitely hard- it is also SO rewarding. I, of course, wouldn't trade it for anything. But I feel like it took me experiencing the REALLY hard moments (or so they seemed to me) to finally get it. To get that I am a mom. That's what I am. And now that I've embraced that, and let other things that don't really matter go (like things I WANT- crafts, clothes, decorations, etc.)- I will be able to do those things ONE DAY- by then I probably won't care- haha- but right now I'm doing what is most important, and so I want to do it well.

I've found this blog to be so inspiring. I told someone about it recently and they asked, "Is it one of those blogs that just makes you feel depressed because you could never be that way?" Well I guess it could be- but it doesn't have to be! I've chosen to be INSPIRED by her rather than intimidated by her. I take what I like and I use it. And it's working so well. In no way have I perfected anything I'm doing, but I've felt like I've been able to do BETTER at what I do because I'm trying to learn. If that makes sense. Anyway-some things I've been thinking about and loving lately from Shawni-

1. Word of the Year- (Read more here) I love it! I mentioned a few posts ago that I finally came up with my "Word of the Year" for 2012- Simplify! So I was talking to my mom about this whole concept and she said, "That's one of those things that some people look at and say, 'Oh my gosh, she has a word of the year! I could never be like that!'" But seriously- it's a word. THAT'S IT! haha How easy is that?! Take a few minutes, a few days, a few weeks- just think of different words- what do you want to be a guiding theme for your year. Seriously it's SO Much less intimidating than a big long list of goals that just weigh you down. Not that goals are bad- but sometimes it's so tiring to look at my list of "goals". It's much easier to think of my one short word, and think, "What can I do to 'simplify'?" and then go from there. So those are my thoughts on that.

2. Moments- I have loved reading her posts about "moments". (Check out one of them here) She writes a lot about "moments" and I love it. It has really helped me stop, slow down, and trying to be there, in the moment, with my girls, or my husband, or my primary, or whoever I am with. It's helped me to realize how important my sweet little family is. I love that I get to spend each day with my girls. I try to notice more of the moments these days- those ones that will be gone so soon- like the moment when Alyssa hears Joseph at the door after being gone all day, or the moment when Kinzley wakes up in the morning and Alyssa gets wide eyes and whispers to me, "KINZ!!!", or the moments when Alyssa prays for, "Dad, Mom, Kinz". Those are good moments and I hope I always remember how I feel in them. There are other moments- like when we're rushing out the door and I realize both girls are poopy after putting their shoes on and getting them in carseats, and we have to un-do everything we just did- making us even more late, or moments when Kinz is screaming b/c she's hungry and teething, and Alyssa is crying b/c she's grouchy, and Joseph is at class and the sink is full of dishes, and I just want to sit down in the middle of the floor and start crying myself- yeah we have lots of those moments too. But I hope I remember them as well- because they're part of this journey and I'm sure I'll miss every moment with these sweet girls one day, so I'm working on soaking them up while they're here. ah the moments.

3. Being Enough- Read this and this. I especially love the poem from the second post- (you've gotta at least read the poem- it's hilarious.) It's so hard to feel like I'm "being enough" sometimes. Many nights I go to bed thinking of all the things I should have done differently that day- but these posts helped add some reality to my perspective.

4. Concrete Mothering- Check out this page for some awesome thoughts on mothering. I love that she is so real on her blog- life is not perfect for anyone- including her- but she makes the most of what she has, and I love that!

Anyway- mostly I just wanted to record these thoughts for my own journaling purposes so I can remember how I feel about being a mom right now. That and I also told my own mom I'd send her some of the posts I'd read and enjoyed. Hope you enjoy them too!

PS- Here was one of my favorite MOMENTS from today. :)

Happy Friday!!!