Snowed in...with plenty to do.

We are ready for this snow to melt away!  We've done our best to keep ourselves busy indoors, but we are counting down the days until we can go outside and play! Gemma liked the snow the first couple of days, but just like me, she's over it. Makael didn't like it from the get go, but he's never been a fan.   We're ready for Spring!

Gemma and I have been doing a lot of baking...nothing fancy, just cookies and cakes.  Baking is not something I typically enjoy doing, but it's admittedly much more fun when you have an enthusiastic four year old helping. She has also spent lots of time painting and riding her new bike...the perks of having an unfinished basement. I had a video of her riding it, but accidentally deleted it.  I'll definitely post one later...but for now, I'm sure she would want you all to know it's a Hello Kitty bike. :)

Today was Daddy Day at preschool.  I'm not sure what all they did, and I don't know how excited David was about getting there at 8:30 in the morning on a Saturday, but it looks like she had a good time.

Makael is not at all a fan of being cooped up in the house, so we took advantage of the time stuck indoors and started potty training. I had such a hard time potty training Gemma, that I have been dreading going though it again since the day Makael was born. That might sound like an exageration, but I'm being completely sincere.  In hindsight, I started Gemma to early. I wanted her to get it so badly that I pushed her into it. She was too little, I was pregnant...lots of tears were shed by both of us (okay mainly me). Thankfully Makael has been wonderful! I had already made up my mind to wait until after baby #3 was here before even trying to potty train him, but a couple of weeks ago we were driving back from Target, and he basically told me the plot to Sandlot. I understood him perfectly, and for some reason it made me think he could probably figure out how to use the toilet too (I know, I'm not sure why I made that connection either). So...I went out and bought him some big boy undies, a bag of peanut m&ms, and started potty training. The first day was hard! He had 5 accidents before he went in the toilet. At the end of the day, the count was 8 accidents and 2 successes...and there was no evidence of anything "clicking" for him.  The next day started out hard again. I even had a conversation with my mom about it, and we both came to the conclusion that he just wasn't ready. So after a rough morning I gave up and put a diaper on him (which they say you aren't supposed to do because it confuses them). Thankfully, my stubbornness came out and I decided I was NOT going to give up so easily and that diaper came off 5 minutes after it went on. Well, Makael must have understood the conversation between my mom and I, because he sure proved us wrong that afternoon.  It was like a switch was turned on and he just figured it out.  By day three I knew he had it figured out, but it was still up to me to figure out when to take him.  By day four he was telling me when he had to go!  What is it about a kid learning how to use the toilet that is so dang exciting?! I just can't believe how easy it was! I'm so proud of him! He hadn't put down his little Buzz figurine all week, so as a reward for figuring out the toilet, I got him a Woody figurine. Is this not the sweetest little boy?

Taking a snooze with his friends. 

I've still been putting a diaper on him at night, but the last three days he has woken up dry.  Last night he even came into our bedroom at 2:00 a.m. and told me he had to go potty. What?!  I think it's safe to say we are pretty much diaper free! Until May of course...and yes, I'm still totally dreading potty training #3.  Thankfully that's still a couple years away. 

First post of 2014

So far we are off to a great start to 2014.  Besides my obnoxious cold everyone else has been healthy, and overall, it has been a relaxing month. Which is exactly what we needed after our December.

I'm planning on taking Makael in for a weight check (doctor's orders) in the next couple of weeks. I've been holding off taking him since he's been so healthy.  Knowing our track record, I'll take him in for a casual weight check and be back the following week because he's sick.  It's seems like I see the pediatrician in phases. We won't be in there for months at a time, and then boom, we are in there every other day because they decide to take turns getting sick. Inevitably it's a virus they can't do anything about, so we are sent home feeling miserable with doctor's orders to "wait it out".  Anyway...He seems to be doing really well.  I don't know if he's moving up in the weight percentages, but he seems to be getting taller and he's still as active and energetic as ever.  That boy can run, and run fast!  His current favorite thing to play is "trains".  He runs from one end of the house to the other yelling "choo-choo, pshhhhhh (steam coming out), all aboard!!".  I'm not exaggerating when I say he'll do this for 45 minutes to an hour at a time...non stop.  He'll go longer if Gemma decides to play as well.
I might be a little biased, but I think he's pretty smart. He's proven himself in the verbal department recently and I knew he knew all of his colors, but the other day he started pointing at different numbers and saying them out loud.  I'm assuming Gemma has been giving him lessons on the side, because I know for a fact I haven't been teaching him his numbers.
His newest phrases are "I promise", and "what's going on guys?" that are pretty dang adorable, and elephants (stomping elephants to be exact) are still his favorite animal.

Gemma is in an interesting phase right now...and by interesting I mean HARD. She's been testing both David and I in the parenting department.  It's emotionally draining trying to figure out how to discipline certain attitudes and behaviors, and I just hope we are moving in a positive direction.  She's a very strong willed, opinionated, and independent little girl, which are all attributes I love about her, but are currently making life somewhat challenging.
She's still loving school, and I keep getting positive feedback from her teachers, but it's been harder and harder to wake her up in the mornings to get her ready.  She's starting to like sleeping in.  I think we are getting a nice preview of her teenage years hahaha.  Once she's "awake" though, she's excited to get to school and see her friends!
Painting and playing Temple Run are her current favorite things to do.  Her cousin Caden introduced her to Temple Run, and she is GOOD!  I have yet to be able to beat her highest score.

Baby girl (still weird saying that) seems to be doing well. She's not as active as she was a few weeks ago (not necessarily a bad thing), but she's definitely getting bigger.  I'm thinking she might be my biggest baby of the three. That would be good though, I'm hoping she's at least 6.5 lbs at birth. It was a little scary having one almost drop below 5 lbs.  It's been fun (that word is relative) being pregnant for a 3rd time and being able to compare everything.  I've had one of each, and yet this time has been completely different in every way.  The only similarity I have found between my two girl pregnancies is the fact that my mood swings are more stable.  I was a hot mess with Makael.
I spent this last week going through all of my baby clothes and selling everything I could. Unfortunately, clothes don't keep as well as I thought they would in storage, and this baby is going to be born in the opposite season as Gemma, so I got rid of almost everything.  I feel like I'm almost having to start all over again. Thanks to a good friend though, she'll be well dressed this coming summer :)
The most exciting news right now is that she finally has a name! I'm only 23 weeks pregnant so this is HUGE! I find that picking a name is one of the hardest things about having a kid.  It's too much pressure and I tend to over analyze everything! But we are keeping it a secret until she's born...so please don't ask me what it is.  I'm a terrible liar when it comes to this sort of thing :)  I'll say one thing though...I think it's perfect!

Last Post of 2013

It's quarter to 11:00 p.m. and I'm fighting to stay awake until midnight.  Funny how it used to be no big deal to stay up until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.

Unlike previous years, I'm not sad to be saying goodbye to the holidays. Our month of December was a whirlwind and I'm ready to ring in the New Year and start over...with hopefully a low key January. Aside from being incredibly busy with the usual holiday festivities and parties, we've had to deal with sicknesses, cranky kids due to one too many late nights, fixing vehicles, and even ending the month with an ER trip and an emergency appendectomy (poor daddy).  Intermixed with all of that craziness we had some wonderful moments too, like finding out we're having a baby girl,  getting to tell our families that she is a "she", and celebrating Christmas with our wonderful families. We are so blessed! But yes, I'm ready for the new year. The 2014 calendar is on the wall, and there's so much to look forward to.  This time next year, we will be ringing in 2015 with 5 year old, 3 year old, and a 7 month old.  Crazy!

So about this new baby girl... she's a mover! First of all, it's a little surreal knowing she is a she. We didn't find out the sex with the other two, so I'm used to just saying "the baby" or "it" when I'm pregnant. I haven't gotten used to saying "she" and "her" yet. It's getting easier by the day though, especially with how much she lets herself be known.  She's by far the most active baby I've had.  She will kick non stop for hours at a time. She never stopped kicking during the 4 hours I was at the ER with David.  My stress level might have something to do with that, but I have to admit it was comforting to feel her while we waited to find out what was going on.
I was able to get two ultrasounds this month so I've gotten to see her twice.  I love it!  She spent the the entirety of both ultrasounds doing sit-ups...not even kidding.  Both technicians commented on how hard it was to take her measurements because she was moving so fast...which is all fine and dandy, but I hope she mellows out some before she's born hahaha. Gosh I can't wait to see her! The nursery decorating has already begun...I'm going to have fun with this one :)

Happy New Years everyone! Here's to an exciting and wonderful 2014!

Recital night

Last night was Gemma's first dance recital.  Let me just tell you, I had been looking forward to this since the idea of enrolling her in dance classes first came up. So excited!

There is currently some construction going on where she takes classes, so the Christmas recital was very low key this year.  It was just a handful of classes on her night (only the other classes that also meet on Tuesdays), we didn't have to pay for her costume, and it was free to all the guests! Nonetheless, I was excited. That's not to say she hasn't been just as excited. She's been asking me for weeks who all was going to come watch her. She woke up yesterday morning knowing it was recital day and asked me if I knew where her red tutu was, she was also very adamant about not being late for it. While she was at school I bought a few last minute things she needed, and planned the rest of the day around the recital so we would have plenty of time to get ready. She seemed a little tired after school (didn't eat much and didn't want to play very long on the jumpy toys at the mall) but she was still excited about her recital, so we just went home and had a mellow afternoon.  Getting her ready was a heck of a lot of fun!  She got her outfit on, I put her hair up, put some make-up on her, and smothered her in glitter! She looked as cute as cute can be.  Forty minutes before we had to leave, she started wining a little and saying her legs and arms hurt, then her head, and finally her stomach.  Knowing Gemma, I figured she might need to go to the bathroom (those of you who know her, know what I'm talking about). Once it was time to go she was acting pretty emotional and telling me she just wanted to go to sleep. She cried the whole way there. After we got inside and to where we were supposed to be, I took her coat off and instantly realized she was running a fever..and she was still crying.  I calmed her down enough to where she was willing to go on stage and sit down next to her friend Zoey, but unfortunately there were still 15 minutes before the recital started. My excitement had officially switched to worry and nerves. She didn't make it :(  Right before the curtain went up I heard her crying and had to go get her. We watched her classmates do their adorable dance and then headed out.  She wanted nothing to do with anything or anybody except going home.  She even declined a cookie from Santa! The car ride home was a quiet one, she slept in the back while I fought off tears from feeling disappointed and also feeling guilty I didn't realize she was sick sooner.  Oh well :(  Thankfully a dose of Tylenol broke her fever shortly after we got home, and she slept well all night long.

This morning we made a little video for everyone who came to the recital and didn't get to see her dance. We put on most of her recital costume, she made up a little dance, and then apologized for not being able to perform (totally her idea). Sweet girl! She let me know that for her next recital, we need to feel her forehead before we go, "just in case". Duly noted Gemma!

Here are some pictures I took (not the best) right after we finished getting ready and before things started going down hill...

Thanksgiving Staycation

David took a whole week off over Thanksgiving which completely put me in the "holiday mode". Sadly, today we had to go back to our regular routines. It was so much fun doing stuff with the kids, getting things done around the house, and sleeping in every day. What a treat to not have to wake up at 5:00 for my runs!! Throughout the week...

 We officially started the beginning stages of finishing off our basement. We have somewhat of a "timeline", but I'm pretty skeptical we're going to be able to follow it. As long as it's done before baby #3 arrives I'll be thrilled. Unfortunately, Makael doesn't do well at all with loud noises, so we had to leave the house any time they were working downstairs.  Looks like we will be visiting lots of friends or spending most of our days at the library in the coming months.

Gemma had her 4 year check up and we were pretty excited to find out she's in the 75th percentile for both height and weight.  I haven't been worried about her at all, but it's still a nice feeling to know your kid is healthy and growing.  Now if we could just get her little brother to jump up in the percentiles too!

We bought a mini van! It hurt a little bit I'm not going to lie, but I have to admit there are definite perks about it, and the kids love that they can open and close their doors with the press of a button. I guess I'm just officially old...or maybe just a little less cool.

Baby #3 decided to let himself/herself known! Actually, I felt the first few flutters on Gemma's birthday, but last week was the beginning of "consistent" movement and David got to feel a kick for the first time on Thanksgiving day! This kid must like special occasions. Since then, Gemma has also gotten to feel a kick...you should have seen her face light up!  Now that I can feel him/her, things are starting to feel more real, and I'm getting anxious to start on the nursery.  It's crazy how excited I am this time (about the baby, not the nursery). We won't be finding out the gender again, but I have my suspicions of what it is :)  Unlike with Gemma and Makael, we aren't having as hard of a time figuring out a name.  I think our boy name is pretty much settled on, and we have our girl name somewhat narrowed down. That's not to say we won't change our minds between now and May, but we are way ahead of the game compared to where we usually are at this point.

We of course celebrated Thanksgiving...twice.  Thursday we celebrated with the Boyd side of the family, and Friday we celebrated with the Yarbrough side.  Both days were filled with fun, food, and thanksgiving! And woulnd't you know...I didn't take any pictures.  So if any of you have some, please pass them on my way :)  Makael spent most of Thanksgiving day jabbering on about a "stomping elephant", while Gemma spent the entire day recruiting people to play with her.  Natalie, just so you know, she told me playing with the girl with the striped dress and black tights was her favorite part. So know your time with her was much appreciated :)
These are the only two pictures I took...

Natalie with Gemma's and their block creations. 

Showing his great great grandma the "stomping elephant".

 We ended the week getting the house ready for Christmas. Once David had the tree up, I of course had to do all the work. Those darn Christmas lights!! Gemma "helped" by getting all the ornaments out of the box and gently placing all them on the coffee table.  She got excited about every single ornament! She would pull it out of the box, show it to David, and go on and on about how beautiful it was.  It was a perfect afternoon. I'm looking forward to our Christmas staycation!

These pictures have nothing to do with the week, I just like them and they were on my phone too :)

One of his favorite activities.

This actually did happen last week! Not the best picture of it, but he took a pretty bad spill and hit his nose on the top wooden stair. 

I love this one of her!

Big bug's comming!

If you remember back about six months, I was concerned about the fact that Makael wasn't talking yet...thanks to his older sister who started talking at 7 months. Now I have no clue what I was so worried about.  Although he's been talking for a while, sometimes it still catches me off guard when he perfectly forms a 6-7 word sentence like, "come on mom, let's go down stairs". What's been especially fun recently is his pretend play.  A few days ago he randomly started telling us that there was a dinosaur in the house, then proceeded to run down the hall screaming.  Ummmm okay? We thought it was strange but pretty dang endearing, while Gemma just took it as her cue to join in on the "chase".  They've been running around the house together yelling "there's a dinosaur in the house" for days.

During nap time today, I helped Gemma make a party hat (I guess she hasn't quite accepted that her birthday is over).  She decorated it with a bunch of stickers, one of which was a big lady bug. When Makael woke up he quickly found the hat, saw the sticker, and immediately yelled, "big bug's coming"!  So of course Gemma joined in and they continued to chase each other around the house. That has been the ongoing game ever since.  Next time you see him you should ask him about the dinosaur and the bug, guaranteed he'll tell you all about them.  He was more than happy to tell a sweet older gentleman at the grocery store all about the dinosaur in the house.

Never say "never"

Before I had kids, I swore I would never let one of my kids have a Barney or Hello Kitty themed party. I'm not really a fan of "themed" things in general so my brain doesn't even think that way when planning parties or decorating. I was a totally dumbfounded when Gemma told me she wanted a Hello Kitty theme for her 4th birthday. Who is this girl?! I wasn't going to say no just because I don't like Hello Kitty, and admittedly, it was pretty cute to see her get so excited about planning her own party. Overall it was a success. I'm still holding on to "never" having a Barney themed party :)  Out of 11 of her friends that came, only three of them were girls.  Props to all the boys who came to her girly party! She had an absolute blast.  She couldn't ask for a better group of friends!

We had a small celebration on her actual birthday here at home...

Playing with her new appliances from Aunt Brenda.

Look at her face!!

How is she already 4?

Wearing Hello Kitty head to toe.

There are just way too many cute pictures of her birthday party so I decided to just post a link to my facebook album.  But here is a picture of Gemma with all of her friends (minus cousin Ariya).  Aren't they cute? https://www.facebook.com/audrey.y.boyd/media_set?set=a.685119898178477.1073741825.100000414194522&type=3