Good and Bad...

Well, I'll start with the good! As I said in my last post, Josh had to go to court against some previous renters. They were originally trying to fight the case. Well, when he got there the clerk said that they were required to sit and talk together and try to come to an agreement before going before the judge. So they went into a room, and the guy just admitted he owes us money! So they came to an agreement to pay us monthly until the debt is cleared! So that turned out really awesome! I guess the guy realized that he didn't really have a case, and would rather pay us monthly then to have it garnished from his wages. So anyways, they signed a legal document saying how much he owes and how much he's supposed to pay every month, so it was worth it to have something in writing with a judge's signature on it!

The bad news...I failed my gestational diabetes test. Which does suck, but I've come to grips with it! It's hard doing a strict diet when your body craves all kinds of foods, but I think the hardest part to me is having to check your blood sugar like 5 times a day! Your fingers get so sore! But being made to do a diet was really good with my last two babies because I hardly gained any weight at all during my last trimester. With this baby, I'm already over the 30 lb mark! Yikes! So I think it will be good! And I would much rather adhere to a diet than to have a 10 lb+ baby! So it'll be ok, and I'm really in the last stretch of pregnancy so I know I'll survive!

Just an update!

Well, things are moving so quickly these last couple of months of pregnancy! I feel like I still have so much to do to get ready, but the days are just speeding by! Josh is building a big boy bed for Elijah, so that's a major priority! I want to get him settled and sleeping well before the baby comes. So we are working on that!

I had my 3 hr sugar test yesterday. I failed the first one, so you have to go back and do a longer test. I had to be at the hospital at 7:30, and I didn't leave until close to 12! That was a long morning. Still waiting to hear back from the doctor for the results!

I think Elijah is pretty much fully potty trained now!!! Praise the Lord! We've gone a whole week now with absolutely no accidents! We have still been putting a diaper on him for bedtime and naptimes, but he's also been waking up dry! This is a major accomplishment for me as a mother! I really think I have been worrying and dreading over this time since he was first born! :) And it really is incredible how far diapers go now only having one in them!

I think I decided to write today to avoid being nervous. Josh had to go to court today, and I'm anxiously awaiting his call to see how it went. We have a rental house in Valdosta, and our previous renters left the house very much damaged, and also left without paying us ALOT of back rent. So Josh decided to take out a judgement against them. Not really for the money's sake, but to show them that you have responsibilites! Anyways, the guy is fighting him on it! Hopefully, the guy doesn't even show up! Or the judge is understanding. I'll let you know how it goes!

So exciting!!!

This is probably not as exciting to anyone but me and Josh, but Elijah FINALLY pooped in the potty tonight!!! I can't even begin to express how proud and just utterly happy I was! This is seriously probably only really great for me, because I was the one having to clean up accidents! And I seriously want to cry every time it happens; it's that disgusting!

I used to watch "Jon and Kate plus 8" and I remember a specific episode where some of the kids had pooped in the potty, and she took a picture of the poop with the kid sitting beside it. haha..At the time, I thought, that's kinda gross. But you know, I seriously wanted to take a picture! I just wanted the whole world to know!

Something new...

For a long time now, I've really felt like something new is about to happen in our lives. Of course, most of you would say.."Um, yeah, a new baby!" But it's really been different from that. Like God has been slowly preparing my heart for a big change. The problem is that I have NO idea what this could entail. And this is a problem because I'm a huge planner. I like to know what's going to happen, and when things change it takes me a while to adjust. Josh is totally the opposite. He would fly to Austrailia tomorrow if something came up and he needed to do that. So, he's been rubbing off on me for the last 8 years or so. And it's not AS hard for me to be spontaneous as it used to be.

But, like I said, it's almost like God is slowly preparing me for this change. And right now, I'm sooo ready! I'm to the point now where I feel like "ok, bring it on!" And this is seriously a very new place for me!

The only hard part now is...the waiting! I'm trying to be as patient as possible, but that's also one of my faults. So in all of this, God is teaching me to be spontaneous, but to be patient at the same time. And wow, I am struggling.

Josh and I went up to be prayed for last week, and the people who prayed really hit some things dead on. They said while we were in this place of waiting, we really needed to get into the Word, which we had both been feeling. So we started a new "read through the Bible" plan together, and it's been really good for me! We have been reading seperately and then coming together at night to talk about it. I not only feel closer to God, but to Josh as well. So I'm really enjoying it!

Anyways, I really just needed to get that off my chest. :) And hopefully, this big change will come soon! Who knows, maybe it's just a change that needs to be made in us. We'll see!

It seems like I can't get this blogging thing down. I think about blogging, but when I actually sit down to do anything I almost always end up going to check on my kids because one of them is screaming! It's constant. They fight a lot! Hannah is definitely an instigator and she knows how to pester Elijah, and Elijah is just a big tattle tale. Some days it's really quite exhausting! But then they have moments like this:

And it really makes my heart melt! They really do love one another, and they also play A LOT! They entertain one another, and many times throughout the day I hear them laughing at each other! Like really rolling on the floor laughing- it's so cute! Must be their inside jokes or something. So I guess I'll just have to take the bad with the good!

In other news, we had a pretty good week down at the river for the fourth. We were only going to stay a few days, but because of some different circumstances, the babies and I ended up staying all week. Josh came home to get some work done, and then rejoined us again at the end of the week. Overall, it was a pretty good week. We had some ups and downs with a few people at the beginning of the week, but after they left it was really great. Very relaxing, and just good to be away from home. Josh's older brother Chris and his family came down from Nashville, TN the next weekend and it was good to see them. Elijah and Hannah were kinda old enough this year to be able to play with their youngest, Winston, so that was fun to watch! Here's a picture of them:

I also had another ultrasound yesterday, and they said everything looked really good. My amniotic fluid had increased to a very normal amount, so I was very happy to hear that! You don't realize how much you are stressing about something on the inside, until something happens to release it. And as soon as she said the numbers, something fell off. I'm definitely still struggling with not worrying. I know Jesus died for all diseases/sickness to be under His authority and ours too, but sometimes it's hard to apply. I'm working on it, though! How differently we could all live if we really took that to heart! I really want to live in that kind of victory!

Josh's work has been really slow lately, too, but God is definitely taking care of us. And we're learning how to be good stewards with our money for sure! This week was exceptionally slow, so he's taking time to work on the rental house we own in Valdosta. It needed a lot of work after some renters moved out, so it'll be good when that's all finished. That way we can either try to sell it or just rent it again, and that will be some sort of income coming in!

Here at the house, I am still working with Elijah and potty training. I always knew it would be hard, but the emotions that come with it are so extreme. I mean dancing for joy when he goes in the potty, and then wanting to just bawl and scream when it doesn't seem like he's getting it! But we are making progress! The last few days he has been wearing underwear, and has had NO pee-pee accidents. We comes and tells me when he has to pee pee too! So I'm really proud of him. Now I just have to figure out how to get him to do Number 2 in the potty. Should be interesting! Sorry for all the potty talk, but that's one of the big issues in my life right now! :)

Anyways, that's about it for now! And I'm in need of a shower, so I'll blog again later!

Too long!

Gosh, I just realized that I haven't written on here in almost a month! Seems crazy, because that means a WHOLE month has slipped away already. Lately I've felt time just flying by, and there's no slowing it down!

I'll try to update as much as I can. Not all the much really goes on around here during the day. My days are pretty much exactly the same. We eat breakfast, the babies play and I usually take a shower, we eat lunch, Naptime (which I usually partake in these days), more playing, and then time for supper and bedtime. We break up the monotomy with visits to family/friends, library visits, doctor visits, and grocery store visits! haha :) What an exciting life you lead when you have toddlers! :)

Usually I don't mind in the least, but lately I've been feeling weird. A little on the worthless side. Like, is this all my life is? Changing diapers and making meals? Because it really feels like these two things take up about 75% of my time! Just being honest! And sometimes I struggle with the fact that I'm staying home, and not helping bring in any money. I think this is really all stemming from the fact that Josh's work has been really slow lately, and we've been tight on money because of it. I know God is taking care of us, but it's really, really hard sometimes to trust when you have a house payment staring you in the face! And I feel like I can't even contribute anything!

I also know that my time with my two babies is precious, and if I had to go back to work, I would seriously hate being away from them. They do such amazing things every day, and I couldn't imagine not being able to be a part of that! And I know that this feeling of worthlessness is really just a lie straight from the devil! I think this is why I haven't blogged in a while. Just trying to deal with a lot of different emotions. And being pregnant definitely doesn't help the plethora of emotions!

In other news, we are slowing going about potty training with Elijah. Every time I change his diaper, I take him to the potty. And just various times during the day. And he always pees, even if it is just a little bit! But this is progress to me!! We haven't been pushing it real hard because we've been going out of town a lot for the summer. But as soon as it calms down around here, I'm gonna move to my new next step. Underwear! Does anyone have any suggestions on any? People have told me about some types that make them feel wet, but don't make as much mess. I've done a little research online, but I haven't decided on anything.

I also went to the specialist doctor today and had an ultrasound. He said that the amniotic fluid around the baby is a little low. Still in the normal range, but just on the low side. So I'm scheduled for several more ultrasounds in the next month to monitor that. I know that I shouldn't be worried, he told me not to be worried, but does anyone else feel like when it rains, it pours?? Because sometimes I can't help feeling overwhelmed with everything. So please pray that my levels would increase and there are no underlying problems going on. That would definitely be appreciated. :)

Well, we are getting ready to go down to the river for several days for the fourth. We leave tomorrow, so I should probably get on the washing of clothes and packing! I'm excited about going this year. Time with family is always good! And it doesn't hurt having extra help with the babies, and getting fed all your meals! I love that part! :)

My potty plan.

Haha..the title makes me laugh. :) And just a warning...THIS IS ALL ABOUT PEEING AND POTTY TRAINING!!!

Other people are probably not as obsessive about thinking things through and making a plan about potty training, but with how it's going with Elijah I've just been thinking about it ALOT! I would really like for him to be potty trained before the baby comes, and I'm busy adjusting to an infant. But I've also heard that you shouldn't even try if there's a big change coming because they might revert and you have to go through potty training again. Which doesn't sound like fun at all. Any thoughts on this?

I was also thinking about the best way for him to learn, and repetition seems to work most of the time. We will go over colors or numbers 100 times, and he doesn't seem to even be listening. And then one day, I'll hear him counting to himself or pointing out all the different colors. So I'm going to try and use that in potty training.

Several months ago I bought a little potty and was just going to let him sit on it every now and then just to get used to it. He did good for the first few days, but then all of a sudden it was like he was afraid of it. When I would ask him to go sit on the potty, he would scream and yell that he did not want to, and he likes his diapers. So I didn't want to traumatize him with it, so I backed off and didn't do it for a few days. I tried again, and he did the same thing! And I mean screaming and crying about not sitting on it! So I was dumbfounded. What do I do now?

Well I really just gave up on it for a few months all together. Well, just recently we've been getting him to sit on the potty a little bit at a time, without a big fuss. So hopefully this is progress! So here's my plan. And I am always open to any ideas/suggestions!

First, I'm going to keep letting him sit on the potty every time I change his diaper. So every time he is wet, I think I'll just take him to the potty and let him sit there and explain that next time he pees that he should go in the potty. He's real analytical, so maybe that will start him thinking more about it. Especially if I do it every time. Repetition.

Then after doing that for a while, I thought the best next step would be to start taking him to the potty every 15-20 minutes to see if I can actually catch him when he has to pee. He's NEVER successfully peed in the potty, so I think if he does it at least once or twice, something will click! Hopefully!

Then I think I'll move him to underwear, so he can realize when he's peeing and he will feel the need to pee in the potty instead of in his underwear.

Anyways, this is all just a plan I had in my head. I thought if I could write it out, it would also help me stick to the plan! So we'll see how it goes!!