It's Happening.....

Well...just as I post my sarcastic anti-pottying post the other day...wouldn't you know it, but SOMEONE is doing it! I don't want to mention any names in hopes that I don't jinx the amazing progress that has been made in 3 short days...but some little girl that I know is pottying and doing #2 in the potty! (If that is TMI...then I am sorry!) I am just REALLY REALLY REALLY proud of my girl...I mean, the random girl that I am talking about! All of a sudden, things seemed to have clicked and she is doing fantastic. She is so excited about her big girl p*nties! She has Dora, Care Bears, all the princesses, and of course Mickey Mouse. This girl is also very smart and catching on VERY quickly! She knows that even if she goes potty just a few drops, then she gets 2 M&M's!!!! So...she may have cavities, juvenile diabetes, and even childhood obesity in her near future, but at least she won't need a diaper!!!! So...I will keep you posted on the continuing progress...but as of tonight, I would say we are about 85% there! We will worry about nighttime at a much later point! Yeah random girl!!!!! I am sure she was sad that her cousin Emmy...who is 4 months younger...was excelling at her potty training at an alarming rate and leaving her far behind with all the other babies still in diapers!


Here are some pictures of our pottying station...


The #2 reward basket...full of lots of good $1 spot Target treats!!!! The M&M's are for pottying. And of course wipes and hand sanitizer!



The Potty Chair and a basket of reading material to help her really focus!




My little girl EXTREMELY proud of herself! We immediately have to call Daddy, Aunt Summer, Mimi, (CC if she had any power in NWA!!!), and anyone else who will listen that we just pottied!




Daddy is making some major big promises! He promised Jillian a "big surprise" if she would actually potty. He followed up and brought home a new Barbie!




Jillian and her big surprise!

She Used the Potty...

...but it isn't what you think. Jillian still refuses to use the potty...my extremely smart 2 1/2 year old prefers diapers. Nice. But, at least we are getting some use out of the potty chair! Baby Jules has taking a big liking to pushing it around and walking behind it! At this rate, she may even potty train before big sister!


I caught you little girl!!!!



Maybe she will be walking soon! I can have her help me change Jillian's diapers!

Baby Jules is 9 Months Old...

...and yes, we still call her Baby Jules...everyone does! I think we will be dropping her off at college and still calling her Baby Jules! I love it! So...what has this Baby been up to in her ninth month??? Well...here are just a few things that we would like to remember...

• She is saying Mama, Dada, Baba, and Bye Bye. I don't really know what baba is for...just chatter, I think. But she definitely knows Dada, Mama, and ByeBye...and what they mean. She will wave ByeBye occasionally, but that is usually when she is at one end of the room, and Seth, Jilly, and I are at the other all waving to her. That is when we can get a wave out of our girl.
• She is TOTALLY having MAJOR separation anxiety these days. I have been taking her to the gym since 3 months old (not a regular 6 days a week or anything...but enough that the gym is no strange place!!). Well...they come and get me EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. at about 26 minutes into the workout. Nice. I guess she does not want me skinny any time soon! I have Summer to vouch for me...because we work out together about 3 times a week, and without fail, the workers come find me! With Jillian, she would cry when I dropped her off, but then was fine after like 2 minutes. Not Baby Jules...she has some serious crying endurance! She cries and cries for me. I may have to start running on the treadmill will my 9 month old in the Baby Bjorn! Wouldn't that be a lovely sight??? Also, we have been taking her to the nursery at church for about 2 months now...and they also page me within about 15 minutes of church. They try with her, but she cries whether being held or put down. So...I guess my number 1 fan these days is Baby Jules! And the biggest problem, is that I DO NOT see this ending any time soon! So...I guess I will be NOT skinny and NOT taking communion for who knows how long...2 things that are VERY important to me (not necessarily in that order)!!!!
• Baby Jules has pretty much given up all baby food. I can get her to eat a combination of rice cereal and fruit in the morning, but other than that...she wants the real thing! She is eating LOTS of frozen veggies, turkey dogs, cheese toast, blueberries, and bananas. The girl is NOT afraid to try anything on our plate...and she usually loves it. This includes tuna, salmon, spaghetti, vegetables, muffins...etc., etc.! You name it, and she will try it.
• Baby Jules is still a big crawler...going on 3 full months now, and no sign of wanting to walk on her own just yet. She does walk around the couch and pushes walking toys, but no attempt at taking that first step just yet. My guess is that she will do it in her 11th month...just a hunch! I know she will want to walk by her first birthday in April.
• She is a GREAT nighttime sleeper and a poor napper. She usually sleeps from 7 p.m. to 7:30-8 a.m! We love that about her. Naps though...not so great. She is a cat napper. But, I always say that I would rather her sleep at night!
• At her 9 month app today, she weighed 17.5 pounds and was 27 inches long. That puts her in the 25th percentile for both. Her head was beyond the 50th! So, both my girls tend to be skinny and small with larger heads! They get the skinny from their daddy and the smart brains from their mommy! :)
• She still just has two teeth on the bottom...no sign of the top ones coming in. This does not stop her eating at all...she can eat with right along with any kid with a full set of teeth!
• There is another big milestone, but for legal purposes...I can't tell you until she turns one! But...it is something that has made my life WONDERFUL again! More on that later! :)

Baby Jules at 9 months!!!



Jillian at 9 months for comparison!




Pictures of Jules in her 9th month...


Doing some teething. I HATE these things because they get so messy...but it sure does buy me some time to cook or unload the dishwasher!





Jules can really feed herself great! Here she is eating black beans and brown rice! Oh yeah and it looks like there were some sweet potatoes in there too!




Baby Jules laughing! She smiles with her whole face and I love it!



Jules celebrated her very first Christmas!!!!




and opened her very first stocking!!!



Baby Jules sported her first ponytail. We haven't worn it out yet because it doesn't support any of our rather large hairbows. We are getting close though! The comb over is definitely thickening up!

Baby Jules flashing me her baby blues!

Doing lots of crawling...and fast too! I would loose her if I didn't have Jillian as my faithful assistant letting me know Baby Jules' every move!

Following me EVERYWHERE! Every time I look down...I see this right here at my feet!

Baby Jules having LOTS of fun on her new Christmas present! She loves this thing...whenever Jillian allows her to ride it! Seth pushes it up and down and Baby Jules laughs so hard!

Here is Baby Jules eating again. I was practicing with my new camera...and the preflash was really messing with her! She kept squinting right as I took the picture. I have about 10 of these.

See??? The flash was too bright for her!

The outtakes! This is what 8 out of 10 of the monthly pictures look like! I am lucky to find a good one!!!

Funny Updates

If you know Jillian AT ALL, then you know that she NEVER falls asleep anywhere except her bed. She doesn't sleep in the car, in our bed, on the couch, in her high chair as a baby...no place where most kids tend to nod off. Well, on Sunday, Seth and Jillian were playing a new Wii game and I was just watching. Seth was sitting on our ottoman and Jillian was standing between his legs. She was also "playing"...which means she holds the remote and goes through all the motions. Well, after a while, I look over and the child had passed out...standing up...playing Wii! I could not believe my eyes...this just does not happen! So, after I snapped a few pictures, I was able to carry her to bed and she didn't even wake up...what a miracle!

What a sweet little sleeping baby!

Her is her precious little hand still holding onto her controller

What a sweet face!

And then in Baby Jules news, she is finally saying Mama!!!!! YEAH for me! She has been saying Dada for weeks now, and it is about time I got my shout out too! Also, here are a couple of pictures of her first ponytail! She doesn't have the BEST hair at this point, but I was able to gather up her comb-over and put it in a ponytail...looks pretty cute!


Check out my new do!

Sweet Cheeks!

It's A Girl!!!!

Ha Ha Ha!!! Ok, now that I have your attention...I would love to announce that I ACTUALLY have a new sister! My mom and dad our the proud owners of a precious new kitten! My mom has always loved the name Paisley and has begged Summer and I to use it on one of our girls (and for the record...I really loved it, but it got overruled in my house!). So, since this is my mom's favorite name...the new kitten is Paisley! I am so excited for my mom. We have always had a cat growing up, and it has been years since our last cat died. So...YEAH to my mom and dad! It makes me want to get one...SORT OF! Actually, I will just have the babies if my parent's will have the kittens!



Precious Paisley...she is gray and white with beautiful green eyes!



Mimi and her newest love



Papaw always tries to act like he doesn't just adore these cats...but our cats ALWAYS seem to prefer him!

Baby...Its Cold Outside!

You know I just LOVE matching outfits and the girls now have these precious pink warm up outfits! Since we never got out of the 30's yesterday, the girls put on their matching outfits and tennis shoes and looked adorable...in my humble motherly opinion! By the way...almost impossible these days to get Jules to take a picture! Isn't that the way it goes??? I finally have Jillian sitting still and smiling right when Jules crosses over!!!! Maybe in about a year I will get another good one of them both! HA!


Jillian trying her best to control Baby Jules! After this picture, Jilly's hair was never the same...it was static electricity OVERLOAD!!!!



Well, at least Jillian is looking cute! You can see how Jules is always on the move. She hardly sits still when you hold her too...always looking around for the next best thing to do!




Ok, Ok, this one turned out pretty stinking cute. But, it was the first one I took. My sister and I firmly believe that the first 5 pictures you take will be your best and then it goes down hill from there!




This was when I first tried to get their picture outside with this frigid Texas wind! I think Jillian's face says it all!

Potty Training SUCKS Part II

First of all...let me just say that I am sorry for my blogging absence. I just can't seem to get into the groove of blogging in the new year! But, I promise to get over that really quick! I mean, I have a new camera, and I MUST use it. So Dad, Mom, and any other readers that might still be with me...I Will be posting on a more regular basis! So, back to our regularly scheduled blog...potty training.




Ok, now all I have to say is that potty training is for suckers! I mean, to sit here at the will (and STRONG will at that) of my 2 year old and beg her all day to keep her panties dry is a joke! Jillian is smart...she always has been...and now she is really trying to outsmart me with the pottying. I had her in panties all last week and she did not go potty on the potty once. ONCE people!!!! More importantly, she also did not have many accidents at all. We even went to the grocery store in panties and no accidents. Of course this did include me running like a mad woman through the store and asking Jillian if her panties were still dry about a hundred times, and rewarding her with marshmallows...but whose counting??? So, my conclusion is that she knows what she is doing, she is just trying to fight me on actually achieving what I want her to. I mean, the girl is making all of her dolls potty. She even knows to pull down their panties and then put them on the potty. So, I have decided that she can just do it when she is ready...which is some great advice from MANY people I have talked to. I will continue to try and put her in panties at home...but I am not going to push so hard...because she is pushing right back!




Here are some cute pictures of cousin Emerson and Jillian trying to potty together. They sat on their potties and watched the Elmo potty DVD together, but no luck. Em did have a little potty in her potty, and they both ended up going on my dining room chairs. It was hilarious...I had two potty trainers and a teether begging for my attention! What a combo!!!!!

Jillian and Emmy on their potties

Emmy still giving it the ole college try while Jillian has now shut the potty and is sitting on top.

LOVE. THIS. PICTURE!!!!! Jillian is watching as Emerson really seems to contemplate actually going in her potty! I feel like I should give her a newspaper or something!!!

Again...Emmy is hilarious! She looks like she is really pushing here, which was NOT the case...just a funny face!

I think what they are saying here is "WE GIVE UP!!!!"

Oh well, when all else fails, just have fun!

Potty Training SUCKS!!!!

that about sums it up

Jules is 8 months...Jillian is 2 1/2!!!!

Baby Jules turned 8 months old back on December 22...the same day that Big sister Jillian turned 2 1/2!!!! What a big day...too bad we spent it at the pediatrician for the 7th time in December...but I'm not bitter! :)

Here are pictures of the 2 at 8 months old. I didn't realize they had the same bow on!

Baby Jules at 8 months

Baby Jillian at 8 months (for comparison)

Baby Jules is getting bigger by the second! I can't believe that her first birthday is just right around the corner! Some of her 8 month milestones are:

• she can wave Bye-Bye
• she even repeats Bye-Bye when we say it, but I am sure she doesn't know what it means
• she says Da-Da...and definitely know what it means! She follows Seth around from the moment he walks in the door every day repeating Da-Da. She gets her feelings really hurt if he walks past her and doesn't pick her up...MAJOR Daddy's girl already! I have two of them!!! How did that happen?
• she is eating everything she can get her hands on! I still try to do baby food with her, but that is usually not good enough! She wants what we are having and with a quickness! Eating might be the one activity where Baby Jules looses her sweetness. When it comes to eating, she means business!
• she can feed herself...so she is getting lots of Puffs, cheerios, and frozen veggies these days. Jillian has also taking a liking again to Puffs! Gross...those things taste like stale Cheerios!
• she is crawling everywhere and has been for two months! She is not showing any real signs that she wants to walk yet. Most people say that is a good thing, but I figure if she is mobile anyway, I would rather have her up off the nasty floor!
• she still absolutely ADORES Tyson, our pug. She laughs every time she sees him like it is the first time! She crawls to him, pulls his ears, pulls up on him...and he lets her! I think they are good buddies! Poor Tyson...he deserves it since Big Sis Jillian likes to kick Tyson when she thinks I am not looking...nice.
• She still has two teeth on the bottom, but I think she is cutting something else right now...little fever, fussiness, and clingyness! I will be interested to see if something pops out very soon!
• Baby Jules prefers men! She really always goes towards the guy these days. Of course, Seth is her favorite over me, but she also reaches out for Uncle Layton and Papaw. Her Uncle Parrish came this past week, and Baby Jules had a big crush on him! B-Pa gets her this weekend, so "It's Raining Men" if you are Baby Jules!!!!

Here is my sweet girl on the move! She is EVERYWHERE!!!! I have already caught her on the second step of the stairs, so we had to put that lovely gate back up!

She still has those big baby blues! I think she will keep them...yeah! It is good that she has these great eyes, because it takes the attention of the hair! She is definitely going through a bad hair phase right now! :)

Now...on to Big Sis Jillian! Jillian is now 2 1/2 and turning into quite the big girl. Here are some things that Jillian is up to these days:

• Jillian talks nonstop! She repeats everything we say! Seth and I are amazed everyday how she will just pull a word out of nowhere and we had no idea that she knew it. She is also really good with plurals and knowing girl/boy possession. (I know there is an English term for this, but I have been out of school for WAY too long!) I am going to start writing her funny things down to keep track...they are really good.
• Her latest nonstop questions are, "What happened?", "Hear that momma?", "Where you going?"
• Jillian is also getting kind of bossy but not on purpose. She is just forgetting her pleases and thank yous that she had gotten so good at. I am constantly telling her to not be bossy...and now she will tell me, "I not bossy, mom"
• She is obsessed with whether it is nighttime or daytime. I think this goes along with her never wanting to nap. But she always is saying, "It's getting dark again" or "The sun came up again!"
• Her favorite show now is Blues Clues...she loves it. Seth and I miss Musca Mouse!
• She officially gave up the passy right before 2 1/2!!!!! I had dreaded this transition since her birth since she loved so many of them. But, she did great and has never looked back. She tries to tell us that passys are for babies, but she always says, "BABIES are for passies!!!!" And she is proud of that too!
• I have been talking about potty training for 6 months and decided that now was the time. So, this morning, I made her run around with no diaper or anything on. Nice, I know! Well, we sat on the potty 10-15 times for at least 5 minutes (yes, you do the math) and she didn't potty once! The good news is that she went about 3 hours with no pants on and only had one accident on the carpet. So, I have to think that she knows to hold it! I am just going to keep with it and see what I can get out of her...literally! I am so ready to have that diaper money in my pocket again!!!!! I will keep you posted on this...I am sure there will be many animated posts about this in my future!!!

Jillian finally smiles for the camera instead of hiding from it! YEAH!!!! She also quints her eyes when she smiles...just like her daddy!!!

Happy girl!



She loves Christmas, just like me! She made Christmas so fun this year!

My two girls together....


Before church on Sunday

They looked cute, but trying to get a picture is next to impossible these days!



I love this one...they are laughing at each other! They always laugh at eachother and interact very well! It makes me happier than anything else!!!!!