Short & Sweet

Because I am so far behind on everything I will only give highlights of the last week's events instead of drawing it all out into a few different blogs. Unfortunately there are no pictures but since I am off all week this week I will hopefully be caught up with all of that also.

For those who are wondering, the reason I have not posted any pictures of the kitchen is because I have not quite finished it yet. Curtains need to be hung and pictures need to be put up. I still have a few things to go buy, table cloth and center piece. Hopefully that will be finished by the end of the week and I will post pictures of it also.

Christmas was great this year with Aubrey although alittle too busy for my liking. We really didn't stop from Christmas Eve until yesterday afternoon. Poor Aubrey was asking all day Christmas day if she could just go home and play with her new kitchen! Since we got home late I let her stay up that night until 10:30 just so she could play with her new toys. We have decided that from now on either things will be spread out more or we are going to have to pass on some of the holiday festivities. She got alot of great new toys but my favorite is her new Bible that Julia & Ronnie gave her. I wanted something simple that we could read together before she went to bed at night and that is exactly what they gave her! It is called "The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His name" By Sally Lloyd-Jones. We started reading it today and I LOVE it! The story is so simple and just right for her age.

I am going to be selling my camera hopefully soon, I am taking it to Wolf on Tuesday for it's yearly cleaning and maintenance and then I am going to put it up for sell on Ebay. I have found one that I am wanting to upgrade to and I want it before Barrett gets here. So all of my Christmas money is going towards an upgrade. :)

Tomorrow I am staying home all day and working on the potty training again. Aubrey and I have really been talking about it and I really think she can understand more this go around. Tonight we "threw-away" her diapers so when she wakes up in the morning her only choice is the big girl panties. She is normally fine with wearing big girl panties until it is time to go to the bathroom then she pleads with me to put her diaper back on. I of course have not thrown her diapers away so if we seem to be getting no where then we will try again at a later date.

So this blog wasn't really short but I feel like I have caught everyone up. Since tomorrow is potty training then maybe Tuesday I will have time to upload some pictures for everyone!

Just in case anyone was wondering.....I am 31 weeks as of Monday December 29th. That means I am 9 weeks from my due date and 8 weeks from when my Dr. will induce :) Two months away from our little guy being here!

Surprised

Mom, Dad, & Andy surprised me Thursday, when I got home from work around 5:00 they were finishing up the first coat of paint on my kitchen! I was VERY surprised and happy. :) Aubrey is spending the night with mom & dad tonight so that Andy and I can finish up the kitchen and finish wrapping presents. I know she has already spent the night away this week but I am totally justifying it because of the amount of things that need to be done and, I just can't seem to get it finished with her at my feet. So hopefully tonight the kitchen will be finished and put back together presents will be wrapped and under the tree and all I will have left to do is enjoy Christmas! Then, after Christmas it will be back to getting things ready for Barrett to be here.

I would post some finished pictures of my kitchen but it really want be finished until after Christmas because of all the decorations I asked for as presents for Christmas. So, after Christmas I will post my finished kitchen!

I will post some pictures later of Aubrey & Ainslee making christmas candy today. I don't think I will be eating any of Aubrey's cookies considering about half way through she decided to lick the top of the sprinkle jar. We had alot of fun, I am really enjoying Christmas with her this year. She understands so much more and she is really having fun! I am afraid I am going to have a disappointed little girl when everyone starts taking all of their decorations out of their yard after Christmas. She LOVES driving through the neighborhood and looking at all the lights!

Pictures will come later when I have time to load them to my computer! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Grateful

I thought I would update everyone since I was such an emotional wreck last night. :)

To start with my FANTASTIC husband cleaned up my kitchen vacuumed the house and did ALL the laundry (washed, folded, and put up!) for me today. I walked in tonight and I was very surprised and grateful!

Second, Andy met me after work and we went shopping tonight. I am finished with everyone except two people and I know what I am getting them I just need to find it. My in-laws are letting Aubrey spend the night tonight so that we didn't have to hurry home for bed time or have to worry with trying to keep a two year old entertained for a few hours of shopping. Once again.....grateful!

Third, a complete stranger asked a friend of mine if she knew of anyone having a baby boy anytime soon because she had tons of clothes that she wanted to get rid of! I called her today and she already had it together and she took it to my friend this afternoon! I have already gone through it and once again.... grateful!

Thank-you God for meeting me right where I am, even in my little grumbling pit and helping me. Yes, there are still a million things to do and no, I am still not sure how I will accomplish it all. But today I have been reminded that #1 I have a big God who cares for this grumbling pregnant woman. #2 I have a fantastic husband who loves me even in my ill moods! #3 Everything is going to work out, God will provide for our needs for when Barrett gets here just like He has always provided before.

Thank-you to everyone who said alittle prayer for me today :) I am also grateful for all of you!

Overwhelmed

Ok, so I am officially overwhelmed and I am becoming more and more stressed by the day. I feel like I have fallen so far behind in EVERYTHING I do not think that I will ever catch up. My house is a WRECK.... laundry needs to be done, I have not wrapped ONE present, I still have tons of presents to buy, my kitchen STILL needs to be painted because now I have a test square in the middle of my wall that is driving me crazy! I have a million things that need to be done before barrett gets here not to mention a million things that need to be bought! I have only half way moved Aubrey to her big girl room which means her stuff is spread out between two rooms right now. I still have her decorations up in the nursery and none in her new room. I have not even had time to think about what I will hang on the wall in the nursery for Barrett. Somewhere I need to find the time to potty train Aubrey and break her from her paci, and at the same time I do not want Aubrey to feel like she is being forgotten or passed over because of all the busyness that life has brought us right now.

How in the world did things get so turned upside down!! I have never been a crazy organized person but I normally can keep all the balls in the air that I am juggling. Somewhere, somehow I bit off more than I could chew and I am sinking fast!! This weekend I had some time to get some stuff done and I felt like instead of accomplishing anything I just ran in circles because I had so much that needed to be done. I did get my kitchen cleaned, I even polished my kitchen cabinets but if you were to come by tonight I would be embarrased for you to even go in my kitchen.... how does that happen? How can things get so out of hand so fast? Why is it not easier for me to keep things in order.

So for tonight I am just trying not to cry from being overwhelmed and maybe I will try to figure out a schedule of when everything will get done. 1st on my list, paint my kitchen that was supposed to be my anniversary present! 2nd clean this place up and keep it clean! Maybe I should just start with two things so that when they are finally accomplished I will feel like I am doing good. I think that I will go buy paint tomorrow and get started maybe I can be finished by this weekend so that I will have time to clean.

Sorry for the emotional ranting, maybe next time I will be more joyous but for tonight I think I am going to curl up in my bed and catch up on my tivo and hopefully start my day tomorrow with a new attitude!

Be anxious for nothing,

but in everything by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6

Our little Munchkin

This is our little boy Barrett! We had some 4d shots taken today and I just LOVE this stage of pregnancy. They change so much from the 18 week sonogram to the 28 week. He is really beginning to fatten up apparently and the tech made a comment that he has a wide nose and big lips. We will see what he looks like when he is born! Aubrey was 8 lbs 10 oz. and I am alittle worried that this little guy is going to out weigh her. I have started feeling like I swallowed a bowling ball and it is pulling me down! I do not remember feeling so much pressure with Aubrey. The Dr. just laughs at me when I question her about his weight. She is not one to guess a babies weight because lets face it they are never right! I am so excited that things are getting closer and I am ready for this little guy to be here! I can't wait to see how Aubrey does with him. I am almost positive she is going to be a perfect little momma with only a little bit of jealousy hopefully.

If you can't make out the face don't worry the nurse had to guide me around to begin with. It is sordof like one of those picture calendar things that you have to stare at for a minute before you can make out what you are looking at.

I am having to really get myself in gear these days, only 12 more weeks until I am due and I still have a TON to do! Lots of boy stuff that still needs to be bought. I am planning a serious shopping trip to Babies 'r' us after Christmas.

It won't be long and we will be a family of four!

Santa Claus

If you know me very well you know that I truly love my child when I agreed to take her to see this man....

I think he looks scary and I do not like him!

I don't want to put the same fear in my child's mind so I agreed to suck it up and go with her!

After alittle coaxing with some candy canes she agreed to sit in his lap

and we actually got some great pictures!!

After the photo-session Andy told her to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas

and her response was

NEW TOYS!

She then jumped out of his lap and ran as fast as her little legs would take her!

I need to now tell everyone that she knows that Christmas is about

Jesus's birth and if you ask her who's birthday it is

she will tell you

Jesus's birthday.

I wanted to share our Santa experience with everyone!

I hope to blog more soon about the Christmas Season and....

hopefully my newly painted kitchen soon :)

She's a big girl now!

I have been afraid to blog about this, afraid that I might jinx myself. But I think it has been long enough that I can now talk about my baby girl moving into her "Big Girl Bed." Can I start off by saying I can't believe she is old enough to move out of her baby bed! It seems like yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital scared to death and wondering what in the world that hospital was thinking letting US take this baby home! :) Somehow we have managed, I have to admit we have all had to be patient with each other! But in the meantime my precious little baby girl who stole my heart has grown up WAY to fast. We carry on complete conversations, we go on adventure's together, and she is one of the loves of my life! I never in a million years thought that I could love such alittle girl so much!

About 2 weeks ago she decided on her own that it was time to move up to her big girl room and start sleeping in her big girl bed. The first few nights were not alot of fun at all! She woke up a million times and enjoyed the fact that I could now lay down beside her. I tried to convince her that she was not ready to move up to her big girl bed! She would have none of it! So after a few sleepless nights she is now napping her normal 2-3 hours a day and sleeping through the night. We are now working on getting rid of the pacifier and the last thing on our check list before Barrett gets here is to be potty trained. I am hoping to accomplish that on my Christmas break. I have blogged before about our potty training adventure and it didn't go so well, so this time I may just surprise everyone when she is potty trained!

7x7

I am not sure if you have noticed my 7x7 button on the side of my blog.... if you haven't then you can click on it and it will take you to a link from the Bring The Rain Blog. It is 7 prayers to say over your children through out the day while they are doing every day tasks.

A new kitchen

I am not very good at decorating my house, I like to start things and then I run out of money and never finish my project. A good example is our bedroom. Two years ago that is what I wanted for christmas from everyone. I was going to re-do the whole bedroom, well I got a GREAT start thanks to everyone in the family but never finished. Now two years later and I am ready to re-do it again. I have decided that I am going to make myself decorate my house one room at a time.

I am starting with the kitchen, don't ask me why. I don't spend much time in there at all.... I am not a cook, I have tried and I have failed many times. I can make a mean potato soup and a few other things here and there but that is about it. That is one of the reasons God gave me Andy. He is not one of those husbands who expects dinner on the table at 6:00 while he sits on the couch and reads the paper... he is a wonderful helper! Most days he has something thawing out when I get home or even better there are days I come home from work and something is already in the oven :) I love him! Anyway, back to the reason for this post. I have decided that for THIS christmas I am asking for things for my kitchen.
( if you are in my family you will be getting my list soon.) I have been looking on-line and walking around pier1 and I think I have decided on a red kitchen. Not bright red but in the red family. I would like for it to really pop. I am hanging curtains I want a new rug for under my table I even want a new light fixture. And if Andy reads this he may have a heart attack but I want a back splash with new floors to match :) I realize that will not come by Christmas but it will come soon enough. I am hanging pictures up, I want new kitchen towels to match along with rags and oven mitts. I want my Kitchen to be so color coordinated it will make you sick! SOOOO.... this week I will be making my way into lowes and getting those great little cans of paint samples they sell and picking out my red. Maybe before Barrett makes his way into the world I will be finished. I will keep everyone posted!

Catching up

I mentioned about 2 weeks back that mom and I took Aubrey to the park to take some picture of her with her cast. Well her cast is now off and I just got to edit the pictures :) Oh well, I am so glad her cast is off, although she did manage very well! The Dr's had told me that she might learn how to walk with her cast, not only did she walk but she would around the house with that big thing! It may have slowed her down for a week or two but not for long :) I had a few people tell me when she got her cast off that she may not walk for a few days and her leg would be real stiff.... well not only did she walk the same day but she was chasing her friend Ainslee around our couch that night! She did have a limp to her and she would turn her foot out but that is pretty much straightened out now also. Enough about the cast! Thank God the cast is off but here are some pictures a few days before it was taken off.

I just love that precious smile!!

Andy's parents have a neighbor that has the big blow up pumpkins in their front yard. Aubrey absolutely LOVES them! She calls it her pumpkin patch and she loves to go over and look at them. So of course the other day when we went to see Andy's parents I had to take some pictures! She has the BEST time watching those pumpkins.... can you tell by the HUGE smile on her face!

We have changed it :)

We have now changed our top name to Barrett Mcmillan Stewart. We are still not set in stone but we both agree.... When I go get something monogrammed that is when we will be set in stone. Maybe :)

We finally agree....

Andy got home to late last night from the Auburn ballgame to talk about names. As soon as I woke up this morning I told him the three names I had thought of and immediatly he said he liked Hudson. I told him to give me a day or two to make sure that is what I want but I am pretty sure our baby will be named Hudson Mcmillan Stewart.

What's in a name?!?!

Andy and I are having a hard time thinking of a name for our little boy that we both agree on. Aubrey came to us as soon as we knew we were having a girl. We have known since my first pregnancy that if we had a boy his middle name would be Mcmillan, that is Andy's middle name so we have always known we wanted to use that but coming up with a first name is not coming to us as easy. If I love it andy doesn't.... if andy loves it I don't. I think it is pretty funny that with Aubrey we fought over her middle name and with this one we know the middle name but are fighting over the first name :)

Our friends Brent & Christy came up with Tucker Mcmillan Stewart the same day that we found out we were having a boy and I love that name! Of course Andy doesn't :) I know I am only 20 weeks pregnant and I still have 20 more to go but I like to know now! I want to get things monogrammed and hang his name on the wall plus I just want him to have a name.

I have a name that I am really in love with that one of my friends came up with today. As soon as Andy gets home from the ball game tonight I will run it by him. Maybe he will agree!

If you have any good names that go with Mcmillan Stewart leave me a comment! We need your help!!!

The three names that I am leaning towards are ...
#1. Carson Mcmillan Stewart
#2. Hudson Mcmillan Stewart
#3. Evan Mcmillan Stewart

Research

Since finding out that I am pregnant with a baby boy on Monday, I have been freaking out a little bit. Not about having a boy but once again about starting ALL the way over with vaccinations..... if you disagreed with my last post on vaccinations then please just stop reading.... my mind is made up and you are not going to change my mind. I will not vaccinate my child the way some Dr. tells me to and you go right ahead and do whatever you Dr. advises you to do!

Studies have shown that Autism runs in boys more than girls, which means I will need to be even more careful and study even more about vaccinations this go around. I am praying about what kind of vaccination schedule is safe for my child. I do not believe in not vaccinating at all but I do believe in being cautious, and researching something never hurt anyone. I don't know if I am embarrassed to say this or not but I am thinking about going and picking up Jenny McCarthy's book on autism. If you have not heard her story I recommend you looking her up. Her son began suffering from autism after his MMR shot (which Aubrey still has not had) her Dr. ignored her questions and she took matters into her own hands. She does not say that her son is healed but she does say that he is recovering and has NO signs of autism at this time in his life. I am going to pick her book up this week I will keep everyone updated as I read.

All I ask is that if you have a young child or if you are expecting a child just do your research. Don't just believe what your pediatrician tells you.... in most cases they mean well but when it comes to vaccinations I truly believe it has been so etched in their brain that children HAVE to be vaccinated by a certain age that they are not hearing the screams of thousands of mom's and dad's begging for a different way. This is a paragraph from a website I was reading tonight.... I think I posted this on my last blog about vaccinations but I just can't get over how many shots Dr's are giving children under the age of two!

A 15-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC decides which vaccines should be on the Childhood Immunization Schedule. It calls for one vaccine, against hepatitis B, to be given on the day of birth; 7 vaccines at two months; 6 more (including booster shots) at four months; and as many as 8 vaccines on the six month well-baby visit. Before a child reaches the age of two he or she will have received 32 vaccinations on this schedule, including four doses each of vaccines for Hemophilus influenzae type b infections, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis – all of them given during the first 12 months of life. Seven vaccines injected into a 13 lb. two-month old infant are equivalent to 70 doses in a 130 lb. adult.

Why does a child have to have the hepatitis B shot at birth???? I understand if the mother has hepatitis B but for those of us who do not, that is just ridiculous for that precious baby to be born into the world and immediately be stuck with a stupid vaccination! 32 Vaccinations by the age of two.... are you kidding me!!!! I will never forget holding Aubrey down at her 2 month check up and two nurses sticking her like a pin cushion with five shots. Two of the vaccinations were doubled up with something else so she received 7 vaccinations in her little body at 8 weeks old.... if only I knew then what I know now. My little boy will NOT be a part of these pharmaceutical companies making millions off of innocent children who are paying the price.

I am officially on my soapbox and I need to step down before I offend someone. :) There is more to come though so if you don't like it then don't read it :)

Learning,
Jenifer

Drum Roll......

We are having a boy :)

No name yet though... we do not agree on anything :)

Motivation

I finished editing Jonathan and Brantley's wedding pictures yesterday and I wanted to show off a few more.... There were a few shots that I fell in love with while I was editing! I bet if there was a camera watching me edit pictures we could win a million dollars! Sometimes I get so excited it is ridiculous :) I guess it is a good thing I love what I am doing since hopefully it will be full time someday.

*On a personal note* I have been really discouraged lately with my photography business because it has not taken off like I thought it would.... I have not been motivated to do anything to help that along because I am exhausted being four and a half months pregnant, working a full time job, and lugging around a 2 1/2 year old wearing a cast! I guess I thought over night that my own business would just explode well surprise, surprise! This is going to take work! I need an energy pick-me-up, something to get me motivated to get my name and my work out there. Something to make me get my rear-end up and WORK!

In other words if you know of anyone that needs a portrait session send them to my website or give them my e-mail address jendee783@aol.com :) Thanks blogging friends!

I hope you enjoy the wedding pictures as much as I have!

Mom and I took Aubrey out for a photo session this morning hopefully I will have them edited tomorrow she cracks me up with her pink cast :)

Water-proof!!

We took Aubrey for a check-up on her leg today. I was so hoping they would change her cast out into a shorter cast that she could walk in. When we got to Children's South I signed her in and we waited for the x-ray tech to call us back. I began to look around....Aubrey's little broken leg is NOTHING compared to some of those kids. There was a boy who was in a body cast, one little girl who was all bruised up with broken legs and in a wheel chair. Kids were hobbling around everywhere. It was depressing to see all these kids hurting! After they called us back for her
X-ray the Dr. came in a told me that because of where Aubrey's brake is she would not be able to have a shorter cast. The fracture is right below her knee so he said if he puts her in a shorter cast the brake will not have enough support so her leg would not heal. I was very upset because I want her to be able to walk so bad... but the good news was she could have a water-proof cast. She did great, they cut the old cast off which was scary to me but she sat there like a big girl and they put her new water-proof one on. Her leg can now be totally submersed under water, she can take a bath, go swimming, play in the rain, whatever she wants to do! What else is there to do when your baby has a broke leg but she can swim but to GO TO THE BEACH! We are leaving tomorrow and we have probably lost our mind but we are going to have a good time! She obviously can not go to the beach and get sand or salt water in her cast but I don't like sand anyway, we are going to relax and sit at the pool and shop and play! I will post pictures next week!

Playing around

I got some new templates for my Christmas cards that I am going to make for people so of course I had to try them out on some of my own family shots :) The possibilities are endless with these things! I cannot wait to start making Christmas cards!!!!

Update

We go to the Orthopedic Specialist next Monday to see if Aubrey can get a shorter cast that will allow her to walk. I am praying that her little leg is healed enough for that. I don't know how many times a day she looks at her cast and tells me "I can't walk on my cast." Like she thinks one of the times she makes that statement I am going to say "Yes you can!" So hopefully she CAN walk on her cast next Monday.

She was not feeling so well last night, I thought she felt like she had a fever but it didn't seem serious enough to fight her to take her temperature. She is on Ibuprofen and Tylenol so I was just hoping they would help with the fever plus I figured some of it was just that she was so exhausted and needed rest. So she and her Momma Dee spent all day playing and watching APT television and she seemed much better tonight. We even went for a stroll around the neighborhood which she really enjoyed! Before bedtime I washed her hair in the kitchen sink and gave her a bath with baby wipes and she hated EVERY second of it but I knew it would make her feel so much better to be clean. When I was finished she sat up and smiled real big and said "All clean!" She is so funny and such a joy, I love that little girl to pieces! Hopefully, if I get time I will add some more pictures soon!

She was showered with gifts yesterday which we all know a two year old LOVES! Her sunday school teachers made her cookies, Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Brantley gave her a new cabbage patch doll, Mrs. Vicki gave her a Monkey stuffed animal, Mrs. Jessica gave her a doll house, Amy & Glen gave her a Minnie mouse backpack with colors and flash cards and stickers inside, Momma Dee & Papa gave her a song book with a DVD to go with it, granna and granddaddy gave her some books and a balloon, Mr. Lee & Mrs. Anita gave her a stuffed animal kitty cat with a book to go with it and a magnetic doll with clothes that sticks to it and an alabama cheerleader uniform. So many people have come to see her and love on her and she is loving every second of it! Loren, Jennifer & Ainslee came over and ate supper and the girls rode around in the wagon and ate dinner in the wagon and watched movies on Mommy and daddy's bed. Needless to say she is beginning to like the cast.... or should I say she is really liking all the attention that comes along with the cast! Once the cast comes off I will have to bring her back down from princess land but for now I am just happy she is ok!

Relaxing in the Recliner

Could she look any more comfortable with a cast on? Popcorn, Milk, Paci, Quacks and Blanket close by.... sitting back relaxing watching Cinderella in her recliner!

Pretty in pink

We took aubrey this morning to her little friend Will's birthday party at Jump Zone. She was having a BLAST until I made her slide down the big slide and her leg got between me and the side of the slide. At first I thought her foot was hurt but then I realized she would not get down and walk at all. When I tried to make her walk she wouldn't put any pressure at all on her right leg. I called after hours and they told me to take her to Childrens hospital so off we went....



Two and a half hours later we are home with a beautiful pink cast all the way up to her thigh with a fractured leg. She is not sure about this thing on her leg and keeps telling me to "take it off!" Hopefully she will get used to it sooner than later. It will probably be a long uncomfortable couple of nights but we will make it through.

I will add some pictures later.

Another day....

Aubrey woke up this morning and decided she would be afraid of the potty. We have had this little pink potty for months now and she has never acted the way she acted today. I don't know if she was just tired of it or what but potty training did NOT happen today. At about lunch time I quit fighting with her and put her diaper on and decided I would try another day. We had NO successful trips to the potty today.

Oh well.....

Christmas Pictures

If you are interested in booking a session for Fall or Christmas pictures then go to www.jeniferstewartphotography.blogspot.com

Thanks!
Jen

I have a confession to make....

This morning's potty training was becoming very aggravating for me. Aubrey was fine and enjoying all the juice and cookies, what else could a two year old ask for right?!?! At about 10:30 I was ready to give up (pitiful I know) so I starting searching for tips on potty training on google. It is never a good thing when I start searching on google. I came across a "Potty Train Your Child in Three Days" I read the WHOLE page and believe me it was LONG, I kept waiting for the answer I knew there would be a great trick that would teach my child how to potty train. (Yeah Right!) At the VERY bottom of the page I realized that for one easy payment of $24.95 they would give me all the secrets and promised it would work! At that point I was contimplating it but I knew andy would kill me so I refused and kept searching for something free :) Then, I came across a website about how people are beginning to hire a potty trainer. Can I just tell you that is a WONDERFUL idea! I am sure there are some who disagree but after the potty filled day I have had I am ready to write a check :) Any takers?!?!?

I then read the comments that I had from yesterday's blog and I started setting my kitchen timer. Aubrey and I talked about what it meant when the timer went off and the first couple of times she would get excited and sit on the potty after the 50th 15 minute increment neither one of us were quite as enthusiastic. I do have to say that it did work pretty well but I am not sure that she is understanding the whole concept. I know everyone keeps saying it will click one day but for now I think she just thinks her mom has lost her mind and she better just go along with it. For anyone keeping score we had four successful trips to the potty and four accidents. I think that is a very good day.

On a side note I had the sweetest thing happen today with aubrey that I wanted to share. Every night aubrey and I have the same routine. Bath, kiss daddy good night, then we read Hop on Pop, Marvin K. Mooney, and I love you through and through. Then after that I sing Jesus Loves me, You are my sunshine, and twinkle twinkle. Well, I was playing on the computer this morning and aubrey was playing in her play room when all the sudden I heard aubrey talking to one of her babies then I heard her singing Jesus loves me. I snuck around the corner and saw my precious little girl rocking in her little rocking chair and holding her baby all wrapped up in a blanket singing Jesus Loves me! She looked up at me and said "SSSHHH! The baby is sleeping" I thought that was so sweet.

We will see what tomorrow brings....

Just in case you were wondering....

Today was the first day of potty training and although none of you really care to read about it, I thought I would keep everyone posted on the progress as the week goes on.

This morning I hung her potty chart in the bathroom and put her stickers on the counter and we talked about how we get a sticker on the chart and one for her shirt every time she goes on the potty. She didn't really seem to care but when I pulled the cookie box out AND the juice out she became a little more interested in all this potty stuff.

So, after hours of bribing and sitting on the potty we were successful! We (including Andy) all cheered jumped up and down and gave high fives! Even Aubrey jumped up off of the potty hands straight up in the air and yelled "I DID IT!" Then she politely asked for her sticker, her cookie, and her juice.

We will see what tomorrow brings..... if you do not care to keep up with the potty progress I suggest you skip my blog this week because whether I like it or not this whole potty thing is going to consume my life this week. If we are successful and close to being potty trained by the end of the week then I will be happy. If you just drop by my house this week, most likely you will find clothes piled up, dust on the furniture, and dog hair on the ground. I realized today that there is no time for regular house-hold chores when I am having to asked every 15 minutes if she wants to go to the potty and then we sit there for another 15 minutes for her to finally say "put diaper back on!"

Join me tomorrow night for another update....until then PRAY! (Is it OK to pray for potty training?) Maybe I should call Mamaw and tell her to add us to her prayer list this week.

Hermie

Something possessed me while I was at the beach the first of August to buy aurbey a Hermit Crab. I am not sure why.... I do not even like crabs they are ugly and freak me out, I am not sure why I thought a 2 year old would be excited over a crab. Aubrey squeals at him anytime he is out of his cage and it is so cute. Obvously it is a crab so we do not let her touch it but tonight she was so cute watching her crab crawl around on the floor. I had to take some pictures! Andy is great with hermie the hermit crab. He feeds and waters and bathe's him. Yes, I said bathe's him. We have learned SOOO much about these little creatures. They have to be submersed in water once a week for a minute, they need plenty of exercise, they become attached to their owners! I couldn't believe this one but hermie knows when andy picks him up.... he comes out of his shell to greet him. Me not so much maybe it is because I pick him up and if he comes out of his shell I quickly throw him back down and scream alittle.

Needless to say, andy was right to roll his eyes when I came walking through the door proudly with this hermit crab! He knew right away he would be the care taker. Oh well, I am thinking her next pet will be a rabbit. Andy says no, but I am thinking she will need a rabbit for easter, don't yall agree?!?!? :)

Worship

Have I mentioned lately how in love with Aubrey I am? She is such a joy to be around and such alittle firecracker, lately we never know what will come out of her mouth next. Everyday is a new adventure with her and I cannot believe how fast she is growing up. I am so excited for her to be a big sister.... there are days that I am not sure that she is ready to share her life with another baby....but then again there are days that I am not sure I am ready to share my attention with another baby. For the next 6 months I am just going to enjoy spending every moment possible with my little girl!

I wanted to share a few pictures with you tonight, I thought I would give everyone alittle glimpse into our lives. Let me preface these pictures by saying Aubrey is an entertainer. If you put her in front of a crowd she is shy, put her in her living room (her stage) and she will dance and sing all night long! Tonight she asked for some "Jesus music" and well.... this is what followed.


(For those of you who went to the Beth Moore Conference with the Calera Baptist Church ladies, I have to say I do NOT think that Aubrey is going to be one of the "Frozen Chosen!" Look at those little hands in the air!)

It's been awhile

I know that it has been awhile since I have blogged, I have a ton of things to blog about and to catch everyone up on. For some reason I have just not been motivated to do anything lately. Pretty much I come home, eat dinner sit on the couch and go to bed. I am blaming this on being 13 weeks pregnant.... I need something to motivate me quickly! I have two orders to put in for pictures and one session I have to get edited this week! (Tricia, I am working on your pictures I promise!)

While I am drawing a blank on blogging I have a blog that I want everyone to visit. I heard about it from my friend Michelle and now I have been diving into this amazing blog every night for the last two nights and it is hard for me to peel myself away to go to bed. If you look at my links of Blogs I read go to the blog Bring The Rain. Now there is only one way to read her blog...start back at the very beginning and work your way to now. You have to catch yourself up with her whole story... do not skip one post of hers. Just plan on sitting down and not getting up for awhile. I have now read up to July and I cannot wait until tomorrow to hopefully be caught up. This lady and her family are AMAZING.... over the last two nights I have sat on my couch and cried my eyes out and 5 minutes later I have been dieing laughing.

Hopefully I will be back to blogging soon but for now enjoy Angie's blog and remember start at the beginning and read it all... have your tissue ready trust me you will need it!

Jen

p.s. Next week I am off work all week, I have decided that I will have boot-camp potty training. If I do not have any luck after a week of hard potty training then I am going to put up the potty and try again when I have my christmas break. (Please pray it goes well next week! I really want to get rid of diapers) I really think she is ready, now I just have to convince aubrey that she is ready!

Are you kidding me?!?!

Where do I even begin? The person that pulled out in front of me had no drivers license and no proof of insurance and according to the police department there is nothing they can do about that! He gets to walk away with not even a slap on the wrist and I get a totaled car, half a day off from work with no pay, and to top it all off the wrecker service wants $320.00 to get andy's car just so we can turn around and try to sell it for scrap metal. How is any of this even legal!!!! Someone from another country can come to the United States drive like a MANIAC and be allowed to continue the same lifestyle while I have to figure out how we are going to come up with the money for a car to drive. I cannot even begin to type out on a blog how TICKED off I am. How does the law allow this to happen to innocent people. Hypothetically I could have been killed in the accident and the law would do nothing about it. I have gone from upset about the whole thing to all out MAD. I got a good cry out tonight after andy left for basketball.... I just don't understand how supposably I am protected by the law but ACTUALLY the illegal people that roam the streets are protected. This whole situation has put andy and I in a bind and what makes me so mad is the fact that I did nothing wrong, I was driving back to work and he pulled out in front of me and I will now pay the price.

Isn't it amazing how just when I thought things were looking up - just when I could see myself being able to be a stay at home mom in the NEAR future..... life has other plans.... I am beginning to think that where I always thought God had called me to be a Wife and Mother maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn't listening....

Maybe today I am just an emotional basketcase.... I am pretty sure that is possible considering the circumstances. But on the other hand, facts are facts, reality is reality, and the reality of all of this is we are down to one car and to get back what belongs to us to begin with will cost us $320.00 and rising each day! Even if we get it back it is totaled and we will literally be selling parts off of it.

I keep quoting Jeremiah 29:11 - I know it by heart .... I know He has a plan .....

What's left of the honda....

Here are the pictures of the poor honda..... :( We are officially on the market for a used, good gas milage car for andy to drive around town and visit customers. Anyone have any good ideas :)

Car Accident

This afternoon me and a co-worker were on our way back to work from lunch when a car pulled out in front of me and I hit him.... HARD! Andy's car is totaled! Mickey and I were both very shaken up crying and trying to find our phones, I finally found mine and called 911. The police, firemen, and ambulance arrived and I made the mistake of saying my neck and back were hurting.... the next thing I knew they were strapping me down to a back board and putting me in the ambulance. Off to the ER we went....sirens and all. Everything checked out fine... Mickey and I are both fine just really sore and it will probably only get worse before it gets better. Isn't it amazing how something like this can happen so fast, literally in the blink of an eye!

The real reason for this blog was not to inform you of my accident but to complain about how
in-sensitive the world is these days...... my car SLAMMED into someone else's car on HWY.31 in Pelham and do you know that not ONE person stopped to check on us.... cars just kept passing right by....NO one stayed to be a witness to what happend. I had to call 911 no one else called! What has happened to america! Do people only care for themselves these days?!?! How can someone watch this accident happen, pull over into the opposite lane and drive by.... I sure am glad that no one was hurt because who knows how long it would have been for someone to drive by and actually have a heart and call for help! I am just so disappointed with Society.

Andy is going to get some stuff out of the car tomorrow I am going to get him to take some pictures so I can share them will all of my blogging buddies!

My Family

Before I started taking pictures of everyone's else's kids as a career.... I would take pictures of Aubrey ALL the time. I noticed the other day that I had not been taking as many pictures of my own child, so off to the park we went for a photo shoot :) She was more interested in sliding down the slide and swinging on the swing but I managed to sneak in a few pictures.

Transparent

The Definition of Transparent - Capable of transmitting light so that objects or images can be seen as if there were no intervening material. Easily seen through or detected; obvious

Am I transparent? Am I capable of being transparent? I have a big mouth and I love to talk.... but does my mouth ever really let anyone know who I am? Am I capable of tearing off the masks and allowing others to see ME!

These are all things I am working on, I will get back to everyone on this subject.

Parents Magazine

Ok, call me crazy but I have put aubrey in the Parents Magazine photo contest. I have to have ALOT of people rate her picture and I figured what better place than on my blog to BEG for voters :) If you do not mind taking a moment please go to Aubrey...the way the website works is I need you to click on Recommended and click on the five stars..... she has to be recommended the most and have the most five star rating.... for some reason they wanted me to upload 6 photos which means everyone has to go through all 6 photos and recommend and rate EACH photo. I am pretty sure she will not win because there are like 54000 pictures but I thought it would be fun :) If you know anyone that might help me out just pass the website address around.... I would really appreciate the help!

If you can not figure out the website just e-mail me jendee783@aol.com and I will explain it in a more detailed fashion.

THANKS!
Jen

Father's Day

I know I am a couple days behind.....

Happy Father's Day!!!!

Work

I just wanted to asked the ladies who know me to be praying for me.... I have some stressful and hurtful things going on at work right now. I do not always handle the situation the right way.... the last couple of weeks I have seen how two-faced and back stabbing people can be. I am very disappointed in the people I work with and in myself. I just want to ask everyone to be praying that everything will be setteled soon or that God would open up another opportunity for me. When I already desire to be a stay at home mom it is very hard to get up and go to work at a place that can be very discouraging. Today was a bad day..... I try to not bring it home to andy and aubrey but days like today I really can't help but to just come home down and discouraged.

Thank you for your prayers.....

A week of first's

So this week has been an interesting week.... work is CRAZY, and coming home to a two year old is even CRAZIER! I only had to work Mon-Wed this week so I got the bright idea of painting aubreys play room. We started painting tuesday night, it is thursday and it is still not finished.... it is kindof hard to find time to paint a room when I am having to make sure Aubrey is not getting into the paint. Things like this went ALOT faster before a child came into the picture. Thanks to Jonathan and Brantley for coming over tuesday night and helping us get the first coat of paint on, if yall had not come over we would probably still be working on the first wall :)

Back to the original reason for this post..... I decided a couple of months ago to buy a potty so that when summer started we would start working on potty training. I am not going to push aubrey into potty training I am just trying to slowly introduce and hope she takes the bait. Up until this week she has HATED the potty. I have bribed her a couple of times to just sit on the potty but she would only sit down and then immediatly stand back up. Well, mom had told me about a garfield comic book that aubrey liked to read and mom only allowed her to read it while sitting on the potty, tuesday mom and aubrey were up in her bathroom brushing aubrey's hair and getting her ready for the day and mom got a call from Julia.... I am not real sure about the whole story all I know is mom was talking on the phone and aubrey was in the bathroom without a diaper on and mom noticed that something started to trinkel down aubrey's leg so mom said "Oh No!" and aubrey stopped peeing so mom hurried and sat her on the potty, aubrey sat there for a few minutes and finally..... she tee-tee'd in the potty!!!!! Mom said Aubrey got a big smile on her face and sordof Gasped when she heard it in the potty!! I realize this is no where close to being potty trained but you have to start somewhere right?!?!? I am a very proud mom! So the rest of the week I have really encouraged her to sit on her potty.... I snapped a picture I hope no one finds it offensive or inappropriate, I think it is pretty cute :)

The other first for this week is a boo-boo, she has fallen and scraped her knees a few times she even back when she was barely walking fell and had a bloody nose but I feel like this is our first really obvious boo-boo. I am not real sure how it happened, I put aubrey down for her nap this afternoon and I snuggled in to the couch to watch tv for an hour or so and all of the sudden I heard a loud boom and her crying!! I ran into her bedroom thinking somehow she had fallen out of her bed.... she had not fallen out but she had this bad scrape under her nose :( She cried for a long time.... I finally got her back to sleep for her nap, when she woke up from her nap I was afraid it would bother her but she has not even acted like she notices it. Andy thinks it may scab over.... I hope not but if so it will heal..... we just won't be taking any family photos for the next couple of weeks :)

I hope to have pictures of Aubrey's finished play room in the next couple of weeks.... hopefully we will be finished painting this weekend, I guess we will see if aubrey allows it or not :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a wonderful father's day!

Beach

Mom, Dad, Andy, Aubrey & I all went to the beach a few weekends ago.... we have been so busy ever since that I have not had a chance to share any of my pictures with you! I was so hoping to get some beautiful beach pictures of aubrey and some great family shots, aubrey had other plans :) She HATED the beach! She would literally have to be carried from her beach chair to her towel. Needless to say I did not get beautiful beach pictures, maybe next time! We did have a great relaxing time and it was well needed for us all.

Aubrey has been a very scheduled baby from the very beginning.... Andy and I learned very quickly after bringing her home from the hospital that she required the same routine every night before bed time or bed time did not go very smoothe at all. So at the beach she was all off of her routine and by the last day she was literally home sick and ready to get back on her routine. When we walked back in our house she was the happiest kid you have ever seen! I could just picture Dorothy and To-To "There's no place like home, There's no place like home!"

I got some really fun pictures of her while we were there though, we tried pig-tails out for the first time ever.... her hair still isn't quite long enough but it was cute, my baby is looking more and more like a little girl and less like a baby every day!