Mothers Day

We had a great and mellow Mothers Day as usual. TJ gets home late from church so we can't go out to lunch because the kids nap at 1PM, and I had Bible study at night so there was not much of a celebration (which is fine with me). We are having my Mothers Day dinner tomorrow... we have some wonderful filet mignon's to cook!!! YUMMY!!! Karoline did make me a beautiful card in Sunday school and I got a 4 lb. tub of Red Vine's from TJ! MY FAVORITE!!! Anderson didn't spit up on me today so that must have been my gift from him. OH, and I GOT A NAP!! It was wonderful.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a mom... there is no better job in the world. I am so blessed to have such amazing children and get to be with them every day, all day! It can be very hard and challenging at times and I am not saying that I don't want to pull my hair out multiple times a day but there is NOTHING as rewarding than kissing my babies goodnight seeing Anderson look up at me and smile after I lay him down and hearing Karoline say "I love you mommy" as I close her bedroom door... every bit of stress or frustration that I feel at the end of the day goes away!

Knowing the deep love I have for my kids has really made me think a lot about my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I cannot imagine my Heavenly Fathers love for me but I know He loves me more than I love my kids... I just cannot comprehend that but oh how I am SOOOO thankful!! I know I drive Him crazy with stupid things I do or say that are childish, or I loose my patience, I let Him down, I don't obey, and I am too caught up in myself to realize the goodness that is in front of me... but at the end of the day HE LOVES ME!!! I am SO THANKFUL for his unfailing LOVE!! SOOOOOOO THANKFUL!!!! I am so blessed that He not only puts up with me but cares for me deeply! Thank you Jesus!! Thank you Jesus for letting me be a mommy to Karoline and Anderson!!

This was the best picture I could get... my camera is on top of a tissue box on top of a table. TJ was at church so it was interesting trying to get them to look at the camera.

My card Karoline made...


Emily and Avery came over to "Goff Park" on Saturday and the girls had a great time! We love it when Avery comes over to play...

KaBoom

Our friend Tammy from church works in the Port of Oakland in the shipping industry. I have learned so much about the shipping industry for her and it really is amazing!! I didn't realize how many steps are involved in getting what Pottery Barn sells into the stores! :) She took us to a company party and we had wine and some wonderful food (even caviare). The big even though was a big fire works show that was being shot across the bay in the city (SF). So we had a wonderful evening and then the big climax... the fire works. Well, we could hear them, but we could not see them. In good ol' San Francisco style the FOG rolled in and blocked the show!!!! But we still had a great evening!!
I didn't take my Rebel with me, just my small camera. I wish I could have taken my Rebel because I could have taken some really cool pics of sunset but oh well...
This is one of the ships that Tammy works with... not on the boat. She works in a nice office but to explain her job is too complicated for me. It is very interesting though...

No kids... BABYSITTER! I was so scared to leave Karoline potty training with our dear friends, Greg and Susan. She did great and had another no accident day. Greg is a chef and made Karoline smoked gouda mac and cheese!! She asked me for more gouda at breakfast!!

They had these precious mimi hamburgers... they were so yummy!


The cranes were the inspiration behind the Star Wars imperial walkers... the creator of Star Wars lives in the bay area.

SHE DID IT!!!

NO ACCIDENTS!!!

I am so proud of her... no accidents today. She even went #2 in the potty! So today was her third day of potty training and her first day of no accidents! I also am beginning to let her go longer than 30 minutes without putting her on the potty. She is beginning to let me know if she really does not have to go potty. Later tonight she went over an hour without needed to go so I can tell she is learning to hold it. I really am so proud of her!!!

I asked her where were her new underwear and .... There they are mommy...

Say CHEESE...

Princes Karoline takes time out of her busy day to color...

I could not do a post without pictures of little man... We had a wonderful time playing outside today.

Potty Training: Take Two

Yesterday (Wednesday) Karoline brought me a pair of my underwear and said "I want underwear" while trying to put them on. I told her they were mine and I thought what the heck... I have nothing better to do the next few days, lets try potty training again. We tried in February but Anderson was still at a point where he was a lot to take care of and now that he enjoys playing alone I figured it would probably work out... Plus if I wait until the busyness of the summer it would not happen until August.

So yesterday I decided we are DONE with diapers (except for nap time and night time). She had 6 "victories" and only 2 accidents. We even ran an errand and I forced myself not to put a diaper on her. She did great! Then today she had 10 "victories" and 3 accidents. TJ had her all morning while I went to the doctor and she was accident free. I am so proud of her!

I went to Target and got her another pack of Dora and Disney underwear and a bag of M&M's for potty rewards. I have never really given her candy before. That girl can force herself to go potty when she sees the M&M's. She has enjoyed the M&M's so much that she asked to pray for them during our prayer time before bed!! Is it bad that I give myself M&M's after I go potty??

I am very proud of her and I know that she will continue to do well... she has to. I promised myself I would not go back. I know she can do it! Wish me luck (and pray for patience!!). Anderson has been great when I have to leave him quickly to take Karoline to the potty...

Karoline has been sitting on a towel if she is watching TV... She thinks it is special that Anderson is not allowed on the towel!

M&M's...

She picked out two blue M&M's after another victory!!!

Little man waking up from his nap...

He loves to play peek-a-boo using his bumper!! He is so cute...


This picture is so special to me... If you don't know, Karoline was NEVER a cuddle baby... she never rested for a moment on my chest. My boy however is a cuddle baby. He would rather be held most of the day (except when he is sleepy and wants his crib). Tonight he was cuddling before bath time. I realized I have yet to take a picture of him cuddling so I made TJ get the camera.



Here is a video of Karoline playing in the backyard...

Video Troubles

Do you have a problem viewing the videos that I post?

I ask this because TJ's parents and his sister cannot see the videos that I post. We are trying to figure out the problem. If you have trouble please leave a comment and let me know and I will see if I can fix it... THANK!!

More Random Things...

As I was thinking about my list of random things I kept thinking of things for the kids and not me... but I did the list about me but I thought I would write down just a few (just enough to bore you) random things that have to deal with my precious ones...
1) Karoline wakes up every morning saying "I have a good nap"... We try and explain it is not a nap but she thinks it is. She then says "Oatmeal have a good nap", "Table have a good nap"

2) After talking about naps Karoline asks for milk. But she says "I want purple milk" or "I want tea cup milk" or "I want alligator milk"..." WHAT?" What she is doing is telling us what cup she wants to drink out of that day. It is pretty cute...

3) Anderson likes to pull off his socks and eat them... the little mans feet can be so cold but he will still pull them off!!

4) My kids wear Luvs diapers... Like the commercial we bought the expensive diapers at first but then got real and got Luvs. So new mom's out there Luvs are great! They are not as luxurious as Huggies or Pampers but they do the job just perfectly! Just make sure you get the stretchy tabs (Luvs is in transition to stretchy tabs).

5) Just incase you were wondering 15 avocados make 4 ice cube trays worth of baby food!
Hey there little man...

Anderson sitting up in the bath tub now...

Karoline is such a big help during bath time. She does all the rinsing for us...

Today Karoline GRADUATED!!! She is now in the 2-3 year old Sunday School class... Our good friend Misi was her teacher which made her happy and helped with the transition. She had a great time. When I picked her up she was drinking juice out of a cup (we need to do this more at home) and eating a cookie. I want to go to her class!!! Anyway, here is her artwork!! I am sure she did it all by her self :)

After everyone took their Sunday naps (I napped longer than the kids- it was wonderful!!) we went on a drive and this is what she looked like leaving... Thanks again Natalie for the bunny ears!!

Here is a video of our dinner last night... the kids were "feeding" off of each other... it was crazy but pretty humorous to TJ and I... so instead of getting upset we just laughed!

7 Random Things

I finally have been tagged (by Cindy) but I only have to list 7 random things about me. I am SO glad I did not get tagged by someone who had to do 100 random things... Anyway... here they are...

1) TJ and I met the weekend after September 11, 2001... Liz and Jeff introduced us and after a month of him trying to get me to go get coffee with him I finally said yes. He swept me off my feet and we were married less than a year later. It will be 6 years in October!! I LOVE my husband!

2) When I am tired I am tired and don't mess with me and just go ahead and do whatever I say!! TJ know not to get me up before 8AM (I do turn off baby monitors until 8AM too!) and my closest friends know to not call until around 10 AM after I have had my first cup of coffee!!

3) My favorite household chore to do is the laundry. I do not mind doing laundry at all and I HATE it when anyone else touches my laundry!! I am so picky about what gets put in the dryer and I do not want to miss a stain on the kids clothes. Just so you know my least favorite household chore is unloading the dishwasher! (TJ helps me with this often- sweet man!)

4) I still LOVE to watch cheerleading!! I cheered in high school and loved it and I also coached when I was a teacher. I MISS IT! I cannot wait for Karoline to be a little cheerleader someday (if she wants to be).

5) I think Avocado's are the best food you can give your kids! Both of my children eat avocado's almost daily... Karoline eats from 1/4 to 1/2 an avocado a day and Anderson eats 1/4th of one about every other day... Today they were on sale for .89 cents each (they are regularly $1.79 each) so I bought 22!!! I might even go back to get more! I have lots of baby food for Anderson to make this week! We even have an avocado song we sing...

6) If I could be anything (other than a stay at home mommy) I would love to stage homes for sale or work at Wiliams Sonoma Incorporated (Pottery Barn, PBK, WS, West Elm) headquarters in the city.... This is if I had to work. I hope I can always be a SAHM!

7) I have to eat a little bit of chocolate every day! I will have to stop this at some point in my life I am sure of it... But if there is not chocolate in the house after the kids go to bed I have to get TJ to go get something :) !!! Maybe this is why I can't lose these last 6 pounds!!

I tag my best friend NATALIE... I feel like I know everything about her but maybe not! I would tag my other best friend Kim too but she does not have a blog... Oh... I have a #8

8) Everyday I pray that Kim will start a blog!! (Just kidding Kim... no pressure... until your done with school that is!!)

Okay here are some pictures and a video to make the grandparents happy...
They are so cute together...

What a pretty girl...

WOW... Look at that hair! Oh it can be a mess!

It was Avery's birthday on Tuesday and she came over to get her gift. Karoline was glad to see her friend since she is leaving for a trip...

Anderson loves playing with his sippy cup while waiting on his food...

I thought he was so cute lounging around with his feet crossed...

Anderson sitting up... he is sitting up all alone now. Today he sat up for like 30 minutes without falling over!! YEAH!!

Anderson playing with Karoline's blocks... He is ALMOST crawling. He is taking "steps" a little more every day!


Video

I Hope You Are Sitting Down...

You better be sitting down...

You will probably never see this again so just brace yourself...

Especially Barna...

Yall should be thankful I am even still alive after what I did...

TJ might file for divorce...

Or we might try counseling first...

Even my dad begged me not to post this...

But I just could not resist...



My sweet grandmother bought this for Anderson and I just thought it was really cute. TJ on the other hand... well, we all know how he feels about anything smocked!! Especially on little boys... he even hates smocked dress!!! Was he really raised in the south?? I am beginning to wonder. And Barna, TJ said don't get too excited because we will never see another smocked outfit on Anderson ever again.
How did I get away with this you may ask?? Well, TJ leaves early on Sunday mornings and is not around while I get the kids dressed for church. Once we arrived there was really nothing TJ could do. Hehe... Anyway, my precious children were so cute!!



I just love the back of her dress.

Maybe if I stopped my Sunday morning photo shoots we would be on time for church!!!

A Time For Prayer

I have become overwhelmed with this story of a sweet couple Katherine and Jay the past few days. My sister in law as well as many other people from Auburn (and updates on Facebook) have informed me about this sweet girl who had a brain aneurism very recently and had surgery this past week. She is the daughter in law of the pastor at FBC Montgomery where Sarah and Jared went to church.

Obviously every life is so precious but what I think what touches me most about this story is that she has a 7 or 8 month old son. My heart breaks every time I am thinking of her, her family, her son, when the thought of that little boy growing up without his mom comes to my mind! She was still nursing him before this happened and has had to transition to bottle feeding and the fact that his mom is not around. I guess because Anderson is so close in age to her little boy I just can't imagine what this must be like! Oh it breaks my heart and I could cry right now...

BUT God has really been doing mighty things in the life of this family! Katherine is doing better every day but they do have a LONG LONG road ahead of them. Most of you probably already know of this story but I wanted to pass it on for those of you who may not. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for this family!!! Here is a link to their website and they update it all the time! Also, if you have Facebook they do have a Facebook page for them. Please read about Katherine and join TJ and I in praying for this amazing family.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katherinewolf

Our Trip to Monterey...

Every time we go and explore the area in which we live I am AMAZED that God has placed us in such a beautiful part of this country. It is unbelievable to me that if we want to go to Monterey or Carmel we just drive 2 hours... if we want to go to Lake Tahoe, it is just 3 hrs. away! Not to mention Napa and San Francisco!! WOW... it really is amazing! I loved our trip to Monterey! We didn't make it to Carmel but plan on going back and ALONE maybe sometime soon! So here is the LONG story of our trip... Oh, and if you want to see more details of the pics you can click on them and blow them up.

We left Sunday morning and arrived two hours later... After checking into the hotel we ate at Rosines in the down town Monterey area. It was VERY good.

They had the largest cakes and pies I have ever seen. TJ and I got a piece of pie and there is no way we could finish it (and that is not like us) so we had to take the rest of it with us. We enjoyed it again later that night!


17 Mile Drive
I could not get over the beauty of the 17 mile drive... we really enjoyed it!


Karoline was asleep for the first part of the 17 mile drive...

... so we took some pictures with Anderson.





The Lone Cypress- This was a very fun stop because I saw a little toddler with an Auburn jacket on... Of course I said "War Eagle" and it turned out to be the mom was an Alpha Gam at Auburn! She knew Leigh and it was fun to talk for a few minutes...


We tried to get a picture of me with the kids but I was about to drop them! :)


Miss Karoline thought she owned Pebble Beach! She strutted her stuff all over the club house and around the course...

Anderson by the 18th green at Pebble Beach...

Pebble Beach is stunning...

THE HOTEL
We are so thankful for my dad who got us a room at the Embassy Suites Hotel! It was so nice and we enjoyed every minute while staying there. For this trip and our summer trip back to the south we were worried about what to do with Karoline since she is really too big for a pack-n- play ( plus she has been out of a crip since she was 16 months old) but we don't want her sleeping with us or on the floor. So we got her this toddler blow up bed from Onestepahead.com and she loved it. She really thought it was cool getting to be with Anderson. When we left the room saying goodnight to them Karoline said "Oh, there's Anderson". They did great sleeping in the same room... Karoline talking to herself before she fell asleep did not bother him at all. Oh and when we went to bed I noticed that Karoline had both of her socks on her hands! After TJ and I went to bed we moved Anderson's pack-n-play out to the living room so when he woke up at 7AM he would not wake us up.


She had a ton of fun playing with the phone...

Karoline spent a lot of time swimming with TJ at the hotel pool... she LOVES swimming!
Day 2
LEGUNA SECCA
The Alabama in TJ made us go see Leguna Secca... a famous race track.

THE AQUARIUM



If you know my Karoline you know she is not fond of live animals (other than dogs... well, her dog)... even though everything was behind THICK glass she still stood pretty far away (I think this is a trait she gets from her Gammy- you can never be too careful).

Anderson with a HUGE bottle...

This was a space for kids to crawl through but she would not go without TJ...

Yeah, we found a slide...

Karoline's favorite part of the aquarium was the slides! I guess we could have just gone to a park...

She did actually touch a star fish I think...


TJ was holding Karoline up in this dome like thing where you are kind of inside with the fish... kind of cool until the shark came by and Karoline FREAKED OUT completely!!!! Oh how she cried.

The shark that was not so popular with Karoline...

After her encounter with the shark, the only thing that would calm her down was strolling Anderson around...

CANNERY ROW
After the aquarium we walked around Cannery Row for a little while and then got a wonderful HUGE dark chocolate sunday at Ghirardelli...





Both of the kids pretty much slept the whole way home! It was a wonderful get-away!!
A few negaive things about the trip..
1) I forgot Anderson's Zantac. If I was not sure if it was working before, now I know it was!! I paid for this... big time... in the amount of massive amounts of spit up! I was SO thankful to get home to his Zantac!
2) We almost got pulled over on the way there... but he got the car behind us! I kept my eyes on how fast TJ was driving the rest of the way!
3) Karoline going through DVR withdrawals! I am thinking of finding a support group for her. She could not understand why Dora didn't come on the hotel TV whenever she wanted. She also did not understand why she had to watch commercials! She is so spoiled by the DVR!
4) It finally happend... Karoline stepped on her brother. He was fine but cried for a moment. She is having to really learn to watch where she steps!