Get your head out of the toilet Lauren...

Things you never thought you would be saying to your child. This is the latest one. Why do I even have to say to her "Lauren, get your head out of the toilet."

We have been teaching Lauren to climb up on her little step stool, slowly turn around, and then sit on the potty all by herself. She mastered this in one day which was great. I was beginning to wonder how I was going to help her go potty when the new baby was here and I was stuck feeding the baby and Lauren was yelling "Mommy, I need to go potty real bad." So somehow in the mastering of this task Lauren began putting her head in the toilet (not touching the water or anything that gross.) So I have repeated this phrase many times in the last week or so.

Tonight she put her head in the toilet and then she looked up and said "don't put your head in the toilet...that would be silly."

So for all you parents out there, I know there are things that have come out of your mouth that you never thought you would have to say to your child. This is one of many!

Lauren, watch out for baby Claire's head.
Lauren, don't poke Zoe in the eye.

There are so many more and I just can't think of them right now...so enjoy!

25 days left...

Had my first weekly Dr's appt. today. I will go in every Wednesday for the next 3 weeks. Again, nothing too eventful. Weight is good, BP is nice and low, Baby's HR was 140. There is not a lot of swelling in my hands and feet. I am still wearing my wedding ring, which is good because I feel naked without it! My DR. checked me but NOTHING is happening yet. She said the baby is head down, which is the way we want it. I asked her about induction and she said that is an option, but we would have to wait until 39 weeks to see what is happening before we schedule an induction. At least it is not out of the question.

Mark and I are almost ready for the new baby. Each weekend we complete another "task" that is necessary prior to the little one coming home. Car seats, getting the crib ready, etc...

Lauren is definitely ready. This was our conversation last night as I was making dinner.

She was sitting at the table eating her yogurt minding her own business and then she pops up and says...

L: "I am going to have a baby sister."

A: "Oh really...Who told you that?"

L: "Ms. Carol (her daycare teacher). I am going to have a baby sister real soon...Like Elaina (one of her little friends at daycare.)"

Too cute huh? So that is Lauren's latest prediction. Mark thinks it is a boy...he has thought that all along. He also thinks I am going to go early. I think it might be a boy as well...guess we will know soon enough.

Fun Filled Labor Day Weekend

Children's Mercy Family Picnic Saturday morning we headed out to the Agriculture Hall of Fame for the CMH family picnic. Lauren had a great time last year and even more fun this year. It has tons of things for the kids to do, lots of games and prizes and all kinds of food, ice cream and snow cones.
The snow cone was a hit again this year. Lauren ate the whole thing, complete with flavoring dripping down her face, arms, on her toes, etc...just like last year! It was starting to drip on her dress in this picture.

She loves to jump and crawl through these things. There were 2 different ones that she kept going back to to play in.
Lauren always loves a train ride. We rode this one a few times. Lauren and Mark are giving me the thumbs up sign, which is something new Lauren likes to do!

BBQ on Sunday with Amy, Shannon and Aiden. Look at that face....she loved her popsicles. She enjoyed 2 while playing outside! We will never eat popsicles inside. It was all over her face, belly, arms and legs, but she loved it!
Sunday afternoon Amy, Shannon and Aiden headed over for a BBQ. It took Lauren and Aiden a few minutes to warm up to each other, but then they started laughing and playing, running and screaming. It was so fun to watch them play together.


The popsicles were a hit. Lauren seemed to like them more than Aiden. Aiden was having too much fun pouring water all over Zoe. Zoe did not even seem to notice. She just wanted someone to play catch with her!

6 more weeks...is that really possible?

There has not been a lot going on with us the last few weeks so not much to Blog about, but I thought I would share this picture with you. Every 2 weeks Mark takes my picture and Lauren is always there to pose with me. I also take a belly shot and Lauren lifts up her dress or shirt and we get a picture of her belly as well. It is so cute...Lauren that is...not my belly!

I feel great. Really tired at the end of the day and starting to get more swollen in my ankles and fingers. I head to the Dr. again on Wednesday for a routine check-up. They are pretty uneventful. Check my weight, BP and the baby's heart rate. Everything has been normal so far.

I started a new job this week. I am still at CMH but I am now in the Cardiology Clinic working with babies and kids that have heart defects and heart problems. I think I am going to really like it. If you recall I worked on the heart floor for 5 years so I know all the Cardiologist and I am very comfortable with all the heart stuff. The job is 5 days a week which is crazy for me. I said I would never work 5 days a week! So we will have to see how that goes...

Mark is in Maryville this weekend for his fantasy football draft. He has been looking forward to it for weeks and I know he is having fun hanging out with the guys. Lauren keeps asking "Where's my Daddy?" She misses him already and it has only been a few hours.

I will keep everyone posted on the news of the baby. We are getting very excited!

Lauren's Purple Room

This has been a summer of big change. Lauren is no longer our little baby. She has grown into our little girl. The past few weeks we have transitioned Lauren into her new purple room and her big girl bed. We are very happy with the way the room turned out. I still have some decorating to do to add the finishing touches, but I have not quite been able to find things I like. I had this custom made at a party my neighbor had about a month ago. It just rubs onto the wall and you can peel it off when you want to change the decor of the room. I really like the way it turned out!
Lauren loves her big girl bed. It was a struggle for a few weeks to get her to sleep at night. Mark seemed to have the magic touch, so now he is in charge of bedtime! Fine with me!!! He does a great job getting her to sleep at night. He is such a great daddy.
Yes, that is the potty sitting in her room. She moves it around the house a lot. Recently she has just been going on the big potty and not even using her little blue potty. That makes for easy clean up.

I had to take these pictures of the ways she fell asleep. Sometimes she just cried so long that she finally fell asleep in any position!

Go Royals!

Saturday evening we headed out to the K to watch the Royals. When Lauren filled up her sticker chart for going potty we asked her what she wanted to do and she said "Go to a baseball game like Landen." (Landen is her little boyfriend at school.) We had such a great time. We got there early to get tickets and walk around for a while. Lauren was very skeptical of all the people around and held on tightly to Mark and I. We got her a certificate for her first Royals Game and made her an official fan! She loves to wear her daddy's hat!
Lauren made it through 6 innings and well after her bed time. Her favorite part of the game was when the players slid into the bases. She said "Boys fall down and get their bottoms dirty!"
It felt great sitting at a baseball game in the middle of August. We did not get hot at all!
We had all the favorites to eat at the game. Lauren had a hot dog, Mark had Nachos, and I had fries and chicken fingers. We all shared and had a little bit of everyone's dinner. We also had 2 large lemonades to drink!
We probably spent a whole inning in the bathroom. Lauren went potty 11 times at the game. Each time she said she needed to go potty she really did. Mark and I took turns taking her. She even went poopy twice. Lauren laughed about that. She said "I went poopy at the baseball game!" We are so glad she has this potty training stuff down.

Lake Paradise

Saturday afternoon after Lauren's nap we headed out to Lake Paradise in Oak Grove. A friend of mine from work told me about it and has taken her son there a few times to swim. It is a campground and lake but it has this huge pool. It has a zero depth entry and only cost $3 a person to get in. There were hardly any people there and we had a great time staying cool with the weekend heat.

6:15 on a Saturday Morning

and look whose is in our bed. I am so ready for winter when the sun does not come up until after 7. Maybe then Lauren will stop waking up at the crack of dawn.

30 weeks and counting

Had another Dr's appointment today. It went great. The baby's heart rate was 143...it has been lower the last few visits...My blood pressure is still good and low and the Dr. says everything looks great. She said I lost 1/2 a pound. I told her the scale was not right!

It has been a great pregnancy the second time around. I have been so much more laid back and relaxed this time.

Mark and Lauren enjoyed a weekend together this past weekend when I was out of town in Lawrence with the Quiltie Chicks of the family. All my cousins and Aunts got together and quilted while I scrapbooked. We had a great time.

Of course, Lauren and Mark had fun. They went to Borders to buy Lauren some new books since she filled up her sticker chart for going potty. Then after her nap they headed to Tunnel Town. Lauren loves to crawl through the tunnels, go down the slide, and play in the balls. Sunday morning he ventured out to Church with Lauren by himself and said he might not ever do that again!

She went potty on the potty at Tunnel Town. She stopped playing, looked at Mark and said "I need to go potty daddy." I could not believe it...she stopped playing and went potty. She told him the same thing at Church on Sunday. Well, she told him that 3 times and only went potty once. So I am not sure how much of Church they took in, but that is ok!

POTTY TRAINED :)

Need I say more...

On Saturday Lauren started going potty in the toilet for Mark and by Wednesday she was pooping in the potty for me...amazing what a few days can do!

We are now working on sleeping in the purple bed (her big girl bed in her purple room). She has slept there the last few nights and had nap time there yesterday afternoon.

I can't imagine doing all of this with a new baby. I am so glad she is getting all of this done well before the baby is born...10 more weeks to go!

Lauren and Luke, Twizzlers and Cheetos

Sunday afternoon Lauren and I went to the Comfort Inn in Independence to see my cousins Raquel and Lora and Luke. Aunt Jen and baby Claire came along as well. Lauren loves Luke and always has fun with him each time they come up to visit. They were supposed to go swimming at the hotel, but instead they jumped on the beds and played in the pillows. For dinner Luke and Lauren had Twizzlers and Cheetos, too much fun huh? Lauren is showing me her dirty hands and dirty face. She never gets Cheetos at home with mommy and daddy so this was a real treat!

Lauren had a great weekend with potty training thanks to her Daddy. She went potty on the toilet 4 times this weekend and had no accidents. Finally! Mark and Lauren spent all day Saturday together when I went scrap booking and Mark had the magic touch with her! She got the dump truck she wanted when she filled up her sticker chart and has played with that a lot this weekend. We started another line of stickers and asked her what she wanted and she said "another dump truck." Fine with me. Whatever it takes.

Got any Advice?

Lauren is completely potty trained at daycare. She runs into the bathroom, pulls her shorts and panties down, sits down, pees, wipes, gets up and pulls everything up, washes her hands and keeps on playing. I witnessed this act today. It really is happening. When I went to pick her up I told her to go potty before we went home and there she went with a huge smile on her face!

At home she pees on the floor. She cries and cries when she needs to go potty, won't sit on the potty and continues to cry until she pees on the floor.

She will sit on the potty many times a day when she does not need to go potty. She will read books there, sing songs, eat M&M's, and look at the stickers she would get if she would go potty.

Any advice???

I know I know, just give it time and she will go at home. How much time? It has been a month now!

On another note, had a Dr's appointment today. 28 weeks along. The baby's heart rate was 140. The lowest it has been yet. I was hoping I was measuring big since everyone's comments these days have to do with not being due until October and how big I am. You would not believe the things people say. I feel great and I am ready to have a little baby around again. Can't wait for October 6th.

The Spray Park

Today we visited the spray park located near the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence. I told Lauren we were going to the park to play in the water and have a picnic. The whole way there she kept say "No swim, No water, I want to go home and see Zoe." I am not real sure why she did not want to go after we got in the car and headed there. She was very excited in the morning when we were talking about it.

It took Lauren an hour before she would even touch the water. I am not real sure what she was scared of. When we first got there she said "I want to take a picnic." So we had lunch first and watched the other kids play in the water. Finally after some of Lauren's friends arrived (my co-workers kids) she decided it might be okay to play in the water and get wet. I had to hold her for the longest time before she would get down and run and play.

Then she looked up at me and said "Fun Mommy!" I knew she would like it, it just takes her a long time to try new things.

"Daddy...Mommy does not use detangler to fix my hair"

Mark was off today so it was Lauren and Daddy day. Mark loves it when he gets to spend the whole day with Lauren while I am at work or off scrap booking. There were so many funny things that he shared with me about what Lauren said today that I had to share a few...The first one being the title of this post! I use detangler to brush her hair after her bath, but not usually in the morning. Just a little water and the brush usually work. Lauren let Mark know the right way to do it.

"Jayhawk, Jayhawk, Jayhawk." Mark got tired of Lauren saying Jayhawk so he taught her "Go Big Red, Go Big Red." She even has her arm out and hand in a fist saying this...can you picture that!

When I got home this is what she said "Mommy I go potty on the towel in the car" Well another accident, no surprise. She does real well with potty training for a few days, and then real bad for a few days. Patience.

Mark and Lauren started out the day going to Lake Jacomo to see the buffalo. Lauren had been talking about it all weekend. They saw several buffalo and a very large elk. The elk went into the water and Lauren said "Elk take a bath like Lauren, Elk get wet like Lauren."

When I called Mark around nap time to check on them Mark said "This stay at home Daddy stuff is hard work." Glad he knows the feeling :)

Fun in Omaha

We spent the 4th of July Holiday in Omaha and had a great time. Friday night Pat and Betsy hosted a 4th of July party and everyone had a lot of fun. All the kids were in swimsuits running all over the back yard. The food was great, and we enjoyed root beer floats for dessert. Lauren loved watching the fireworks this year, especially with her cousin Nathan.

Saturday night was Nathan's birthday party...he is 5 already. Lauren had a great time playing with her cousins Emma and Rae Ann. She had been talking about seeing Emma all week! Having fun with Rae Ann at the birthday party.
Running all over the yard and splashing in the water. There were two pools set up for the kids!
Lauren loves to play with the hose, however she does not want to be the one getting wet!
Root beer float time. This had been mine but Lauren took it and ate most of it!
Hanging out at the birthday party. Starting to get tired from all the excitement over the weekend.