Potty Training!

We spent the weekend potty training! It was… fairly successful! We did not have a lot of accidents at all! However, even though I really wanted to spend the entire weekend indoors and work on it, real life hit and we did have to run out a couple of times and put a regular old diaper on her! But overall, it worked really well!

I also invested in clothe diapers. Wasn’t too sure how I was going to like this new change! I mean, disposable diapers are SO convenient! And they simply go into the diaper genie! But in thinking about having 2 kids in diapers… shewl! That’ll get expensive, fast! In doing a ton of research, I decided to buy the gdiaper. This was our first weekend also strictly in the clothe diapers (except for church… don’t want to put the nursery worker through that!  ha ha!) I must say, I LOVE THEM!!! The new type of clothe diapers is so easy! Only difference is you do have to wash the suckers… which is fine with me! With the affordable laundry detergent I will be making soon… it will save me SO MUCH money!!! I just hope Eliza’s grandma (aka Gigi) won’t mind the clothe diapers. She didn’t complain today… she even worked with her on the potty training but don’t think Eliza gave it up to her very easily! That’s ok… as long as we are all on the same page I’m happy! =)

With all this being said… anyone have potty training tips??? I have researched it to pieces and there are SO many different suggestions! The one I have followed the most is letting her run around bottomless when we are home. She has LOVED IT. That’s kind of her reward for tinkling in the potty, being able to not have a big old bulky diaper!!! Please, share your experiences and tips with me!!!

Thanks a ton!

Nee’

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Tempers…

In dire need of advice!! Does anyone have a toddler with a temper problem??? Eliza is the sweetest girl you could ever meet. But she has some sever temper tantrums and Aaron and I are now at a loss as to what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle these tantrums? It happens when she doesn’t get what she wants right when she wants it. Or if you make her do something when she isn’t ready to do – for example, leave the house??? This evening I gave her green beans for dinner, she couldn’t get it on her fork, got mad, and threw them across the room! It’s getting almost uncontrollable. Does anyone have ANY suggestions?!
Lenee’

Trust…

Hey Everyone!

It has been quite a week – that is for sure! Aaron’s grandfather is home and doing okay – please continue to keep him in your prayers during this time. He’s having  a difficult time regaining strength and I think he is mostly getting disgusted with the things that he can’t do at this point in time. Who could blame in? For years he has been able to take care of himself and now he is having such a difficult time.

So, something has been running through my mind all week long. Trust… to trust in Jesus. Sounds simple enough, right? But it has been really difficult for me over the years. How I pray that I could learn to trust Him more and more and not worry about the every day stresses of life. Are we going to have enough money to make ends meet? Will I be able to get all this work done? Will I ever pass this test? Will things quit going wrong? Will Golden Building ever get any work? I have a friend on Facebook who has also been posting comments about striving to put her full trust in Him. Just to rest upon His promise. With that, I was listening to my Casting Crowns album when this song came on.

1. ’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
   Just to take Him at His Word;
   Just to rest upon His promise,
   And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
   • Refrain:
     Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
     How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
     Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
     Oh, for grace to trust Him more!
2. Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
   Just to trust His cleansing blood;
   And in simple faith to plunge me
   ’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
3. Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
   Just from sin and self to cease;
   Just from Jesus simply taking
   Life and rest, and joy and peace.
4. I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
   Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
   And I know that Thou art with me,
   Wilt be with me to the end.

From His word….

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

—Jeremiah 17:5-8

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

—Proverbs 3:5-6

Lord, please let this week be better!

It has been quite a few days since I’ve been able to sign on! It has been quite an awful week! Wednesday night, I had just gotten dinner cleaned up and Eliza in her pajamas when she suddenly started vomiting! Talk about scaring a mommy and daddy! It came from absolutely no where! She had been in a great mood – didn’t act sick at all whatsoever. Well, as we continued through the evening, she seemed fine. About an hour later, she crawled in my lap and proceeded to throw up again… I think she did it another couple of times! It was a very stressful night – her first stomach bug! Aaron set her play pin up in our room so she would be near by should something happen in the middle of the night. Thank the Lord, she slept soundly and didn’t have another problem with the sickness!

Us on the otherhand… shewl! I woke up Thursday morning sicker than I have been in a long, long time! I threw up all day. My mother in law (Gail) called me later in the morning and said she had been up all night throwing up as well! Aaron went to work… he had a lot to do and I think part of him was hoping he wouldn’t catch this mess by staying out of the house! No luck there! He got home about 4 and proceeded to start throwing up! My father in law (Ned) also got it!

As if that wasn’t enough for one day, we got a phone call that Aaron’s grandfather had appeared to have stroke. He was admitted at Pitt Memorial… sure enough, he had a full on stroke. His left side was mostly paralyzed. He was in the hospital until Saturday. Saturday, Ned, Gail, Aaron and I headed to Greenville to see him – we didn’t realize that he was going to be released. Ned and Gail proceeded to drive his grandparents home and Aaron and myself drove his grandparents car home. Little did we realize the MESS that was waiting for us at home! IT HAS SNOWED 7 INCHES SINCE WE LEFT THAT MORNING! When we left it was not snowing! Unbelievable! An hour and a half trip took us 4 1/2 hours!

Aaron’s granddad is home recuperating – thank the Lord! Please keep him in your prayers during this difficult time. We don’t know the status of his relationship with the Lord and can only pray that this event really opens his eyes to the reality of how fragile and short our life on earth really is. Everyone seems to be back to normal from the stomach bug – except for me! My stomach is still not right. I don’t know if it’s because I am pregnant that perhaps it’s taking me longer to get over it? Gail said maybe the baby is just sick now! Ha! I hope not! Poor guy… I think he’s been trying to figure out what I’ve been doing to him the past few days!

Your prayers would all be greatly appreciated for our family! It has been a difficult week – we need to learn to lean on Him more and more during times like this.

Blessings!

Nee’

IRRITATED!!! NEED ADVICE!

Sheesh….

So, I made this homemade dishwashing detergent! SUPER EASY! And extremely cheap! Before I used it, I wiped out my dishwasher, put in a 1/2 cup of vinegar and ran it through a cycle without any dishes to get it nice and clean. I had read that this will clear out any minerals and stuff that may clog up the washer (especially those of us on well water.) I had noticed the past week that my dishwasher was acting funny… leaving a film on my dishes. Was really making me mad cause then I had to re-wash all the dishes before using them! Ridiculous! That’s one of the reasons I wanted to try this new recipe to see if did better than the expensive cascade I bought. Well… during the empty cycle… I noticed things were making strange sounds? But, I didn’t think too much about it.  Had some dishes I needed washed and was SO excited about trying out this new detergent! I don’t know if something is wrong with my dishwasher or if my water is just getting worse? I am NOT blaming this on the new detergent because of all the odd things that had happened over the week with the nasty film and what not. I am going to post this picture. THE GLASSES ARE HORRIBLY CLOUDY!!! When my mother in law lived in Straits, I know she had a problem with her glasses getting like this! I am SO MAD! Thankfully, I only had a couple of glasses in there. But, it’s almost like the washer is getting too hot? Eliza has special little spoons that change color when the food is too hot. You have to put them on the top rack of the dishwasher so they don’t permanently change the ‘hot’ color. Well, after this cycle some of her spoons are permanently the wrong color!! Could it maybe be the heat?? The water?? Does ANYONE have any clue? Especially those of you downeast who might have experienced that? If it’s going to ruin my dishes than I’m going to have to handwash all my dishes again.. and I really DON’T want to!

Nee’

Mondays…

I’m convinced that Mondays are difficult for everyone! Not just us working people! I am soooo tired. I could have went to bed about 7 this evening! I was thankful, however, that Aaron’s grandparents cooked dinner for us tonight! That always helps a ton! But of course, duty called (being homework…) so we couldn’t stay and visit like we would have liked to.

I have kind of had an off day today. Not feeling quite 100% and extremely sleepy. Perhaps from the weekend? Work? Pregnancy? Lack of caffeine??? I’m used to having as many cups of coffee that I want during the day to keep me going. I read that while you’re pregnant you really should keep the caffeine down to about 1 cup of coffee a day. Talk about withdrawals – shewl! Any one have suggestions on how to get more energy??? I go to bed fairly early and get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, which should be sufficient.

So, as some of you may know, I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism about a year ago. In other words, my thyroid was slow and was draining my energy, turning me into a raving lunatic, and preventing me from losing weight! It was awful. My wonderful doc put me on some meds to get things regulated. I could tell a difference in just a few short weeks. Well, she slowly weaned me off of the meds and by the time we became pregnant with Jude, my TSH levels were regulated and she took me off the pills! I was THRILLED!!! Today, I had a bit of a scare. I went to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy and they advised that my thyroid meds had been sent in as well? I felt my heart sink!!! I told her I didn’t want to purchase them right now as I haven’t been on them for months! I prayed and prayed and prayed. Last thing I want is for something to get messed up with this pregnancy! And I certainly don’t want to be taking a pill for the rest of my life! I put in a quick call to the doctor’s office and it was mistake on their part. They weren’t sure if I was still taking that prescription or not and sent it in as a precaution. She said she reviewed my file and when I had blood work in December, my levels were NORMAL! THANK YOU LORD! Probably a silly thing to have freaked out so much about… but, when you have another life growing inside of you, it’s kind of like everything matters more than it did when it was just you! Sure, I didn’t mind taking the pill prior to being pregnant to get things normal, but it was only me and not really affecting anyone else. This time, it was me and my little boy! Keep me in your prayers that this thyroid behaves!!! Even after the baby is born – it sure will make my life a lot easier!

This blog is getting pretty long so I am going to bring it to a close. But, I made a decision today! I am going to try an experiment. I am going to make my own laundry detergent as well as my own dishwashing detergent. I’m hoping to buy the stuff tomorrow!! Stay tuned… I’ll let you know how it goes! If all goes well, it will save us BUNDLES!!! I’ll be sure to share the recipes as well!

May the Lord Bless you this Monday evening!
Nee’

Fun filled weekend!!!

You gotta love the weekends!!! For a working mom (at least in my life!) your whole life is waiting for the weekend to spend with your family. Today has definitely been quite an eventful day! We went to a Birthday Party for a dear friend of ours and Eliza had a blast! It was her first experience with jumping gyms. She didn’t quite know what to do with herself at first, but it was awesome watching her play with the other kids! She loved it! And she took a nice looooong nap when we got home… so did mommy =). I am one who can’t help but think of everything that I need and should be doing. It’s really, really, really hard for me to sit down and just rest. But, I made myself do it today and I am so glad that I did! It really made a huge difference and gave me the energy this evening to complete the homework and laundry that should have been done a lot earlier!

So, I kind of had a reality check today at the party. There was a new born baby boy there… he is PRECIOUS! I could have ate him up! And as I was running around the building making sure Eliza didn’t fall on her head or something of the like it hit me!!! My gracious… I will be running after her and have a little guy just like that in FOUR MONTHS!!  Holy cow! How am I going to do this??? Aaron had to work today to make up for lost time due to the snow this week… so I was on my own today. When he’s with me I don’t worry about it so much. But thinking about having to be out and about with TWO kids by myself from time to time…. shewl! Any mommy’s have tips on that one??? I know mom’s do it all the time! I know plenty of them.. but the idea was kind of mind boggling to me today!

After our nice, long nap we went outside to play ball! It was one of the first decent weather days we have had in quite a while! It was still chilly, but gorgeous out there!!!! I have had the best time with my little girl today! She’s now sound asleep in her bed. Time to get back to reality and the homework…

Have a great night!

Lenee’