Potty-training! UGH!

Last weekend, I spent 3 miserable days at home with GA doing potty-training bootcamp.  Can I say that so far this has been my least favorite part of being a mommy?  It is so stressful!  Especially with a VERY strong-willed child like this angel .. .

Would you believe that she "held it" for 16 HOURS straight at one point because she didn't want to wet her princess undies but didn't want to go to the potty either? (I'm sure she doesn't get that attitude from my side of the family! Ha!) And no kind of bribery worked for her either!  I don't know how I'm going to survive the teen years!

By the end of the third day I was so discouraged, because I thought I had totally wasted three days of my life.  I knew that when she went to school on Monday she would either do great, or they would give up and put a pull-up on her.  Praise the Lord she did great at school!  We are far from perfect (and I don't want to jinx myself), but she hasn't had an accident in three days so I'm pretty excited!  She still will only go when it is her idea and won't just try when I need her to  (like right before church), but she is doing great! And, I have finally figured out a reward she is excited about - fruit snacks (so her teeth will probably be rotten but at least she will be potty-trained!)

This weekend, Rah Rah came for a visit and GA did not want to leave his side.  This is how I found them yesterday afternoon:

Please notice that GA has on Rah Rah's shoes.  And once again, poor Cassie is being used as furniture!

Spring Break so far

This Spring Break has been pretty uneventful.  I have spent a lot of time deep cleaning and getting things ready for Baby Lizzie.  Here are a few pictures of other things we have been doing:



making brownies (and licking the bowl) - don't worry these were "just add water" (no raw eggs)!

 

Enjoyed a visit from the Greer family!  Harris is so sweet and hugged everyone goodbye!

I went to a doctor's appointment to check on this munchkin.  I know these 4D ultrasound pictures are a little distorted especially now that she is getting quite squished in there, but I have to say she is looking just like her Daddy to me!  This looks very similar to 4D pictures of GA except the nose is definitely different.  This is Will's nose- not the Spurlock/Mitchell nose that GA has. 

We made a trip to the zoo (and I think half of the people in Alabama followed us there)!  It was SOOO crowded!  We got to see the new elephants and ride the train!

GA in her tutu.  She was dancing around and told me that she was Princess Aurora.  Then, she gave me a blanket to put on like a cape and told me that I was "Snow Wipe". 

Greeting Daddy when he came home from work! 

On a totally random note, GA eats Lucky Charms for breakfast a lot of mornings (I know they aren't the healthiest things, but she LOVES them) Anyway, I crack up everyday because she tells Will to go get her some milk and "Yucky Arms"  Ha! Just didn't want to forget that one day!

Daddy at the park and swinging with pigtails!

Lately, GA has been SUCH a daddy's girl.  She wants Will to go everywhere with us and she always asks for him.  The only time she really prefers me is at bedtime, but she has even been letting Will put her to sleep at night without too much of a fight.  Honestly, I am thrilled that she is loving some daddy time since I know I'll have my hands full with Lizzie very soon!  Anyway, she loves for Will to go with us to the playground because he is much better at lifting, swinging high, and sliding "together" (see the pictures). 



Mommy is a little "large" for sliding these days!



GA's teacher at school fixes her hair everyday (probably because the bows I send her in fall out and she gets tired of putting them back in!)  Anyway, her hair was finally long enough for some pigtails, but I gave it a little trim in the back tonight so I'm not sure if they will work again tomorrow.  Sorry, but Mama can't take the "mullet look"!)

Trip to the country with Daddy

On Saturday, I headed to Mississippi to see my oh-so-talented sister star in the musical, "The Quilters" .  It was wonderful, and she was fabulous!  (Wish I had some pictures, but cameras were not allowed!) While I was gone, Will took GA on an overnight trip to Selma to spend some time with his friend Dan, Dan's daughter Caroline, and of course Gam-mama and Gan-daddy.  I missed them SOOOO much but they had a lot of fun!  Here are some pictures that Will took:

playing in the corn!

My friend, the artist

Since GA has moved into her big girl room, we are cleaning out the nursery and getting it ready for baby Lizzie.  Laudan would never admit to being an artist, but she is.  Just look at what she painted for us!

Pictures just don't even show how beautiful they are!  Something about putting these on the wall made it very real to me that a new little person is coming to live at our house!

(Laudan is going to kill me for posting this, but I was so amazed that I just had to share!)

Another full weekend. . . and some random pics!

We had a busy weekend!  There is just never enough time to fit in everything that I have on my to-do list!  Here are a few pictures!

Well, if you watch a lot of Disney Channel, you know there is a new show for preschoolers called "Jake and the Neverland Pirates".  Grace Ann noticed that all the characters on that show were wearing boots and decided she needed her boots on too while she watched TV and ate breakfast Saturday morning. 

 On the way to church on Sunday, GA configured her pacifiers like this and told us she was a pig!  She oinked all the way to church - such a sense of humor!

Sunday night, we had a fun dinner with the Mitchells and Richardsons.  Grace Ann had lots of fun playing with her sweet cousins (not sure if they are 4th or 5th cousins, but we definitely claim these angels as family!)

 Tyler, GA, and Marianna (not pictured is sweet Cooper!)

 Tyler has lots of fun toys!  GA loved the guitar!

Obviously from paci picture above, you can see that we are struggling on some of our transitions toward becoming a "big girl!"  But, I am happy to announce that GA has slept in her new big girl room the last two nights! 

 

After changing my mind lots of times on paint color, bedding, rug, etc. I have finally completed her room (except for the headboard-the one pictured was already in the room, but we are looking for a different one to go better with her decor).  My favorite thing is that she has some space in her new room for toys and some better organization!  YAY for being organized- makes this mom happy!

Happy Saturday before V-Day!

We had a fun, busy Saturday today.  Our friend Joey arrived at 7:00 am to start painting GA's big girl room (more posts on that to come).  We got dressed and went to the HHS baseball/softball pancake breakfast.  Then, GA and I went to a Kindermusik playdate with lots of our friends. After music, we headed to the Weavers for some snacks and Ragsland shopping.  GA took a nap in the car on the way home.  When I got home, I realized that the paint color wasn't quite what I'd hoped, so we headed to Home Depot for a little paint adjustment for the last coat and a quick stop by the park to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Our house is chaos right now as Will and I try to move out of the guestroom/office to make room for GA's big girl room so that Lizzie can have the nursery when she arrives.  How do we accumulate SO MUCH JUNK?  We have definitely outgrown our house, but staying here makes us clean out often so that is a good thing! It can get a little crowded sometimes, but there are many things that I LOVE about living in a smaller house.  When we bought this house when we go married, I never dreamed we would still be living here almost 8 years later!  Anyway, here are some pictures from today!