Thanksgiving 2012

We were able to spend Thanksgiving in Jackson with Bert's family this year.  Bert's mom is a GREAT cook and Emily enjoyed helping her in the kitchen Thanksgiving morning!  

This little cutie kept making jail breaks from the living room.  She wanted to help Grandmama in the kitchen too.:)  

Jeff and Bert smoked the turkeys and ham.  Jeff has really perfected this smoking the turkey thing and they were AMAZING, as usual.  Bert took good mental notes and now he's just looking for an excuse to smoke a turkey.:)  

Bert and his dad.  

Hannah enjoyed playing outside with Daddy for awhile.  

Aidan (Bert's brother Michael's son) is so sweet to Emily!  He read to her and played with her.  I had to get a picture while he was reading to her one time.  

All the cousins!  Aidan - 10, Emily - 2 1/2, Hannah - 9 months, Millie and Billie - 4 months

Aidan keeps saying that he needs a boy around to balance everything out, but don't let him fool you.:)  He loves his sisters and girl cousins!  

Emily and Millie. Sweet girls!  

Mommy and Hannah! Love my sweet girl!  

When we were packing up the car to head north Hannah was more than ready for her nap.  She started getting fussy so Jeff took her and let her rest on his chest until we were ready to put her in the carseat.  Pawpaw loves his grandbabies.  

We had a great Thanksgiving 2012!  We have so so much to be thankful for.  We're thankful for Jesus paying the penalty for our sins, we're thankful for our family and friends, we're thankful for our church, we're thankful for good health, we're thankful for our baby in heaven, we're thankful for our house, we're thankful to live so much closer to our families, and I could go on and on!  Through it all, He is worthy to be praised!   

Potty Training Update

Wow! Wow! WOW! I would just like to say that this potty training thing is NO joke!  Emily is really doing pretty well....most of the time.  I'd say she only has one accident a week w/ going #1.:)

Pooping in the potty is a different story.  She's maybe getting it in the potty 40% of the time.  I know.  I should be thankful....we've only been at this for a month.  I really am proud of her!  Some days are just easy-breezy, and then some days (like today) are crazy.  Once she has one poopy accident she just keeps having them, and she keeps having false alarms.  The other day she had six poopy accidents in one day!!  SIX!! I'm running Emily to the potty, cleaning up poopy in the panties, and running back and forth from the potty to where Hannah is playing to make sure she's okay.

Even when you LOVE being a stay-at-home mom (and I do love it!) some days you count down the minutes to nap time, and today was one of those days!  And now as I write this, it's nap time! I made it!  Those sweet girls are both asleep!  I feel like I need a bowl of ice cream and a diet coke to reward myself, but I don't have either...  I'll settle for a cup of ice water and sitting still while listening to Christmas music...sounds good to me!

P.S. I thought about posting a picture to illustrate all this, but I figured you'd rather me not.:)

Hannah - 9 months

Hannah is 9 months old and busier than ever!  She had a great 9 month check up!  Hannah weighs 21 lbs and 5 oz and is in the 87th percentile for her weight.  She is 27.8 inches tall and is in the 57th percentile for her height.  She's quick to laugh and smile!

Hannah's favorites at 9 months:

Food: Cheerios, Puffs, any baby food, bananas and other soft foods
Movies: Baby Mozart
Books: Peek-a-boo books
Activities: Crawling, Pulling up, Reading books, knocking down towers
Words she can say: Mama, Daddy ("Da-Da"), Night Night ("Nigh, nigh"), Bye bye, Hey

Sleeping Habits at 9 months:
-Takes 2 naps a day - about 1 1/2 hours each
-As soon as we lay her down she starts sucking her thumb and is usually asleep within a few minutes
-She sleeps 11-12 hours at night.....almost never wakes up in the middle of the night.
-She still sleeps in her sleep sack.

Things I treasure about my 9 month old:
-She has the most precious laugh that will just melt your heart.
-"HEY" is her favorite word! She almost always says it with a smile.
-The other night she said "Nigh, nigh, Da-da." She said it three times in a row! (She hasn't done it again since then.)
-She waves when she says "bye, bye."
-She is sooooo scared of the vacuum.
-She's pulling up on everything and I mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!
-She thinks the little door stoppers all over our house are the best thing since sliced bread.
-She loves her Jenny-jump-up.
-She's crawling all over the house.  She'll follow me from room to room.
-She constantly watches her big sister.
-She has very sensitive skin.  Her poor thumbs (that she sucks) are raw because of the weather.  I'm trying to keep them moisturized, but it's a full time job.
-Mama was her first word, but now that she has figured out how to say Dada she says it more often!
-She loves to chew on straps....the straps on her highchair, carseat, or stroller.
-Hannah can stand up by herself for at least 5 seconds.
-She still doesn't have her first tooth, but I love her cute gummy smile.:)

Mimi reading to Hannah and Jacob.  Hannah turned around to pose for my picture.:)  You have to hold on tight to these two because they are busy!!

Hannah is a very happy baby, but just to be fair, I wanted to let the record show that she does cry.  She decided to only take a 30 minute nap this morning.  Booo.  I had just started my 20 minute work out video when she woke up so I decided to let her jump around in her "Jenny jump up" while I finished.  She was not pleased with my plan.

She really likes her sissy's chair.  One of her favorite things to play on/with.  

She's getting into everything.  I love this picture because she has an "Oh no, I got caught" look.:)  

When Emily was her age pulling out all the DVD's was a "no, no."  I've got to be honest.  I let her play with them for a little while before putting them away.  She was happy and still!!  Second child.  

Hannah, oh my word, you are too cute!  You greet us with the biggest smile when we open the door to your room!  I cannot believe you'll be turning one in just a few short months.  You're sweet, fun, lovable  beautiful, feisty  and adorable all rolled into one.  Your Daddy and I are so thankful for you and we pray for you all the time. We pray that you will one day put your trust in Jesus.  He's the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  You are a precious gift from Him.  We love you, Hannah Beth!  

Sign me up!

Sign me up for a slumber party with these two cuties any day!  So Thankful!  Love them!:)  

PS:  Thanks to Grandmama for the cute new pajamas!

Silly Girl

A few days ago Emily was playing in the playroom and walked into the den where I was changing Hannah's diaper and exclaimed...."I'm having a baby!"  Yikes!  

I looked up to find this little cutie.  She had put one of her stuffed animals under her shirt!

I love to see her imagination at work!!    It's so fun...and startling at times.:)  

A Visit from Grandmama and Pawpaw

Bert's parents came up the first weekend in November.  They wanted to hear him preach that Sunday morning at MCBC and get to hang out with their sweet grandbabies.  The plan was for us to go to the Greenville Zoo, which we've heard great things about, but we hadn't yet made it over there.  Friday night, before Jeff and Linda got here on Saturday, Hannah started running a fever.  I took her to the doctor on Saturday morning to find out she had a double ear infection.  Poor girl!  We decided to hold off on the zoo trip until Hannah was feeling 100%, but we did make a quick trip downtown.  Bert and I just LOVE downtown Greenville and it's definitely at the top of our list of places to go when people come to visit.  We enjoyed walking around, including of course a trip through the Mast General Store, then they treated us to lunch at Carolina Ale House.  We walked down to Falls Park and then headed back to the house for naps.  Here is a picture of the girls with their grandparents.  

That afternoon the girls took great naps, Jeff and Bert enjoyed watching the UGA game and Linda and I enjoyed a little shopping (I had to introduce her to Mighty Dollar!).  Here is a picture of Jeff reading to the girls before dinner time.  

Emily wouldn't leave Grandmama's side.  She insisted on Grandmama taking her to the potty almost every time.  She loves her Grandmama and Pawpaw!  

When Jeff and Linda were still on their way up to Greenville Bert said "Emily, do you know who is coming to see us??....Grandmama and Pawpaw!!"  Emily replied with "And Dixie!!"  Dixie is their cat.  Emily loves Dixie, but the feeling isn't exactly mutual.:)  Needless to say, Dixie didn't make the trip up!

We had a great visit, Grandmama and Pawpaw!  Thank y'all so much for coming up and spending time with us!! We're looking forward to Thanksgiving!!

Dora can fix it!

Yesterday I was holding Hannah and catching up with my friend Keri on the phone.  Emily was playing quietly.   Out of the corner of my eye I saw her leaning on the screen of my laptop.  I started walking over to her so that I could move the computer.  As I was walking over I noticed her eyes were big.  I glanced at the computer screen and immediately my stomach dropped.  She had cracked the screen and 3/4 of the screen was black and blue and all different colors.  I'm certainly not what you might call "computer savvy", but I know enough to know when a computer is a goner....and this one was was a goner.   I got off the phone with Keri and had this conversation with Emily:

Me:  Emily you broke Mommy's computer!  (in a surprisingly calm voice)
Emily:  It's okay, Daddy will fix it.
Me:  Daddy's not going to be able to fix this.
Emily:  Well Papa Stan will fix it.
Me:  Papa can't fix this either.
Emily:  Well DORA can fix it!  She have to!

I wasn't screaming or crying, but I was SO disappointed!  Emily could obviously see my frustration (with her and the situation) all over my face, and a few minutes later she said "It's okay, Mommy, accidents happen!"  Wow...what a reality check when your 2 1/2 year old speaks truth to you.  I say this to her all the time when she spills something or drops something...I needed the reminder then.:)  It is so easy for me to see my ugly sin when something like this happens.  I can feel it welling up inside of me.  I want to be quick to forgive.  I want to love people more than things.  I apologized to Emily that morning for getting frustrated and told her how much I love her.  I wanted her to know that she is a ba-gillion times more important to me than that silly 'ole laptop!

Emily at 2 1/2 Years

Emily turned 2 1/2 years old last month (Oct. 8th).  She's going to be 3 before I blink my eyes.  3 years old sounds so old...we're not going to talk about that right now.  For now, here are a few updates on our adorable TWO year old.

Emily at 2 1/2
Food:
Likes:  cheese sticks, mustard, most any fruit, absolutely any kind of sweet, Chick-fil-A
Dislikes:  PBandJ
*Eating meals is a BATTLE at our house.  She is really not that picky of an eater, but often will REFUSE to eat.  One night she will gobble up a plate of spaghetti, but the next time we have it she'll take one bite and then says she's done.  Sometimes she'll eat great, but more often than not we have to play a "game" with her to get her to take bites.  You sometimes feel like you have to stand on your head and hold your breath just to make sure this child does not waste away.

Sleeping Habits:
Emily naps once a day for about 2 hours. She sleeps 11 or 12 hours at night.  She is potty trained during the day, but wears pull-ups (she thinks they're called "night time panties") at night.  She sleeps in her toddler bed with her bunny, blanket and bear named Cordy.  She must have her sound machine on the rain setting.

Other Random Facts:
-Emily likes to do things herself  (getting in the carseat, climbing into her booster seat, and putting her clothes on).  I often hear "I can do it myself."
-She loves to read books together.  She's memorized parts of several books and likes to read those books herself out loud to Hannah.
-She keeps close, close tabs on her sister and she's not afraid to tattle.  This morning she said "No, no Hannah!!"  Then she looked at me and said "Mommy, Hannah tried to get my blanket....I tell her no, no!!"
-She is scared of her video monitor.  She insists that it is going to "get her."
-She loves all things Dora the Explorer!
-Emily talks all day long....not joking....all day long, and I love it!
-She loves making up songs to familiar tunes.  It's really impressive.
-She loves to color.  She'll "color" with crayons, markers, pens, or pencils.  If she catches you using a pen  you better watch out b/c she's going to be saying "Can I see dat, pwease!?!?"
-She's beginning to have quite the imagination.  She'll mostly just switch people around.  Ex.: She'll say "I'm Hannah, and that's Emily"....with a big smile on her face.:)
-She loves boots.  Kayley Harmon passed along several pairs of boots to her back in the summer and she literally wears them all day long.  She'll go from one pair to the next.
-One day last week Emily walked up to me out of the blue and said "I don't wike (like) Hannah."  It totally took me by surprise and I have no idea what made her say it.  I honestly kind of chuckled when she said it, because she is usually so loving towards her.  She tells Hannah all the time that she loves her and gives her kisses and hugs when it's time for H to take a nap.  Oh well, I know they'll make each other mad, probably more often than I will like, but I pray that they will love each other well.
-She's started naming all of her dolls.  She has dolls named Emily, Hannah, Millie (cousin's name), Billie (cousin's name).
-She pretends like she's talking on the phone all the time.  She'll use whatever she has as a phone.  She talks to lots of different people, but her absolute favorite person to "call" is Papa Stan.  She probably "calls" him 90% of the time.  She'll tell him about what Hannah's doing, what she's done that day, her latest boo-boo, etc.  The other day she had a 3 minute "conversation" with him.
-She's starting to have some fears.  A few weeks ago (while we were in our house) she heard a train and ran to me and said "Oh no, dat train is going to hit us!!"  She's done this several times since then.
-She can recognize all the letters in the alphabet and knows the sound that most every one makes.  (We love the Leap Frog Letter Factory!)
-She gets orange and red confused.
-Emily loves to be outside.  She particularly loves our front yard.  I think she really likes the feel of the grass under her feet and she'll say "I go jump."  She doesn't get very far off the ground, but she loves to jump.
-We check on the girls every night when we are going to bed.  Bert checks on them most every night (it takes me a little longer to get ready for bed).  Sometimes Emily will wake up when he is covering her back up and she just looks up at him and says "Hey Daddy" and falls right back to sleep.
-When Bert is tickling Hannah, Emily will often say "Daddy, play wif me....play wif me!"
-She has good friends at church and it is just about the cutest thing to hear the girls saying hey to each other after we arrive.
-She loves kids that are older than her.  I am pretty sure she thinks anyone less than 5 feet tall is her age.
-She is very helpful and she loves to please.
-She's very good at saying thank you, but still has to be reminded to say please.  We're working on "yes ma'am and no ma'am" but we're not there.
-We went through a stage a few months ago where she thought it was soooo funny (especially in front of other people) to call Bert and me by our first names.  Thankfully, she rarely does that anymore!
-She likes to help carry things to/from the car.
-I often call her "Emily Bimily", or sometimes just "Bimily".
-Bert often calls her "Emmy".
-When we pull into the church parking lot, Chick-fil-A, etc. she shouts "I FOUND IT, I FOUND IT!!!"  It makes me smile every time.
-She calls the remote a "framote".  I have no idea why she calls it this, but I usually don't correct her.
-She loves music anytime.  When we are in the car she asks me to turn it up and says "Mommy, will you sing wif me?"  She really doesn't care what we're listening to...she just likes music and likes to try to sing along.
-If we go to Chick-fil-A she will talk about it for a week.  She loves that place!
-When someone is in her way she'll say "Sorry! Sorry!" instead of "Excuse me" and keep pushing to make her way through.
-When someone in the room asks about the time she almost always pipes in with "it's about firdy firdy." (thirty thirty):)  This afternoon Bert asked me what time Hannah last ate and she answered for me with "firdy, firdy, Daddy!"

Emily Bimily, I am so thankful for you.  You make me want to pull my hair out one minute (especially during meal times:) ), and the next you are melting my heart.:)  You keep me smiling and laughing all day long.  You get excited about the wind, trees, planes, cars, the sun being out, etc....you absolutely love life!  I am so thankful that you call me Mommy.  I love you with all my heart!

Cousin Fun!

The girls love spending time with their cousin, Jacob.  Katherine and Jacob came over to see us a few weeks ago for an all day play date!  We had so much fun!   

Emily loves that Jacob can run around with her now!  Hannah isn't far behind.  Em is 2 1/2 in this picture, Jacob 1, and Hannah 7 months.  Little cuties!:)  

Potty Training Boot Camp

I had heard about this "3 day potty training" method from several of my friends.  It had worked well for them so I decided we were going to give it a try! 

Emily was just over 2 1/2.  I probably would have started training her earlier, but we have moved twice in the last 6 months and I had heard that a big change could cause a child to regress.  So, we waited until we were settled and then picked a date.  

The most difficult part was finding 3 days where we could stay home and focus on potty training.  We finally settled on the last weekend in October.  I was a little nervous about it, but I really wanted to get her potty trained.  I bought all the supplies that we would need and read the e-book twice (it only takes 30 minutes to read), Bert had read the e-book and my mom had read the e-book (she helped us with some of the potty training and with Hannah since Bert already had several commitments this weekend that he couldn't get out of)....we were as ready as we were going to get. 

Here are some of the supplies.  The "3 day method" focuses on consistency and teaching them to recognize when they have to go to the bathroom.  She suggests that you give them as many liquids as possible so that you have as many opportunities as possible to run them to the potty.:)  In addition to these, we also let Emily pick out a new potty seat. She picked out one with Dora the Explorer on it of course!:)

Within an hour of starting the potty training she had two accidents.  She got a terrible look on her face, and both times we ran her to the potty but didn't make it in time.  That's all it took.  After that she started to tell us before she had to potty.  She maybe had 2 more accidents that day, but she was able to stop it both times and run to the potty to finish!!  We went to the potty at least 50 times the first day of potty training.  Sometimes she wouldn't actually have to go and sometimes she would only go a little and have to go again a minute later.  (At one point late morning we went 10 times in a 15 minute window and she went every time.)  Our sweet girl was just learning how to empty our her bladder or maybe she just wanted an M&M (she got one for every successful trip)...who knows?  Anyway, you can see why it's important to have at least one extra set of hands while doing this "3 day potty training" thing.  Poor Hannah would have been neglected and I am pretty sure I would have lost my mind!  

I played lots of simple games with Emily that day.  Anything we could do to keep her entertained, but not so much that she or I wouldn't notice that she needed to go to the potty.  

We started the potty training adventure almost a week and a half ago and she almost never has an accident peeing during the day.  I still say over and over "Tell Mommy when you need to go potty", and she usually does.  She has pooped in the potty twice since we started, but is still not comfortable going in the potty.  A couple times she's gone in her panties and a couple times she went at night.  Thankfully, both of the times she went at night we went in to check on her and smelled it as soon as we walked in the room so that she didn't have to sleep in it all night.  We definitely still have some work to do when it comes to pooping in the potty, but I'm thankful that she's done it a few times and I'm hopeful she'll get it soon.  

The lady that wrote the "3 Day Potty Training Method" is a firm believer that any child that is over 22 months is ready to be potty trained during the day and night.  But Emily woke up in the morning soaking wet for a solid week.  She has lots of tips for how to keep the child dry at night.  Don't give them liquids after dinner, go wake them up and take them to the potty an hour after you put them to bed, etc....we tried them.  She was still waking up wet.  One night I went in there at 3am and she was soaking wet.  It made me so sad to think she would have slept in that all night and we wouldn't have known.  So, after a week of trying these recommended tricks we decided to just put her in pull-ups at night for now.  Emily is obviously not waking up enough at night to go to the bathroom or call for us and I hate the thought of her laying there all night soaking wet.  We'll work on the night time potty training in another 4 or 5 months.  As soon as she wakes up in the morning we go to the potty and put on "big girl panties" and I don't take them off until she's ready to crawl into the bed at night.  The pull-ups are strictly for night time use and so far there hasn't been any confusion.  We've been calling the pull-ups "night time panties."  

She's doing great going to the potty when we aren't at home too.  She'll just say "Mommy I need to go potty" and we take off running.:)  She's gone at a restaurant, my dad's work, and other houses (that don't have a Dora potty seats on their potty). 

Bert took the picture below right after we put on her first pair of panties.  She was soooo proud!!  

As I said before we decided to go with this "3 Day Potty Training Method"...Here is the website if you want to check it out http://www.3daypottytraining.com/.  It's actually an e-book that you buy and read.  I really felt like the book was helpful and I would highly recommend others giving it a try.  

The night before we started the potty training I got a little sad.  I knew that we needed to potty train her, and I wanted to, but part of me was sad thinking she wouldn't need me anymore.  I shared my thoughts with Bert and he just laughed and lovingly reminded me that I still need my Mama at 29.  Good point!!:)

I am SO proud of our girl!  We still have some work to do, but she is doing GREAT!!  Go Em!!

Life

As a follower of Christ I believe in the sanctity of human life.  It doesn't matter if that child is 7 weeks old in utero, 7 years old or 77 years old, as believers we are called to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. We are called to take care of the widows and orphans.

I've never been very vocal about my political opinions, and I don't plan to start, but this has really been on my heart the last few weeks.  And, for me, it's so much more than a political "issue", it's life and death at stake. Because of that, it's very difficult for me to understand how a follower of Christ can be pro-choice.  If you value human life at all, you should value it at any age.

At 11 weeks old in utero, Watts baby #3 had hands, feet, ears, nose, open nasal passages, a tongue, arms, legs, heart (with a strong heartbeat), muscles....I could go on.  Would someone like to tell me that our baby did not matter, that our baby was worthless?  Go ahead and try.  A baby (no matter the age) is a precious gift from the Lord.  The Lord created our baby and He creates every baby.  He is the author and perfecter of life.  No human being has the right to take an innocent life.

While I respect and pray for our current president, I cannot vote for a candidate that is pro-choice.  I believe being pro-choice contradicts what the Bible teaches.  I understand that there are some other areas where our president is trying to look out for those in need, and I am not saying that I think his opponent is the perfect candidate, but for me the issue of abortion carries more weight than other issues because it is dealing with protecting (or taking) the lives of thousands and thousands of people every year.

Not every battle is worth fighting, but some are, and this is one of them. Please pray with me for these unborn children....they need our prayers.