Joshua is doing AWESOME at potty training!  We are on our 4th day now and have only had 2 accidents, both of which happened when he was playing outside with Daddy and was too distracted to come inside :)   He is really starting to figure this whole thing out, I'm so proud of him!  We've even had several successful trips out of the house without any problems.  I odered the kids' Easter outfits today; they are going to be so cute!  I love that I can dress them up a couple of times a year.  I'm hoping that I have a few more years of making them match (at least for Christmas and Easter!) before they're old enough to care about it.

Potty training.......

Ok, I promise I've done this before.......practically every job I've ever had has involved potty training other people's kids.  I have successfully potty trained at least a dozen children, usually woking with three or four at a time.  Why then is it so frustrating to potty train one almost 3 year old???????  He understands the concept, he knows that he is supposed to go potty on the toilet.  He tells me all the time "no potty on floor, no potty in car, no potty at store........."  and he hasn't had an accident except at home.  Why then does he sit in the bathroom for an hour with no result and then promptly pee in his pants????  I kow this is normal but I am going crazy here.  I had enough laundry without all of the extra underwear, pants, and socks!!!!

February

Welcome to February! We are enjoying the cold weather and are looking forward to our new fireplace screen arriving so that we can use our fireplace :) Tommy and I got callings at church a couple of weeks ago so we no longer get to attend our classes.....I am the Sunbeam teacher and Tommy is the Ward clerk. Unfortunately that means that I now have to get the kids ready and take them to church and home again on my own. I enjoyed the brief reprieve I got over the last couple of months, but it is nice to be useful again!


We recently started potty training Joshua. He is excited to get to wear "big boy" underwear and is doing pretty well. He wasn't feeling well yesterday so he came to Sunbeams with me instead of going to nursery. He liked going to sharing time and singing the songs and did really well sitting in his chair during class time. Unfortunately he won't be old enough to REALLY be in the class until next year, but it just made me want to get him into a preschool program next fall even more.

Abigail is as full of life as ever :) I'm starting to understand what people mean when they talk abot having a "spirited" child! She is doing really well in nursery and didn't cry at all when we dropped her off yesterday. She loves to help me around the house and is VERY intersted in the potty since Joshua started using it. She tells me when she needs to be changed and has started telling me when she needs to go. we're still trying to work on the timing though.....she usally goes right AFTER she gets off the potty.
Tommy is keeping busy at work. He is in the process of hiring a new planner and is looking forward to having a full team again. He has officially finished his master's now (his thesis has been approved) and is enjoying not having me bug him about doing his school work every night.

I'm keeping busy with the kids and the cat :) Riley had surgery on his eye last week so I've had to keep him from messing with it and not the the kids mess with him too much. He's healing well and gets his stitches out next week. I'm looking forward to not having to buy diapers anymore and try to remember that while I clean up the inevitable accidents.

Belated December update :)

Merry Christmas everyone!
We are settled into our new house in Harker Heights and are getting more and more comfortable finding our way around all the time. Tommy is enjoying the new challenges that his job brings. He is actually going to have to hire someone in the next few weeks. He is THRILLED to be done with school and the kids and I are enjoying having him around a bit more.

Joshua is almost three now........I can hardly believe how big my baby boy has gotten! He is doing well with his speech development and is learning new words daily. I call him my little parrot :) He loves his new backyard and plays out there for hours everyday. His nursery teachers tell me that he is the best in the class at cleaning up and we are trying to get him to show us that at home more often. He unfortunately doesn't take naps anymore :( but is really good at playing quietly in his room while Abigail takes her nap so Mommy can have some "alone time".

Abigail is 18 months old and all girl :) She loves purses, shoes, jewelry, make-up and bows. She loves to come with me when I'm getting ready to go somewhere and play with my blush and lipstick. She also steals my necklaces and bracelets on a regular basis. Since meeting Bailey she carries her baby doll around the house with her all day long. She feeds it and rocks it and pats it's back, then puts it in her little cradle. She'll come find me afterwards and tell me "shhhhh, baby night-night". She loves to give hugs and kisses and read stories. We're working on using words when she wants something and she's learning several new words a week. When she started going to nursery I realized that she's not a little baby anymore......so time outs are once more in effect in our house......they are infrequent though and she's following directions better everyday.

I am enjoying the new house and the freedom it gives the kids. They love to play in their rooms and in the backyard, leaving me free to actually get things done during the day :) They love to help me and are actually getting big enough that their "help" is actually helpful. Joshua feeds the cat every day and Abigail helps me throw things away and unload the dishwasher.

We are so grateful for the blessings that we have received this year and are looking forward to seeing what the new year has in store for our family.

Wow, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years have come and gone since I last posted.  The stress of the move has been almost forgotten, and the boxes have long since been unpacked.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's house and got to meet our first niece, Bailey.  We enjoyed having Christmas morning at home and having the Elders over for breakfast, then had dinner with the Bertucci's and ended the day by heading down to Houston.  We were able to see the whole family over the weekend and were happy that we could be there for Peter's Eagle Court of Honor and to see Bailey be blessed. 

Since then Abigail was talked about babies non-stop and drags hers all over the house with her feeding and rocking them :)  She chatters all the time now and a good portion of it is actually real words!  She has been in nursery for about 6 weeks now and does better every time.  She loves to help me and is getting more and more able to actually do small jobs.  We moved her into a toddler bed at the end of the year and ever since she tells me that she is "big, not baby".  So apparently we only have big kids in our house now, not babies!

Joshua will be 3 in a few weeks.  I can't believe how fast my little boy is growing up.  He loves to play outside and help me take care of Abigail and Riley.   He checks every morning to make sure that Riley has enough food and water and helps me to refill his bowl if he needs something.  He has officially outgrown his carseat and graduated to a booster.  He likes that he has a big boy seat now :)  We have also put away all of his sippy cups and I am happy to say we have not had a spill in several days.

Tommy is happy to finally be done with school, but is keeping busy at work.  We still don't have callings in our new ward, and with both of the kids in nursery we are able to enjoy our classes for the first time in years!  Tommy's parents are coming back to the States for a visit in a few days and the kids are excited to see Gigi and Abuelo for the first time since last June.  We are settling into our new community well and are loving our new house.  We are so excited to see what this year has in store for our family!

Our new house!

We offically have an "executed" contract and should be closing in the next week or so if everything goes well!  I've had several requests for pictures of the house, so I'm going to try to get some up here to show off  :)

It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a wood burning fireplace, a good size kitchen with an island, and a huge yard with tons of trees and a big deck in the back. We are planning to move in just after Thanksgiving!

October news

Our exciting news for the month (and year!!!) is that Tommy was offered a job in Harker Heights a few days ago! He is going to be the Director of Planning and Development for the city, which will be a HUGE step up for him in every way. This isn't official, but we've been told that he will be the youngest person in that position in the entire state! I am so proud of him and so ready for this new adventure to start. We are in the process of putting in an offer on a house and are looking forward to closing on it and moving in soon. We are so thankful for the prayers on our behalf, they truly played a big part in helping him get this job. His new boss told him that by no means was he the most qualified applicant that they had for the position, but he really felt that Tommy was the one for the job and he wanted to train him himself. I know that there is no way this would be happening for us with out the help of the Lord.

Joshua is talking more all the time. His new favorite phrase is "Uh-oh, mess. Clean up!" I hope he likes this one for many years to come! I took both kids to go look at houses today and he loved running in the yards and looking in the rooms. He told me "my room", "Abby's room", and "new house!" depending on where we were. I know that he doesn't really know what it means to move, but I'm sure glad he's excited about it!

Abigail and I went to nursery at church yesterday for the first time. She's not really old enough for about another 6 weeks, but she wanted to stay and the teachers said it was ok.....so we skipped Sunday school and played with toys instead :) She can't wait to be there full time and I can't wait to be able to listen in my classes! She is turning into a big girl way to fast! She wants to wear my lipstick all the time, tries on my high heels, carries around my purse, and brings me her hairbrush and bows and tells me "pretty hair please". I am in SO much trouble in another 10 years! I love it though and am grateful everyday that I have been blessed with a little girl.

Tommy is in the home stretch at school and is busier than ever. His deadlines are forever moving closer and there don't seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. Add to it the stress of changing jobs, buying our first house, and moving and you have my poor husband's life right now, lol. He's doing his best though and I'm sure he can hold on for a few more weeks.

I am busy these days house hunting and trying to figure out how to close on a house in a month......tips would be appreciated! I am so excited for this move and for all of the opportunities that it will bring to our family.

We love you all and are looking forward to seeing you soon.