it's potty time!

Millie is 18 months old today!  I remembered that when Addie had her 18-month check-up, the doctor mentioned getting a potty chair just to see if she showed any interest, but not to push her.  Well, Addie loved sitting on it and would pee in it pretty easily.   But, she would still go in her diaper too, so she wasn't really fully potty-trained until almost a year later (although that was definitely due to laziness - once I didn't let her wear a diaper anymore, she was trained within a few days because she didn't like making a mess in her new panties).  

So today when I brought the potty out of the basement, Millie got super excited!  She couldn't wait to sit on it. I was going to give her a bath, so I got her all undressed and sat her on it and within a minute she had already peed!  Our potty plays music when you go in it, so that made her pretty happy too.  You could tell she thought she was a really big girl.  This picture was actually taken after her bath.  She was so excited to get back on it that I could barely keep her in the tub.  I'm sure it was just a fluke that she went so easily, but boy it sure would be nice to have her trained before this baby comes!  But that's what I thought with Addie too, so I won't get my hopes up.

oh baby!

I got an ultrasound done last Thursday to affirm my due date.  It's right on, so I'm still due on August 30, which means I'm over 13 weeks and should be starting to feel much better.  I did have a really good day today and got a ton done, so maybe 13 is just my lucky number!  I sure hope so!  Anyways, it was so fun to see the baby.  He/she is already very active (although I haven't felt those first kicks yet, but I could sure see them)!  The baby was just kicking those legs around and bouncing all around.  Maybe it didn't like being poked so much.  Which, by the way, I have a hard time calling the baby "it" because "it" is obviously so much more than that.   But I also get tired of doing the he/she thing all the time too, so I guess you and I will both have to put up with "it."  Anyways, here are a few glimpses of our tiny little baby:

In case you can't tell, the head is the big round thing on the left.  This is a profile shot. You can also see the arm that's closest to the camera is up by it's head.  The little round white thing by the nose is the baby's other hand.  Trying to find that thumb maybe?  You can also see the little legs that were kicking around so much.
Here's the baby upside down.  Still has that hand by the face.  I'm pretty sure there's some thumb-sucking going on.

I can't believe that I could see so much of the baby at only 12 weeks!  I definitely think it should be required that women seeking an abortion should have an ultrasound first.  Even when you're very early on, you can still see that it's a real baby.  I remember when I was only 8 weeks with Addie, I had an ultrasound because my dates were all messed up, and although she just looked like a little peanut, we could see that little heart beating so strongly.  How can anyone say that's not a life that deserves the same right to live that we all do?

Well, I should end this before I go off on a tangent...  Hope you all have a lovely week!

my funny valentines

As promised, here are a few pictures and a video of my oh-so-sweet and very funny valentines.

Dance, girls, dance!  Don't you love Addie's serious "dancing face?"

If you're wondering why we have a blanket over our fireplace, it's because without it hanging there it's like we have a wind tunnel blowing straight into our living room.  In other words, it's as drafty as an old barn stall unless we have a fire going constantly.  And it's nearly pointless to have a fire because there's no wire screen in the fireplace to keep the embers from flying out into the living room, so we have to have the glass doors closed the whole time and then we don't get any heat from it.  So when we do have a fire, it's merely for the ambiance and the sound of the crackling wood.  Maybe someday we'll figure out how to put a screen in it and insulate it.  Until then, you'll be seeing that blanket.

be our valentine in 2009 video

I can't believe how creative and thoughtful my husband is.  This morning at breakfast I was presented with this video:

Do I have the best husband or what?  I'm so thankful that God gave him to me to be my forever valentine.

I'll have some valentine pictures of the girls in my next post.  Addie's really gotten into making Valentines this year.  This might be her new favorite holiday (besides Christmas of course)!

fixed?

I think it's fixed.  Now you can comment away.  I'm sure you've all been just dying to leave comments and have been so frustrated.  Sorry if this caused you any anxiety.  :)

no comment

Okay, so I was just made aware that no one can comment on my blog.  Has this ever happened to anyone else?  I thought maybe it was my background, so I changed it, but that didn't do anything.  And of course, I checked my comment settings to make sure it was allowing them.  Let me know if you have any ideas.  You won't be able to leave a comment, but you can email me at brookska2003@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

a beautiful day!

This morning the girls and I took a walk to the park.  I was actually feeling well enough to walk that far.  I didn't throw up at all yesterday and not yet today either, so I think I'm gaining some strength back.  It was warm but very windy, so I made them wear their hats and hoods - the last thing we need in this house are earaches!  I was very surprised when we got to the park and saw that we were the only ones there!  Usually when a nice day pops up, the park is full of kids.  But it was nice to have it to ourselves.   Adeline said as she was swinging, "Isn't it nice to have just our family here?  It's not so loud then."  And she was right.  It was a surprisingly peaceful, quiet day at the park.  I hear it's supposed to reach 62 today, so hopefully I'll still be feeling good enough after naptime to play outside some more!  Gotta take advantage of this last warm day!

sunday rollercoaster

I actually got to go to church this morning!  Yay!  It had been about a month since I'd been able to go.  It was so great to just get out of the house and see my friends and hear a good message from Pastor Mike.  I almost didn't make it out of the house this morning.  I got up and of course vomited right away which made me feel weak so I climbed back into bed.  But after laying there for 10 minutes or so, I thought, "You know, I am so sick of being stuck in the house and missing everything.  I'm just gonna try it out."  I actually made it through most of the morning without any major occurrences (I did get a little sick during worship time - no, not because of Pastor Cody - I think it was from standing for so long).  But it wasn't that bad.  However, on the long drive home I threw up in the car - fortunately I had a plastic bag in my purse for such occasions.  I know that is completely disgusting, but what else is a girl to do?  

Two more weeks of this and I should be better!  The countdown is on!

rays of sunshine

Okay, so I haven't really blogged much lately because I was afraid it would come across and whiny and complain-y, and I really don't want to sound that way.  Since being so sick is a good sign that the baby is doing well, then I wouldn't trade this sickness for anything in the world!  So, in-between my rounds of puking and even on those days when I'm so weak where I wonder how I can even pull myself out of bed let alone dress and feed 2 children (see there I go complaining again), I have noticed some things that I truly am thankful for and I thought I would share those with you.  Here they are in no particular order:

• I am very glad that my "morning sickness" only lasts until week 13 (if history repeats itself).  I've heard of some women that are sick like this the entire pregnancy!  Ugh!
• I'm thankful that for all of my pregnancies, my sick-time has been during the cold, dreary days of winter.  I don't get sick until after Christmas (so I can still enjoy all the feasting) and am better before March comes around.  Although today and the next several days it looks like it might even hit 50 degrees, so I may have to try and drag myself outside for the sake of the girls.
• I've actually been with the girls more since I've been sick.  Since all I can do is pretty much lie around, I can't be so busy like I usually am with cleaning and tidying and working on stuff for my business.  So even though we may just lay on the couch together and watch a few too many cartoons, or read that same books over and over, they love it that I'm with them and they have my full attention.
• I'm so glad that Adeline and Emilia are the ages they are and play so well together.  I love that I can just lie on the couch or Addie's bed and watch them play together.  And they're constantly making up concoctions in their little kitchen for mommy to eat and feel better.  Right now they're doing the "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" together.  Addie sings it and Millie tries to copy the actions.  Too cute!
• I'm thankful that my husband has the patience to put up with all this.  He works so hard all day filling 9th-graders minds with all the knowledge they need about physical science, and then comes home, makes dinner, feeds the girls, gets them ready for bed and caters to his invalid wife's every needs.  Then after all that he still has to grade papers!  I think he has it worse than I do!
• I'm thankful that my mom was willing to take off work a few days last week and come and help out.  Those few days gave me so much more energy since I got to rest for nearly 2 whole days!  Thanks, mom!
• I love that we recently bought a laptop.  That way I can actually check emails, work on stuff for my business, read your blogs and even do some digital scrapbooking - all while lying on the couch!
• I'm thankful that I can now go and shower since the girls are happily playing in Addie's room.  I'd better hurry off now so I can take advantage of this time!

Oops

Okay, so I guess I accidentally just deleted my entire blog.  That really sucks.  At least I can still keep my blog name, but now all of my past posts/pictures are gone!  And I had just posted a kinda long entry about what's been going on with me lately.  *sigh*

I think this happened because I just started another blog - http://travelingcasserole.blogspot.com for a traveling casserole dish that I received last week from my good friend, Breanna.  I first posted the blog on my site and then realized that wouldn't work if I wanted other people to be able to post on it, which is the whole idea of the blog.  For more details on the casserole dish, just check out the blog.  But when I went to delete that blog from my site, I must have deleted my real blog too.  OOPS!

This really frustrates me, but I guess I'll just start fresh.