Potty Training

When Sunday rolled around this past week Tessa was sick. She stayed home from church with Daddy. The day before we let her pick out a new potty seat at Wal-Mart. She had said that if she had her own potty chair she would use it. We told her we didn't have any more diapers and that the next day she would have to wear panties. Jason did great with her. He gave her lots of drinks all day and she only had a couple accidents. I was nervous for Monday...my day to babysit Heber and Houston. I wasn't sure if I was up for potty training and babysitting and being pregnant all at the same time. (I've tried it before with Tessa and FAILED miserably!)

We started this potty chart about 4 months ago and she added three stickers in all of that time. It was frustrating for her and for me. I felt like I was running into a wall. Plus, her telling me all the time that she was a baby and wanted diapers didn't really help me feel too motivated.Do you love my art work? After five stickers she got to have the cool pop-up book that was sitting on the back of the potty. After the next five stickers she got to go to McDonald's for dinner. By Sunday night she had filled every square.

Monday came and went. She did awesome. Only one accident. Tuesday was great. No accidents. And so far today, she has done super awesome. We even went to library time and the grocery store. I keep telling her how proud I am of her and she just smiles and smiles. She gets super excited every time she goes and she says, "Hip Hip Hooray for Tessa!" all of the time

Here is the new potty chart we're working on right now. Again, my art work is super cool. When she gets 15 stickers for going pee we get to go buy a new Mickey Mouse movie and when she gets 5 stickers for going poo Daddy is going to buy her the Dora fishing pool she saw at the store.

She is so fun to watch. Don't get me wrong....It's a lot of work and there are moments when I'm so tired and just want to put a Diaper on her so I can take a nap....or read....or not have to ask her every 15 minutes if she needs to go. I'm also worried about her reverting back to her old self when baby Asher gets here. Hopefully not.

Oh, and after we bought the cute new potty that sings songs when you do your business....she told us that the little potty is dumb dumb dumb. She used it once and now will only use "the big potty." What a kid!

Oh, So Ready

I can't wait. WE can't wait. The days are passing so slowly! My c-section date is set for February 13th. I feel ready. Mostly. The crib is ready. The clothes are all washed and organized. We have diapers. Baby boy even has a name... Asher Jason Hunter.

I made these balls to hang on the mobile. It used to have flowers, a little to pink for me...I have some favorite things. Cute little boy things. Seriously, I am so excited to hold my son...to see Jason holding our son...to see the girls with their little brother.

There are some things I want to remember about this pregnancy. Some good things, and some not so comfortable things. Asher is a wiggle worm. I swear he rolls from side to side just to drive me crazy. He gets the hiccups a lot, like Jordyn did. He is right in my back. My left leg has pins and needles almost constantly and my right hip hurts down to my knee. I don't feel very big...In fact, I've only gained about 15 pounds. Mostly because I was so sick at the beginning. Asher is a teaser. I try to get him to kick and punch for Jason, but every time I try he won't move....then Jason moves his hand and Asher is back at it. Silly boy.

Our house is about to change. I'm nervous and excited and scared and thrilled and impatient and emotional and mostly going crazy. Life is good.

One Day, Maybe....

....I'll laugh about this
She pulled up her own sleeve to show me this. Then she told me that now she has two casts.

She thinks she's so dang cute.

Seriously don't know what to do with this kid. She surprises me every day. For real. She would rather be cutting up paper, playing little people, or folding clothes with me than watching TV. For dinner tonight she ate one quarter of her sandwich and an entire orange. She says she's still a baby and hates the toilet. She asks to help me do the dishes. What a kid!

Happy New Year

Jordyn was the photographer for our New Year's Eve Party. Besides about 5 pictures of my bum here are some of the others....

We went to my Mom and Dad's house for dinner, but we ended up leaving around 8:00. The girls were so tired from being on vacation for 3 nights. We drove from my Mom's to the Hunter house where we watched Jake light some fireworks. We sat in the car screaming "Happy New Year" while we watched. The girls were asleep by 8:35.

After that Nonie, Terry, and Jake came to play some games with us. It was a fun, quiet night.

As for my Goals for 2012....I'm not totally sure yet. One, for sure, is doing better with our budget. We set one every month, and I do pretty good, but I want to do REALLY good. That means sticking to cash envelopes and writing everything down. It also means that I'm working harder to make dinner at home, real meals, with plans. So far, so good. This is a hard thing for me - budgets and baking.

Have a baby, manage money, cook yummy food. Good enough for now!

Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Tessa Marie

Tessa turned 3! Can you believe it? Not me, that's for sure. We had a fun winter break with the Hunter family again this winter, and like last year, we celebrated Tessa's birthday while we were gone. We had cupcakes and pizza for dinner.

And then the spoiling began. What a lucky girl!

Jordyn was a great helper, and always ready to smile for the camera. Tessa was thrilled, can't you tell?

Hallie was at the party!

And when everything was over it looked like we had another Christmas.

Tessa is growing up so fast. Here are the things I want to remember about Tessa right now:

*Tessa loves to play. She can play by herself for hours. She loves little people, and barbies, and babies, and stuffed animals, and coloring. She even plays with forks and spoons...they have names and they talk and everything.

*Tessa's favorite color is purple, and sometimes orange.

*Bedtime is NOT her favorite time of day, but she's always a good girl if she gets a story from Daddy and a song. Her favorite song is "I am a Child of God."

*She loves to sing. She is always asking me to help her sing a song or say a poem.

*Tessa loves milk, rice, apples, mac 'n cheese, noodles, and treats. She does not like potatoes, of any kind.

*So far, Tessa doesn't love the potty. Soon. Hopefully, very soon.

*Tessa loves that she is going to be a big sister. She is always talking to my belly and giving me hugs and kisses.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning we woke up to find a note from Santa and some coloring books. Santa told us to go to church and learn about Jesus...you'd think I would have gotten a picture of that.

Church was really great. Great songs. Great testimonies. We're so blessed to have the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ. The girls were reverent, really reverent. It was an amazing meeting!
When we got home we changed into our jeans and got ready to see what Santa brought. Tessa had already peaked, so I guess her milk was the most important thing on her mind.

Daddy was in charge of the video camera.

Jordyn was thrilled!

Tessa was thrilled-ish.

After all of our presents were opened we found some bikes in the closet. That tricky Santa! Jordyn was super happy....and I didn't get a picture of Tessa. (Good One Mom!)

After we played with our new toys at home for a little while we went up to Papa T and Gammy's house for breakfast burritos and more presents. (Again, no pictures....)

Then we went to Grandpa Day and Sue Sue's. More presents, more fun, and what...surprise surprise - NO PICTURES!

We were so blessed to have such an awesome Christmas. Our girls were spoiled rotten, so were Jason and I. I'm thankful for my family, for great memories, and most importantly for my Savior, Jesus Christ. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve

My family has a tradition of getting together on Christmas Eve. It was a little sad for me this year, not going to Grandpa Halladay's house....this is our first Christmas without him. So instead of my Grandpa's we went to Jordyn and Tessa's Grandpa's. It was a fun night. We had a yummy dinner and played a white elephant game. Then we opened gifts from out name exchange.

The kids loved the Rudolph nose. Super Awesome!

Houston loved Christmas!Do the kids look tired?

What a fun night. After the party we made it home to leave cookies out for Santa. We listened for Santa's sleigh bells, and when we heard them for real Jordyn had a major anxiety attack because she wasn't asleep yet - and that meant Santa wouldn't come. After explaining that there are lots of houses around here for Santa to go to first she calmed down, and was asleep in about 3 minutes!

Color Me Mine - Take 2

Boy we wish this place wasn't so expensive. The other day the girls were playing and Daddy's bowl broke. He needed a new one and we wanted to paint a plate for Grandpa Day and Sue Sue for Christmas. We let the girls paint their own plates too...Tessa's broke the day after we brought them home.
Jordyn and Tessa both love art projects, of every kind. I'm trying my best to love their love.