Goodbye 2009, hello 2010!

I've never really been big on New Years. It's not that I don't like it, look forward to the oncoming year, or that I don't hold any hope for the future, because I do. It's just that I guess I haven't ever really put much thought into it. Maybe it's because my years haven't been all that bad, so the prospect of a new year wasn't so grand, in that aspect? Don't get me wrong, we've struggled and had really hard and sometimes bad times, but I guess I've just always felt blessed in it, no matter what and thanked God through those times knowing that we were gonna be ok. And I guess being the 'realistic' person that I am I always knew that a new year would still possibly bring the same issues, stresses, occasional hiccups in the road and maybe even heartache. (Or maybe i'm just a negative person! LOL) And i've never been into the celebrating aspect of it. I'm not into staying up til Midnight, no matter what day of the year it is. I like my sleep! :) I can't remember a single year in my entire life where I've "celebrated" new years the traditional way. I might have stayed up til Midnight a time or two, but more so out of obligation to the holiday and my head was definitely on the pillow by 12:01. Yeah I know, i'm a bore. I'm also not big on resolutions. I mean, I've made them before, but never put the commitment into seeing them come to fruition, so...what's the point?! I've just kind of adapted the attitude that God is in control and he knows my hopes and dreams and this is HIS ride, I'm just on it. I like to try and take it one day at a time.

I am, however, always thankful for a new year in that God is blessing me with more time, something that we all take so horribly for granted. A fresh start, new memories, and all the exciting new things that a new year holds in store for me and my family.

2009 was a great year for us. Like I said, we've had our share of hard times throughout the years. If I were to be completely honest there were more hard times than there were easy, so this was definitely our year! We spent all or most of 2008 praying for a change. Praying for blessings beyond our imagination. Praying God's will in our life and in our future. And you know what happened? God answered. If you've never experienced it, it truly is nothing short of amazing to see all your prayers answered and God's will laid out in front of you and knowing you had NOTHING to do with it. And I found that that's what happens when you completely give everything you have over to God and let him do what he does best. Leaving our family and friends was certainly not what I had in mind, but our year started out with a bright new path, and for once God's plan. We made the scary move across the country with a lot of uncertainty but a whole lot of faith. And I haven't been disappointed. It's been hard and sometimes lonely, but I do not regret one bit doing what we did. So instead of resolutions, I make prayers. My prayer for our family for 2010 is that we continue to hold strong in our faith and rely on God to bless us again, beyond our wildest imagination. I pray laughter, love and happiness overflowing. And I pray the same for all of you.

Jack Frost nipping at your nose and SNOW!

I went out this morning to snap a few pictures of the pretty frost. I haven't been taking pictures in awhile, other than the random snap shot here and there, and it felt good to be a little artistic. I love how beautiful nature is, if you take the time to really look at it instead of taking it for granted.





And this afternoon during nap time it started to snow! First snow of the year. I let Bekah go out for a few minutes since she wasn't napping, as per usual. *sigh I managed to snap a few pictures. She LOVES the snow, she was so excited!






It stopped snowing for a bit, then started up again just in time for Maddie to wake up and see it. Of course she wanted to go out so we got her bundled and sent her out. She kept saying it tickled! So cute.

I thought I still had a couple more years

"It's not *fay-ah" *fair
"I don't wike ooh"
"You not *fend" *friend
"Go way" (pointing finger)

These are only a few of Madelyn's newly learned phrases.
Thanks Rebekah...
She's talking good, that's for sure. She's putting together phrases and sentences left and right. She cracked me up the other day, when we went to see The Princess and The Frog (cute movie btw) when during a scene in the movie, i don't know which one, but it was totally appropriate, she yelled "Oh snap!" heeheehee

But on a more positive note, she's in deed potty trained!! So it's all not pickles. She wears panties during the day, unless we go out, im not that brave yet. But she stays dry and tells us when she has to go. Even when we are at a place like the movies, which I learned twice, when she waited until the very end to proclaim she had to go, so i missed the ending of one movie and most of another. Sigh. But I can't complain. It's a good thing! We are working on potty training over nap. She refused to wear a pull up yesterday, ripped it off of herself and yelled to me to come get it right after I put her down, and...she stayed day. So we'll see. I'm so proud of my big girl! But what a waste of a pull up, those things aint' cheap!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. We sure did! Santa did a bangin job this year, Rebekah LOVES her dollhouse. She stays closed in her room for hours on end playing with that thing. Thank you Jesus! :) Maddie's not really a player of toys. She would rather watch tv. Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure to be exact. It's turning into what was for Rebekah, The Little Mermaid. She calls it "Tink-bell wost Twesoooure" I know you love my impersonation of her cute little voice. Just hush. I want to remember these things. They also love their leotards from Nana aka Nonnie. Bekah lives in hers. She will one day be a famous ballerina. And on a totally unrelated but somewhat related note, I'm happy to say, even if it makes me sound like a Grinch, that my tree is finally down. Thank the lord! I can't deal with the mess. Real christmas trees are for the birds. Maybe next year we'll go back to artificial.

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Little girls wrestle too

But as you can tell, Madelyn likes doing the wrestling. She does not like being wrestled. That usually results in lots of whining and grunting. Poor sport. Bekah's such a good big sister! LOL

Potty training update!

Yup...still at it, for those of you who care :) And I'm not that far gone, I do realize the most exciting news of my days are usually this little girl's successes, and many child related happenings. But for those of you with actual lives...well, I know it's probably rather pathetic for you to have to read this. SORRY!

Anyways, we are on day 9 (i think) of actively potty training. The days are starting to run together. And where I'm very ready for this part of our journey to be over, I'm not yet tired of seeing little baby nakie buns running around the house ;) She's doing a GREAT job! She has been completely accident free for 3 days now. Before that she was averaging one accident a day, and usually by the end of the day. Where before I was having to ask her every 10/15 minutes if she had to potty, she now tells me before she has to go so that's a big step! I still ask her if she has to go, but just not as much. And more out of paranoia since I don't want her peeing on my couch (again!) LOL.

Potty training is the pits!

Did i ever tell you how much I hate potty training? No? Well, let me tell you. I hate it! How much, you ask? To which I reply, with the heat from 1,000 burning hells, that's how much i hate it! I exaggerate not.

I have started potty training Madelyn. I introduced her to the potty at about 18 months. She showed no interest in going, but she would always willingly go to the potty and sit there and "try". I just went with it. That's kind of where we've stayed this whole time, until now. I decided since she's 2 we should get the "potty" (har har) started and we have. I currently have a naked 2 year old running around my house all day, but I learned the first time around that pull ups are just expensive diapers so I will only put her in one for nap and bedtime for the time being. So far it's working! She FINALLY went on the potty the other day, which was huuuge, so I could actually start officially training her. She got an M&M for her success and boy was she excited about that. So excited in fact that she sat down and went 2 more times back to back just so she could get two more. :D We are now on day 3 of potty training and it's going, slowly but surely. So far today she has went twice and had ZERO accidents. I'm hoping that this phase in our life will be over quickly so I can end my 4 1/2 year streak of diaper changing. I'm so over it!

Here are a couple cute pics of Maddie from yesterday. She set up camp, totally by herself. She got her little Ikea potty and step stool and set up sippy, toys and books. It was so funny!

Getting in the Christmas spirit

Getting in the christmas spirit has been really hard for me this year. Truth be told it's been hard the last 5 years, ever since my dad passed away, but it's been really hard this year, being so far away from home. I miss my family! Christmas was always a really big deal. All the holidays were special, but Christmas just brings back lots and lots of good memories. It was also my dad's favorite holiday and I can't help but think a lot about him this time of year, and it's leaving me very nostalgic and sad. I'm working on moving past it because you know, it is what it is. We are in Oregon until we can move closer so you gotta make the best of your situation. I am very thankful for all the blessings God has given us this past year and a half, and Oregon is the main one. Even though I talk so much smack about it. haha And my kids deserve to have a wonderful Christmas, and I want that so badly for them. I want them to have the good memories, like I do.

Today we went to get our Christmas tree. We didn't cut it down this year, it is FREEZING cold out. Thankfully not raining like last year! So we found some that were pre-cut and just as pretty, less work that way. lol. We put it up this afternoon and Rebekah had a lot of fun decorating it! Maddie just kinda stood and watched and handed Bekah all the ornaments and in typical Maddie style, refused to look at the camera for any pictures. That child is so frustrating! Good thing I love her so much :) And now I just pray that I can leave the tree alone and ignore the ocd voices in my head that are screaming, THERE ARE TOO MANY ORNAMENTS IN ONE PLACE--MOVE THEM! I do still have some more ornaments to add to the tree (glass and breakable ones) but i'll do that closer to christmas. I'm already over telling them (cat included) to get away from the stinking tree! I know, what a scrouge. Bahumbug! LOL jj





Ignore the fact that my dining room was never painted. Ugh! I had every intention of taking the living room color and carrying it through into the room but ran out of paint. I'll get around to it...eventually.