Deserving of a Post

Okay, okay, I realize it has been a VERY LONG time since my last post. And I have been harassed by a few people (ahem...mom, Alyssa, Arlys).  Well, this definitely deserves a post.  :)

Today at MOPS, we had a great speaker.  Geoff Safford is the pastor of Westwind Church in Waukee, and he spoke to our group last year too.  Anyway, one of the things he talked about was celebrating the little things from having a good day at school to working hard on a homework assignment to getting a job done, but especially potty-training.  Do you see where this is going?

Emma has been doing a GREAT job going potty.  She's been wearing panties since November/December (I think) when I decided we just needed to jump in with both feet.  She keeps her panties dry MOST of the time, although she tends to do better with this when I'm home than when Scott's here.  I think she's just testing him.  LOL

Going #2, on the other hand, has been more of a challenge to say the least.  I realize this is the case for most kids, but I struggle to get her to even sit on the potty for any length of time.  She's gone poop on the potty, quite often now actually, but it's never intentional and never initiated by her.  Usually, I know she's getting ready, so I put her on the potty and walk out of the bathroom to "get her something".  In other words, to leave her alone and make her sit there until I come back.  That's when she usually goes and then yells for me.

When she does tell us, it's ALWAYS because she's already gone in her panties.  We've now started taking away her princess dolls, hoping that would be her motivator.  Nope.

So when Emma wanted to watch Tangled yesterday, I told her she couldn't watch it until she'd gone poop on the potty.  After a short while, I put her on the potty where she did eventually go and got to watch her movie.

After MOPS today, Emma and I returned our books to the library, and while she picked out her princess and Barbie books, I found a Barbie movie for her.  I told her she could watch it after she went poop on the potty, so she decided she needed to go right then at the library.  But she didn't go.

When we got home, I was checking my e-mail in my room while Emma looked through the library books in the living room.  Typically this would be the time that she'd go in her pants because she's alone.  BUT NOT TODAY!!

She came running into our room and said, "I have go poo poo!" (Usually this means she has already gone.) 

Slightly disappointed, I said, "Did you go in your panties?"

"No, Mommy! My panties are clean!!  I go on potty!!"

And she did!!!!!  Let the celebrating (a.k.a. movie-watching) begin!!  I guess we've found Emma's great-motivation.  :)

Updated color

This post is nothing more than an updated on the background color from another post.  What do you think?  Is the darker color better?

The cupcake paper was designed by Summertime Designs.

My cousin, Alyssa, took our family pictures a few weeks ago, something that hasn't been done professionally since Emma was 6 months old.  If you want to see more of Alyssa's work, you can check out her website.

After all of this (and more)...

We were excited to get this...

Cute as a Cupcake

click to enlarge

Where have I been?

Are you wondering why I haven't posted lately?  It's because I've been busy with Summer Discovery Hour, VBS, camping, and simply having fun (or trying to have fun) with these smart kiddos.

Potty Puzzles

John's Scrapbook

Emma's Scrapbook

Science Center

Can you believe it?  I'm actually posting something original on my blog!!!!  WOW!  I'm at our church craft night and am hoping to schedule a few posts for you the next few days, but we'll see how much more I get done.  Anyway, I took the kids and my dad to the Science Center today.  It was sooo busy...partly because of the rain and partly because of school field trips.  Oh well, the kids still had a blast.

John's Scrapbook

Emma's Scrapbook

I used the Fangs for the Memories kit by Summertime Designs.

Emma Rae's 2nd Birthday in the eyes of Alyssa Gaskill

Alyssa took pictures at Emma's birthday party back on April 10, but she's been really busy trying to sell her house.  That means I don't have the pictures yet (like I'd have had time to blog about it anyway).  So I was THRILLED to see that she blogged about Emma's party today.  You can check it out on her blog.  Enjoy!

I'm Back! (for tonight anyway)

For John's Scrapbook

For Emma's Scrapbook

Kentucky

Our

 trip

to

Kentucky

provided

plenty

of

opportunities

for

fun,

cute

photos.

I

 told

you

so.

Trying out Blending with Photoshop

I probably wouldn't even post these since I'm just playing around trying to learn how to use the blending tools on Photoshop Elements, but Alyssa told me she expected to see a blog update in the morning.  I'm posting them in the order I created them.  Enjoy.

Blank Park Zoo

Back in November, the kids and I enjoyed a morning at the zoo with my cousin Alyssa and her boy Drew.  It was great because they have a family+ pass (or something like that), so we all got in free.

John's Scrapbook

 

 

The background for John's pages came from the Boy Oh Boy kit by Summertime Designs.

Emma's Scrapbook

 

 

 The background for Emma's pages is from the Fangs for the Memories kit by Summertime Designs.

Brittany and Andy Ashcraft's wedding

My cousin Brittany got married Thanksgiving weekend.  It was a beautiful wedding with the best DJ...my wonderful husband!

John's Scrapbook

Emma's Scrapbook

John and Emma's Scrapbook

These pages were created using the Dinner Party kit by Sara Carling for Shabby Princess.

Need a Laugh?

Emma's wearing John's black dress shoes (on the wrong feet), no pants, a dirty shirt, and a backpack on her while pushing an empty stroller.  Gotta love my daughter's individual style.  (When she saw me get the camera, she slammed the door in my face.  This was the smirk I caught as I opened the door back up.  Do you think she's sick of me taking pictures yet?  LOL)