SHE'S POTTY TRAINED!!!

I am so darn happy! My sweet Isabella is potty trained(ing). She has been wearing big girl panties since last Monday and she is doing a great job! She is having a huge struggle with doing number 2 in the potty, as most kiddos do. But she is finally enjoying the process.

My mother came to stay a few days this past week. She came Monday night and went home Thursday. She watched Cooper for me while I helped Isabella with the potty. My mom read a book on how to potty train your child in one day (which is hardly the truth). And mom gave me pointers all day. We were hard core on Tuesday and Wednesday when she want to gymnastic school she did pretty good. But on Thursday at church school she did fantastic!! No accidents! I am so proud of my big girl, she gets so excited when she feels the tee tee coming out. She always tells me "I doing it" "I go tee tee" I love it.

I have to say a huge thank you to my mom. I would have never had as much success with this task if Honey wasn't taking care of Cooper and directing me along the way. I can't say how much I appreciate my mom for taking charge and making me do this. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do. AND not only did she help me with potty training Isabella she helped me get Cooper in his own bed. I was just mentally struggling with this and just thought it couldn't be done. But she proved me wrong. He sleeps in his bed now (except last night) and it is great. I am very proud of both my children. Thanks again mom!!

One of the cutest things Isabella did was last night at about 2am, she screams from the upstairs, I NEED TO GO POTTY!!! I wanted to ring her neck, but she had stripped off her pull up and was standing at the top of the stairs butt naked. I helped her go potty and she went right back to bed. Only in hindsight this is funny, last night Cooper was up every hour, and that is no joke. I brought him to my bed so I didn't have to climb the stairs all night. So Bella screaming at 2am was just the cherry on the top.

My Husband Loves Me!!!

Or is it the new body I'm on a mission to get!?! I joined the gym a few weeks back and purchased a few personal training sessions, I used up all my sessions and my trainer asked me if I was going to re-sign for more. I of course love the personal sessions and I totally wanted more. So I called Brian and he said, SURE!! He knows how much I enjoy it and that I feel like I'm making progress, you can't see my progress, but I know it's there. So he allowed me to purchase more, kind of for my birthday. I got 8 more sessions. That will last until end of Sept, going twice a week, so I'll ask for more for my birthday again, maybe he will have forgot the first request.

Although, he said he already had something planned for my birthday. I wonder what it is??

Who Wants To Go SWIMMING!!!

Isabella is a fish and Cooper is following in her footsteps. They love the water and I can't wait until next summer, the pool will be an everyday activity. These are pictures of Cooper's second time in the pool.

First Baby Food! Green Beans!!

Of course, Green Beans! Brian's favorite veggie is fresh green beans and Isabella loves green beans too! So Cooper has to love them as well. It's a staple around here. He was funny watching him try to figure out what the heck I was putting in his mouth. I think he actually likes them. Good thing! He's some pictures of Cooper's first 'meal'.

Cooper...

My sweet baby boy is getting so big. He weighed in at 16.4lb at his 4 month appointment. I have to say, I still can't believe I have a baby boy. It still makes me smile. I'm a proud mother of two wonderful children and I couldn't be happier. Cooper is the most amazing baby in the world, he always happy, smiling, laughing, sleeping and eating. We are so blessed to have him as our baby! I have some pictures I wanted to share, so, enjoy!!

He found his toes and loves to play with them!!




He loves his seat, he's able to watch Isabella dance around and watch tv.

4 Months Old

It's hard to believe, but Cooper is 4 months old today. He's such a big boy! We go to the doctor tomorrow to see how he's progressing. I bought him stage 1 baby food tonight at the grocery store. I can't wait to see how much he weighs now. It's got to be 17lbs or so! He's a very big boy!! Cooper doesn't like his tummy, but we are working on that. He loves to be sitting up and watching Isabella zip around him. He is the easiest baby to make laugh and he loves to be kissed! We are so blessed and happy.
This picture is taken May 1st... his first true bath.

4 months old... he loves the water!

GYM

I have finally joined a gym!! Yeah!! I have a personal trainer who is working my butt to death. And I love it. I have been to the gym every day this past week! I'm going to classes and the personal training. I have a girl friend that goes with me most every time. She has a son that is Isabella's age and a daughter that just turned one. So the kids all play well together in the kids club. My trainer is a very nice young woman who also has an infant. She really easy to talk to and really knows how to push my limits. I am thrilled I bought the training sessions. And I feel good each day I finish at the gym.

Now if I could just start eating better, it will all come with time...

Gymnastics

This summer, Isabella was going to a MDO at a gymnastic school. She really loved going to "nastics" and the teachers loved her. So a few nights ago, while Brian and I were watching the Olympics, he asked me if Bella would be going to gymnastics school this fall. I had not enrolled her because I had not gotten the OK from him. So, she in now enrolled to go on Weds. this fall. They said she has great upper body strength and loves the bars. I'm so excited for her to continue in a school setting for the fall. She'll be going to McFBC MDO program T/TH then Infinite Bounds Gymnastics Day School on Weds. Then in the winter (Jan.) she will go to a class specifically for her age group, so we'll see how she likes gymnastics in the winter when its just a full class of tumbling and the such. Wish us luck!

Thumb Sucker

Cooper has become a thumb sucker! I think it is so cute! He smacks his thumb while he's sucking! Here are some pictures from tonight.

Portraits of Kiddos...

Brian and I took our beautiful children to Portrait Innovations on Sunday. This place can be a wonderful experience. BUT this time it was a beating! Isabella is having some major jealousy issues with Cooper right now, and she wanted NOTHING to do with him on Sunday. And with Cooper being only 3 months old, he doesn't do anything on his own. So we needed Isabella to participate and she wasn't having it. So these were some of the best shots. I do think it does have a lot to do with having a great photographer, so next time I'll call and ask who is the best and set an appointment with him/her. But for our Christmas photos I am setting an appointment with Julie Birdseye to do some photos of our family. I really can't wait to do a session with her. She does amazing work.
Enjoy!
Special thanks to Elissa for the adorable patch work outfit Cooper is in. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted Cooper photographed in it. Thanks E!!








This one is sweet, Cooper is holding Bella's arm.

Good Day!

Today was a good day. After being locked up in the house for a few weeks, I decided to grab a cup of coffee with a girlfriend. I took Bella to Adventure Kids to let her play and headed to a new shopping center to get coffee. Cooper and I went shopping after, just to look and then off to get Isabella. When I was going to get Bella, my sister called to say she and the boys were coming over to swim. I have only been swimming twice this summer, because I refuse to take Cooper out in the 100+ temps. So I was really excited. Michelle stayed with the twins and I went with Michael, Mavrick and Isabella. We had a great time, I love our splash pool!

Then we came home and I bathed both kids and ironed clothes for tomorrows pictures. Isabella, Cooper and I watched Peter Pan on network TV. And now I am writing this. The below photos are random shots from today. Enjoy.

The tight curl (hard to see, but it's there) I got from my dad's genes. I keep saying I don't know where Isabella got her curls. I guess I can't deny it any more. I hate my sporadic curls. Hers is much prettier.


The Twins. Major and Cooper chilling out in the living room.

Cooper chillin' in the swing.


Major chillin' in the Bumbo seat. He was in a really good mood, he's smiling.

Happy Major is laughing in this picture. He's such a cute baby!


OK, so I can't get over Major's toes. They are like small fingers. They have like 10 joints in each tiny toe. I am so fascinated in his feet.



I know it's a bad picture, but this is a good shot of the LONG toes!


And lastly, Isabella's TAN body. She and Brian go to the pool at least once on the weekend sometimes more. She has the cutest tan, I remember as a child having the same tan lines and the WHITEST bottom!

Sweet Sleepy Baby Girl

Isabella has been having a very hard time going to bed in her bed these days. She has been coming downstairs in the middle of the night for the past, um, well 4 or 5 months. I am NOT a fan of co-sleeping, even with a toddler! I am a tosser and turner and I cuddle with pillows all over me. But in the middle of the night, I just can't get up and take her upstairs. I did it in the beginning when I was pregnant. But I just don't have the power to carry her back upstairs. So, she sleeps in our bed. We bought her a 3inch foam topper and new pillows and still not working. I can't wait unti Cooper is in his crib (soon, I tell ya, soon!). That way I can sleep in her bed and keep her in her bed all night and hopefully that will *teach* her to say in her bed too. We'll see!

Here is our sleepy princess in my rocking chair in my bedroom. I was tending to Cooper last night and looked over and she was passed smooth out in my chair. I couldn't resist, she looked so peaceful.

My room (house) is a complete and total mess! Don't forget, we have all been sick (minus Brian).

A Crappy Post..

Thanks Lyn for the title!!

This may have been the longest 2+ weeks of my life. It started out with Isabella getting sick on July 8 or 9, I can't really remember. She was sick for about 7 days, meanwhile, Cooper got sick and still today, he has a bit of a tummy ache, his has lasted over 9 days (dang it!). And while he was sick, I got it. And I have to tell you, IT WAS BAD!!! I feel so sad for my sweet babies! I'll spear you all the nasty details, but my bum has never hurt so bad in all my life. I had stomach aches (major cramping), body aches, hot sweats and cold chills, nausea and a bit of vomiting and most of all major, major diarrhea. I can tell you I know what diaper rash feels like as an adult. I could not sit, I had to lay down because my bottom hurt so much from my *rash*. Enough said!!



Anywho, today I am *feeling* better, I didn't have to hoover the toilet all day and I was able to get out and make some returns and go to Costco for more diapers (poor Cooper). But it did still hit and hit hard after a few hours of relief. And, Cooper is on the upward swing. He's only had about 4 poopie diapers, that is a huge difference than the 30+ I was changing for the past 8 days.

With Cooper being so sick and having such bad diaper rash, I decided to use cloth diapers while he was sick. So Last Thursday my mother went out and bought us some more cloth diapers. Can I tell you how blessed and happy I am that we don't use these cloth nightmares daily. My poor baby would poop and I would change him and 3 minutes later do it again, and I had the washer & dryer going nonstop for 9 days. And my house smells like CRAP! As much as he would soil, I would rinse and wash and use again. I only had about 18 cloth diapers but with about 30 changes a day, it was a full time job just washing and changing and drying and washing and changing and.... well you get the idea. I was honestly doing laundry in the middle of the night. If he needed a change, I would switch the load around and keep it all going. I even ran low on all the cleaning detergents (another reason to go to Costco today, I love that place).
BTW, Cooper weights 15 lbs & 1 oz, Brian took him to the doctor to get some more diaper rash cream and they weighed him. He's such a big boy and I love it! He's in size 3 diapers as of today!

Anywho, here is a picture of Cooper in his cloth diaper and Isabella's cute pink panties on as well. I got tired of safety pins, so I used her panties. We put off potty training, since I couldn't get off the potty myself. It really has been a long, long few weeks. But we start potty training again with Isabella tomorrow, she's going to be great with it... she loves to potty.





Isabella took this picture... we may have a photograper on our hands!! Great shot, sweet pea!

Nap Time..

I have to say the past few days have been so hard on me. Both of my kids have had an awful tummy bug/virus. Isabella's lasted for over 6 days, and then Cooper picked it up quickly. Now Cooper has a very bad burnt butt as Isabella did for a few days. I hate this more than anything. I don't like to get him out of the house for fear that he will poop and I won't be able to change him quickly. So, I'm potty training Isabella and changing poopie diapers all day long.

At this moment, both of my beautiful children are napping. Thank God! I need a minute of down time to regroup and adjust to all the butt wiping ahead of me! I need a cold beer!

here are my angels napping...

Here is a peek at Cooper's Bottom. OUCH!! Poor baby!

Give Me A Break, already!!

Since Wednesday night of last week, Isabella has been sick with an awful case of the runs! Oh My Goodness, I am so over this. I took her to the doctor on Friday because I was worried she was going to be dehydrated. She wasn't, but she has the worst case of diaper rash, they had to give me an ointment for burns. She developed whelps on her bottom that may leave scars, I hope not, but it is just awful. I had to make wipes out of paper towels and water. I kept them cold for a few days so it would be soothing to her bottom. We went to my parents house this weekend, because Brian had to work in Houston. I was glad to be there for a little help and moral support. I had to change her diet a bit, no dairy or sugar. She hates it, no juice or milk. Gatorade has been her only drink and she doesn't really like it. She was begging for milk last night, so I gave in, she hadn't had a bad diaper for about 5 hours so I gave her a full sippy of milk, bad move. This morning within 10 minutes her bottom exploded 6 times. I had to call Brian to run to Costco for more diapers. As soon as her bottom is better and she has more solid BM's I'm going to potty train her. I had planned on doing it this last weekend while at my parents, so now I will just as soon as she is better. I am so tired of changing diapers.

Cooper has had more poopie diapers than usual, but I don't think he's getting, I just pray he doesn't. We are getting stir crazy!