Potty Training Update

Some of you know I have been trying to potty train Carma for several months. On and off.. it seems when I would start something would happen and we would have to quit. So now that I am no longer having morning sickness, her surgery is over and she is well and healthy, I am back from New Orleans, and we are back from Yellowstone.. NOW IS THE TIME.

I started on Monday and I just had her wear big girl panties. She would sit on the potty for 10 minutes get off and pee seconds later. The same thing yesterday. Only I put the mini-dvd player in the bathroom bought her a potty toy (meaning she can only play with it when she is sitting on the potty). She sat in there and watched the ENTIRE Little Mermaid.. I felt kind of bad when she still never went, so I made her give up Ariel (the polly pocket potty toy).. she FREAKED. I told her the only thing that can release Ariel is for her to poop in the potty. Poor kid, she pushed, she tried. I cried and prayed and got REALLY frustrated. I almost quit at LEAST 3 times... I knew it would be hard, but DANG! My dear friend Pinky came over and stayed most of the day... she saved me and saved the potty training effort. It helps that her daughter is potty training as well, mind you Ruby is 20 months. (I WILL NOT COMPARE, I WILL NOT COMPARE!) So, I noticed Carma pushing.. I put her on the toilet, and Pinky and I sat in the toilet teaching her how to push.. we sat for AT LEAST 30 minutes. HURRAY SHE POOPED. Cinderella (aka my sister Dana) called to congratulate her. I have it on video, only it is on Pinky's and she is trying to figure out hot to get it to me.

I was still kind of bummed b/c she never peed and it was less than an hour before bed. We watched her like a hawk and Pinky noticed that she was leaving (I realized that she would go and hide even to pee). So Pinky put her on the toilet and w/in a minute SUCCESS. I honestly got teery eyed!!! I was SO HAPPY. She did it! I know we have a long road, but at least I KNOW she can do it. Wish me luck in the days (and weeks, Months?? ) to come.

We survived Yellowstone

OK, well, we wimped out and came home a day early. I have decided that I am WAY too high strung to bring a CRAZY child to Yellowstone. She just wants to run off everywhere and she doesn't care about anything. I drove myself nuts from the worry. Not to mention that my allergies were HORRENDOUS! My whole face was swollen! So, anyway, I don't regret going, but next time no kids under the age of 8!! And I will never go pregnant again either ~What WERE we thinking??, that should be easy since I decided to have my uterus removed... OK, not really, but that is up for SERIOUS consideration.

OK, other than the above mentioned annoyances, the trip was great.. hahaha
Really, I have never seen such beautiful creations.. well, Bryce Canyon and Zions are equally as beautiful with less green. But the Yellowstone "grand Canyon".. AMAZING!! Scared the CRAP out of me to have Carma any where NEAR cliffs and rocks. So we only stayed a second at each site. Old Faithful was cool, but not my favorite thing. The Lake was AMAZING! So was the Hotel we stayed. That area has to be the prettiest! All of the green and the trees. We couldn't do much exploring b/c all of the trails were closed due to "Bear Activity". LOAD of CRAP! I didn't see ONE STINKIN BEAR! We drove to places we thought we would see one, but nope. I don't believe Yellowstone has bears.. or Moose. Liars!

Judson LOVED the beach on the Lake. He found lots of cool rocks, (although we didn't take any home..wink wink). He was really sad to go home, but I told him he could go there anytime he wanted when he grows up and take his kids as much as his heart desires.

We did see a plethora of Bison. At first we were all, eww stop, lets take a picture. Oh, there is one on the road, lets stop and take a picture. Ohh, look at the baby bison. By the time we were leaving the park we noticed all the people stopping to gawk at the bison and Michael said "they will get over that by the time they leave". We were like ohhh, another bison... big deal. I know, we are rotten and hard to impress:)
We DID see, 3 chipmunks, a coyote, 2 elk, 1 antelope thing, a bazillion bison, lots of ducks and Geese. So it wasn't all for nothing. I really want to go back and camp this time.. we stayed in hotels b/c I can't imagine camping being pregnant and tired. Too much work. But I think we missed out. And next time no kids under 8!! That is for sure! And I am sure Michael would add
"And no grumpy Pregnant Women!".

So here are our pics:

Its a....

BOY!!!
I have to say that I KNEW it was a boy from about 8 weeks or so. I was 99% sure. I am so excited! I can't wait to meet him. I hope he has cute curly hair like Judson.
I did want a girl for Carma to have a sister, so now I have to make the hard decision: Have surgery to remove fibroids, wait 2 years to heal and have a Baby at 37... and hope for a girl... or just enjoy 2 boys and 1 girl. (That sounds good) But I REALLY want Carma to have a sister, I think sisters are so important. Adoption? I HAVE always wanted an Asian girl. Wouldn't that be SO cute. What is a girl to do.

I DO know that I have to get these GIGANTIC fibroids out. Myomectomy or Partial Hystorectomy? Anyone familiar with these? I have already had Uterine Artery Embolization, but that is when it was only 10cm. Now they may end up around 60cm, so SOMETHING has to be done about these bad boys. I guess it all depends on the baby at 37 thing.

Any Guesses?

So, I had my ultrasound today. Everything looks great with baby, developing on schedule and fibroids not causing any problems, they will just have to do another ultra sound in a few weeks to make sure it is not causing any problems. I cried for joy, I am SO happy and can't believe this miracle and am still in shock that everything is going so well.
Any guesses on the sex?

I'm home! My Trip was so fun!

My trip was SO MUCH FUN! I have never taken a trip alone. I mean, I have had some girls night away, but only one night. Flying with no kids is a TOTALLY different experience, it has been 10 years since I have flown without a child in my lap. I read an entire book and wasn't sweaty when I arrived. (Well, OK, I was a little sweaty b/c I DID fly to New Orleans and everyone sweats there).

I mostly just hung out at my parents house and visited with family. We also went to some of my favorite places. Which all involve YUMMY FOOD! We went out to eat at Midendorfs on the way home from the airport and I had the best fried Oysters I have ever had. I had to limit myself to 3 since I am pregnant and shouldn't eat them in the first place. We went to my FAVORITE pastry shop, The Coco Bean...YUMMY! I found another GREAT restaurant and ate my new favorite thing: artichoke patties, smothered in crab, shrimp, artichoke creamy sauce. HOLY COW. I am going to figure out how to make this!

Then the MAIN highlight of the trip. My new Niece Brenna. She is an angel. I just could have breathed her in. I couldn't get enough and I am still craving to hold her. She looks just like Belle! She has more hair than I have ever seen on a white baby. You can even CLIP on a bow. She seems to be really mellow too, just chilled out, until it is time to eat. I really can't wait to see her again. I am already planning my bribes with her parents to get them out here.












I also got to enjoy my BEAUTIFUL and SWEET niece Belle. Dang that kid is TOO BEAUTIFUL for words, I can't quit staring in awe. Her little cute high voice still rings in my ears. She LOVES her baby sister. As I got up to leave, I was holding Brenna and giving her one last hug (and sniff), Belles says "Don't take Brenna!". It was darling.Another HIGHLIGHT, see what a fun trip! Shelly, my sister who was born into another family (I met her when I was 10 or 11 and we were inseparable), and her mom drove from Texas to come visit us. We spent the night at Dana's and stayed up eating till 2:00am. It was SO fun! She is due less than 4 weeks after me with her first! Can you tell that by the look of our bellies, NOPE! I look ready to pop and you can barely even tell on her.
We went to the French Quarter as well. It is a MUST to visit when we go. Carma was sick the last couple of times we were there and we couldn't go. It was a blast to spend the day with Dana and my mom. If it weren't so dang hot and I not so huge I could have stayed forever. I LOVE the French Market and looking at everything, all the artist around Jackson Square, the interesting people. It is just a fun place. I hope we can visit next winter instead.

Goin to New Orleans

I will be MIA for about a week. I am planning on eating myself stupid in New Orleans. I am so excited to go.. get to see my niece, Belle and my new niece Brenna (who was born today), I will have no kids, there will be yummy food and Dana and I just get to play the entire time. WHOO HOO! I will post pictures when I can.

Princess Alec and Princess Carma

So, Carma has a Prince Charming. His name is Alec, only sometimes Alec likes to dress as a Princess. Alec is my nephew on my dh's side and this boy is THE CUTEST! The funny thing about Alec is that he is totally boyish. Most of the time when I go to his house I will find him in underwear and a cape, but on occasion I will find him looking like a princess (he does have an older sister who I am sure has MUCH to do with his look). He came to our house and insisted that he wear Cinderella, I am sure his dad will LOVE that I captured this...and love it even more that I am posting it....teehehe. Seriously, the funniest thing is that Alec has the "Boy" walk so he looks extra funny.

Don't ask me why they were playing in the dry tub.. I suppose I should be glad they didn't turn on the water. To prove the boyish quality, notice in the last picture he is holding superman and playing with dirt. See, he is the perfect man:) Manly, with feminine qualities.