Mission Accomplished

I woke up yesterday determined to not let my anxiety of taking two children by myself to the bookstore stop me. Stores without carts can be challenging. I'm not afraid to admit that taking two children out by myself is something I am still getting use to. I know everyone does it, I'm just have to figure out the logistic's of two of them one of me. Getting them in and out of the car, do I take a stroller, do I take the baby sling, or seat, what's going to work the best. Well I wanted to get some photography books to improve my picture taking. I had looked on line but really need to just look at a book in my hands and see if it's what I really needed to help me. So I feed Caleb and changed his diaper, and I stocked my diaper bags, so that I was fully prepared for anything. We got to the store and I asked Kate if she needed to go to the potty, she said no. You can probably see where this is going. I thought this out carefully and decided Caleb would go in the baby sling and Kate in the Stroller. ( I need a double stroller badly after this trip). Kate started to fuss and wanting to get out and Caleb was not fitting right in his sling. I had to fix the sling while Kate and Caleb are crying their eyes out. I told myself up front that this was going to be challenging today and to not get stressed out; yeah right easier said then done. I then get settle and find a few books to browse at, and then head over to the kids section. I let Kate play with the Thomas the train set while I finish up looking to see what book I wanted to purchase. It was going great until I told Kate to get back in the stroller so we can go. She said I can't sit down mommy, I wanted to die right there, she had gone poop in her panties. I wasn't even thinking this was going to be an issue since Kate has been potty trained for weeks. I marched her off to the bathroom and wonder how to clean her up with only one free hand. Luckily the stall had a diaper changing station inside the stall, I placed Caleb on that and cleaned up Kate. I caught her just in time, it wasn't to bad, she finished up on the toilet. We then came out and I just wasn't satisfied with the book I picked out, so I told Kate she had to sit in her stroller and think about what she had done, while mommy looks for a different book. It actually worked, she sat there the rest of the time. We then pick out a book for Kate, previously promised before she had an accident. She got the Rainbow Fish it teaches a good moral about sharing makes us happy. We finally get up to check out and make it out of the store without any more problems. Let just say it's not what I thought was going to happen but we dealt with everything in stride and it all work out in the end pretty good, it was a good first try at this whole taking two kids thing. I'll get better as I do it more, I don't even know why I stress out with just one kid. I think I often worry more then I have to, I just want to be prepared for anything. So in the end the mission was accomplished I got my two books and Kate got one as well.

Children's Festival in the Park 2008

Yesterday we went to the Annual Children's Festival at our favorite park. Kate loved it last year and we have been looking forward to going this year. The local Rotary Club is in charge of the event. Every business in the town sponsors a booth, or activity for the children and in turn everything is free. They have everything from pony rides to petting zoo, train rides, and bouncy castles, Kate's favorite was the Disney Princess bouncy castle. This event is something we look forward to every year, for being in such a small little town they really do a great job. Everyone from all over comes to celebrate Kids! It was originally scheduled for May, which is a cooler month for us, but it was postponed until June due to bad weather, so as you can guess it was HOT! Kate and Caleb didn't seem to mind. Caleb had a great ride in the stroller while big sister participated in all the activities. Caleb was a good sport, he didn't fuss a bit. If you ask Kate what was her favorite thing to do was she would tell you the pony ride, that will make Gramma Mott smile. Kate loves Gramma's horses. I had a great time watching Kate play and enjoy herself, we had a great time! Jerry maned the camera and I filmed with the camcorder, I think we captured everything for the memory books pretty well. At the end of the day Kate was tuckered out and ready for bed, we did quite make it to the fireworks that evening to round up the days events, maybe we will catch it next time.

Caleb 1 Month Old Pictures

Caleb is 1 month old today! I really can't believe it's already 1 month now. Caleb is growing really well he is now 9lbs 8 oz. Caleb sleep really well at night, I have to wake him up to feed him, which is so different then Kate ever was. He recognizes his name, ever time you say it he will either open his eyes, or try to find or look at who is saying his name. He is a really Happy baby, we are so excited that Caleb has joined our family!

Pool Perks

I have to say there are some perks to having a pool. This week we have had a great week spending time with Friends and play dates in the pool at our apartment. I've always wanted to have people over so Kate can have some play dates, but my apartment is so small. There is hardly any room for my family to move around let alone more kids to add to the mix. So we came up with a great solution, we can have friends come over and swim, we are at our home, but outside where there is room for everyone. Kate has had so much fun with her friends, she has started to ask me each morning, who is coming over today? I think I've started something here. So I am grateful for the pool at our apartment it's been really nice to use in the summer when it is so hot. So despite me apartment being small and cramped we do have the nice perk of a pool to balance it all out

Caleb's 1st Bath at Home

As you can see from Caleb's reaction he did not enjoy his first bath at home, he screamed the whole time. The second time was better, maybe he just needs to get use to it, we will see.

Once we gave him his Binky he was just great!

I made it through my first bath, Yeah I did it!

Everything falling into place

I have had a lot of time in the early morning wee hours as I'm feeding Caleb to sit and ponder things. Things about my life, where I've been, what I doing now, and what I will be doing in the future. Lately things for me that I was once so worried about have just fallen into place with ease. The Lord truly does answers prayers and is aware of us as individuals. I was so worried about how I was going to handle two children, and I just seem to be picking it up pretty good. I also had some issues I was working through with Kate, having her stay in her big girl bed at night, and Potty training her. It's been a long struggle, partly because Kate wanted to do it on her time and not mommy's. In the last couple of weeks, I haven't focus so much on how to get Kate to stay in her bed, or go the bathroom, and she has just really started doing it for herself. I can now say with confidence that Kate is officially potty trained. Maybe Kate was training me to relax about the whole thing who knows. Kate now goes to sleep in her bed without fighting us at ever turn. So things I once obsessed about and worried have kind of just worked themselves out. I truly believe Prayer had a lot to do with it, and I'm grateful. I've also had some personal things close to my heart that I have prayed about that have fallen into place for me as well. The Lord has truly blessed me, and helped me with those things I stand in need of, for that I am truly thankful.

Our 5th Year Wedding Anniversary

Well It's been 5 years, boy does time fly. It seemed like just yesterday we got married. Who would have guess in five years we would be living in Alabama with two wonderful Children, Kate and Caleb along with a dog named Sadie. It has been a big adventure with lots of ups and downs and I look forward to what the coming years have in store for us.

Fun in the Sun!

It is officially Hot here in Alabama and we aren't going to see any relief from this wicked hot heat for another 4 months, I love the weather here most of the year, but the summer is almost unbearable. It makes the rest of the time almost not worth it. I struggle with the Humidity, you walk outside and your are just soaking wet without even doing anything. Well Kate love it, we spent some time outside today, in her pool, it was great, she had a really fun time, she needed to get outside and get some of her energy out, it's been hard for her to be inside so much,because I can't get out to much right now, so we found a simple solution, let her play in the pool outside. Kate loves her new suit that Aunt Amy bought her. Thanks Amy!! Hope everyone is surviving the Heat!

A Little Clarification

Jerry forgot to mention in he awesome adventure, that it was just him and Kate that went water skiing, I stayed home with Caleb and recuperated from surgery with Jerry's mom to help me. So no I'm not that crazy, I was still in pretty bad shape when it came to moving and getting around, so I stayed home instead. Just in case anyone was wondering, just thought I would clarify that little tid bit.

SKIING AT THE LAKE

AT THE LAKE

This last weekend for Memorial day Kate and I (Jerry) went to the Lake. We had a great time tubing as you can see in all the pictures. We tried knocking each other of the tubes and battiling it out, it was a lot of fun. I think the one driving the boat won. Kate had a great time playing in the water with her best friend Bella and she tried water skiing for the first time. Kate was a little nervous at first, but soon began to laugh and have lots of fun. I blew up the picture of her water skiing, her face lights up every time she see it and says "That's me, I went waterskiing" She has been talking about it ever since we got home. Kate love to try new things. We stayed at the lake for three days, Kate loved sleeping in the tent with her new princess sleeping bag. It was her first time really camping outdoors, we both had a great time and can't wait to do it again.

BATTLING TUBES