Emotions

I realize that emotions aren't exactly "normal" for me these days. I can experience them all at such different extremes.....not in the bi-polar kind of ways...I just mean I know what happiness/giddiness and sadness feel like.

I can't always wrap my head around the idea of emotions. I mean, I get the happy times. It's easy to feel happy from eating your favorite snack (can you tell I'm pregnant) to hearing the sound of your child laughing or better yet the "Amen" after a prayer or the "I love you" right before you leave each other for the evening. Those emotions need no explanation.

I'm sure it's going to sound a bit strange....I mean, I have "everything" but sometimes I feel abandoned and alone. Last week I dealt with abandonment....not being good enough for people to love me or appreciate me. I get the whole "Jesus" answer. I completely get that in the midst of that kind of loneliness He is right alongside me, but I just don't know why I have to go there....why do I even enter that valley?

I think sometimes....our culture stinks. If we're not funny enough, pretty enough, free enough etc...we aren't worthy of love and acceptance. I'm really trying to focus on the truth that God loves us the way we are and letting that be enough.

Growing up!

My little girl is growing up in so many ways. Some of them aren't so fun for mom and dad because it means testing boundaries. From birth, Emily has been a very strong willed child, so as she gets closer to two we're going through a lot of challenges, but together we're building communication and finding discipline strategies that work......

Now, there are some growth changes that make us smile. We have a picture of Emily with Santa for Christmas 2008 with her mouth wide open in a screaming fit and a picture with the Easter Bunny 2009 with a slightly less open mouth, but still a screaming fit. So, you can imagine our giddiness when Emily practically jumped out of Brian's arms at California Adventure to meet two of her favorite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse stars. She didn't want to leave them.

The last two pictures are from Brian's birthday and she LOVED watching the parade. The last parade she saw was when she was an infant, so this was much more fun. We got to hear her sweet little giggle, hear her recognize characters and of course point, point, point!

You know you are pregnant when...

...you are out of breath going up and down stairs or just from simply having a conversation.

...your clothes don't fit and you try every trick in the book to be able to wear them just one more time before moving into maternity clothes.

...you cry at Disneyland fireworks, SYTYCD practice video, a little girl playing piano on Ellen Degeneres etc...

...you literally think you will die if you do not eat when you are hungry in the exact moment you realize you are hungry----oh and it better be the right food or that might also bring on tears.

...you take anti-nausea pills just so you can sit upright.

...your daughter pulls your shirt up and says baby.

...you gain 6 pounds in 4 weeks because your anti-nausea pills worked just enough to make you hungry, but you're nervous to keep your stomach too empty because the nausea gets worse.

...you see this at your 12 week appointment.....

Beach Day!!

Emily and Isabelle (Belle as Emily calls her) under the umbrella at the beach.

She's playing with a shovel and a bucket....I just couldn't resist getting a picture of her sweet face. So intentional. If you look closely you can see all of the sand all over her face.

Emily decided she wanted to venture out to the water. Here she is staring at the waves crashing....obviously.

This is her "excited" stance. She puts her hands on her quads and bends forward.

The water got us! She was no longer excited and wanted to go back to the towel immediately! What can I expect....it was her first beach experience.

More Potty Talk

Sunday night, Holly and Cory watched the kiddo while Brian and I got away for a couple of hours. Thankfully, she had read my previous potty talk entry because Emily asked to go potty while she was here....twice. One time was at the park, but they got to the potty too late. The second time she was taking a bath and asked to go potty. Holly took her out of the bath and onto the potty and she went "pee-pee!" I couldn't believe it. I was so bummed I wasn't here for it, but so excited for her. I freaked her out a bit when I celebrated her when I got home. We went into the bathroom to see what she did and I was so excited that she kinda hid in the corner. I explained to her why I was so excited etc... and she seemed to turn around (literally and figuratively).

The next day, I went to Disneyland with my sister. We went to see a show and before it began I snuck away to use the restroom. Emily didn't see me leave but apparently this conversation happened while I was away.

E: "where'd mommy go?"

K: "She went to the potty"

E: put hands together and started clapping, "YAY!!!"

She definitely gets the excitement factor that we have for her! haha! We're being really casual about it. Sometimes she really wants to go and sometimes she doesn't and I just feel like for a 20 month old....that's okay.

uh-oh

HUGE Milestone

So, this is probably just for me to look back at since I use the blog partially as a journal, BUT she POOPED IN THE POTTY, kind of.

Emily and I have been talking a lot about the potty. A couple of times today, she wanted to sit on the potty. (We've had a potty in her bathroom for a couple of months now. She sits on it sometimes fully clothed, other times naked.) So, today, we were talking about the potty and she went into her bathroom. I asked her if she wanted to sit on it. She said "no" while shaking her head "yes." Pulled her pants down and took the diaper off. This afternoon she wanted to go again, so she started pulling her pants down. Nothing either time. Not a drip. Not a smudge.

We went to the fair tonight and had a great time. We came home and I saw her pushing. While she was pushing I asked her if she wanted to go to the potty. She completely stopped pushing. I asked Brian to come assist her in getting to the potty. As soon as she sat down, plop. So, that's why it is a "kind of." She probably did most of the work in the diaper, BUT she understood by our praise how cool it was. She was looking in the potty so proud of herself. Quite a cool moment for this mommy!