Visiting Jocelyn & Elise's 3rd Birthday

Addison was able to meet Jocelyn on March 11th. Her and I went to Charleston that morning and spent a couple of hours with her, Michelle, and Charles. The day before we celebrated Scott's birthday.

Helping Daddy blow out the candles

Holding Jocelyn for the first time

Reading to Jocelyn "Once upon a time..."

After Addison and I visited with them, we headed to Elise's 3rd birthday party. It was so much fun and so great to live close enough that we can actually attend! Addi was shy at first but Ella Russell grabbed her hand and took her out to play. She really enjoyed it!

After the first couple of times she insisted on doing it herself including the jumping off (below). I thought I was going to have a heart attack or have to take Addi to the ER for her first broken bone. It didn't get any easier to watch...even after jump #20. 

Elise and Ella Russell

Jocelyn Violet (March 5, 2012)

My niece, Jocelyn Violet, was born on March 5th. I was so very fortunate to be able to be with Michelle and Charles during the birth. Second to Addison's birth, it was the most amazing thing I have experienced. We spent the entire day together and that evening she was born. She was 7lbs 2oz and 21 inches long.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks. Things are going splendidly!

Our last few days in Florida

Trying out the tricycle Aunt Sally & Uncle D let us borrow

Anxiously waiting for Mama to blow out the candles so we can eat cake!

Pa-Pa is reading and hanging out with the dogs. Max and Digger are visiting the grandparents since Michelle heads to the hospital tomorrow!

32 Young, Baby!

Today I turned 32. It seems like only yesterday I was celebrating my 4^th birthday at Showbiz pizza, my 13^th birthday with girls AND boys, my 21^st birthday at TigerTownTavern,  my 30^th birthday at Pat and Libbi’s and all the birthdays inbetween. It seems like only yesterday… Birthdays are always special in my family. No matter the age, it is a special time. Favorite cake and dinner – lots of friends and family – lots of love. This year I actually got to celebrate my birthday on my birthday with my parents and sister.  Just another perk of living close to family. Scott and Addi sang me happy birthday this morning (and she told me to blow out the candles over the phone!) and arrived tonight in enough time that I was able to cuddle with Addi as she fell back asleep. The smile on her face when she saw me was the best present of all. I received many phone calls (with singing – I love my friends!), Facebook messages, and text messages. Tomorrow we will sing and blow out candles on the chocolate cake with chocolate icing that mom made. I don’t know why I am suddenly struck by the fact that I am in my 30s – 32 feels much older than 31 did, but it feels good.  Life is good and I am blessed.

Potty Training!

Warning: this may be too much information for some of you...but we don't want to forget this momentous occasion :)

We started potty training over a long weekend in January. To be honest Scott and I were dreading it and were hoping she would just wake up one day and use the potty. But when she started holding it all day refusing to use her diaper and only pretending to go in the potty thus only going in her sleep, we knew we had to make an effort and at least try. We talked to friends and family, read a couple of books, and just decided on a few things that we thought would work with Addi. We bought lots of panties, blue m&ms, snacks, juice/water, and stickers.

Day 1, Saturday January 14. We talked with Addi about what it meant to use the potty and told her that she wasn't going to wear a diaper but big-girl panties. We also got her doll, Baby Eli, into panties and ready for her potty. Our first step was to teach Eli and have Addi help us. Eli will actually wet herself so we figured this would work. We pulled her small potty into the living room and talked about Eli needing to go potty. Then she went and we got really excited, showed Addi what happened, and gave Eli an m&m and sticker for her potty chart. Addi wanted an m&m and sticker, but we explained that Eli got those because she went pee-pee in the potty. So Addi sat on the potty and then asked for her m&m and sticker. Since she didn't actually go, she didn't get the rewards. In the mean time we filled Addi with lots of water with juice mixed in. Eli went a couple more times and Addi finally went...on the floor. So we explained what had happened and that she only got the sticker and m&m if she went IN the potty. After another accident a different spot on the floor, I was beginning to think she didn't really understand what was happening. We explained it again...showed her again...repeated the process. Finally, after a morning of this, I was thinking she wasn't ready when she finally went in the potty! Scott and I were elated (I never thought I would be that excited about someone going to the bathroom!)! So we continued to fill her with fluids and kept taking her to the potty every 10-15 minutes. By the late afternoon she had only had one accident and that was because friends had come over and she became distracted.

Day 2, Sunday, January 15. The next morning Addi started out by using the potty and going diaper free (except sleeping). We still kept it in the living room so she would go every 20 minutes or so. She did well and didn't have any accidents that morning. Then we decided to see if we could wait longer than 20 minutes and have her tell us she was ready and that didn't work. Two accidents that afternoon.

Day 3, Monday, January 16. We had the day off for MLKJr. Day so we met friends at the playground. This was our first day out and about in panties so I was pretty nervous. I took the seat and a few other essentials in a backpack and we headed out. She did great and even told me she had to go when she was up on the slide, but she didn't make it to the bathroom. We moved the potty from the living room to the bathroom and she wasn't as interested in going if she was busy.

Day 4 and Beyond. Addi did great at school and didn't have any accidents. And when we travelled home for Michelle's baby shower she stayed dry the entire way home. We put a diaper on her for half of the trip since she was napping but didn't need too. She did not like the regular sized toilets that automatically flushed (and still doesn't!) so I try to warn her of the flushing ahead of time. I had to bring the little potty with us and she used it. Once we got to SC, things turned for the worse. She completely regressed back to day 1 only using it occasionally and having more accidents than not. Once we got back in FL, she was fine. She still wouldn't use the big potty except at school. By the time we went back to SC the first weekend in February she was using the large toilet most of the time. While we travelled, she used her seat on the big toilet and I brought Clorox wipes and wiped it down. I always have to go first. She will usually go after I go. But once again while we were in SC, she regressed back and had a lot of accidents. When we got back in FL, she had several accidents that Sunday but was back to no accidents once she went back to school. Since she was only pee-peeing in the potty, we went back to teaching Eli to use the potty for everything. We also read the book Everyone Poops pretty often. Addi got really excited each time Eli used the potty (while I was moving, I had run across a gag-gift that was my Grandpa's when he was alive so Eli actually had something to show Addi when she went potty), but she still refused to use it herself for all of her bathroom needs. Finally, the week I started my job in SC she decided to use it all the time. She uses both the little potty and the big potty, but we don't care which one she uses.

So here we are a month later and things are looking good. She still has accidents and although we don't have to ask her all the time, we do remind her if it has been a while or if we are out. It is still hard to get her to go when we travel or if there is an automatic flushing toilet. She still wears a diaper during naptime and bedtime, but often wakes up dry at naptime. Not sure if she will regress when we move to SC in a couple of weeks, although she loves the small toilets at her new preschool (she went 9 times in 1.5 hours when we visited the school). It is still a work in progress and there were moments when we wanted to throw in the towel, but we stuck with it and are glad we did.

Moving to SC!

We have a lot going on right now, which is why I haven't blogged lately. It is pretty long-winded so hopefully I won't lose you all! 

I just accepted a job in SC and we are really excited to be moving closer to family and friends there. I am a project director at a technical college about 30 minutes from where my parents live. I will be in doing some design and development work for online courses with open labs and then also managing the project itself. I am also working with the workforce readiness center that is being developed in order to increase employment in the state. There will be other tasks associated with the position as well. I will still be doing some separate consulting for them (I have been doing a few hours a week as a consultant for their online college for the last year). I have loved my work there and working with the faculty has been great. I met my team this past week and they are wonderful! I know that I am going to have a great experience here.

The offer came out of nowhere really. In December when we were in SC over the holiday break I figured out that I would be in town when the college was open so we set up a time to meet in person. Prior to this I hadn't met any of the people I was working with in person. After 15 minutes of meeting, the person who had hired me said that the VP of Academics wanted to meet with me. I said sure and we headed to her office to meet her. This meeting turned into an interview. I found that I was able to answer the questions they asked me and honestly I just felt really comfortable being there. She told me that she would like to hire me for the position if I was interested, and I asked several questions and then I told her that I needed to process things and would get back to her. I went ahead and applied for the position although I hadn't made up my mind. We talked again once school was back in session and after a few weeks and more information, I decided to take the job. It just felt right. So I started this past week and love it. The people and work community are amazing. They are really family oriented and doing a lot of wonderful things and positively impacting a lot of people's lives. I was told that I can teach as well, but won't until after my dissertation in complete. 

We found a preschool for Addi and she starts March 5th so right now she is with Scott in FL. Scott will head up this way when his job situation is figured out...most likely in March as well. We are going to stay with my parents and are working on selling the house. Once Scott is here and we know where he will be and we know more about the situation with our house in FL, we will decide where we want to be. We will be close to Scott's parents and my parents and our siblings live in Charleston which is only an hour or so away. Plus we have so many friends here and have so much support here. 

The college really wants me to get my PhD and since they are on a four-day week (I will do some half days on Fridays if I want), I will be able to use Fridays to work on my dissertation. All of my data is collected, but I have 6 months of data to analyze and write up so that takes time. Instead of graduating this summer it will most likely be in the Fall. The time period of getting paperwork in, etc will determine exactly when I graduate. They are also pretty understanding with me taking the time to go to FL as needed.

So things are hectic for us right now, but we have a lot of great things going on. I have missed Addison and Scott greatly and get to see them some next week. They call me twice a day at least and Addison and I have great conversations. She always starts with hey, its Addison and ends with have fun, i love you, miss you too. Here are some pictures from last weekend (the morning that I moved).

Show me your "surprise face" 

5 Year Anniversary

For our 5 year anniversary (the week before actually), Scott and I went to Crystal River and kayaked with the manatees. We had a wonderful time and saw so many manatees! We saw a lot of babies with their mamas and even saw one nursing. The juvenile manatees were curious and came up to us wanting their noses to be scratched. One even rolled over so I would rub his belly! They have nails on their fins. That evening we had dinner on the river and listened to live music while enjoying one another company. It was a lovely trip. The pictures didn't turn out great (old film in the disposable I guess), but they will give you a sense of things.

Heading out of the center

Mama and baby

Petting a manatee

Right before I scratched his nose

Petting another manatee

The actual day of our anniversary, Scott, Addi, and I went to Cypress restaurant here in Tallahassee. The food was some of the best food we've ever had and the chefs had utilized a lot of local flavors to create true culinary masterpieces. Scott had flowers at home earlier that day...white daisies and orange tulips - my two favorite flowers.