James and the Potty

James has begun his adventure in potty training. I am a bit shocked and slightly relieved, to say the least. Every now and then I ask James his he wants to go to the potty. He usually responds with his own version of the word "potty" and runs into the bathroom. I sit him on he toilet, butt-naked, and wait. He sometimes goes and sometimes doesn't. When he does go, it's usually followed by mommy's "Yeahs!!!" and clapping. He really gets a kick out of that. He flushes the toilet,which is something else he loves to do, and runs with mommy back to the kitchen for a treat. We are excited that he is excited about the toilet.

Last night, while at Memee's house, I asked James if he wanted to go potty. Of course, he took off for the bathroom. Grandparents thought that was cute. But the exciting part is James went poop in the potty for the first time (normally, its just pee). Daddy and mommy were so excited and praising him all night. Funny thing, Clara thinks that if she goes to the bathroom too, that she'll get a special treat as well. This would be fine, except our soon to be 6 year old can do it by herself. So, we've had to come up with other ways that Clara can earn a special treat. I love our kids!

15 Weeks and Counting!

Today, we went to the doctors and found out that I am 15 weeks (not 14 weeks). It's nice to know that I am a week ahead. So, July 11th is the official due date, but because we are a "repeat c-section", we are hoping to get scheduled for July 5th.

Here's the bad news: it is going to be a hefty bill, worse than when we received James' bill.

We will be finding out on February 7th what sex the baby is. We are not those type of crazy people who like th idea of a surprise. That's just nuts!

Snow Day! 6-8 inches in 2 Days!

We finally had snow. Dale stayed home from work and played outside with the kids.We had a lot of fun with the snow.James was too young last year when it snowed, so this was a whole new experience for him.He soon realized, like most things, he could eat the snow. Clara thought daddy's snow ball wasn't very big.Daddy thought it was pretty big, as he threw it at the garage.Clara was trying to make the "world's largest snow ball".James enjoyed the snow ball daddy made for him to eat.Clara gave up on the snow ball thing and decided snow angel making is more fun. Daddy joined in on the fun!James thought they were both being silly! The snow came down in small and big flakes, at different times of the day. It was consistent until that night. It was very beautiful and cold!James came in before nap time, to warm up and eat a banana. It was such a fun day!

New Year with Ballet!

We decided to put Clara in ballet class. She started January 8th. Her teacher is Miss Meagan. Her teacher loved her leg warmers, and nick named her "leg warmers" during class. I got to take Clara to her first class. She was a natural. She payed close attention to her teacher and did everything that she was told. If I can make a future prediction, we will probably be doing more ballet classes as Clara gets older.

She was the cutest girl there!

Poor Boy!

Poor Little Man! The holidays just wore James out. Actually he got sick from a kid in nursery. He crawled up in our bed to lay down with daddy, something he never does. Two seconds later, he was gone.He was so sweet laying there, I had to get a picture. After a few chiropractic adjustments and some echinacea, he was back to normal.

Christmas 2010

Christmas morning was quiet. Mommy and daddy woke up to James calling for "mom". Daddy grabbed the camera and began the day.Clara was all smiles when daddy came in to wake her."Goldilicious" was one of the toys Santa left Clara.Fingernail polish, a coloring book, and a tea set were among the other presents. James got some crayon soap, a Gordon engine, Bertie the Bus, and some pull apart trucks from Santa.Like I said, it was nice and quiet.Clara and James both loved the toys they received.James and his farm set.We went to Grandpa Choo Choo and Memee's house.Uncle Charlie and Aunt Kathleen were there. We love them!Grandpa helped James unwrap his presents.Memee in her chair.Clara got a book from Grandpa.James got a dinosaur flashlight that growls from Memee.Clara got a hamster from Grandpa. She named it "Otis".Clara got a Barbie from Memee and Grandpa. She loves this doll!The famous apple butter and peach jam from Grandma Barbara. We all look forward to this gift every year! I make it last till the next Christmas. It is a main staple in our food storage.Grandpa got a book from Memee. He was really excited about it. Can you tell?!Grandpa enjoyed playing with James' toys. Guess we'll have to get him some toys next year.James got some cars from his cousins in Utah.I got a cupcake pan from my mom. It is really nice. They are "beehive" shapes. We had a great Christmas. It wasn't huge and extravagant like years before but it was very nice and simple. I enjoyed it a lot. We didn't even have snow, which made Dale happy!

The Nutcracker Ballet

***Ask and ye shall receive! I found Dale's camera in my camera bag. This picture was on his camera they took at the ballet.*** Daddy bought Clara a nutcracker. It is her favorite toy!

Camera, where are you?!

Dale took pictures of Christmas morning with the kids while I took video. Needless to say, I cannot find his camera anywhere. So, until I can find it, I will just keep moving forward with our posts.

The Nutcracker Ballet

First off, here is our tree, all decorated. Lights on! Lights off! James and I decided to stay home while daddy and Clara had a special date. They got all dressed up and went to the ballet. They went to see the Nutcracker, Clara's favorite ballet. Could it possibly be her favorite because the little girl's name is Clara also? Clara's hair spent all day in curlers. She looked so cute in her white fur coat. She had a ton of fun, although next year, Clara has requested that mommy and daddy both take her.It is more fun when we do things together as a family.

O Christmas Tree!

***Note*** All pictures were taken with a camera phone. So, image may be fuzzy.

We decided to brave the cold December and set out for the perfect Christmas tree. We drove to a local tree farm and rode a hay rack to the trees. James looked high and low! After searching through nearly a hundred trees, we found our tree.It looks bigger when daddy is kneeling down. Clara was guarding our tree, so that daddy could go find the man who will cut it down. Here we are ready to pay for it. This was a great adventure with the kids! We enjoyed this new tradition!