The Dreaded Potty...

As of January 5th, we have begun POTTY TRAINING. Let me tell you, I was frightened. Not only do we have the concerns of the average parents, beginning such a daunting task but we also had the worries of Enoch's "issues". His surgeon told us, although he was very optimistic about Enoch's muscle structure and control, if he did not potty train by 3 or had problems with it, we would need to start seeing a bowel specialist. For me...I was just overwhelmed. On one hand, we could be successful and have nothing to worry about or - Enoch would have control problems and we would see a specialist and this would be something we would have to deal with on a daily basis for the rest of our/Enoch's life. So, the night of January 4th, I asked Joe to give Enoch a father's blessing. With many prayers from loved ones and ourselves and the blessing, we began potty training on January 5th, a Monday. Enoch was not happy. He would kick, scream and cry everytime we got near the bathroom. Just FREAKED OUT. I was worried and concerned that this just wasn't going to happen and that I was inadequate as a mother.
Day 1 down and nothing accomplished.
Day 2 rolls around and he actually SITS on the toilet. PROGRESS! We have yet to try the big boy underwear.
Day 3 hits and he's pooping on the potty, AND telling me when he needs to go poo.
Day 4, we have a few setbacks because we all of a sudden had a busy week with things to do and I had to run out and make errands, etc. So diapers we wore, a few pees were released into the diapers (which was better than the carpet - where they had been released all week) but poo was still going into the potty successfully.
Days 5 - 6 were a mess, sort of. A mixture between diapers and accidents (pee) in big boy pants.
Days 7 - 9 have been accident free, pees and poos in the potty, waking up dry in the mornings and after naps (if he gets one) and even accident free trips to the store, visiting teaching, and the zoo.
Our prayers have been answered and our son can use the POTTY like a BIG BOY! :D We are so excited, happy, relieved and blessed to have had this occur.
With advice from loved ones and friends, and a few quirky ideas on our own (like a portable dvd player in the bathroom) we have reached success.

Thanks to you all who kept us in your thoughts and prayers at this time. :D

26 Weeks and Still Going Strong!

We've hit 26 weeks already, yikes! Time flies on your second pregnancy. I felt like I was pregnant forever with Enoch. I had my 24 week visit just before Christmas and things are looking good. I'm gaining weight at an appropriate speed and amount, measurements look good and all that jazz. My next visit will be the diabetes screen...exciting. They sent the juice stuff home with me so I can take it 45 minutes before my visit and that will shorten the appointment because its normally an hour. It is sitting in my fridge chilling for me until I'm ready!

This kid is SUPER active. He does have a pattern during the day so I can pretty much peg the times when he's going to be kicking me. Its comforting to feel him move around. I've tried my best to have Enoch feel the movements but had no success until last night. The baby was doing some of those big movements where you could actually SEE them so I pulled my shirt up over my tummy and had Enoch watch... and boom! Enoch giggled once he realized what was going on and wanted the baby to do it more which totally egged the baby on so he kept going. It was cute. Enoch is always patting my belly, giving it hugs and kisses and he still puts his ear up to it thinking he can hear the baby. He no longer tries to feed the baby by my belly button because its completely flat now and the food has nowhere to sit. :D

No more nausea at all, I think about and eat food constantly and I'll eat anything, really. I am sore from all the pressure but I do have good days where I barely feel pregnant. Its been a nice pregnancy thus far. :D

David Comes for a Visit

Those with faint hearts, please look away! Joe's good friend David has been in town for the holidays and Enoch always enjoys it when David comes into town. David always has some new and exciting way to entertain Enoch. This is what kept Enoch laughing and coming back for more last night.

NOTE: Only have someone you truly trust do this with your child...if you ever attempt this.

Pumpkin Carving

I know this is WAY late but I just figured out how to get this "movie" on here. I just couldn't NOT post this because of Enoch's facial expressions. They just crack me up. ENJOY!

Oh Enoch...

I came into the bedroom and found Enoch in my underwear drawer...and he looked at me and said, "Mommy! Wawee!(wall-e)". I could not stop laughing!

22 Weeks

So this is the 22 week belly. I've hit the 6 month point and this is the same time I started showing with Enoch...I popped! Now it will only continue to get bigger.

Baby moves on a daily basis, he's pretty routine with his movements. We've seen elbows and knees poke out every now and then. He's more active than Enoch was so this guy might be handful once he gets here! His most active time is from 9:30 pm til about 11 pm. And the morning when I first wake up, he's getting up with me, moving around and stuff. He'll do flips around dinner time everyday as well.

My next visit will be at 25 weeks and its on Dec 22nd.

Baby is about 7 inches long and weighs in somewhere around 2 lbs. Not too shabby. He's getting hair and eyebrows and his arm and leg bones are hard bone now. Nice! My nausea is gone...I throw up maybe twice a week now so that isn't bad at all. My appetite is completely back to normal, eat whatever whenever. I deal with indigestion every so often but Tums really saves me there.

Enoch now finds my growing tummy funny, he laughs at it all the time and asks me if the baby is in there. He is super excited to have a little brother on the way.

That's all the updates I have for now!!

Mommy, down?

I'm in my room, posting the last blog of course, and I hear Enoch - "Mommy, down?". I walk into his room and find this...

What? No Blog?

Okay, so before Thanksgiving I went into Blogger overload for a little and posted way too much. Now I haven't posted for a week and feel it is safe to make one or two posts...I think.


Thanksgiving, some of Joe's cousins came for the week. It was a lot of fun because not only are they great company but they have four adorable kids who kept Enoch and everyone else in the house entertained the whole time. Needless to say, the time they spent with us was a blast and we hope to see them again soon!

Enoch made a new buddy - Luke

As always, I had a hard time getting Enoch to look at the camera...

Isn't he just the cutest???

Enoch, Mady, Kimball, Jake, Luke(super ski master!)

Four Wonderful Years

On Thanksgiving this year, Joe and I celebrated Four Wonderful Years together. Joe was very sweet and bought me flowers and a card. Its amazing how time flies when you're having fun. I love Joe so much and he has taught me so much since he's been in my life. I still learn something new about him all the time and I'm sure he learns more and more about me every day. I'm like Shrek, I'm an onion! Lots of Layers!

4 years and one child and another on the way! Life is amazing and being married is just one of those amazing parts of life. I honestly didn't think I would marry at such a young age, a lot of people think 20 is really young. There have been MANY people in our lives who have told us we should have focused on school and a career before marriage. I'm sorry to tell them, Joe and I both thoroughly disagree. We wouldn't be as happy as we are now had we waited and gone to school first. It does work for some people but not us. There is a reason for everything and there is a plan. The Lord knew what he was doing when we got us together. I know life holds many great and wonderful things for us in the future and possibly more children. Who knows! I'm excited to live every day with Joe and my son(s).

Here we come!

One of the first times we hung out.
(Left to Right - David, Natalie, Joe, Katrina)

Joe just before we started dating. We played footsie at this table...Hehe!

We went to see Linkin Park with Katrina. She actually got me a ticket for my birthday! She's AWESOME!!!

Joe & I, when we first started dating. This is actually at Becca's house!!!

The Wedding Day - November 27, 2004.

Left to Right - Randall, David, Soulee Jr, Dan, Brett, Joe, Natalie, Hayley, Alana, Jessica, Heather, Katrina2004

2005

7 Months Pregnant with Enoch - 2006

2006

2007

2008

Now

Thanksgiving 2008

I'm happy to say that Thanksgiving was great. My sister and her kids came over and Joe's cousins came with their kids from UT. It WAS a full house but it was a fun full house. Couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the holiday.
There was good food and good company. I hope everyone was able to have a nice Thanksgiving and had friends and family to share it with.
I have a few pictures of the kids and I'll try to post them soon.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!