More sayings. . .

Few more things I forgot to add:

Calls diapers "diaperts"

Now has started to say "Cusa you me"

He's been really into counting lately:

"One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eighteen, Nine"

Kids say the . . .

We often are laughing hysterically at all the things our sweet two year old says, I thought I would share some with you.

"No socks on, Mommy, toes on"

"BJ best"

"BJ go to bed first " (as in before his cousin) said while running naked to his room.

"Good job Mommy, Mommy go pee pee on the potty, Mommy get sticker"

"Go to Target Mommy" Instead of whatever fun thing I suggest.

"Daddy, hand?" As in, can I finish my cereal and milk with my hand?

"Trains go to work" (why we can't see them anymore)

"Horseys go moo"

2 year old prayers: "Thank you food" "Thank you for BJ's muppin (muffin), Thank you for Mommy's muppin" "Thank you for blanket"

"Shh, Daddy sleeeeping"

"Where's Daddy?" Mommy: "Daddy's going potty." BJ: "BJ watch Daddy?"

"BJ help Daddy Nova" (out of the blue- his dad was so proud)

"BJ no like that" Always said while spitting out "that" some food product.

"Fries, fries, please" As we leave McDonald's after a potty break (and after a full meal)

"Light off" (for Light on).

"See cow Mommy" (Because Mommies can magically make cows appear on the side of the road)

After being told to ask nicely: Please, have more [insert desire] Please" Always better with a double please

"Cusa you" for excuse me

BJ: "Pocket" Daddy: "What's in the pocket" BJ: "Hands!"

In pregnancy news I am feeling much better- no more nausea!! Yay! Still tired, although I think that has more to do with life than pregnancy. I don't get "cravings" but at the moment could live off of fresh berries, pretzels and hummus, Twizzler nibs, Silk Light Chocolate Milk, and Diet Dr. Pepper. (Although I would also venture to say these have been my favorites for a while, now just more so)!

And for all your enjoyment (and so sweet Baby #2 doesn't feel left out), a belly bump picture- taken this weekend at 16 weeks. (These pics all from my phone, trying to remember what I last did with the camera- or what B last did with it!)

On the carousel at the zoo! He did love it, even though this pic looks mellow.

Recent discovery: headphones- he's listening to "Go Fish"

Making bubbles at the Children's museum. We got a membership for Christmas, but this was the first time we've been able to go (don't worry, the membership starts now, not Christmas). He loved it! I wish I had better pics, but he was too busy running everywhere for me to get good ones. It will definitely be a favorite outing!!

Updates. . .

Since my last post things have continued to be a bit crazy. Thanks for all the prayers though. The long and short of things is that BJ recovered fairly well from his RSV. We were able to travel with relatively few problems to Omaha (Thanks mom and dad!) and then to Creston to celebrate a great man's life! It was hard for us to say goodbye to such a wonderful man, but we also knew and were at peace that God was ready to have him home. He made a huge impact on Brandon's life, and we are forever grateful for that influence on his life. Since that chaos, things were a *little* slower here, we had wonderful friends and family who have continued to help watch BJ while his sitter is out on maternity leave (Thanks Maria and Jenna!), but hopefully we will be returning to "normal" scheduled life later this week or next. His potty training is hit or miss, he has done really great with us at home, with minimal accidents, but still somewhat struggles at others' houses. We're hoping that once he gets back to a routine this will improve. We had a great weekend with our friend Liz and her son Brady last weekend with a trip to the zoo and plenty of girl time! Now that things are supposed to get back to normal, Brandon spent the last 3 days lying on the couch, diagnosed with influenza A. Unfortunately, this was one of those years where the flu mutated more than the CDC was able to predict and the flu shot hasn't covered it. So bummer. My sweet man is feeling terrible, but with BJ's baseline asthma and issues he is high risk- so he gets prophylaxis against the flu. AND since I'm 15 weeks pregnant with number 2 (which I think shouldn't be news to anyone even though it hasn't been mentioned on the blog, if so, we are really excited), I'm high risk, so we bought out Target's Tamiflu supply. So we are praying that March will be a "regular" "normal" month after our crazy February! And BTW, I'm sure I'll get on baby bump pics soon, like I mention, it has been a crazy month!

Stress and Prayer Requests

So I'm going to have to make this short and sweet, but our house has been a bit stressful the last few weeks, and I would love to have some extra prayer our way (I know selfish, but I know God loves to bless our prayers). The quick version is that we were set up for some good stresses coming up with our sitter- Stefanie, due to deliver last week. Things went well for her, and BJ will have a new playmate come March when he heads back to her house, but we had 4 weeks maternity leave (bless her it isn't longer) to cover with sitters. Luckily, there were a ton of offers. So my sister came out last week, Mom and Dad came this week, my SIL Maria will take him next week, and our dear friend Jenna will take him the next week. Plus in the midst of this one of my dearest friends is coming to visit and we are so pumped!! So lots of changes for BJ, amidst still solidifying potty training etc. But then things became interesting. BJ has been coughing for 2 weeks or so, and was getting worse so Tuesday I had my sis bring him in to be checked out. We decided probably an asthma exacerbation and started him on steroids, but Wed. night I came home to a kiddo who was struggling quite a bit. Lots of coughs, wheezing, breathing way to fast, and had a fever. We headed to the ER, did a 30 min neb (not easy for a toddler) and found out he has RSV again. He didn't perk up after the neb, so we spent 23 hours in the hospital. His oxygen did drop so he had to wear the O's, but luckily improved later on and we came how oxygen free. I took off Thurs. and Fri. to get him back in shape, and he is doing a bit better now. Then Tuesday morning, we got the call that B's grandpa had died. He hadn't been doing well the last few weeks and had lived a good life, so we are okay with his passing, but it does add another element to our plans. So we've quick cancelled everything for this weekend and are planning on heading out to Creston, IA for the funeral Friday. Brandon left this morning for Omaha and then Creston tomorrow. Mom, Dad, BJ, and I will head out to O-town tomorrow afternoon. At this point it feels a bit overwhelming with making arrangments, last minute packing, watching a not quite healed little boy, etc. but God bless my parents who have been troopers in the whole ordeal. Their trip has been cut short, but as always, they are willing and ready to help in any way possible. So here are my quick requests:

1. That BJ will make the speediest recovery in his history and feel amazingly better soon, even tomorrow would be great.

2. That BJ would do well in the car (don't forget Xmas when he puked 3 times in 250 miles), and that he would not pick up any new illnesses on our trip

3. For comfort and healing for Brandon's family as they have lost a dear grandfather, dad, uncle, friend

4. For all of our sleep- that it would be restful (not been so lately)

5. That I would experience an extra measure of peace despite the chaos in our lives (since I tend to be the worrier of the family).

6. That God would bless each and everyone of you equally and more for blessing us with prayer!!

Thanks guys! It means the world to us. I'll update with more fun posts later!

Potty Training

So I have a night all to myself tonight- B is at a poker game tonight, and I'm blogging. I'm behind, I do enjoy it, but it does seem a little weird. I think I need a new book. . .I talk all the time about women finding things just for them and I love to read, but need books I can really get into! I started Emma for the 3rd time, but I'm not feeling it yet.

We started potty training last weekend. I have been afraid to blog about it, as it is a bit of a "hot topic" in a sense. Plus with BJ being 27 months old, we keep hearing he's too young. It has definitely been a rocky week, full of doubts and concerns, and prayers, but each day does seem to be getting better. We did "How to Potty Train in Less than a Day" which so far is 1 week +. I didn't quite expect that the less than a day would totally work out, so it doesn't surprise me that we are still learning. Although, I would like to get a little better so we can get on with fun activities instead of staying in the house all the time for fear of accidents :) The first day we had 5 successes, and 6 accidents- (four of which happened in the morning just at the beginning). Then we had some days with less success and even no successes. We have tried not to be too insistent with him, but also didn't want to quit prematurely, leaving him with a sense of being able to crab his way out of things or that we didn't have confidence in him. The last few days though, it has been much better, with yesterday being the first day without accidents!! Yay! He has however, exerted his independence over this area, many times crying "Potty" only to shoo us out of the bathroom "Mommy OUT!" and to have him do the whole process himself. This seems to be his favorite method to the madness. Last night, we pulled over at a gas station as he said he had to go- for a false alarm, but were told 4 min from home he really did have to go. We asked him to "hold it" and he did until B got him to the potty (and then B was informed "Daddy OUT")! What a big boy! (He also likes the phrase "BJ do it"). We have yet to have any real successes with sitters or friends, but I think that will come with time. So I'll have to keep you updated in the process, as I'm sure it will continue to be process.

Practicing with our many "potties"

Telling everyone he knows about what a big boy he is in BIG BOY underwear!

Behind on posts. . .Christmas pictures

I love to read blogs- seriously, love it! I have quite a few that I follow which is why it is so depressing I'm not better on posting for my "followers." So sorry. Long overdue- pics from Christmas- I really didn't take a lot when we got to Omaha- I think too busy, but here are a few.

"Helping" Daddy put up the tree

Mortified at his first Christmas program!
Hamming it up in front of the tree
At Winter Wonderlights:
The fam at Winter Wonderlights!

Traveling is rough

Testing out the new trailer- Thanks Papa!

Thoughts. . .

There has been a lot on my mind lately. I'll blog about all that I can tonight before Brandon gets back with my dinner.

- We are celebrating- I am officially board certified in family medicine!! Yay! Another milestone in my journey that now will just be working as a family physician- which I love.

-Wednesday was a hard day for my Alma mater Millard South High School. As I'm sure many of you have already heard, a high school senior shot both the Principal and Vice Principal after being suspended for driving on the football field. The student later drove a couple blocks from my parents house and shot himself. The Vice Principal was Brandon and my 10th grade English teacher. She was a great teacher and administrator and will be horribly missed. It has been very strange, watching, feeling this from afar. My heart breaks for all involved- the pain- even for the shooter and his family. And as a parent, I view it so much differently than I did with the Columbine shooting which occurred when we were Seniors in high school. Then I was saddened and a bit freaked out at the possibility that something so terrible could happen. Now, I'm freaked out at the possibility that something so terrible could happen to my son. I worry, if my amazing high school in Omaha, NE isn't safe, where is? How can I send my son into a world that is so corrupted with hate and violence? How can I keep him safe and yet teach him? How can I best support him so that he always understands he can talk to me and there is NO situation dire enough to kill someone else or yourself? How do I teach him to be a friend who reaches out to the outcasts? It is heartbreaking and a daunting task. I pray almost everyday that God would bring amazing Godly friends into his life and that he would be a man of integrity to point others to Christ. I think that is the best thing I can do given our world.

-In lighter news- I do need to post about Christmas- which was really fun this year. BJ was so excited to play with his extended family members and open and play with new gifts. Here are some of the highlights of funny stories over the last little bit.

BJ followed my parents up to their closet to change clothes after church. My mom explained they needed to change clothes so Anson (BJ's cousin- younger by 5 months) could take a nap. BJ ran out to the top of the stairs and yelled, ANSON, NAP! Too bad BJ had to take a nap shortly after that. :)

We drove to Creston to visit Brandon's grandpa. It is a 2 hour drive but we were a little concerned given BJ vomited 3 times in 4 hours on the way to Omaha and only stopped after giving him the "good" medicine mom wrote for at Walmart. He did fine out to Creston and on the way back really needed a nap. We were listening to a book on tape but told him to take a nap and we wouldn't give him any toys. So he decided to talk, loudly for the first hour. Finally, Brandon turned off the book and said, "It's quiet time now." BJ stopped talking and within 5 minutes collapsed forward fast asleep!

BJ and Anson got many of the same toys and presents from my parents on Christmas day. They are close in age and both into cars and trains. Toward the end of the day however, we were getting to the end of the gifts and BJ really didn't need anymore toys- he has plenty, whereas Anson has had minimal in the toy department for some time now. Anson opened his gift- another truck, while BJ could barely wait to open his gift next. He finally was given the okay and pulled the tissue paper out of the bag, took a look inside and in all seriousness and disappointment yelled "AH, shoes?!? (pointing in the bag), TRUCK! (pointing at Anson's truck)" He eventually decided the shoes were pretty cool but was very aware that Anson had just one upped him in present count!

That's enough thoughts for now, hoping my dinner will be here soon! Pics to be posted later :)