#2 issues for #2

we got the peeing in the potty down in like 2 days....but the #2, it does not seem to be happening.  Any tips on getting the littles one to go on the pot? 

Mark will be going to MDO this year and since he is potty trained with #1, I would like to send him in underwear since that's what he wears at home...but I am SURE that his teachers would not appreciate the accidents.  Easier to clean up a pull up than undies!

Suggestions?

New shoes

Went in for our yearly trip to Stride Rite today for new sneakers. They may be pricier then some, but they last! It's buy one,get one 1/2 off right now so we actually got 2 pair for boys since z in soccer too.

They originally picked out some "lovely" all white light up storm trooper ones but I talked them out of those. Got some less obnoxious light up light saber shoes instead ;-) and then just a regular pair of sneaks. I really thought Mark would choose super hero shoes...but he wanted what big brother picked. Oh these two!!

Zach's foot grew a whole size and a half. He's wearing a 13.5! Mark's just grew a half size to 10.5. But it looks like one of his foot is almost a half size bigger then the other too :)

Need some new clothes and we will be ready for school!

No news

Yesterday's appointment was rather uneventful.  In fact, my doctor joked that it seems I had LESS progress than last week ;-)  Thankfully I am feeling pretty good all in all, so I am feeling okay waiting right now.  She said even if I had wanted to be induced at 39 weeks (which you are able to), she would not let me because my body isn't favorable for it and would probably not respond (ie-end up with c-section). 

I pulled up the old blog from Mark's arrival time...and apparently a week out, nothing was going on with him either...so there is hope!

Latest case scenario, he will be here by labor day! :)

Home Stretch

We haveless than 2 weeks to go until my due date and I must admit I feel a bit of anxiety and anxiousness arising!  With 2 other little guys at home to take care of, there is not a lot of time to really focus on the 3rd one's impending arrival.  It hit me about a week or so ago that I better get things ready!

Thanks to the showers last week, I am stocked up on diapers and wipes and some special goodies for Luke.  I did a last minute Target run yesterday for some neccessities like bottles and binkes.  If nothing else, we should at least be able to survive the first week at home :-)

I think some anxiety rests in wondering what will happen with the actual labor.  You may remember, Mark made his arrival in under an hour at the hospital with no drugs.  Definitely was not planned that way, but looking back, it was kind of nice.  It was hard and intense and scary, but it was over FAST!  And then I felt great.  But the thought of being that screaming maniac for that 45 minutes again kinda freaks me out.  And I get nervous thinking about what if something happened really quickly in the middle of the night.  Could someone get to our house fast enough for us to even make it to hospital? 

And my babies...although it is still wild and crazy with my 2 little men around, we are not outnumbered right now...Matt and I can still divide and conquor!  HA!  How will adding the 3rd little guy into the mix effect all of us?  These are all things we of course discussed before we even got pregnant, but at that point, its all just theory. Now we have to put it into practice and make it work. 

I guess what it boils down to is I worry about my own shortcomings as a wife and mother.  Will I be able to step up to the challenge and make this all work?  I am going to need a lot of Grace and Patience...with myself and given out to my family to make it all work!  But I know God has great things in store for this little man, and I rest in that knowledge. 
          Jeremiah 29:11
           11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to   harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

It is an exciting and nervous time around our household, but more than anything I just can't wait to meet this little guy and bring him in to our family!  Stay tuned!! :-)

Lucky Girl

This is a week of spoiling for me...I have 3 baby showers this week.  Feeling very blessed and spoiled for sure.  With a 3rd baby...and a 3rd boy at that, I was happy to just have the little guy.  But my co-workers, friends, and church friends decided differently.

Today at work, my co-workers had cupcakes to celebrate and contributed to a nice gift card for me.  It was enough to probably cover diapers for a month!

Saturday my bff Sue planned a whole GNO for me....dinner out, seeing Steel Magnolias at the theatre  and who knows what after that!

And Sunday...the Sunday school girls have planned a lunch diaper shower for me after church. 

Me and little Luke Daniel are feeling very loved and extremely grateful for all the fabulous women in our lives! Thank you friends!! :)

Random acts of kindness

Today we were the recipient of some good old grace and kindness! After a giant grocery shopping trip, mark decided to have a major meltdown at the checkout for reasons still unknown to me.

As I was attempting to wrangle and hold mark, watch zach, and push a VERY loaded cart... A random woman shopper stepped in and got my cart and asked where my car was. She told me she was a grandma to 13 kiddos...And she was happy to help.

I was doing my best to remain calm amidst the looks in the store and trying to just check out and GET out that her kindness almost brought me to tears.

She parked my cart and wished me a good day. So nice to have little moments like that... I was touched and made the trip end on a very happy note. I will be sure to repay that favor to another mom one day! Thank you grocery store lady!

Mediterranean crockpot chicken

Made a little creation tonight for dinner and it was a success! I love all the Mediterranean ingredients and just threw all in that I had on hand!
Chicken breasts
Italian stewed tomatoes
Sundried tomatoes
Kalamata olives
Garlic
Artichoke hearts
Mushrooms
Onion
Mix all the ingredients up, then placed the chicken on top and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Cooked on high for 4 hours. When it was ready to serve, I topped with some feta! Yummy!! Matt loved it and said next time it would be great on some pasta. Will have to try that next time! :) love it when a creation works out!

Potty Training Time

It is probably PAST time...but with the due date of yet to be named #3 looming very soon....I am determined to get Markey potty trained and out of diapers before the baby comes in a month.  Fingers crossed!!

We have been talking a lot about it and he seems to comprehend, so starting tomorrow, we will be homebound for 3 days and giving it a go!

I went to target today at lunch and stocked up on M&Ms and Skittles for little rewards, stickers, new super hero undies, and a few small toys to give as bribes, i mean, ENCOURAGEMENT! ;-)

Wish us luck!  We are using the 3 day potty training method that we used with Zachary.  It was stressful at the time (from what I remember) but he actually did pretty well so we are going to give it a go with Mark too! :)

Hopefully I still have my sanity by Monday...

Babymoon

The last time Matt and I went on a real vacation on our own...was when I was about 16 weeks pregnant with Zachary.  you do the math...that was almost 5 years ago!! Holy moly!

Matt's dad was being installed as the President of the National Society of Professional Engineers in San Diego and we were invited to come along and celebrate.  We debated awhile back when we decided to go about bringing the boys with us...but as my mom pointed out, it may be awhile before we get to go anywhere alone again soon!  So off we went, just me and my Mattie.  It.was.devine! :)

We used some of the points we have stored up from forever and got first class seats to fly.  It was both of our first times to fly First Class and my, was it nice. How will we ever sit in the back of the plane again? Ha!

We had a couple of obligations to attend, but all and all, we were on our own.  We did the San Diego zoo, got spa treatments, and just a lot of driving up and down the coast.   It is BEAUTIFUL!!

We had a really great time together and were thankful for the opportunity to go.  And I highly recommend San Diego if you have a chance.  You won't be disappointed!!

Here are couple of pics from trip!

4th of July fun

We had a great 4th of July this year!  Celebrated in the morning at my parents' house.  We spent the night and decorated the boys' bike and wagon.  It was nice because we were able to spend it with dad who was finally out of the hospital! Yippee!  The parade hasn't changed much since I participated in it 30 years ago....and that's what makes it so much fun.  Just the neighborhood kids...decked out bikes, trikes, scooters, and cars and lots of old fashioned fun!  Zach did so good riding his bike the whole way and Mark got lots of laughs for his chill pose in the wagon! :)  They had fun and games at the park to follow and of course swimming.  We throughly wore the boys out!  Later that afternoon we went to a friend's house from church for dinner and more playing and fireworks.  It was a great 4th and we were so lucky to spend it with both friends and family! :)