Some pictures for you to enjoy...

For some reason my slide show doesn't want to show up...they keep saying I'm giving them the wrong password, but I know it's right! Grrrrr...so here is the link if you want to see it. I will continue to try and get it up on the blog for you to see here as well!



http://www.slide.com/r/PMLfDZwEyz-d0AUCokNzmi7d6_QF8wzr?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original



Otherwise, I was feeling better this morning so since Ryann and Jaxon had one of their preschool playdates planned for the day I decided to try and get them to it. They had alot of fun and I actually felt fine the whole time there. I basically just hanged out talking with the other mom's and watched the kids play. It wasn't until we got back home that it just hit me again and now I'm feeling crummy. Poor Ryann's blood sugar dropped a ton while we were at the park playing. I had to give her 3 juice boxes before she started acting like her old self again. Then when we got back home she started having diarhea...so it doesn't look like we are out of the woods yet with this stomach stuff.

Anyways, I better get going...I am being booted off the computer by Ryann who wants to play a game on the computer! LOL!

We are getting hit by...

A stomach bug! Yuck! So I mentioned that C.J. threw up on Sunday, which was than followed by diarhea (sorry if too much information!) Than yesterday Jaxon threw up all over me and later that night Ryann started throwing up. We were up until well past midnight with Ryann, not only did we accidentally overdose her, so her blood sugar was low because of that, but than her throwing up just made it worse since whatever we got down her to bring her blood sugar up would get thrown back up. So it was a long night and than C.J. ended up getting up around 1:30, I put him in bed with me, but he spent the whole night just tossing and turning which means I got hardly any sleep. On top of all that I think I might be coming down with all of this too, so I'm just worn out and would like nothing better than to take a nice long nap! C.J. has been a total grouch this morning and was pretty much screaming his head off most of the morning unless I was holding him, which unfortunately I couldn't do since I was trying to get everyone dressed and ready since Jayde had her last day of speech today. After spending the morning though (when I was gone with Jayde with speech) with Grammy though he is acting like he is feeling a lot better! But now it must be Jaxon's turn to be grouchy and I've already had to sit him in timeout twice since I've been home for taking out his grumpiness on his baby brother and sisters! So I've just got one thing to say..."is it bedtime yet?"

Not a good weekend...

Saturday we headed for the river to go boating with one of Doug's really good friend's. It was Doug, Doogie, Jayde, Ryann, Jaxon and Me (of course) and than Doug's friend, his daughter and her boyfriend and friend. Doug's friend was ahead of us in his boat and we were following along behind them. They had been talking on the walkie talkie and Doug's friend said lets go out farther on the river before we start skiing. So Doug thought we would be going for a while still, I made a comment to him and than turned around (Doogie, Jaxon and I were in the front of the boat and the girls were in the back) to tell the girls to make sure they were sitting down on their bottoms. Doug turned his head to look at them as well and than when we turned around we saw that we were right on top of our friends! Doug turned the wheel as hard as he could to try and avoid them and we ended up skipping off the back/left side of them. I could see the look on their faces as we went over them and than I remember turning around and looking at them and seeing blood on Doug's friend's daughter's head. And I remember saying to Doug "Oh my God we hit her with the boat!" Doug's friend had turned around to look at everyone after we hit and asked them is everyone okay...they all answered yes until she lifted her head up and he told her no you aren't! So they whipped their boat around and headed quickly back to shore with us following. We were extremely lucky that none of us were hurt as well, Ryann had gotten thrown down to the ground but she was okay. When we got to shore he asked us if we were okay and I said we were and he said that she had a pretty good size gash on her head. Even seeing blood from our boat after the accident and hearing him say she had a gash didn't prepare me for actually seeing it! It was a nasty jagged gash on the left side of her forhead! I grabbed the car keys from Doug and went running to the car to get the first aid kit (note to self make sure one is in the boat from now on!) We got ice on her head and got her out of the boat and into the truck and then helped them get the boat loaded so they could head to the hospital. It took us a bit longer to get ready since we had to wait in line (right after they left about 3 cars showed up to launch their boats). When we finally got loaded up we took the boat home first got something for the kids to eat and then headed over to the ER to see how they were doing. They had called a plastic surgeon in (which was something Doug and I had talked about on the drive home) and they were just waiting. We had been trying to figure out what part of our boat had hit her and thinking that she's gotta be in a lot of pain if the boat hit her! But what we figured out happened was when our boat hit theirs we shattered their plexi glass window and that flew back and cut her. We are just so thankful that it didn't hit her anywhere else (like her neck, her eyes, etc..) So she ended up getting a ton of stitches but is doing well (she also has a pretty good lump on her head). The doctor said best case scenario is that she'll have a faint white line on her head for a scar. So anyways, yesterday instead of having a fun time out on the water it turned into a nightmare. It was a good reminder about how you always have to be aware of what is going on around you when you are on the water (or even in your car). Of course Doug and I just feel horrible and Doug has been going through in his head all the things he should of done differently. And I know Doug's friend has been doing the same, he said that he shouldn't of just stopped the boat like that knowing that we were behind him and we said well we shouldn't of been following that close. But all in all what it was was just a horrible accident that we are extremely lucky that things weren't even worse. I started thinking what if one of our kids had been hurt, thrown out of the boat or something else...so someone was really watching out for us. And the damage to the boats was actually not as bad as it could of been. Ours has a 6 inch gash on the bottom but luckily it isnt' too deep and than we have some scraps on the side, but nothing too major. Their boat had one of the hooks ripped off and the plexi glass window was broken (obviously) and there was a dent in the back where we hit and the cover for the motor is cracked a little. But like I said before...we were all very lucky. In fact the exact thing had almost happened earlier where he stopped the boat in front of us, but Doug had been looking forward and was watching and was able to cut our engine and just coast in behind them. And then they almost ran into us earlier when our engine had died and we were trying to get it started again and were drifting close to them so we pushed off of their boat and than they gunned the engine and took off missing us just by inches. So I guess we were just an accident waiting to happen but we weren't being as careful as we should...I think we were just all excited about being out on the boats and waterskiing for the first time this summer. Doogie was pretty bummed that we didn't get to ski and kept asking why aren't we skiing! So anyways...that's our story for Saturday.

Today after we finally got everyone dressed and ready to go we were going to head to the store and run a few errands. We hadn't gotten too far down the street when C.J. started throwing up everywhere (my mother-in-law was throwing up yesterday) so we turned back around and went back home and got him cleaned up and Doug got his carseat out and cleaned that. Poor guy must of been exhausted from his ordeal because he ended up crashing and slept for a few hours. He's been acting like he feels fine now though, so hopefully it was just one of those throw up once and get over it type things. I just hope nobody else starts throwing up!

Then Doogie informed me (he was outside in the backyard playing) that the neighbor girls aren't allowed to come over to our house anymore to play since the oldest one got hurt over here. They had been outside in the back playing and Ryann had gotten her with a stick and she had a scrap on her neck from it. I cleaned it up and put neosporin and bandaid on it for her and she was just fine. So Doogie was asking me if I was going to go over and ask him why she couldn't come over...I said no, I said his kids are going to have a boring summer if he pulls them away from a friend anytime they get hurt. The bottom line being kids get hurt...you can't keep them in a plastic bubble. I know there have been times when another kid has hurt mine, but I dont' keep them from playing with eachother (unless the kid is hurting mine on purpose and continues to do so). But Doug said maybe it is a blessing in disguise...since these girls just show up out of no where and just walk in unannounced (especially when no one is home!) I'll just have to call their other friends up more often and get them out on more playdates that way. I feel bad for the neighbor girls because they want to come over and play but their dad won't let them. Ahh well, what can you do, right? There going to have a sad and lonely life if their Dad keeps taking them away from friends whenever they get hurt. And who knows...maybe in time he will change his mind and realize that things like this do happen.

So anyways as you can "see" or read...this hasn't been the greatest weekend! I hope the rest of the week goes alot better.

Ryann is on...

The Potty Train!! Whoo Whoo!! That something just finally clicked for her and she is doing awesome! I don't have to remind her to go anymore (well except when we are getting ready to go somewhere and I remind them all to go in and use the potty!) So now she acts like she has just been doing it forever and goes in and goes when she needs too. We are all very happy and excited for her and we make sure that we continue to give her praise for going in and using the potty and for being a big girl! So I guess next up will be Jaxon....

Lock The Door

Well I've learned the importance of making sure your door is locked when you leave the house. I was distracted this afternoon getting five kids in the car and I really didn't think about locking the door, especially since Balder was inside. I was on my way home when my cell phone started to ring, I saw that it was Doug calling from home so I answer. He told me that he came home to find the front door open Balder out in the front yard and the two neighbor girls in the house! At first I thought he was joking (he does like to pull my leg alot) but he was telling the truth...I even found a pair of shoes that belongs to one of the little girls! The girls do have the tendency to just walk in the house announced...which usually isn't that big of a deal, but isn't good to do when no body is home! It was a good thing that Balder stayed in the yard and didn't run off and that our cat didn't get out! So yes, from now on I will be making sure that the front door is locked when we leave the house!

Busy, busy, busy...

Well lets see if I can get everyone up to date on what's been happening the past couple days.... On Tuesday Balder had a bit of a playdate. I looked out the window and saw a young german shepard in our front yard. So I went out to see if I could get her to come to me and find out who she belonged too. She was a real sweatheart and came running right to me, she didn't have a tag that gave me a name or number but she was chipped so I called that number. Unfortunately they didn't have the owners name on file, just the human's society but when I tried calling them they weren't open until noon and it was 9:00 in the morning. So I put her in the backyard (keeping Balder in the house) while I figured out what to do. Well Ryann decided that Balder wanted to go out too (he was barking at the back door at the new dog) so she let him out! I went racing out there since I didn't want to have a dog fight on my hands...but they hit it off and were soon romping with eachother around the yard. I think he over did it though (he's not as young as he used to be...and he's been really limping around since). Anyways, I finally took a look at her other tags and noticed one from the vet clinic, so I called them up told them my situation and gave them the number on the tag. They were able to look it up and find out who she belonged too. So I gave them my name and number and they gave the owner a call and passed on my info to them. They called me a few minutes later and it seemed that they hadn't even known she was missing yet and they actually just live a couple houses down from us.

Yesterday Jayde had her first day of speech (she gets 6 sessions total for the summer). She was so excited to go and see her speech teacher, she has really been missing her and her speech teacher was just as excited to see her. It was nice for me to be able to see the things they worked on and how they did things so that I can help her better with her speech at home. Tommorrow Doug will take her in since he has that day off and he can see how it is done as well.

Hmmm...what else has been happening... I saw a shooting star last night! It was pretty cool. I had taken Balder outside to go potty before going to bed myself and just happened to look up at the sky at just the right moment. That's the first shooting star I have ever seen!

Nothing else super exciting happening. We have gymnastics tonight and I have to remember to get the kids to it. We have missed the past month because things have just been so crazy and we have just forgotten all about it! But it is so good for the kids and they have such a great time that I hate to have them miss it!

Oh and we would like to wish AUNT JENNI a very very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We hope you have a wonderful day and are looking forward to seeing you soon!! :)

Progress???

I surely hope so! I think Ryann has finally gotten the hang of this potty business (knock on wood)! I have hardly had to remind her to go in and go today, she has just been getting up and going in on her own when she has to go! I am so excited and proud of her, I think she is finally taking that big step! I'm hoping this will continue and our potty problems will be a thing of the past. I'm not too worried about her staying dry at night yet, that can come later. It is also a little bit more difficult to potty train a child with diabetes than one without. I've read from some online message boards about others who have a difficult time getting their child with diabetes potty trained, especially at night. But I'm just glad that she finally seems to be getting the hang of it! So if this keeps up than I guess I will start concentrating more on Jaxon and see if we can't get him potty trained as well!

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately! This week and next are going to be even busier than usual. Yesterday we had a day full of doctor appointments. Ryann went in for her diabetes check up and she is looking good. She weighed in at 46lbs which puts her in the 95th percentile. So she is back to where she was before her diabetes got diagnosed. But he checked her all out and even "tickled" her feet (people with diabetes have to really take good care of their feet). We talked about some of the new and exciting things that are starting to come out for people with diabetes. One being a blood glucose monitor that will tell you a person's blood sugar every five minutes, you can hook it up into a computer as well and set up a program that will keep track of all the numbers.

Calvin also went in yesterday for his one year check up. Boy has he gotten big...funny to think how tiny he was at just 6 months and that they were worried about his weight. They definitely aren't anymore, he weighed in at 27lbs15oz which puts him in at the 95th percentile (he was below the 3rd percentile at 6 months) and he was 32 and 3/4 inches long which puts him over the 97th percentile. He is also looking good (if you couldn't tell by his stats)! He is doing everything that he should be doing at this age and more. He had to get 5 shots, which he wasn't very happy about and made for a rough evening since his poor little legs were sore...everytime you even brushed against them he would start crying.

Well I better finish this update a bit later...the kids are all starting to wake up and they are hungry for breakfast.

Pictures!!

What a fun morning!

We got up and going quickly this morning and as soon as everyone was fed, showered and dressed we headed over to the park. Ryann's preschool has organized some park days for all the kids and families that go there. So Ryann got to go and see her teacher from last year since she was there today. There wasn't anyone there from her class this time, but I did see alot of familiar faces and the kids had a great time. Alot of the little ones have older siblings that are close in age to Doogie and Jayde so they had someone to play with as well. The summer Trainee's from the church were also there today and they played games and read books with the kids along with just running around with them at the park. It was really nice having all those extra hands, since everyone helps out. We are definitely going to have to try and make it to some of these other park days, we'll have to miss the next one coming up because Jayde has speech that morning...but we should be able to make it to most of the other ones, as long as I get my rear in gear in the morning and get everyone ready in time!

Afterwards, we stopped by and had lunch at Burger King for a special treat. And the whole way in the car the kids were just bubbling with all the fun they had. Ryann even stayed dry the whole time at the park and also used the potty while we were there...unfortunately as soon as we got home she had an accident which breaks our three day potty streak. *sigh* Ah well, what can you do, right? I know she can do it, it's just trying to find something that is going to motivate her to want to do it all the time...not just when she wants to do something. I told her if she had an accident while we were at the park then we would have to go home...and what do you know, she stayed dry and used the potty while we were there. I also won't let her go outside or downstairs to play until she goes potty first, so she has gotten to the point where she'll just go in and go and then come out and tell me that she went potty and ask if she can go outside or downstairs now. So I know she can do this!!

I did have my camera at the park, but unfortunately I was so busy chasing and keeping track of kids that I wasn't able to get any pictures...*bummed* But I do have a ton of pictures on the camera that I need to download so I will try to get that done this afternoon while the little guys are napping!

Doogie's Fun Weekend

Thanks to Doogie's awesome Aunt Jenni for these great pictures!! It looks like Doogie had a lot of fun and next time I'm up there I want to go to this park too!! I'll try to get more pictures up of the other kids soon!!

I see I need to get some more pictures up, I will work on doing that sometime this week. Got some cute pictures of the kids on the camera, just need to download them. Once I do, I will try to get some uploaded on the blog for all to see.

Nothing super exciting happening. Doogie got home safe and sound yesterday afternoon from his trip with Grammy and Papa, I think he had a good time. His Aunt Jenni emailed me some great pictures she took of him this weekend while he was there visiting so I will try to get some of those up as well. Jayde was a little ticked when she saw them because she had wanted to go as well, so we told her maybe next time.

Balder has been making his rounds with the kids. Every night he sleeps in a different room. Last night it was Doogie's turn, the night before it was Jayde's and than before that it was Ryann's. I think he likes sleeping in Jayde's room the best though, he likes the fact that he can sleep in Jayde's bed with her and be all comfortable (Jayde has a queen bed right now, though we are going to put bunk beds in there soon and that is what the other two have). I did notice that he wasn't hobbling around as much the next morning after he had slept with Jayde.

Our biggest excitement for the day yesterday was the girls discovering a preying mantis. I got some pictures of them holding it...or it climbing all over them! It raced right up Ryann's arm and was sitting on top of her head! I think the best picture I got though was of Jayde with it on her hand...the look on her face is just hillarious! I think she thought it was going to jump off her hand and land on her face!

Right now they are all out in the backyard (with the exception of the baby of course...he is standing at the backdoor watching them). I had just drained the wading pool, since I think the kids broke it yesterday by filling it too high with water and the sides weren't staying up anymore (so a new wading pool is on my shopping list) so now there is a muddy mess in the backyard, I warned them to stay out of the mud...but we'll see if that happens. I have a feeling atleast a couple kids will be coming to the backdoor covered in mud!

Happy Birthday to my BABY!!

Wow! Can't believe my little guy is ONE today! Doesn't seem like a whole year has gone by already....where does the time go?? He is getting so big, and boy does he have a temper when he doesn't get what he wants! LOL! He is walking more and more, I think he walks more than he crawls now. He is a very very busy guy and hardly ever stays still in one place for long....he is my busiest baby by far! He is usually a pretty happy little guy and as you can see from his pictures that he loves to eat! He also loves his big dog Balder and his cat Mikey. He is always climbing all over Balder and will even use him as a step stool to get up on the couch with! Balder being an absolutely wonderful kids dog just lies there and takes it! He loves his big brothers and sisters and they do a great job keeping him entertained for me when I'm trying to get something done! I think he is going to be a little rough neck since he loves to wrestle around with them and for the most part they are pretty gentle with him. In fact just a little while ago I was watching him interact with Jaxon, Jaxon was playing with a bag (or purse) and putting things in it, he than puts it on his arm looks up at C.J. who was standing there watching him points and says "this way, lets go baby!" Than he gets up and heads for their bedroom with C.J. toddling along behind him. I can hear all three of them in their playing together (Ryann, Jaxon and C.J.) and Balder just walked by to look in and keep a watchful eye on them all. So Happy Birthday Baby, we love you soo much!

Doug took out another tree this weekend and boy was it a doozy! We had this huge pine tree that was planted right next to our house on the corner. So Doug spent all day Saturday trying to pull it out, since he wanted to pull it out by it's roots so we wouldn't have to worry about getting the stump out. So after a full day of cutting, digging and pulling it fell. Not exactly in the place he wanted it too either! We were pretty lucky that it didn't fall on our house, in fact it did get the gutters a bit. I was inside with the kids when I heard the big crash, I opened up the door to see a pine tree blocking my view! So Yesterday Doug was back out there working on cutting it all up and getting it moved into the backyard where we have quite a nice pile of branches going.

We are down to four kids until Tuesday. Doogie is with Grammy and Papa visiting with More Papa and Nana and also Aunt Jenni. I'm sure he is having a great time and it is nice that he is getting some one on one time with everyone. He doesn't get that opportunity very often being the oldest of five kids! And I must say the house is quieter without him. I do miss him though even if it is only a couple days, I have to keep stopping myself from calling him to eat and setting a place for him at the table!

Anyways, though I better get moving and finish feeding these guys breakfast and getting them dressed for the day. I also need to call the doctor's office and make an appointment for C.J.'s year check up and also talk to those referral people. Our doctor gave us a referral months ago for an ENT for the kids (Jayde, Ryann and Jaxon) for their tubes and we still haven't heard anything from them. And it looks like Jayde might have an infection in one of her ears and I think one of her tubes is starting to come out. So we need to get her in to see someone soon.

Not much happening today. Doug went into work for a little bit even though today is his day off. So we are all just hanging out. Not sure what we are going to do today...probably more unpacking! It is a beautiful day out so maybe we can do some fun outside things or go swimming. Our neighborhood park that is just down the street from us got burned down before the 4th. They think that it was caused by fireworks. But the only thing still there are the swings. So I really can't take them over there because they wouldn't have anything to play on, though there is plenty of room just to run.

Balder was doing his part last night as guard dog. Doug had gone running last night and when he got back the two little guys were already in bed asleep and the three oldest and I were watching a movie downstairs and Balder was with us. He was sleeping behind the couch when Doug walked in the door. Boy did he pop up and start growling and barking at Doug! Doug had to come down the stairs and talk to him (it was dark in the room and Doug was wearing a hat) before he realized it was Doug and started wagging his tall and acting all apologetic! But it's good to know that he is looking out for us!

I didn't get to take my walk last night (the one I want to start doing nightly with Balder) because yesterday evening Balder slipped on the wood floor and hurt his leg and he is still limping around today. You forget how old he is starting to get until something like this happens. He had also spent alot of the day outside playing with the kids and playing fetch and that wears him out too. So all he pretty much wants to do today lay down and sleep. So we'll just have to keep an eye on him and watch that leg and let him get the rest he needs.

I'm going to have to get Doug to get a door on our pantry (it got taken off in the remodel and since the door needed to be replaced anyways, we just left it off). But Jaxon has been getting into everything in it. I turn around and he has pushed a chair up to it and just starts helping himself to crackers, cookies, etc... and he's been unrollling my tin foil! He's just too darn smart for his own good!

Ah Man....

Our potty streak is over...Ryann has had two accidents today (hopefully that will be all too).

Me: Why did you pee your pants?
Ryann: Because no one reminded me.
Me: *sigh* You know when you have to go potty.
Ryann: Yes
Me: Than why don't you go when you have to go.
Ryann: Okay (and runs out of the room to go play)
Me: *sigh* (beating my head against the wall)

Go Calvin!

He is now standing by himself! What I mean by that is...instead of having to pull himself up on something before he starts walking he is now able to do it without any help at all! He just started doing it this morning and I think he is pretty pleased with himself! I guess there is going to be no stopping him now! He is really turning into a toddler, can't believe he is going to be one on Monday!

We are pet owners again...

As a reward for Ryann who has gone another day without having an accident, I told her we would go and get Balder (our dog) and Mikey (our cat). They have been living with my parents, Balder since we moved to TN and Mikey since we got back from NJ. We are glad to have them back and I think they are happy to be back with us too. I think Balder is in 7th heaven being with the kids all the time, he pretty much just hangs out with us wherever we are (just have to watch out for that lethal tail of his)! Mikey is enjoying being head of the house again with no other cats to compete with, he's been rubbing up against everyone so happy to see them! I'll have to get some pictures of them with the kids.

So Ryann has made it another full day in a row with no accidents. I just hope she starts going in to go on her own soon. Atleast she is getting better at holding it until I remind her to go in I guess. I bought Jaxon some big boy underwear (in Elmo, one of his other favorites...after Blue's Clues of course!) I was going to let him start wearing them too, since he really doesn't like to be wet. But I decided to hold of on it until Ryann was regular at going on her own. Once she is going on her own, I will turn my full attention to his potty training!

Otherwise nothing really exciting happening. We went over to Grammy's and Papa's house last night to go swimming. The kids love to swim and it really helps to wear them out, I think they all slept pretty good last night! After we got all the kids down to bed last night, I took Balder out for a walk. I think I might have to make that part of our nightly ritual. It was nice to be able to get out on my own for a little bit and just to unwind.

Hip Hip Hooray

She stayed dry all day!! Yay! Ryann made it all the way through yesterday with no accidents. She's still not going in on her own (though last night at bedtime she came and told us she needed to go potty...but that could also be because she was stalling on going to bed! But hey, whatever works!) She isn't fighting me as much though, now when I tell her to go in and use the potty she is alot better at just getting up and going. So hopefully this trend will continue! She told me yesterday when she went in to go that she really wanted that kitty! I don't think I've mentioned getting a kitty to her for a while, so I think she is starting to think about things she's missing out on. I've been letting her go downstairs and outside with Doogie and Jayde as long as she stays dry and so far she is. Yesterday when she went downstairs with Doogie, Doogie was looking out for her and I could hear him asking her if she needed to go potty. He even made her go in a go at one time, which she did. So it's nice that they are helping and encouraging her to go!

Poor C.J. has already started the morning off with a bruise right in the middle of his eyebrows! He was trying to push the toy bus along on the floor and it flipped up and nailed him in the head! Poor little guy, he got over it pretty quickly though...but he does that with most things. He is definitely a tough little guy, probably comes from being the 5th kid on the totem pole!

Otherwise, everyone is still in bed this morning...except for Doogie. I'm not sure how long he has been up, when Doug got up at 6ish to get ready for work he was already up and playing his playstation! I limit him on how long he plays that everyday otherwise he would play it non-stop!

Nothing super exciting happening on the home front. Just still working on unpacking and what not.

C.J. is really starting to cruise alot more. He is learning the art of turning and he is doing quite well. He's also discovered how to clap this past couple of weeks and so he just love to sit and clap his hands now (as you can see from some of the pictures in the previous post)!

Ryann's potty training is still continuing full force. She had a couple accidents right in a row yesterday morning, but stayed dry and clean the rest of the day. She still really isn't telling me when she has to go though, it is still mainly me reminding her to go and taking her in there. On a topic off of the potty training though she really surprised me yesterday. She wanted to write a note to one of her school friends and give him our new address and phone number so that they can get together and play. So I wrote a letter for her and than asked her if she wanted to try to sign her name...which she did of course! So I give her the pen and help her by spelling her name out loud with her, and imagine my surprise when she wrote her own name out! We hadn't really been working on spelling with her yet, I mean she already knew how to spell her name out orally and I have written her name out for her numerous times...but we hadn't actually had her try to do it by herself. So anyways, I just had to brag about my smart little girl!

Doogie's new thing is to continuely nag me to call one of his friends to come over to play. We have called a couple times, but we seem to be playing phone tag. Half of the time he wants me to call, is really not an appropriate time to be calling someone (such as really early in the morning, around a meal time, or at night). So I've been trying to explain that there are right times to call people at! I'm sure we will hook up with his friend eventually, but of course being a 7 (almost 8 year old) everything seems to be a crisis!

Jayde is also wanting to call her friends over to play as well. Only problem is I lost some of the phone numbers! She's had a couple calls already from some friends and I meant to copy their phone numbers down off of the caller id so that she could call them back. But by the time I got around to doing that the numbers were gone! So I only have one number for one of her friends and I believe she has most of the other numbers we need, so we will have to call her this week and get together with her and also get some of the other phone numbers!

Jaxon is turning into such a little boy, and I think those two year old tantrums are really starting to come out! He's been throwing a few good ones the past couple of days. He is such a fun little boy though and he just really wants to do everything the big kids are doing. He is talking so good too, you can usually always understand what he is saying...though there are times both Doug and I are clueless to what he is trying to tell us, but that doesn't happen very often.

Pictures here we come!

Fun in the sun...

Finally got a chance to go out on the boat today. Doug has already been out on it a few times with Doogie and Jayde, but today Ryann and I got to go too. It was fun to go racing over the water. I even got the chance to learn how to drive the boat..don't think I'm going to get that chance again since I killed it! LOL! It took a while for Doug to get it started again. Even Doogie did a better job than I do! Ah well, I don't know if I wanted to have that responsibility anyway!

Ryann has been doing really well on the potty lately (course I still have to take her in and remind her...she's really not doing it by herself yet). But she only had one accident yesterday...and it was the dreaded #2! Today she had one accident as well, but she did go and poop in the potty for me. She seems to do better when we use something to motivate her, like being able to go out on the boat, go swimming, get a kitten, make a cake, etc... We've had to take things away from her (like going out on the boat, swimming, etc...) and that seems to motivate her for a while...but it's still a non-stop job trying to get her to go. It's been a week now, since she's been just wearing underwear...I"m just hoping something clicks for her soon!

I need to get some pictures up for everyone...I got some really cute ones of the kids on the 4th. I just need to get on the other computer to do that. So maybe tomorrow I can get that done. The kids are all just growing up so fast, Jaxon looks like a little boy in his new haircut and C.J. is going to be 1 next Monday! I just want to tell them all to just slow down (in more ways than 1)!

Happy (Late) 4th of July!!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July. We spent the first part of the day unpacking and trying to get stuff put away. Then we headed over to Grammy and Papa's and went swimming and BBQ. Later that evening we went out and watched the neighbors set off some fireworks. The kids had alot of fun watching all of them, Jaxon wasn't too sure about them at first (he is my cautious one), but soon he was feeling more comfortable (of course he was sitting in my lap) and starting to really enjoy them. The kids were pretty bummed when we finally dragged them home around 10:00!

Ryann's been doing pretty good on the potty the past couple days. On Thursday I thought she was going to make it all the way through the day without an accident but then at 7:30 that night (and again at 8:00) she wet her pants. *sigh* Yesterday she only had one accident and she pooped in the potty for me. She didn't exactly tell me she needed to go, she just said "mommy I didn't poop my pants" so I of course went and checked her and then took her in to go potty. Jaxon's more hit and miss still, and I admit I'm not really pushing him just yet (concentrating more on Ryann at the moment) but he has gone for me a few times. He usually tells me he pee'd right after he does it.

Anyways, think our day is going to consist of more unpacking, a trip to the grocery store and we are thinking about taking the boat out for a while. Doug took it out for a bit on Thursday and took Doogie with him, he had a great time.

Boy am I tired...but I've been really lagging lately. I think it's my allergies kicking into high gear. I've been having the worst headaches lately and yesterday my feet just started to hurt and ache. Doug says I should drink more water, that I'm getting dehydrated...but I hate to drink plain water! So I told him I would drink crystal light...pretty much the same thing since it is sugar free!

Right now I'm laughing at my two little boys who are chowing down on donuts. Doug had to run to the store this morning before he went to work because we were all out of milk (and a few other things, but milk is one of the biggies) and he picked up some donuts for breakfast for everyone to help make my morning a bit easier. They all do love their donuts and it is such a treat for them when they get to have them.

Yesterday was a much better potty day for Ryann than the day before...still not as good as Monday though. She had around 4-5 accidents...though the good news is that she went in and pooped in the potty without me even having to tell her! It was right after she had her first accident (and she didn't have an accident until the afternoon...so she stayed dry all morning), I told her that she wasn't going to get to go downstairs and finish watching the movie since she pee'd her pants down there (I had given her a second chance, since she used the potty for me right before she went down). So she must of really wanted me to give her another chance because next thing I knew she came over to me and told me she pooped in the potty (definitely proof that she can do this!!). So I went to check and sure enough she had, so I gave her lots and lots of praise and she was pretty happy with herself. If only I can get her to realize how much more easier this will be on her if she just tries... I even enlisted the help of her older siblings, I told them to encourage and remind her to go and use the potty while they are playing. And they have tried to help out and get her to use the potty as well. Because we can't get the kitten until Ryann uses the potty all the time (that is our big reward for her).

Yesterday...

Was not a good potty day. After a reasonably good start on Monday, Tuesday was a bit a disapointment. Not only did she have more accidents yesterday, but she also pooped in her pants. In an attempt to try to get her to realize what she is going to be missing out on, I have started taking away some privleges...for starters (since she pee'd her pants outside..right after I asked her if she had to go) she doesn't get to go outside with Doogie and Jayde (the big kids) by herself anymore...she can go out if Doug or I are out there with her. I told her if she can't go in the potty like a big girl I wasn't going to let her do big girl things. Second (since she pee'd her pants downstairs...again right after I asked her if she had to go) she doesn't get to go downstairs unless Doug and I are with her. She definitely wasn't to happy with that this morning when she wanted to go downstairs and play with Doogie and Jayde! I hate to be the bad guy, but I'm hoping she'll start to get the picture and go in and use the potty when she has to go. I know she can do it (the fact that she got out of the pool to go potty tells me that!)

Otherwise, we are just trying to escape the heat! It has been pretty darn hot over here this week. C.J. is starting to walk a bunch more, he still does most of his traveling by crawling, but he has been taking a lot more steps when he does walk. I need to upload some more pictures I see! I just downloaded some off the camera yesterday but they are on the other computer. So I will try to get some pictures up later!

I can't believe it is July already and the 4th will be here in a couple days! Not sure what we are doing yet. C.J. is going to be the big 1 in a couple weeks! Where does the time go? It just doesn't feel like he should be one already! This year has really flown by and we definitely have gone through alot of changes. But change can be a good thing, and I think it has helped our family grow stronger together.

Off to a okay start...

Ryann actually did pretty well for our first real day back in the saddle! She only had a few accidents and the really good news was that she pooped in the potty!! 'Course I don't know if she would of gone in the potty to go if she hadn't been in the pool at the time! She knows that if she goes potty in the pool she won't be able to swim (pretty good motivator!) But she got out on her own saying she needed to go potty, and she went pee and poop! She was pretty happy with herself and was really loving all the praise she was getting from everyone. So we'll see how she does today. Just the fact that she told everyone she had to go potty and got out of the pool tells me that she can do this and that she does know when she has to go. She also sort of did that early that day too, I have been taking her in every hour to go potty and I would ask her a few times before I would take her in to see if she would tell me she had to go, so right before I was getting ready to take her in she told me "mommy I didn't pee..." so I took her into the bathroom and she was just a little bit wet. So she stopped herself from going and finished up in the potty, which I think is a good sign. So keep your fingers crossed for us that she is hopefully finally getting this potty thing! Jaxon didn't do much on the potty yesterday, though he did sit for me a few times. He would tell me he pee'd right after he did it in his diaper. So he is starting to recognize when he goes I just got to get him to catch himself before he does it!