Baby Sister

I've been asked to post another picture of the belly, so here it is! Baby girl is coming along fine. I'm almost 32 weeks now. I had an appointment last Tuesday and everything was on track. Since Jay came out only with the help of forceps, my doctor discussed inducing me early this time around. If the baby is much bigger than Jay was (6' 11") and my body is the same as it was with him, I might end up needing a c-section because the baby won't make it past my pubic bone. I'm hoping that won't have to happen, so depending on how my doctor thinks the baby is progressing as far as weight, my due date may be moved up to mid-March instead of March 28. I'm not complaining! Jay is so excited for baby sister to come. He understands that she will be very little when she gets here and he'll have to help mommy. The other day we were talking about what we need to get before baby sister arrives and I mentioned to him that she probably won't need many new toys because we have so many already. Jay said, "Yeah mom, there are lot's in that room over there (the play room)." When I asked him if he was going to share with baby sister he immediately replied, "Yeah mom! She's my best friend!!!" That made my heart melt. Jay is such a sweet little boy. So warm and thoughtful. I just know he's going to be an awesome big brother. I can't wait to see the two of them together. Soon enough :)

What in the mazing?!?!?

My new favorite phrase of Jay's: What in the mazing? I have no idea where he learned it or if he just made it up himself but it makes me laugh every time he says it. I took this video of him playing marbles the other day and I think you can hear him say it at one point. By the way, he LOVES marbles and he LOVES watching his video. Several times a day he asks to watch it on the puter. The funny thing is he usually tells me, "I want to play marbles by myself and watch the puter." Does he think he's playing with himself when it's on? This kid really needs a sibling! Good thing little sister is coming soon :)

Mount Lemon

Guess what? Snow does exist in Tucson and we actually live about an hour away from a ski resort. Granted, it's a pretty lame ski resort... but it's here! We drove up Mount Lemon on Martin Luther King Day and it was beautiful up there. It was nice to escape the cactus and see some real trees. Jay was thrilled to see the snow. He couldn't stop pointing it out to us. Look mom! Snow! Daddy! Snow, right there! Can you see it? LOOK! Of course, once we got out of the car and stepped into the very cold, very windy weather he wasn't quite as excited by the snow. Mike wants to take Jay back up on a warmer day to teach him how to ski. He says it's the perfect place to do it because he won't feel like he's missing out on a real ski day. Regardless of the quality of the slopes compared to Utah, it was beautiful up on the mountain and we enjoyed our little trip.

Potty training? Check!

Wow,  I can hardly believe I'm writing this but Jay is potty trained! Hallelujah! I kept telling myself it would happen eventually, don't stress. Numerous people pointed out that there are few kids starting High School these days who aren't potty trained (thanks dad) but it was starting to wear on my mind. But he's done. He's trained! It actually didn't take too much effort in the end. We did the "Dr. Phil" method, with Jay first teaching Mickey the Mouse how to do it, then we threw a party for Mickey and it was Jay's turn. Of course, when I told him it was his turn to try on his underwear and use the potty he immediately said no (he's been terrified to even sit on the toilet and has NEVER wanted his diaper changed). After a few minutes of frustration and pleading for help to know what to do, I remembered my good friend Maria telling me a few days before to tell Jay that her son, and Jay's best friend, Johnny goes potty on the toilet so he should too. I thought... yeah right, like that will help. Well guess what? It worked! When I mentioned Johnny Jay said, "Mommy, I want to use the potty." What? Did I hear those words correctly? Yup! And not only that, he actually followed through. He put on his Thomas the Train underwear without complaining and tried the potty out. After our first successful potty experience we threw a party, let Jay call Thomas the Train (Mike) and put a sticker on his chart. Jay was thrilled, especially about talking to Thomas. After that things went pretty smoothly. The first 2 or 3 days we had a few accidents, but they became fewer and fewer until on the 4th day he didn't have any accidents at all! We went to a friend's house on Friday (day 5) and brought the potty with us. Jay did fine going there with his potty. On Saturday (day 6) we were out and Jay had to go so I took him to the public restroom and he was totally okay! I was shocked. I thought at least that party of potty training wouldn't go well. But we've been out of the house on several occasions now and never had an accident (knock on wood). Whenever he has to go he lets me know and we find a bathroom. He's fine with both number 1 and 2 (too much detail?). I'm just so thrilled! My boy is so big. He doesn't even wear a diaper at nap time and he stays dry. Way to go Jay!!!!! I knew you could do it!!! (Well, I certainly hoped to know you could :) I'm so proud of my big boy. So to you moms who are still nervous about the experience my advice would be to take it slow, wait until your child AND you are ready and go for it. You'll know when it's the right time. Don't rush it because you feel pressured by what other moms are doing. And I promise... your child WILL be potty trained by high school. I'll even venture to say by Kindergarten ;) Yeah Jay!

New diggs

We have successfully moved into our new place. We decided to rent for 6 months while we look around a while longer for a house to buy. The house we are renting is furnished. The family who owns it is living in DC for 6 months while the husband is deployed. It's a great house... HUGE for us and we're loving it. Jay especially loves all the space to run around in. Our realtor introduced us to the family because she knew they needed someone to rent the place. The funny thing is that they are LDS too (our realtor doesn't know about that connection). It's great! They have a ton of living scripture movies plus a huge library of LDS books, music and wall art. It worked out perfect for everyone. Here are some pictures of the place.

Pictures taken from the living room.

Picture taken from the kitchen.

Backyard.

Den/Toy room.

Formal living room off the entry.

Entry.

Master bedroom. This bed is memory foam bed and it works like two separate hospital beds. Nice!

Master bathroom.

One of the extra bedrooms.

Upstairs loft.

 Jay's bedroom.

Yeah new house!

Happy New Year!!!

We had a fun New Years Eve at our friend's Juan and Lady's house.

Mike works with Juan and they have become some of our first friends here in Tucson. They kindly invited us over for their New Years party and we had a blast! Jay stayed up until 1 am playing with a marble/baseball game. He and the other kids had a great time together.

They especially enjoyed the cake after midnight. Mike and I had fun meeting new people and hanging out in Juan's "man-cave." He converted his garage into an awesome hang out spot complete with a pool table, giant tv, stereo system, neon lights and more. It's pretty cool. I think Mike wants one now :) We had a wonderful time and are grateful for good friends and a new year to start fresh!