Chef Anna.

Nana has a little kitchen that Anna just loves! She has been cooking us bacon, hot dogs, and warm milk. Yum. Oh, and calling Daddy and having hilarious conversations with him on the phone.

Moving day...

SO yesterday was the official "get the heck out of the house" day...the day before our scheduled closing. We had to have everything out Thursday night since the new owner of our house would be doing his "walk through" the next morning at 8:30. We have been been slowly moving into the new house over the past week and man, we had lots of crap. Although I knew that before we started packing.

Note to self: don't buy another house with three garages and a storm cellar if you're not planning on staying there forever.

We have the most amazing friends and family. Nana has been back and forth all week either tending to Anna or helping pack. Papaw pulled his flat bed trailer over and helped load yard and garage stuff and move it to the new house..then pulled it back today after closing. Papa Joe came to help with repairs to the roof as well as other random things. Grammy also pitched in by helping with Anna, packing and cleaning. Our freakin' awesome friends helped with tree trimming and roof repairs, and all of them came over last night to clean the entire house after getting everything out. They all were working as soon as they hit the door last night and had it completely clean (spotless!!) in about an hour and a half. That includes baseboards, blinds, ceiling fans, spots on the carpet, and the garages have virtually zero dust thanks to Matt's shop vac. Thanks SOO much guys for everything. Andrew and Cristin, aren't you sad you missed it? Ha! I was exhausted by the time the movers got done moving the furniture (@ about 7pm)and was SO grateful we have such great friends to help clean up. We would have been up all night.

We got to meet the buyer of our house at closing. He is a single guy, a colonel (apparently by his title on his checks), young, and is extremely excited about his first house. He looks like a guy that will take good care of it. We thought it was a law student and his wife that were actually going to live there, but it turns out that the wife of the law student is the single guy's sister. She helped him find the house. Get all that? Either way, as long as I think whoever is going to be there will take care of our cute little house, I'm good. And like it matters... But we're pretty attached as you can see.

Right now, we're officially homeless. On Monday we'll close on our new house and until then, we'll be staying with Nana and Papaw. So if you need me, my cell phone probably won't work.

Our last night.

It's the last bath in the bathtub-less bathroom... The last time we put Anna in her bed for the night in the only room she's ever known... The last time I'll only have to walk 6 steps to her room to give her cough medicine in the middle of the night...

We've been so busy packing, cleaning, and fixing things lately. I thought we'd never sell our cute little house, and we had begun plans to close in the attached garage (we had 2 more anyway) to make a master bedroom and another bathroom, as well as split the sunroom in half and make a big laundry room and mud room. With all those pricey estimates lingering in my head, we were off to Orlando and BAM! Two calls from a realtor telling us she was showing the house. Then another one letting us know she was showing it again to the same couple. I thought, "YES! Finally someone who appreciates the character of an older home...and it's quirks." Then when we got back from Orlando, we hear from our realtor that we'd have a contract coming in by the next day. I think my heart did sink a little. Daddy's did as well. So after a couple of counter offers we accepted what they proposed and off we went. Then came the feverish search for just the right house...and FAST. We looked at almost 30 houses in just a few days before finally settling on a great one. It's much larger than the old one and Anna's bathroom is almost 3 times the size of the ONE we have now. AND it has a bathtub...check that...TWO bathtubs. ...Well, not two in Anna's bathroom... The master bath has a garden tub. Words such as "master bath" and "garden tub" were enough for me.

Everything seemed to fall right into place for us after we wrote a contract for the new house (built in 1999, not 1956!). They accepted our offer right off the bat (which was ridiculous we thought, but wanted some wiggle room), and they are letting us do just about whatever we need to do as far as moving goes. The house is vacant so they let us move stuff in a week early. We have movers coming to get the furniture tomorrow and we don't even close on the house until Monday. We close on the old house on Friday so that makes us homeless for a weekend. We'll be staying at Nana's house. Anna won't have any problem with that.

Speaking of Anna and her problems lately. Her world has been turned upside down! Almost literally. We all are living out of suitcases since our clothes are in the new house, most of her toys are also at the new house, she wants to go potty at the new house all the time (she loves her new house), there have been many different people in and out of her domain in the last week that she's not too sure about, and now she has to adjust to sleeping in a strange place...but a COOL strange place. Her new room is super cute with a vaulted ceiling and HER OWN CLOSET! That's right friends, she didn't have a closet...OR and bathtub! It's a sad thing. The great thing about Anna Banana is that she doesn't care one bit. She's been in huge air-flow tubs and still comes back and loves her bubbles in her toddler tub that she hardly fits in. I guess that's just kids for ya.

Wish us luck at both closings and that we'll get ALL of our crap out of the old house in time. Yikes!

This girl's a pro.

I would consider Anna technically potty trained. She hasn't had an accident in days and goes to the potty by herself whenever she needs to go. I don't have to ask her anymore, she just either tells me and goes, or just goes on her own. She's been doing great and she even took a nap in panties yesterday and stayed dry. It's also pretty pointless to put a diaper on her ever anymore since she just pulls it off to go to the potty and finds panties to put on. She DOES NOT like to potty in a diaper. She even held it while we drove from the grocery store to Lowe's and then had to walk to the other end of the store to find the bathroom. Such a big girl. She has been either dry or almost dry in the mornings when she goes to the potty after she wakes up from the beginning so we'll be just putting her to bed at night in panties very soon. I woke up today not feeling the greatest ever, I got Anna her milk and told her if she needed to potty, she can take her diaper off and put it in the trash and then go. I laid down on the couch and dosed off for a little while. (You know, one of those half awake/half sleep naps where you can hear everything that goes on). When I (sort of) woke up, Anna had put her diaper in the trash, gone potty several times (I was in and out for about an hour and a half....I know, bad mom), and was about to go again all by herself.

We are pretty much good to go on the poop issues we had early on as well. She sometimes still thinks she needs to poop, then sit on the potty, nothing, then says she's done. She repeats this several times until she finally gets it all out. But lately she has realized that when she needs to go, she better go and get it done. YAY! We go see Daddy's family tomorrow which involves a 3 hour drive. I guess I'll just take her little potty with us and pull over when she tells us she needs to go. I'll let you know how it goes.

The Cepica Family

I needed a serious break from the potty business and this family so kindly asked if I'd do their family pictures for them. It was a quick session and we had some fun throwing the frisbee and chasing the geese. Well, the kids did. And these boys, Grant and Graham, are SUPER cute. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Boot Camp: Day Six & Seven

Day Six: Parent's Day Out. Hmm. Well, I thought this day would either go very smoothly or would be a disaster for Lindsey and Nicole, Anna's teachers. Lindsey, the fearless, told me to put her in panties if I wanted and that they'd be able to handle it. I had no doubt they'd handle things, although I doubted Anna's ability. So we went in panties. I gave instructions as best I could and off I went. Anna's stubbornness had once again kicked in the day before and she didn't poop at all. So I thought there may be poop issues for Lindsey and Nicole to deal with. I didn't feel good about that at all. But, nonetheless, warned them about that and they were fine with it. I came back that afternoon and learned that Anna had had two accidents and only pottied for them twice. Not horrible, but not great. I asked what kind of accidents and of course one was poopy. Yuck. Poop in panties?! I should have just told those girls to throw those panties away if that happened. But Lindsey, the fearless, kindly cleaned them and placed them in a bag for me. Anna also pooped again in her diaper during her nap. So, no poop progress that day... But I figured that there was just too much happening around to worry about going to the potty very consistently.

Day Seven went alright. We've just had horrible timing it seems with the sale of our house and trying to find another one to move into. We had to find one quickly since the closing date of our house is November 30th! Happy Thanksgiving to us! That comment was sort of sarcastic and sort of not. So between hauling Anna with us while we house shop and/or having her stay with Aunt Jenni, there's been a little inconsistency for her first week of boot camp. Aunt Jenni is a pro with her 4 other kids and Anna does great with her, I just feel like carting her around everywhere and sometimes having to put her in a diaper just in case has not been beneficial. So we'll keep going. We went to Old Navy, Chili's and the Mall yesterday. She told me a couple of times she needed to potty, I took her, and she went! And another time, I took her without her telling me and she went then as well. So there is light at the end of the tunnel. She's getting much better. It has just been a tiring and stressful week for all of us. I'm going to try a little MyraLax in some juice today. Nurse Jenni says that'll cure the poop issues right up! Temporarily.... ha!

Boot Camp: Day Four & Five

Yesterday went GREAT! Not one accident. Well, we won't count the very small amounts of wetness she had in her panties after yelling at me and running to the potty so I can help her get on her seat. She is really starting to realize when she needs to go and that she can hold it for a little longer. Today went alright. She was great all day even while I have to cart her around and kill time while our house was being inspected. She tried to go potty at Target and at the mall but no luck, but no accidents. She even fell asleep in the car in panties and didn't have an accident. I took her later on to look at houses...no accidents and I never took her to the potty. Although the problems have begun when she needs to poop. She hasn't quite mastered that one yet even though she did it several times when she was 18 months old or so. She will tell us every couple of minutes that she needs to poop, runs into the bathroom holding her bottom, sits and does nothing. I'm not sure if she's been holding it in all day and it begins to hurt her or what. But that's usually when she'll have the little bit of wetness in her draws. Who knows. Maybe I just need to give her a ton of fiber and help it out in that way. She also had a couple of (just wet) accidents tonight while playing a little too hard. I think it was also poop related. Poor thing will be carted around tomorrow too when we go look at more houses. I hope she does alright.

Boot Camp: Day Three

Ok, yesterday by about 11:00am I was ready to quit all this potty mess. Really. But after her nap, she did kind of alright. I decided that I had been putting way too much pressure on her and myself and letting everything get to me. I mean, she has never not been in a diaper her entire life! I forget that part. So this morning, Anna woke up with a pretty nice cough and runny nose so we decided to let Daddy stay at home with her while I went solo to church. A nice break for me as well. Daddy is MUCH more patient with her and she seems to respond well with him helping. He and Anna met me and some friends for lunch and he told me that Anna had done great all morning. Since then she has had NO accidents! That's what I said...NONE...all day! She went almost every time I or Daddy took her to potty and even told us a couple of times that she needed to go. Amazing?! I think so. I'm trying to not get my hopes up because who knows what tomorrow will bring. And I still don't need to put so much pressure on everyone. Deborah, the Boot Camp Queen, gave me some encouragement at church and reassured me that she really will get it soon, and probably sooner than I think. I just need to be consistent. So wish us luck for another good day!

Boot Camp: Day Two

I need a serious pep talk.

p.s.-Thanks for the advice Jenni. I need all the help I can get.

Boot Camp: Day One

Well, it has begun. Potty training boot camp that is. And this MUST be what hell is like. I suppose it could have been worse. Anna could have pottied in her panties and on the floor every time she needed to. But there were two times that she actually went in the potty. The rest of the times played out mostly like this:

Mommy: Anna, do you need to go potty?

Anna: Nope.

Mommy (a few minutes later): Anna, do you need to potty?

Anna: No.

(Mommy then turns her back for a second)

Anna: Mommy, I tee-teed! (in her panties and on the floor)

We went to Chic-Fil-A for a quick lunch...go it to-go of course. Anna was in panties and I wasn't ABOUT to have an accident inside the place. We came home and I got her out of the car. I asked her if she needed to potty, she said "yeah" so we came in quickly and as soon as we got into the back door, she let it go. She didn't make it. But at least she told me. So that was ok.

The only times I really caught her were just plain luck, I think. I put her down for a nap in a diaper just in case. She woke up with a dry diaper and I asked if she needed to go potty. She didn't really answer, but I put her on it anyway. She instantly went. Hallelujah! There is some hope! By then I was already frustrated and thought this boot camp thing would never work. But you know me...I'm not patient at all. I had to remind myself that it was only halfway into the first day almost every 5 minutes. The other time involved a little luck (I think) and hopefully a little experience...from the both of us. I settled her into bed after another accident just before putting her diaper on for the night. I smelled something not so pleasant from under the covers. She had not pooped all day and I know she sucked it all back in a couple of times when I caught her in a mid-squat, red face position. So when I smelled the unpleasant smell, I asked her if she was poopy. She said no, but then said, "Mommy, I'ana go potty." Another Hallelujah! But then I came back to earth and thought that this would be another 20 minute pep talk while she made faces at me while sitting on the potty...and never doing anything. I ripped her out of bed and shucked her pants and diaper. She sat and sat complaining, "Mommy, my tummy hurts!" Um, yeah...ya think? After a little while of sitting she FINALLY pooped. An almost adult sized poop folks! This thing made a mean splash! Ha! But Hallelujah! "Mommy, I feel better" she said. Um, yeah...ya think? So she's back in bed now. Day One complete. They say this could take up to 2 whole weeks for them to really get it and be consistent. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

I'm off to do an almost full load of laundry...all pee soaked panties, pants, shorts, and towels.

Arrrrgh!

Anna was a pirate for Halloween. I made it back from Orlando just in time to rest a little and get her dressed and over to Aunt Jenny's annual Halloween Trick or Treat party. We had lot so fun. Daddy was very disappointed that he missed Anna Trick or Treating on her own for the first time because his flight got in late. Last year she didn't really care about anything but the suckers. Of course, she wouldn't stand very still for me to get a cheesy posed picture, but these will have to do. She has a few smiles that are very fake and just funny. She did a great job walking up to each door, knocking, usually after they had the door open for her, almost walking into everyone's house as if she were invited inside, saying "trick or treat" and "thanks" when she got her candy, and running off yelling "CANDY!!" while she tried to keep up with all the other big kids. It was great! Halloween is awesome!

The last hoorah!

Daddy had a conference in Orlando and I went along for the ride. We left Anna with Nana and Grammy for 6 days. Sad, I know...the parents went to Disney World and left the kid at home. But we figured that she wouldn't remember much about it when she got older and we'd rather take her then and us know where to go and what to do. It was AWESOME! I was reluctant at first about going, but decided that this would sort of be the last time I'd get to go anywhere for a long time since we have another kiddo on the way. I would've regretted it if I had stayed here. So here's a short (as short as I can) run down of what all we did. Thursday, the long plane ride to Orlando. Airplanes were NOT made for pregnant chicks...not that we are the majority. Ha! Friday: Drove over to Cocoa Beach (not Koko, found out that was in Hawaii, I think). It was a gloomy day, as were most of the days we were there, but we didn't care. Then we went to Wal-Mart and bought all kinds of groceries so we didn't have to eat the super expensive resort/tourist food. Saturday: We drove up (about 2 hours) to Jacksonville for the Florida vs. Georgia football game. Super COOL! We didn't have tickets for the sold out game, drove up there not knowing if we'd get any, found a FREE parking spot right beside the $25 lot. There were $40 lots as well. Ridiculous. Walked the mile to the stadium, found a really nice couple who said "they'd get us some tickets" for the price we'd be willing to pay which wasn't much over face value. The couple turned out to be the cousin of the defensive coordinator for the Florida Gators. We got sweet seats! Watched the game along with 85,000 other screaming fans. It seriously was the loudest game I'd ever been to. These were REAL fans! Florida ended up not playing well and lost...but it was great anyway.

Ok, I'll do better about being short for the rest. Sunday, I rested while Daddy went to his classes. We then got tickets to the Magic Kingdom for "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party." And it was AWESOME!! We got to trick or treat around the park. There were tons of people dressed up. We watch the Headless Horseman and his HUGE horse gallop down the "main street" in front of Cinderella's castle. Halloween was about to be bumped down on my favorite holidays list, but it's definitely back up to near the top now! I felt like a kid with my eyes wide open the entire time. We stayed until the park closed at midnight and didn't want to leave.

Monday and Tuesday Daddy has more classes so I got some more much needed rest in the resort. We went to Downtown Disney both nights to walk around, shop, and eat. This place is everything Disney and more. We got Anna a Mickey Mouse baby that comes with his own clothes and blanket. She loved it. We ate at the Wolfgang Puck restaurant (so good!), saw the Lego store with the huge Loch Ness Monster all made of Legos in the water and the tourists also made completely of Legos. They even had a big area with bins full of Legos for kids to build their own stuff...and even a little race track for them to race the cars they made. Daddy thought that was super cool.

We had a really great time!! We are already planning on bringing Anna and "number 2" (Daddy also calls him "Spike"...not sure why). We thought we'd wait until they are around 6 and 8 years old. That's a long time from now but we want them to get the FULL Disney experience, and remember it. And that's probably how long it will take us to save the money to go!! Ha!