What We've Been Doing

The girls and I spent almost 2 weeks in San Antonio with my sister and her family while Jeremy went and hiked a mountain in Colorado. We had a lot of fun, but I didn't take my camera, so you'll just have trust me on that. Kennedy and Ansley loved being able to spend lots and lots of time with their cousins...although they all had their fair share of fighting too!

From Texas we made an almost 12 hour journey with Stacy and Brett and the kids to Rogers, Arkansas for our baby sister's wedding. Ansley threw up twice within the first two hours of the trip, but the rest was pretty easy-going.

Betsy's wedding was beautiful and we are so happy to have Chad in the family! Below are a few pictures from the weekend, which I stole from others, and I'm not sure why they are all weird sizes.

We got home on Sunday, unpacked, did laundry, grocery shopped, and then I had a doctor's appointment early Monday morning. Everything looks good with the baby and they confirmed it is still a boy. :) Today Kennedy had her Kindergarten check-up and 3 booster shots. She did great though.

Kennedy has decided she wants to sleep on the top bunk of her bed, and we have decided it's time for Ansley to move to the bottom bunk...against her wishes. She cried and cried last night wanting to go back to her crib, but she did pretty good tonight. I spent all day cleaning their bedrooms and trying to move most of Ansley's things into Kennedy's room. It is now "their" room, and the nursery is almost ready for a little boy.

We are going back to Arkansas next weekend to help Betsy and Chad have a garage sale. I have a lot to do to get ready for that. We are cleaning out closets, the basement and garage and packing up things to sell, including all of our baby girl clothes since we plan on this being our last child.

Enjoy the pics!

Ansley swinging at the rehearsal dinner--she was having a ball!

My sisters, sister-in-laws, and might-as-well-have-been sisters as much time as we spent together as kids

Kennedy and Ansley in their flower girl dressses

All 3 flower girls: Ansley, Kennedy and my niece Sidney

Caleb, my nephew (the ringbearer) and the flower girls

The radiant bride and me...seriously, have you ever seen a more beautiful bride???

The girls and their Aunt Betsy

This is during the wedding...what Stacy and I did through most of the ceremony. I'm going to have to watch the video to see what was actually said. Our kids were a bit rambunctious.

It's A _________!

Now to think of names. Kennedy has come up with:

1. Albert Pujols

2. Troy Bolton

3. Chad Danforth

4. Ryan Evans

In case you aren't up on your High School Musical names, numbers 2-4 are characters in the movie. :)

Video Update

The girls wanted to make a video today to tell you what's going on around here. They are just a little excited for our upcoming trip to Texas and Arkansas.

Potty Training

Check out my baby in her big girl underwear! I decided last week to give potty training a go. After she held her bladder for over 14 hours with not wanting to sit on the potty, I gave up. I decided not to push the issue and wait until she was ready. Suddenly, a week later, out of the blue, she asked to go potty. Since then it's been smooth sailing. She hasn't had a single accident, wears underwear at all times (except for naps and bedtime) and tells me when she needs to go. I am so excited to be mostly done with diapers for a few months! She has yet to do #2 in the potty, but we have been having constipation issues, so I'm not forcing that one yet.

Potty training the second child is a lot easier than the first! I've even stopped putting pull-ups on her when we go places, because she loves to try out public bathrooms (ick!) so she always tells me when she has to go, plus I know she really can hold it for a long time if she wants too!

Although I think we could go diaper free at naps, I haven't tried that one yet. I'm not sure she'll do overnight yet though. Maybe we can be completely diaper free by December...just in time for baby #3! By the way, Ansley would not be happy with me for referring to her as a baby. A little 3 year old at church called her a baby the other day, and Ansley started crying saying "I not a baby, I a big girl!"

Date Night

Tonight is date night. Not for Jeremy and I, but for Jeremy and Kennedy. Beauty and the Beast is playing at the Muny, which is an awesome outdoor theater here. Jeremy and I went to one show last summer and it was so much fun. When we found out Beauty and the Beast was coming, we began looking into tickets. We would've all loved to go, but a) tickets are expensive, and b) the show doesn't start until 8:15, and Ansley would be a mess by the end of it. So, we decided Jeremy would take Kennedy on a special date. We found a good bargain on tickets on Craigslist, and she has been preparing ever since. She's had a dress picked out for days, put on some of her "makeup," had her nails painted, and we curled her hair--although the curls don't last long on her. She wanted to eat somewhere fancy, and so they decided on Olive Garden. They are leaving in about 25 minutes and she is soooooo excited. Here's a video of her

telling you about it.

Ansley and I, on the other hand, are already in our pj's, ready to chill, and then I have a date with Robert Pattinson and his latest movie on DVD once she goes to bed!

Ouch!

Poor little Ansley at times is as clumsy as can be. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree though...it seems Jeremy's mom and sister have their fair share of accidents themselves! :)

This time, we were visiting Camp Neotez and she managed to fall and bump her face into a wooden bench. She has a nasty scrape/bruise up her entire cheek. Poor thing. I'll let her tell you about it.

Princess Tiana and More

We've had quite an eventful week. Last weekend we were in Peoria for Betsy's bridal shower and then we had a family get together so everyone could meet Chad and to celebrate Kennedy's birthday. We came home Sunday and then Monday my mom and Dave stopped by for a couple of days on their way to Arkansas/Texas. Then Thursday, Jeremy's mom and sister stopped by for a couple of days as well. Kennedy has had the never-ending birthday with gifts coming all week long. I think it's all finally over. One of her gifts was a Princess and the Frog dress-up dress. Today, Ansley was wearing it and insisted we call her Princess Tiana. Here's a video of her in character:

Kennedy has had a quite a few funny things to say lately. When we were traveling to Peoria and were almost there, Jeremy told her we had only 3 towns left to go through: Tremont, Morton, and then East Peoria. As we were entering East Peoria, she said, "Have we gone through TreeStump yet?"

She was showing off a new shirt to her Grandma and told her we got it on sale. My mom asked her what "on sale" means, and her reply was "That we buy it!"

Ansley, on the other hand, is showing us quite an imagination. She spent an ENTIRE day pretending to be her cousin Caleb. She referred to Kennedy as Sidney (my niece), me as Stacy (my sister), and Jeremy as Brett (our brother-in-law). She would not step out of character either. If we would accidentally call her Ansley she would get mad and say "I not Ansley, I Caleb!" At one point, Jeremy said "C'mon girls, it's time to go!" and her reply was "I not a girl! I a boy and my name is Caleb!" It was quite humorous, and a bit embarrassing as we walked around the library with her saying "I Caleb. Stacy, wait up!" She is funny.

Here's a picture of Kennedy with another one of her birthday presents: