Four

I am the Mama to a sweet FOUR year old girl.

Our first baby.  Our sweet, sweet girl.. she turned four this month.  Every birthday is so bittersweet.  I love watching her grow.. watching her learn new things.. hit all the little milestones.  Though she will never be a baby again, she will always be my baby girl.

She's learning to write her name.. and actually does pretty well with it for the most part.  She loves to dance and to sing.  She loves to use her imagination and pretend play.  She's a BIG helper with her baby brother, and she is still loving him to pieces.. literally smothering him with love daily.  ;)

Her birthday was low-key this year, but she had so much fun.  We bought her a Power Wheels for her gift.  It's so much fun to watch her drive her stuffed animals and baby dolls around the yard.  "Okay, we have to get out and go into the grocery store now."  she'll say.  

Every day she's learning something new.  And every day I strive to be the best role model I can be for her.  Love you, my sweet girl.  I hope year five doesn't sneak up on us too fast.

Send Some Love {kid craft}

Clara's at the fun age where she likes to color everything, cut everything, put stickers on everything.. so that makes craft time a lot of fun.  ;)  We made this hand chain (kind of like a paper doll chain, you know?), to have fun with and send out to Nana & Papa.  After she was done decorating it, I wrote on each hand "i love you this much".. and the little scribbles you see on each hands, that's her "writing" her little message out.. I was just translating it haha.

I love that she loves doing these kinds of things... seeing all her creations makes my heart so happy.  You see that little sun she drew in the above photo?  Yeah, that's the cutest little sun I ever did see!  ;) Her attention span is a little short to do anything too involved craft-wise.. so we stick with simple for now.

Has anyone else done a Valentine Day craft with their little ones?  Leave a link to it in the comments, I would love to see what you've created!

Potty Training Must-Haves

Potty training Clara was, thankfully, way more easy that I anticipated it to be.  I can only pray that the second child will be as easy!  But I know that every child is different and they each may need a different approach, may be ready at different times, or need different things to help them along.  These were the must-haves for Clara...

• 1.)  A little potty.  We used the green froggy potty that you can get pretty much anywhere, and it's cheap!
• Pull Ups!  I love that these adhere at the sides also.
• M&Ms.. these were our incentive candy of choice.  Two for #2 and one for #1.
• A princess potty seat.  Super affordable, and it helped when Clara was ready to sit on the "big potty".. she was scared of it at first.
• A stool!  It helps my munchkin be able to wash her hands independently and get up on the potty by herself at first.
• Big girl panties.  She thought she was pretty special when she got her first pair.  ;)

Clara was potty trained shortly after she was 2 1/2, though I did try a little bit earlier - she just wasn't ready before that.  The biggest piece of advice I can give someone who is thinking about starting to potty train their child is to just wait until they're ready.  For some that might not be until they're 3.  For some, maybe that's at 2.  Every child is different, just try not to get frustrated with it!  Clara was terrified of the toilet for the longest time.  And then one day she just up and told me she wanted to sit on the potty.  Obviously I knew she was ready to start then!

She did really good, and actually only had a couple accidents since we potty trained her.  It took not quite a full week and she was wearing big girl panties at all times, and only Pull Ups at night.  The Pull Ups were super nice at daycare also, because these ones are able attach/detach at the sides.. which made it much easier on her teachers.  :)

The scariest part, to me, about the whole thing.. was taking her out in public in big girl panties.  I just really did not want to go through the mess of an accident in the middle of the grocery store or something.  But I'm proud to say, she hasn't had an accident in public.  Whew!

If you need some extra tips or help with potty training, I suggest enrolling in the Pull Ups Big Kid Academy!  If you're absolutely stuck and are about to lose your mind, this website has a lot of resources and strategies you could be taking advantage of.  It also has a nice collection of some fun activities for you to browse!

Thanks to Pulls Ups for sponsoring this post and creating a great product!

A Happy Announcement

We have a little something to share with you all...

That's right, Clara is going to be a big sister!  I've been waiting for our second ultrasound to let our little secret out, however Clara has been telling people left and right.. so for some, they knew far before I was ready to let it spill!  I guess she was just too darn excited.  ;)

We found out around the second week in June... and was able to get into my first appointment at 7 weeks, and we first saw our sweet baby then.  But I was feeling cautious, although happy, and was trying not to get too excited.  My miscarriage last year (which was my second miscarriage)... happened after our first ultrasound.. where we saw a perfectly fine baby.  So I was nervous, and hesitant.. but prayed every day for this baby.  We had the second ultrasound at 11 weeks.  I was so nervous, I felt sick.  I didn't even look at the ultrasound, until he said everything had looked good... and I looked and saw a growing baby.. a strong heartbeat.. a cute little noggin, and teensy arms and legs.  I shed a happy tear or two.. or three.  I still continue to pray for this baby, that he/she continues to grow to be strong and healthy.

And now, I feel excited.

And obviously Clara will just be the best big sister in the world.  She has such a big heart, and a sweet soul.. and I am excited to see how she will interact with a new brother or sister.  And according to her, she's getting one of each... hate to break it to you, girlfriend... there's only one baby in there!!

Clara Turns Three

I can hardly believe that my baby girl is 3.  She's smart, funny... can carry on a good conversation.. independent.. and definitely sassy.  I'm happy and sad at the same time.  She has such  a sweet heart, and I'm so proud of the little girl she's becoming.  I wanted to do something super fun for her birthday. So, we took her to the Memphis Zoo - she loves the zoo!  This was my first time visiting the Memphis Zoo and it's so nice, and am thinking we will need to take another trip there later this summer.

She had fun watching all the animals with her cousin, and splashing around in the fountain with her Aunt.  It was a perfect day for it - the sun was warm, but there was a nice breeze.  Clara wore herself straight out and was asleep before we even got back to the car.  ;)

She enjoyed opening all of her gifts, and has just been in heaven with her new toys (which includes some Barbies.. her first ones!  And more play-doh, and a big girl bike!).. but there is one toy that I know she will get a ton of use out of this summer, since we are outside so much.. and that would be a sand box!

We've been playing in it every day since she received it!  It was a gift from her Nana and Papa.. and I'm so thankful for technology.. they were able to watch her discover it and play in it via Facetime.

And Wesson.. well, he likes to be in on all the action too.. he loves hanging out with Clara by the sandbox!

Toddler Fashion

Sometimes you just need to let them wear what they want.. because it makes them happy.. and let's face it, she can make any outfit look cute.

If only I could do the same!

I'm pretty sure she would be on cloud nine if she had a tutu in every color of the rainbow.  Good thing this little one has a birthday coming up in just 2.5 months (seriously?).

Bubble Guppies t-shirt,  black and white floral leggings, pink tutu, and moccasins, and a gray /white polka dot sweater...

I love that silly, sweet face to pieces.

Clara's Little Touches

There's nothing I love more, than seeing all of Clara's little touches around the house.  A couple of her dollhouse dolls sitting on the TV console, her baby doll left in her toy shopping cart, the crayons all lined up in a row, and always.. always her play food hanging around on various tables, shelves, the ottoman. 

She loves to serve us all food, have tea parties, and picnics.  It makes me happy when after she goes to bed, and I'm straightening a few things around the house.. and come back out into the living room to relax after getting my pajamas on.. I see this leftover from a picnic we had.

I love her and her imagination.

Clara's VeggieTale Obsession {and a giveaway}

My child has a thing for VeggieTales.  For a while she had a thing for Minnie Mouse.. Elmo.. Dora.. but she's always had a thing for VeggieTales.  She's particularly fond of Sweetpea Beauty, though she loves them all.  My husband and I love these movies also.  We love them because each movie has a good, specific message.  For example, Sweetpea Beauty teaches a lesson about true beauty.  And now that Christmas is upon us (is it seriously almost December?), I think it's so important not to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and forget about the 'true light of Christmas'.

VeggieTales has a brand new movie out called Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas.  There's lots for your kiddos to laugh about and learn about in this movie.  It's a great reminder that giving is better than receiving and that it's more than just presents and decor.  Christmas shines most bright and true when you give the love God gave to you!  

Clara takes her Sweetpea Beauty doll with her everywhere.  She sleeps with it, takes it to school... e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e... and it's a nightmare if we forget her.  And she asks all the time to watch VeggieTales.. I love that she loves it.  And I love that she's learning about God while watching them.

There's a new Veggie character in Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas... Silas the Okra.. who is played by Si Robertson of Duck Commander (which I'm sure 99.9999% know who that is).  And I have some very exciting news.... VeggieTales is giving away one copy of Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas signed by Si Robertson himself... to one of my lucky readers!  ;)  You can enter using the rafflecopter form below.. U.S. residents only, please.

OR if you want to grab up the DVD now (or any other VeggieTales DVD), they are having a 40% store wide Christmas sale going on right now... which means you could snag the DVD for only $8.99 plus shipping.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
VeggieTales gifted me with this DVD for a review, all opinions are my own.

Butterfly Princess Costume {diy}

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Cottonelle, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #CottonelleTarget  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.”

If any of your are like me.. I tend to look over Halloween a little bit.  I get so busy around this time of the year that it just completely evades me.  Until my daughter starts getting excited over it, that is.  But she's not quite there yet.. and here I was last week.. twiddling my thumbs over what to do for her costume.  What I did know was that I didn't want to spend a lot of money and I wanted to keep it simple.

My daughter already had a pair of butterfly wings in her closet (a couple, actually), I found a wand in her toy box, I used one of my sparkly headbands, and then I made a simple fabric circle skirt.... and.. glued some Cottonelle onto the skirt for a fluffy, princess-y effect.

We dubbed it "Butterfly Princess".

If you have a daughter, then more than likely you have something in your house that can be transformed into some sort of princess/queen/angel/butterfly/something-else-girly for a costume.  And I'm sure you all have toilet paper in your house - at least I hope you do.  If not, just head to Target and get yourself a 12 pack of the Cottonelle Triple Roll (your behind will also thank you for this).  The key is to find stuff that you already have laying around the house... I invested hardly any time or money into this.  And this girl just had a ball in it.

  

Even daddy had fun playing "Butterfly Princess"... he had his own set of wings and everything.  ;)  Precious, right?  He was definitely mean to be a daddy to a little girl.  Can't wait to stick this photo in a scrapbook!  

Do you want to try the super soft Cottonelle Triple Roll?  Whether for a fun getup... or...... your bottom.  Yes, I said it.  ...Well if you do, grab this coupon and you'll get a free box of Kleenex when you pick up a 12 or 20 roll package, while supplies last.

Her Happy Place

One of the ways to my little lady's precious heart.. is play time at the park.  It's one of her favorite places to be.  We'll get there, and off she'll run.. singing and playing.. she loves to sing at the park.  Just the other day, we were there... and she sang "Jesus Loves Me" on repeat.  At least 10 times.  Then she switched it up to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".  I will never get tired of that sing-song voice.

This is obviously her happy place.

I just love her so much.  I love watching her play, and sing... I love watching her grow.  Which she tends to do a bit faster than I'd like.  That happy face, makes me happy.

Moon Sand {diy}

Keeping my 2 year old busy during the day is getting to be quite tricky.  She's easily bored, and goes stir-crazy if we're in the house for too long.  We go to the park a lot, go to the pool, etc.. but it's nice to switch it up and find something different and fun to do.  She absolutely loves this moon sand.. it's a fun rainy day activity, too (we might be doing this today... looks a little gloomy out)!

Minnie likes to play too.. as you can see below.. Clara likes to take her and go 'HIIII-YA!' like a ninja.  I'm not sure, but I think her Papa taught her that when he was visiting.. makes her giggle every time.

There are quite a few moon sand recipes out there, but I just found this one worked the best for us.  It was the cheapest and I had everything on hand to make it.  It's soft and smooth, and molds well.  Next time I want to get some little dixie cups so she can build a little 'castle'.  :)  It's super easy to make.. so get to it!  Your toddler will love it.

4 cups flour
1/2 cup baby oil

Put in a big bowl and mix up with your hands until thoroughly blended together.  Put it in a container of your choice.. grab some cups, spoons, toys, pretend your at the beach.. and play!  I halved this recipe for Clara, and then stored it in an air-tight container and it kept good for a few days.

 

 

 What are your favorite rainy day activities?  

(PS:  If you haven't yet, enter my Peter Rabbit Organics giveaway!  Ends 8/9/13.)

A Walk in the Park

This whole week, we have the pleasure of spending some time with my parents and my little brother.  They came down to visit us, and we're all thrilled.  Especially Clara.. she is definitely a 'Nana's Girl'.  So I may not be blogging much for a little bit, but I will leave you with these cute images from our play in the park today.  :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  I look forward to fun times and memory making with my family! 

Heat Break

When the heat index is 111.. there's not much I want to do, except lay in bed (thank God for air conditioning!) with my little one... snack on some cookies and applesauce... and watch fun videos on the laptop.

Clara didn't mind either.

Sometimes you just gotta take a break.. and I think this was a good excuse.  No errands, no laundry.. heck, I didn't even cook dinner.  Just relaxing... and that's okay!

Color My World

The more Clara grows, the more I can see both a girly-girl side and a tom-boy side. She is so much like her daddy (and not just in her looks.. although she is a complete replica of him).. she loves being outside. Doesn't matter what she's doing... helping me water flowers & herbs, going for walks, playing her little heart out at the playground, splashing in water, or making art in our driveway... she just loves the fresh air.

And I love that about her.

I love how she just gets right up in there and is completely concentrated on her colorful scribbles.



And she absolutely doesn't mind getting dirty.. that is.. until she realizes she's dirty. In this photo I believe she was saying 'wash hands, mama!'... no, she does not like dirt or anything on her hands that isn't suppose to be there.


But there's nothing I love more than sitting out in the sunshine with my baby girl... with our snacks and our juice... and her cute little chalk-covered hands.. drawing pretty pictures. :)

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Over the weekend we celebrated our daughters 2nd birthday.  I can hardly believe it.. she's so grown up.  She's talking so well that I can almost hold a normal conversation with her.  She's so smart and funny, and growing into her own little independent person.

Words can't even begin to express how much more we love her with each day.  Her little life has brought such joy into our lives.  She has such a sweet, sweet soul and her dainty voice just melts you away.

We had a little party for her here at our house... it included waking up to lots of balloons.. some of her favorite "people" were included on the balloons which made her all the more excited (Dora and Minnie).  We've been talking to her all week about her party, how old she will be, and opening birthday gifts.  So when the day came, she was ready! 

It was a simple party, shared with family and friends, some water fun in the backyard, and cupcakes of course.  By the end of the day, she was pooped and in bed by 7:30pm (unheard of!).  The day was a success... we just wanted our baby girl to feel special, loved, and appreciated.. and I think we accomplished that.  ;)

This will be a little more picture-heavy than normal.. but I couldn't help myself.