And the Results Are.......

The nurse called me today to say I passed the Gestational Diabetes Test! I didn't believe her at fisrt and had to ask her to make sure she called the right person. Haha. And I just need to add I had a cupcake for breakfast! lol

Also I thought I'd update about Kaiden! He has learned so much these past few weeks its amazing! As far as potty training he knows he cleans up his messes, he began saying "uh oh" when he starts to pee, he knows what the potty is and how to do the sign for it. He learned to say and sign the word "shoes." He learned to say and sign the word "book." He picked up on saying words like "bite," "more," "juice," and finally "hi." He loves saying the word "uh oh", its his favorite. He says it when he drops something or while pulling everything out of his daddy's bag. He thinks ALL food is "hot" and he will tell you its "hawwwt" and blow on it before he takes a bite. Sometimes he will even spit the food out for emphasis! He made up his own sign for "lovey." Its super cute! He's also learned to open doors, which I'm not to happy about. lol . And what was really fun was watching him say "Grandma" to Dena over Skype. He's only called my mom this, so it was great!

So I posted awhile ago that Darren is working on a crib like co-sleeper. Well we went to Idaho Falls last week and he picked out the wood! And last saturday Darren started working on it! Gotta say, it's looking amazing! It will probably be finished in 2 more saturdays!!! I can't believe in just 12 (more likely less) weeks we'll have another little boy wrapped around our fingers! I can't wait! Kaiden has been practicing how to be a great big brother with his stuffed Winnie the Pooh. He does everything for that bear! I saw him hand Pooh the remote, offer him food, drinks, candy, blankets, bottles, pacifiers, toys, books, toothbrushes, spatulas, and even cell phones! He also gives him lots of hugs and kisses. He doesn't know how much fun it will be with a real little brother! =)

Also here's an update to Potty Training with Kaiden- http://lilromriellfamily.blogspot.com/2011/01/potty-training.html

Into the Third Trimester

Well technically I began the third trimester last week, but today we had a Drs appt!!! On the downside I had to take the Gestational Diabetes test **fingers crossed** I get the results tomorrow. My least favorite part is the blood drawing, but Darren promised me ice cream for being so good! Hopefully I passed, but my doc said if I didn't he wouldn't make me take the 3 hr test, we would just go about it as we did my last pregnancy. Yay for small miracles!
The best part was getting the ultrasound!!!!! Dr. Watson said their 3D was broken at the moment so we would only be able to see him in 2D, but he promised me a 3D ultrasound at my next appt! Awesome! Yay for extra ultrasounds!! The 2D wasn't that bad though. We actually saw him blinking his eyes!!! Dr. Watson said it was pretty rare to see that on an ultrasound. We also saw him sucking his fist and munching on the umbilical cord (we caught Kaiden doing this too!) lol. Everything looks really good and he is adorable, we have 6 blurry pics to prove it! lol. Looking like he weighs about 2 lbs 4oz, but thats just a guess. He is also heads down which is great but he's sunnyside up, so here's to hoping he spins before the big day!
I'll keep everyone updated and when I get the 3D pics in 2 weeks I'll remember to post them so everyone can "ooooh" and "ahhhhhh" at his cuteness. =)

P.S. Darren kept his promise and got me a ginormous ice cream from Dairy Queen! What a man!

Well, TTFN!

Moving on.....

This is a seperate post from the one I posted 10 minutes ago. Like I said I dont want all my posts about "Potty Training." Sooooooo, moving on!

I made my first blanket using a sewing machine with Brooke's help. I think its so cute, but dont look at it too closely cause you'll see all the mistakes! Haha.

The fabric is called "Pet Deer" by Michael Miller. I fell in love with it instantly! I made it for a Baby Shower gift! I'm thinking they will LOVE it, since that's what it's made with! Haha!

Also I saw this online,

http://www.coochicoos.com/images/co_sleeper.jpg

and asked Darren if he could make it. Im seriously the biggest advocate for co-sleeping! Soooooooooooooo, since this co-sleeper has only been entered into an invention contest in Europe and therfore cannot be bought. (Since its nowhere on the market!) He's having fun designing it in his head (he wants to make in look more like a mini crib than a box)and I'm having fun designing the miniature crib bedding in mine. No, I dont own a sewing machine, but honestly (and you may think I'm crazy) I think hand sewing is much more relaxing and faster and easier plus less mistakes! Haha but thats probably just becuase Im not use to sewing machines yet. We'll keep ya posted on just how cute it turns out!

Potty Training

So this might be a post that I'll come back and update often. I dunno, haha, we'll see just how fast it takes him to catch on.

So we started PT Kaiden last saturday. I prepared myself by looking up all sorts of methods online and learned alot about cues that children give when they are ready to learn. So I made a plan and picked the method I thought would work best for Kaden-roo. I also bought alot of candy for incentives, salty snacks to keep him thirsty and all kinds of drinks to keep the fluid moving through him.

Naked boy watching Blues Clues, his favorite!

While PT you really have to constantly be aware of your child. If you see him starting to pee or doing the "potty dance" you have to be right there to rush him to the potty. I thought it would be really exhausting work constantly watching over him (like we have to do at other people's homes to keep him from terrorizing them. lol) especially becuase I'm usually by myself and almost 7 months preggo, but really I've enjoyed all the quality time we've been spending together! Not gonna lie, I'm a little sick of Blues Clues, but the cuddle time is so worth it.

The first few days were pretty tough with the PT business, but I noticed that every day he would improve a tiny bit. So I kept moving forward. The method I was trying is called the "3 Day Method" and I wont say I wasn't disappointed that he didnt get the concept within 3 days, but as long as he's improving thats all I cared about. Actually with Kaiden's schedule he's up between 7 30 am- 10 30 am (at which point he would hold his pee the WHOLE time. Since at nap/ bedtimes he gets a diaper). I wasnt sure if this was progress or not but was seriously amazed an almost 17 mth old could hold it that long! Then he takes a nap between 10:30- 12:30. He would then hold his pee for as long as he could which usually lasted until 4 pm when he would slowly start to trickle here and there. The best is when he would bend over to pick something up and a little would squirt out and startle him. Haha. This was the best learning time I decided since it was the only time he could no longer hold it and HAD to go. We didnt have much of this "prime time pee time" becuase he is ready for bed between 5:30 pm - 6 pm.

We have a naked lil ghost in our house!

I would say the 4th day was the hardest and the 5th day we took a break (we went to Idaho Falls for the day). On the 6th day I realized I would need to try something different. Twirk the "3 Day Method" just a bit for us. And thats where we are, the 6th day, which I can say is the best day so far! He even signed the "potty" sign for me! Which is a sign I taught him before we started this process but he refused to use. lol. AND he sat down on his potty and took the longest pee he has so far oh and he did it BEFORE his nap! It made me one proud momma!

Now that I've caught on to his cues and the times when he needs to go, its alot easier for the both of us. Its the days where he's showing even the tiniest bit of improvment that makes me want to keep going, becuase I knew PT would be hard, but I didnt realize it would be THIS hard. I really dont know if he'll get it completely or not. We may have to stop and try again after his brother arrives. But I"m glad I'm at least giving it a whirl while I've got the one on one time with him. Who knows, maybe next week he'll be a Potty Pro!


Naked bum!

***I'll update as needed so that I dont have to talk about potty stuff all the time in my future posts. I'll also make sure to post a link to this page anytime I have updated it.***

So I know its only been a few hours, but I thought I'd come back and share some pics and a video with ya'll! Enjoy!

Bored on the potty.

Happy on the potty!!!!!

Climbing onto the potty!

Sitting on the potty and talking to mommy!

**UPDATE**

Feb. 2, 2011

So PT (Potty Training) was going very slowly. He was making improvments here and there but soo slowly over the past 8 days. I wondered if we would have him PT before age 3! lol. I mean when I asked him "where's the potty?" he would run over to it, he knew and understood the sign for "potty" , he knew when he was peeing and he knew how to hold it for up to 4 hours. I knew he was ready, he was just resisting me! Let me tell ya, that's frustrating! So I did what all PT experts say to do when your child isn't progressing, we took a break. For 3 days he went back to diapers, the house was clean, and no messes for the momma to clean up. I forgot how easy life was! haha. Turns out he HATED being put back in diapers. He whined and fussed and just acted like a Boo Butt the whole 3 days. He even tried to take off his diaper and once succeeded even in zip up pajamas! (We still dont know how he did that one! He's a little Houdini in training!) I decided if we were going to try again we would have to do things completely different! This meant NEW treats (Dum Dum Pops) and a new method (standing up while peeing.) How much different can ya get? I figured trying to get him to pee sitting down wasn't working out so well, mostly becuase he HATES to just sit still, so why not try it the other way? Well today was the first day! He did really well!!!! Yes we had 4 trips to the potty after he started peeing a few feet away from it, yes he had 3 accidents where he didnt make it to the potty BUT the best thing of the whole day was right before bed he walked right up to his potty and acted like he wanted to go! Sure it was only a few drops but HE made the effort on his own! What a way to end the day! And I'm not kidding, those Dum Dum Pops were totally the way to go! Turns out I just needed the right incentive! When I would bring the candy bowl down for him he would scream and jump/ dance with excitement! It was so cute to watch. Oh and one more thing he started doing TODAY, he actually said the word "uh oh" when he started peeing! This is big becuase he's trying to tell us, even if it's a little late. I'm hoping this is it, but I dont want to jinx myself. I'll update in a few days!

Time is flying by!

So heres what been going on at our house lately:

Kaiden- has been as active and crazy as ever! ANd climbing on EVERYTHING. Not to mention he is cutting some more molars which has its ups and downs. He spends half the day cuddled up with me on the couch! Yay! And the other half crying and throwing tantrums over every little thing. The poor kid. I wish there was more you could do for a teething toddler! Becuase of his teething he's been on a hunger strike. He rarely eats anything and when I ask him what he wants to eat he throws up the sign for candy! lol We're going to try a potty training method this weekend! I've been working on sitting Kaiden on his potty and teaching him the sign for "potty" and I use the "potty" sign while changing his diaper. The past week when I do the potty sign he'll lay himself down on his back and let me change his bum! (This is awesome! BTW!) Well yesterday as I sat him on the potty I kept repeating the word potty and he did the sign! Horray for small steps! So this weekend Darren and I are going to embark on a potty training method I've found that is suppose to work in 3 days! And works best on children ages 15 months and up. Darren and I are in for a long weekend! Also Kaiden's new favorite thing to do is crawl up into the rocking chair. And he HAS to have a blanket and a book to read! lol Darren and I think its pretty cute! I have a little wooden rocking chair from when I was a little girl, but since we've moved around so much it got broke in a move. But Darren and I have it and Darrens going to fix it up for Kaiden to have! =) I love heirlooms! P.S. Kaidens favorite thing to say is "What's that?" usually after hearing a new sound and his favorite things to sign are "candy" and "bath" haha, of course!

Kaiden in his rocking chair WITH a blanket and WITH a book! lol Just the way he likes it!

Baby Boy- Still deciding between the 2 names. One day we'll narrow down the winner. He has been SUPER active the past month, in fact probably more active than Kaiden was! I wake up all through the nights to kicks and jabs. This past week I've really been feeling the discomforts of pregnancy. Trying to find a comfortable position to sleep is a challenge! He's a whole 2 lbs now and if he was born now (which I really hope not) his lungs are strong enough to live! Next week I'll be in the third trimester which is by far the hardest as I remember.

Me at 26 weeks. Sometimes the bump is bigger and sometimes its smaller. =)

Darren- Has been working really hard at school. He stays late and studies and goes to lots of tutoring sessions and still find hours a day to spend with Kaiden and I. What a man! Also I think I've gotten this guy addicted to Desperate Housewives! haha! Its our new show until we start on Glee Season 2!

Chelsea- I've been a busy girl! I'm helping out a friend in the ward by babysitting her 7 month old little girl! I only do it on tuesdays and thursdays and Kaiden loves it! At first he was reluctant about sharing his toys with her but now their best friends. When I lay her down for her nap Kaiden will wait outside the door and and knock, ehich is his way of asking me to open the door. lol. He also tries to talk with her through the door, which doesnt help her sleep! Haha. He even tries to help with feeding her. And he gives her hugs and kisses. He's going to be such a great big brother!

Kaiden and Makenli drinking their bottles and watching cartoons! haha.

I've also been working on a few sewing projects. I know I've been talking about learning to sew for forever but after finding some really cute fabric I've decided to go for it. I've started on a blanket for our cousin Brittney's baby girl and Brooke has been teaching me the ropes. I still have the binding left to do, but once it's done I'll post pictures. Its soo cute, I kinda want to keep it. At the fabric store they were have a big sale on Minky fabric! And they just so happened to have Minky fabrics that match our new car seat! So I bought some! Everyone says how hard it is to sew with because it has so much stretch to it, that I was kinda scared to work with it but just knowing how cute it would look, I just couldnt resist! And while at home I couldnt stop looking at the fabric and seeing in my mind what it would look like, so I thought I would hand sew a car seat blanket, just to get things started. Well I eneded up sewing the whole thing in 2 days. So I decided to hand sew a few things on the car seat cover, well I ended up doing it all by hand too! It took only 3 days! Holy cow! Turns out I have a lot more time while Kaiden's asleep than I thought! So here are the pictures so I can brag! Darren can't believe I did all the work by hand, but to be honest even though it was Minky and all, it was pretty easy!

(p.s. you can double click on the pictures to make them BIGGER!)

So here's the new car seat. Its a Graco Snugride 35 in the print "Logan". I love it!

The car seat blanket! It has small ties on the sides. The picture may look deceiving but this blanket is small, measuring 2 ft by 2ft. =)

Car seat blanket again. The back is solid green! I told ya the fabric matched perfectly to the car seat!!!!!

The car seat cover!!! I'm so proud of myself!!

And a side view!

Kaiden loves, LOVES the car seat blanet, probably because its so soft, and has been dragging it all over the house. So since I had a little fabric left over, I'll probably hand sew his own. Silly boy!

A Quick Update.....

Just to let everyone know, I've finally gone through and updated and added pictures to all of our Christmas posts. And for your patience here is a short video:
ENJOY!!!

Christmas Parte Quatro!?!?!?!

Well we definitley didnt think we'd get to a part 4 during our Christmas vacation! Turns out our cancelled flight gave us an extra 5 days in PA! We spent it mostly at the malls (there were 3 in the area!!!!!) spending our Christmas money! My parents even watched Kaiden so Darren could take me to see "Tangled" in 3D. Way cute! One night my parents took us all out to eat at a delicious authentic Italian place called Frank's where we all had the most amazing pizza. And let me tell you no one does pizza better than the east coast! The day before our flight home we all took a 1 1/2 hour drive to Hershey, Pennsylvania! Home of the Hershey Chocolate Factory also referred to as Chocolate World! We took a fun ride inside and took a tour on a trolley through the town of Hershey! The best part was the gift shop where Darren stocked up on FRESH Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (his fave!) And we swear they are FAR better fresh at the factory than we have bought at any store.

At the Hershey Factory infront of their giant Christmas tree.

On the indoor ride. Kaiden LOVED it! Especially these singing cows! Haha

On the indoor ride! Darrens favorite!

Still on the indoor ride!!!

On grampa's shoulders in the Gift Shop!

Kisses for Kisses!!!

The next day we said our goodbyes and headed for the airport which I will save you the lengthy details, but was the worst flight experience of our lives. Thankfully my Aunt Stacie and Uncle John let us spend the night at their place which was fantastic because after the flight, Darren and I were exhausted! The next morning we packed up and headed towards Inkom! We spent a few hours at Aunt Darla's and Uncle Rod's playing games and snacking! YUM! And of course picking up Jozlyn who they generously watched for us. Then we headed over to Grandma Joyce's to spend the night! Uncle Steve and Aunt Heidi even came down to visit with us! Although Kaidedn shyed away from Grandma Joyce, when Uncle Steve came through the door he ran right up to him and gave him a hug and a kiss! lol Kaiden definitely wrapped Steve around his finger. He even warmed up to Heidi not letting her put him down for a minute! haha. Well we spent the night and the next morning drove the final leg of our trip after stopping at the grocery store of course. Gotta say we're glad to be back! Darrens only request was I make him my homemade mac n cheese straight away. haha. And the best news is Darrens school starts on the 5th not the 3rd like we had thought, which is why we took our time driving home. =) I can't say I'm happy to be in FREEZING weather with all this white stuff but it sure is good to be home. One more year and we're outta here!!! Im still hoping Darren gets accepted into a law school in Texas!! ;)

Happy New Year!!!!