Freeman Update

Chris is working at a local Sam's Club out here and just got promoted about 2 months ago and he loves his new management position. He'll only be working for Sam's for maybe another month though. Chris will be starting some online classes through BYU-Idaho at the end of this month and we've decided that since we're living with his parents we can afford for Chris to just totally focus on school. Chris has 2 semesters left plus an internship. We're hoping he can graduate in December of 2014 and we can move back to Seattle where we belong. 

Brenden is so wonderful. He turned 2 in February and started potty training not too long after that. He is just growing way too fast and I don't like this part of being a mommy one bit. He is just growing way to fast and I feel like I'm missing so much.  We've also been doing some homeschooling with Brenden and he is just so dang smart. It takes him no time to catch onto things. Brenden starts swimming lessons in a few weeks and he is so excited. He is so wonderful with his little sister. I'll attach some pictures, they're really cute together.

Aria is just the cutest and so loved. I couldn't imagine a sweeter little girl in our family and I can't even remember what our life was before she joined us. She's been having a few troubles since we've been here, but hopefully we can get some things resolved soon. Aria hasn't gained an ounce for the 6 months we've been here and she's started losing weight in the last couple weeks. She's lost a whole pound in the last two weeks and now she weights less than 13 lbs. She falls into the failure to thrive category so we're starting to worry about her, but I know that Heavenly Father has a plan in mind for her and will keep her safe. I feel good about her progress and she doesn't act like she's sick and looks a little skinny, but great. She likes to sit and stand, she's not crawling yet, but she'll get there. She didn't start eating purees until she was 7 months old and ate those for about a month before moving onto to solids.  I'm truly amazed at how much she eats with out any teeth. She's so fun and she loves her big brother. Her face lights up every time she sees his smiling face. She's definitely got her own voice and isn't afraid to share her opinion. I love every minute that I get to spend with her. She has been such a special blessing to our family. 

I've just been enjoying watching my little family grow.I love getting to be the mommy of these two little angels. I love being able to stay at home with them and be accountable of teaching them the things that they need to know. I love watching them learn new things. I love teaching Brenden how to pray, tie shoes, color, bake, and I just love spending time with them. After Aria was born I started training to get certified to become a birth doula. The coursework was so flexible that I kind of put it on the back burner until we arrived here. Since January I've studied through 3 textbooks, read 3 required books, studied for and taken 8 exams, audited a childbirth education class, and wrote an essay. I've got one more birth to attend before requesting certification and I couldn't be more excited. I'm basically a birth worker. I meet with the family mid-pregancy to try and get a feel for what the family is looking for, what their expecting out of the birth. I'll have a second and possibly a third meeting with the family before labor begins. Once labor begins I'll go to the families home to support mom and dad through out the labor process. The needs for each family change. Some families will want different things that others. I offer to be a support system through spending time to ease the burden, once at the hospital I can go back and forth between delivery and the waiting room to update family, provide massage techniques, use essential oils, be a gopher for the dad so he can stay by moms side, provide information to the families so they can make informed decision, the list is really endless. 

Life here in D.C. has been so great for our family, but I miss family and friends and home so much. I really hope that Chris can get a job in Seattle and we can move back home. 

Terrible twos???

The last couple of days Brenden has been horrible. He has been kicking, head butting, and even biting. Seriously? What have I gotten myself into? He's throwing wild tantrums and not listening to anything I ask of him. I know this is normal and some days are better than others, but how long does this last. Brenden had one pretty bad day last week, but other than that he's been okay and just throwing little tantrums around dinner time. Does this last a week, a few weeks, the whole year? I just want to prepare myself. Brenden is such a sweet wonderful kid and I want that kid back.

Back on the Potty Training Wagon

We're back on so to speak. Brenden has been doing great this week! Monday went so well, Brenden was completely accident free all day long and I was so proud of him. He's really catching on to this potty training thing. And yesterday was our first day of wearing more than just underwear and Brenden rocked it! Brenden did so well up until it was past bed time. He was just so tired. That's okay, you win some and you lose some. Brenden is still quite young to be potty training for a little boy so every little success is exciting for me. And today he is doing great and going to the potty all by himself. My little boy is growing up!

Potty Training Lull

We were horrible at letting Brenden go potty over the weekend. He hasn't quite mastered going on the big potty yet, so when we're out potty doesn't happen. We have been out all weekend and as a result, Brenden has been refusing to go potty this afternoon and had 2 accidents with in an hour. I was so frustrated and ended this dreadful day with an early bedtime for the little beastly child.

Potty Training

This is the second time that I have tried potty training with Brenden and let me begin my story with the first time we tried. Absolutely Horrible!!! Okay, probably not as bad as other mother's experiences. But in my mind with an unwilling toddler and a teething baby girl at the time, I was totally exhausted and it seemed horrible to me. I decided shortly after Brenden's second birthday that he might be ready for potty training. He had been showing interest in his potty for a few months, wasn't liking diapers, and would ask to go every now and again. I was psyched! I thought he was so ready, and so we did it. I woke up one morning and decided that that was going to be the day. Brenden did great! He went to the potty every 30 minutes and would try to go potty. Only had a few set backs. Then the next day came and he just refused to use the potty. What in the world is going on? This happened for two days and I was so frustrated and angry. Needless to say potty training came to an abrupt halt with both Brenden and I crying in frustration.

I gave potty training a break for a few weeks until I started hearing all of these great potty training stories. Women online training their babies, all of these pinterest boards on potty training, and mom's in our play group potty training and having some great success. I thought, well lets give it a week, prepare as much as I can and start over with potty training. I did a ton of research into different methods of potty training, pinned over 30 different pins on potty training, spoke to many different mom's on what they found to be successful, and helped Brenden pick out his own underwear! I downloaded a few different potty training videos for Brenden to watch, introduced him to a new potty chair, taught him some ASL signs for potty training, and gave him lots of encouragement.

The morning of potty training arrived and I was pumped! I was ready to start potty training again, realizing that it wasn't going to happen in a day, even some places on the web say that it's possible. I'm sure it is, but I wasn't to sure about it. Day 1 consisted of printing out a potty chart, putting on an apron that had pockets for my phone for potty time videos, candy for going potty, and a timer I would set for 15 minutes intervals. The first day was amazing. I had no idea where this boy was coming from. Brenden would go to the potty every 15 minutes and then every 2 minutes for a while and only had 1 accident all day long. It was a horrible accident. We were downstairs after breakfast and drinking milk. Brenden had just told me that he didn't have to go potty. Not 5 minutes later I hear Brenden screaming. He had had an accident in his new underwear on the hardwood floors and had slipped and fell in his puddle. I know a little too much on the disgusting details, but this will be great for when Brenden starts dating. ;)

Day 2 was great, hardly any accidents. Granted we weren't potty training all day long. We would train from the time Brenden woke up at 8 in the morning until about 2 in the afternoon for nap time. Brenden didn't want to potty train after his nap for the first couple of days, and I didn't want to force it and turn him off to the whole idea again. So I was okay for potty training for a few hours a day, it gave me a breather as well. Potty training is exhausting. After that second day, Brenden was okay with potty training all day long. He didn't want to wear diapers anymore. Yay! Thursday was Brenden's first day of being totally accident free and I was so excited. Even during nap time. I had been diapering him up during nap time and leaving his potty chair in with him and so he took his diaper off during nap time and went in the potty, no accidents. Sure, everyday isn't accident free, we're still working on it, but he is doing extremely well. I'm so proud of my big boy!

One thing I'm working on is potty training while playing. Brenden doesn't like to go potty when we're playing downstairs and that's when Brenden typically has accidents which he doesn't like at all. I feel bad for the poor boy. He just screams and cries when he has an accident. Not a good feeling at all. I don't scold him or anything after having an accident. We actually watch the accident video made by signing time. I think it's a great little video for accidents. Their whole line for potty training is pretty great. Brenden is learning the sign for accident, he knows, potty, flush, clean, wipe, wash, candy, and sticker.

I just have to brag and say how proud I am of Brenden and how much I love my sweet little boy. He is doing so well with this potty training and I am so impressed. I never thought in a million years that my little two year old little boy would go from loving diapers to being almost accident free in a matter of days and loving it. Brenden loves potty training! He loves going potty and loves the attention he gets. He loves the stickers. And we use gummy bears for potty time treats. He loves those too. Gosh, I am just overwhelmed with excitement and love. I am just proud of Brenden!!

Potty Training can be a great success and a wonderful bonding experience when you totally let go. Now if I can only remember this on the heavy accident days and when I decide Aria might be ready.

Goings on

It's time to play some serious catch up. Since moving to Virginia I have totally neglected this blog. It's bee =n a busy couple of months, but it has been so much fun getting to spend some serious time together and learn and grow.

December-

• Moved out of our teeny tiny apartment in Idaho Falls. We miss that place so much already.
• We drove to Seattle to spend a couple of weeks and Christmas with my family. We saw lots of family and not as many friends as we would have liked. Brenden got sick the night before we left to drive cross country. 
• Started our cross country drive to Virginia
• Stayed in 3 different homes in 3 different states, and 3 different hotels in 3 different states. 
• Had 4 different Christmas exchanges with family.
• Got Aria's ears pierced. Eek! I know. The most frightening experience of my life.
• Said goodbye to our dear friends in Idaho.
• Aria is 4 months old and is so smiley, but she doesn't like baby food or tummy time.

January-

• Arrived in Virginia
• Aria turned 5 months old and still refuses baby food.
• Blessed Aria in Virginia. Beautiful!
• Took Brenden and Aria to downtown Washington DC. We saw the Natural History Museum, National Monument, site for the new MLK monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetery  and the Pentagon.

February-

• Celebrated Brenden's second Birthday!
• Celebrated my 24th Birthday
• Finished all of my doula certification exams. ALMOST THERE!
• Chris started applying for new jobs.
• Started potty training Brenden and it was a total bust!

March-

• Got our tax return! YIPPEE!
• Potty Training Brenden, Take 2!

Chris- Chris is still working at Sam's Club, but when we moved to Virginia, he transferred to one out here. It's still about a 40 minute commute, but he got a pay increase, so it's okay for now. Chris has been taking a few semesters off from school and just working, saving that money for when we go back to Rexburg for those last few semesters. Chris will start taking online classes come September, so far he's only got 2 semesters left. I hope that's all anyways. Our real hope is that he can take the rest of his classes online and we can just stay here in Virginia. We really love it here! The only problem is that all of Chris' classes required to graduate are not yet offered. BYU-Idaho is always adding classes to their catalog, so Chris is hoping that by the time he needs to take classes, they'll be offered online. If not, there's a possibility that he may be able to transfer to BYU and take the rest of his classes through BYU and graduate online. It's still up in the air as to where we'll end up, but we're hopeful something will turn up. Chris loves it here in Virginia and it's great spending time with family.

Sadie- Sadie has been working diligently to finish her birth doula certification. We'll see who gets done first. The competition is on! Sadie has done a great deal on her essay, read all of her books, and completed all of her exams for her certification, whoot whoot! All that's left is to attend births! It's been a real challenge for Sadie to try and study while taking care of a two year old trying to potty train and a newborn who is now over 6 months old. She spends her days taking care of 2 super cute kids, making some extraordinary meals, creating preschool lessons for Brenden, and keeping up with laundry. Chris and Sadie have picked up Scentsy again since moving to Virginia, as well as Velata. Check it out. It's been fun living with the in-laws and for right now, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's been great not having to cook every night and having some awesome help with the kids. I love watching Chris' parents with our kids. It's nice to see my kids being rottenly spoiled.

Brenden- Brenden loves his little sister so much and you can tell. Aria lights up every time she sees Brenden's face and he loves to try and make her laugh. We tried potty training with Brenden when we first got here to Virginia, and it was a bust. I found myself getting super frustrated and Brenden crying and not liking anything about it. I decided that I was ready this last week and I was ready to give it another try and was hopeful that Brenden was ready as well. Well, Brenden is now a potty training rock star! Excuse me if it's a little too mcuh, but he is accident free most days, asks to go to the potty, and even takes off his diaper during nap time to go to the potty! He even poops in the potty! Brenden loves his underwear and doesn't like accidents. He cries every time. The first time was the worst. He had no idea what was happening and then the poor little boy fell in it and bonked his head. Poor boy, but he is doing so well now. I am so proud of my little boy.  Brenden is now a 2 year old! Where have the last 2 years gone? I don't know, but he is sure a smart boy. Brenden is getting so talkative and I am so amazed by the things that he comprehends. I love it when I ask him if he wants lunch and he goes and grabs his soy milk out of the pantry, along with peanut butter and honey, and bread from the bread drawer. As soon as I'm done making his sandwich, he'll go and put everything away. How did I get so lucky? He's a little smarty and I love him so much.

Aria- Aria is growing so fast, even with the lack of eating any baby food, she is still growing and getting prettier every day. I can hardly believe that she's already 6 months old. She had her ears pierced back in December, she cried so much. I don't blame her, but I felt so bad, but at the same time, I'm really glad that we had them done now rather than waiting. I didn't want them done when she was 1 or 2 and have her pulling and yanking them out, but I didn't want to wait until she was 8 or 9 either. I had mine pierced when I was a baby and wanted to have hers pierced at that time as well. Aria doesn't like tummy time or baby food. She usually cried every time we lay her on her tummy. She is getting better at it though. And she doesn't really like baby food. She'll take it if we give it to her, but that only lasts for a few spoonfuls. I make all of her baby food, just like I did for Brenden. I've tired bananas, apples, pears, lemon, squash, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and homemade rice cereal. She seems to like the rice cereal the best, but even that isn't a big hit. I'm open to anyone who has suggestions. Sure, she may not be ready, and that's okay too. Aria started sitting up this week and she's doing so well. She still doesn't roll over, crawl, but I'm sure she'll catch on soon. She likes to stand though, so maybe she'll walk before 18 months. Aria is the sweetest little girl and we love her so much!

Regrets

I read an old friends blog today that I haven't read in some time. I have spent the better part of my morning reading this blog and going over some older posts and I just have to say how incredibly awful I feel. You think you know a person and you think that you know their particular situation and today I found that I could not have been more wrong and absolutely judgmental. I think that's what makes me feel even worse. I feel so horrible. I had a horrible fight with this friend and we had an awful falling out and haven't talked in almost a year now. I used to sincerely look up to this woman and would look to her for advice, and thought she was a wonderful person. We had this falling out and I felt a little jaded. I think I have spent the last several months just feeling angry and resentful. I know that I shouldn't have felt that way, but I honestly did. Things, hurtful things were said and I came out to be the one that was irresponsible and childish. I think the thought of someone so close to me at the time thinking I was so irresponsible hurt the worst. I had a little boy who had barely just turned a year old at the time and I felt like being irresponsible just wasn't an option and someone thinking that I was irresponsible, I felt like I wasn't doing my job and I had to make a change.

I had to make a change for the better. I have been praying and taking my own inventory for months now. I knew that there was something about myself that I wanted to change, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. It's not that I hated myself and didn't like the person that I had become. There was something about myself that I wanted to make better. And just this week I have figured out what it was. I have this tendency to compare myself to others and in conversation want to one-up everyone that I talk to. This trait began with one person commenting on how irresponsible I was. Ever since it's like I have had this need to prove myself to everyone and try to make myself sound better than everyone else.

I just noticed this this very week and now that I know what it is, I WANT TO CHANGE IT! More than anything I want to change this. I don't want to be this person who who everyone else finds it hard to communicate with. This is something super hard to change and I have been trying to hard. I have to think about everything I say and every time I let something slip I feel awful and try to make it better. 

Reading this blog this morning, I felt so awful. It really hit me that other people have trials more than I could have ever imagined. I learned so much about myself reading about the lives of others. I learned that emotions play a real role in how people interact with each other. I learned that someone with an attitude on a particular day doesn't have a direct relation to me and that it could be something going on behind closed doors. I think I have reached that place where I can feel comfortable in my own skin. 

Its amazing how one persons point of view on a day can change your whole outlook on life. I know that they may never read this, but in chance that they do, I just want them to know how extremely grateful I am for sharing and caring.

Something Learned

I have been watching a few talk shows since the elections. Mostly just the one that Katie Couric does. She touches on a lot of topics that are in the news and really digs into them. I was watching the other day and there was an actress on there that does the biggest loser and she is also a mother. She was asked, how do you do it all. And what she said just really hit home with me and it was just so wonderful. She said that there wasn't one day that passed where she thought that she was perfect at every single one of her jobs. If she's super mom, her acting suffers a little and vice versa. But she also said there wasn't ever more than one day where she felt as though she was failing as a mother. And it was so wonderful to hear something like that. I can relate to that.

Brenden and Aria are great and I love them to pieces. I don't feel like super mom every day, heck its rare that I do feel like super mom, but every once in awhile its good to feel that way. Most days I feel as though I have taken good care of my kids, but my house is trashed and that's okay. Some days my house is spotless, but my kids are driving me nuts, and I don't feel like the best mommy. And then I have those days where my husband is home and I feel relaxed and I can do it all! Sure I have days where I feel like a bad mean mommy, but the next day is always so much more awesome and I'm so grateful that my eyes have been opened and I can see these things and feel so great about myself.

I'm not always perfect, but I'm always striving for perfection!

Halloween in PIctures