Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Miss Independent
Jocelyn is going through a stage of insisting on doing absolutely everything herself. She's always been very independent, but this stage is actually cracking me up. :) Most of the time I love it, it just makes me very proud and glad to see her wanting to learn everything and try it herself. But with this comes a LOT of anxiety!! lol Not to mention everything now takes 10000x longer with little helping hands =) I wouldn't let her miss the chance to help or learn though, no matter how much it slows me down.
So in the last week she has:
Family not on facebook, I don't know if Mike told you guys, but Jocelyn came down with hand, foot, mouth disease AGAIN. Apparently last year there was a new strain of the virus going around and it's a flippin epidemic! The normal strain is CVA16and I guess this new strain is CVA6. Since Jocelyn has already had this once, I assumed she would be immune, without realizing there was a new strain of this virus going around. It's a much tougher form of this virus and starts out the same with high fever and sores in mouth. After that, instead of just little goosebump size red spots, she broke out into a blistery rash. It looks just like chicken pox! Fun times. Anyways, I ended up with it too and we're both on the mend right now. Fortunately she seems to be healing quickly and has been in pretty good spirits. She has had a few melt downs and been cranky a couple of times, but I've been surprised she wasn't miserable through all of this. As for me, while I'm a bit itchy and sleep deprived, I actually feel completely fine. Hopefully this is for real our last round of this nasty virus.
So Mike went to a wedding in California this weekend, it is adults only, so I told him just to go since we couldn't take Jocelyn. I was actually planning on taking her to Elko to surprise a friend at her birthday party, but obviously with our highly contagious condition, that all fell through :)
It feels a little weird sending Mike off to a wedding by himself. I love weddings!!!
So in the last week she has:
- Made a PB sandwich completely on her own (she spread the pb on bread and insisted on eating it on an open slice) twice.
- Basically gave herself a bath. She wouldn't let me scrub her clean, she took the washcloth and scrubbed herself. She actually did a really good job. I still scrubbed one side of her body while she was busy scrubbing the other side, but other than her little tushy and lower back my extra hand was really unnecessary!
- She now has figured out she can pick up the step stool and carry it around the kitchen to get ANYTHING she wants. Mostly this means pulling her cup out (which is at her level), dragging the stool to the fridge and getting herself some water.
- She also insists on helping me clean her potty chair every time she's finished doing her business. This part caused a little melt down, because well, the idea of her sloshing around the ickiness is a little much for me. I've finally gotten her to the point that she's fine with us both carrying it to the big potty together and climbs up to the sink and help momma scrub it.
- In gymnastics, she refuses to let anyone help her on anything so she does the balance beams all by herself. The teacher keeps saying how impressed she is, which of course makes me feel great! :)
Family not on facebook, I don't know if Mike told you guys, but Jocelyn came down with hand, foot, mouth disease AGAIN. Apparently last year there was a new strain of the virus going around and it's a flippin epidemic! The normal strain is CVA16and I guess this new strain is CVA6. Since Jocelyn has already had this once, I assumed she would be immune, without realizing there was a new strain of this virus going around. It's a much tougher form of this virus and starts out the same with high fever and sores in mouth. After that, instead of just little goosebump size red spots, she broke out into a blistery rash. It looks just like chicken pox! Fun times. Anyways, I ended up with it too and we're both on the mend right now. Fortunately she seems to be healing quickly and has been in pretty good spirits. She has had a few melt downs and been cranky a couple of times, but I've been surprised she wasn't miserable through all of this. As for me, while I'm a bit itchy and sleep deprived, I actually feel completely fine. Hopefully this is for real our last round of this nasty virus.
So Mike went to a wedding in California this weekend, it is adults only, so I told him just to go since we couldn't take Jocelyn. I was actually planning on taking her to Elko to surprise a friend at her birthday party, but obviously with our highly contagious condition, that all fell through :)
It feels a little weird sending Mike off to a wedding by himself. I love weddings!!!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
"I DID IT! I DID IT!"
Oh my gosh, Jocelyn CRACKED me up earlier tonight!! I was in the kitchen cooking and she was in the living room playing. All of a sudden she comes running into the kitchen singing, dancing, jumping all excited saying "Potty, potty! I did it! I did it!" She was SO proud of herself for going when mommy wasn't even in the same room.
She goes potty all by herself all the time, she doesn't even bother telling me that she goes, but I'm always in the same room (I have the potty set up in the living room while we've been training) so I see/hear her going and immediately reward her. This time I wasn't there so she came in SUPER excited to let me know she did it.
I was laughing so hard and was SO incredibly proud of her. It was really fun seeing her so proud of herself though :) That was totally THE best!
She goes potty all by herself all the time, she doesn't even bother telling me that she goes, but I'm always in the same room (I have the potty set up in the living room while we've been training) so I see/hear her going and immediately reward her. This time I wasn't there so she came in SUPER excited to let me know she did it.
I was laughing so hard and was SO incredibly proud of her. It was really fun seeing her so proud of herself though :) That was totally THE best!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Potty Training
I am SOOO proud!!
I really wanted to start potty training Jocelyn very early, you guys may remember from my occasional posts about it. Every.single.time I wanted to start potty training, we would end up dealing with her tummy issues again. (update on that at the end of this post).
She had been doing pretty awesome for months, identifying #1 from #2 and notifying us every time she did either one in her diaper. When we had the opportunity, we would practice as much as we could, explaining how we go on the potty, spend time sitting there, etc.
There were a couple of times I was a bit frustrated because she would go once or twice and then suddenly lose interest, or have a tummy flare up. There was a time that she would absolutely hold everything until the end of the day, because I think she was confused about where she was supposed to be going.
On top of all of that, I have a VERY hard time staying home day in and day out. I'm just not a homebody and now that the weather has warmed up, it's even harder to stay indoors.
BUT, I finally decided that we really needed to step it up and force myself to stay home and work on this. For the last 3-4 weeks, she has been going #2 on the potty, telling me before hand so we could get there in time to go when we are at home, so she obviously knows what she's doing.
Yesterday was our first day of full time potty training. We are doing the whole 3 day naked thing and it is going awesome!! Just leaving her naked on the bottom so that when she goes there's no messing around with anything, just run and sit on the potty to do her business. Also, if she starts to have an accident, I can see it right away and direct her towards the potty.
Today was the end of day 2 and we've only had 1 accident!!! I even managed to taker her out of the house for over an hour, diaper free with total success. she's obviously ready which totally gets me excited! And emotional :( *sniff sniff* It's ridiculous how much more emotional I've become after having a baby. lol Seriously.
So, what's super duper awesome is that half the time she sort of notifies us that she needs to go potty and the rest of the time, she doesn't say a word and just goes potty all by herself and takes care of business!!! She even wipes herself (which totally cracks me up!) I do ask her all day long if she needs to go potty and most of the time she says no, but when she does actually have to go, she just does it all by herself.
I'm going to force myself to stay indoors (it DEFINITELY helps that it poured today) until Monday (minus Church), doing the naked training thing. I think on Monday I'm going to attempt to put her in panties and see what happens.
*sigh* She's growing up too fast :(
But I'm STOKED that we may be diaper free so soon!
I really wanted to start potty training Jocelyn very early, you guys may remember from my occasional posts about it. Every.single.time I wanted to start potty training, we would end up dealing with her tummy issues again. (update on that at the end of this post).
She had been doing pretty awesome for months, identifying #1 from #2 and notifying us every time she did either one in her diaper. When we had the opportunity, we would practice as much as we could, explaining how we go on the potty, spend time sitting there, etc.
There were a couple of times I was a bit frustrated because she would go once or twice and then suddenly lose interest, or have a tummy flare up. There was a time that she would absolutely hold everything until the end of the day, because I think she was confused about where she was supposed to be going.
On top of all of that, I have a VERY hard time staying home day in and day out. I'm just not a homebody and now that the weather has warmed up, it's even harder to stay indoors.
BUT, I finally decided that we really needed to step it up and force myself to stay home and work on this. For the last 3-4 weeks, she has been going #2 on the potty, telling me before hand so we could get there in time to go when we are at home, so she obviously knows what she's doing.
Yesterday was our first day of full time potty training. We are doing the whole 3 day naked thing and it is going awesome!! Just leaving her naked on the bottom so that when she goes there's no messing around with anything, just run and sit on the potty to do her business. Also, if she starts to have an accident, I can see it right away and direct her towards the potty.
Today was the end of day 2 and we've only had 1 accident!!! I even managed to taker her out of the house for over an hour, diaper free with total success. she's obviously ready which totally gets me excited! And emotional :( *sniff sniff* It's ridiculous how much more emotional I've become after having a baby. lol Seriously.
So, what's super duper awesome is that half the time she sort of notifies us that she needs to go potty and the rest of the time, she doesn't say a word and just goes potty all by herself and takes care of business!!! She even wipes herself (which totally cracks me up!) I do ask her all day long if she needs to go potty and most of the time she says no, but when she does actually have to go, she just does it all by herself.
I'm going to force myself to stay indoors (it DEFINITELY helps that it poured today) until Monday (minus Church), doing the naked training thing. I think on Monday I'm going to attempt to put her in panties and see what happens.
*sigh* She's growing up too fast :(
But I'm STOKED that we may be diaper free so soon!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Photography
Last post for the day!!
I've been thinking about starting a photography business for months and months now. I've always liked taking pictures of pretty things and started a photo album years ago of just random landscape and stills that I had taken with the old film cameras. But I had never taken a course or learned anything beyond automatic mode.
I've taken time out recently to study and learn everything I can about the technical aspects of photography and the camera. It helps that anytime I've had a question, Mike has been able to explain and show me first hand. Definitely makes learning a lot easier when I can learn hands on.
After talking with Mike and thinking long and hard, I've decided to just go for it! I've seen how much people charge for their services and even if I only had a gig every great once in awhile, it would still be fun to do. I've never found something that makes me SO giddy!! I love being behind the camera 100000x more than I ever did being in front of it (and that was pretty awesome while it lasted :D). That's how much I love it, I seriously get giddy trying to get an awesome picture!!
I'm super super super stoked about this new venture!! The best part is that I have an expert at home that can help me out if I ever need it. :)
NOW, I just need a really good name. I would prefer something really cute and not name associated but of course I can't come up with anything. So if you guys have any suggestions, I'd LOVE to hear them!!!!! Right now I'm stuck on SMW Photography, which is so unoriginal but safe =) and definitely not cutesy lol I'm also mulling over Primrose Photography. I think it sounds cute and, well, you can imagine the inspiration behind the name. tee hee!
What's absolutely hysterical and totally random, is that in the very same week I decided to go official, my bil sent out an email saying he had made the very same decision! So while he has a full time job, he would do photography on evenings and weekends. But really, what are the odds???? Even more awesome since we can share info and resources. I'm still cracking up, I mean, really? What are the chances.
K!!! Don't forget me if you come up with something cute! :)
I've been thinking about starting a photography business for months and months now. I've always liked taking pictures of pretty things and started a photo album years ago of just random landscape and stills that I had taken with the old film cameras. But I had never taken a course or learned anything beyond automatic mode.
I've taken time out recently to study and learn everything I can about the technical aspects of photography and the camera. It helps that anytime I've had a question, Mike has been able to explain and show me first hand. Definitely makes learning a lot easier when I can learn hands on.
After talking with Mike and thinking long and hard, I've decided to just go for it! I've seen how much people charge for their services and even if I only had a gig every great once in awhile, it would still be fun to do. I've never found something that makes me SO giddy!! I love being behind the camera 100000x more than I ever did being in front of it (and that was pretty awesome while it lasted :D). That's how much I love it, I seriously get giddy trying to get an awesome picture!!
I'm super super super stoked about this new venture!! The best part is that I have an expert at home that can help me out if I ever need it. :)
NOW, I just need a really good name. I would prefer something really cute and not name associated but of course I can't come up with anything. So if you guys have any suggestions, I'd LOVE to hear them!!!!! Right now I'm stuck on SMW Photography, which is so unoriginal but safe =) and definitely not cutesy lol I'm also mulling over Primrose Photography. I think it sounds cute and, well, you can imagine the inspiration behind the name. tee hee!
What's absolutely hysterical and totally random, is that in the very same week I decided to go official, my bil sent out an email saying he had made the very same decision! So while he has a full time job, he would do photography on evenings and weekends. But really, what are the odds???? Even more awesome since we can share info and resources. I'm still cracking up, I mean, really? What are the chances.
K!!! Don't forget me if you come up with something cute! :)
Our Little Man Made Beach
So, we have this beautiful park just like 2 miles from our house in a new(ish) development. This development is supposed to appeal to the super successful, young, yuppies in Utah, tripling the population of our town. The houses sit on top of each other and there is a quaint little shopping and dining area within walking distance of the residential areas. There is a 65 acre park/lake there that has a 2.5 mile walking loop with multiple bridges that cross over this lake. There is a boating area, fishing area and 2 parks along with a couple of "beaches". Here's the best part of it all: You're not allowed to be in the water. =) =) =) SO, you tell me the purpose of having a beach if you're not allowed to dip your toes in. And you tell me HOW on earth you're supposed to keep a kid OUT of the water??? Pretty much impossible, so we will no longer be visiting this "beach". Freaks me out that there are like nasty chemicals in the water or something, why else would they prohibit residents/visitors from wading? Oh, this is where our gymnastics center is.
Anyway, before I realized this, Jocelyn and I went to visit our little beach a couple days ago and before I realized you're not allowed in the water, I totally let her play in it. I got a couple of really cute pictures and wanted to share.
I just discovered a reservoir not too far from us, so from now on we will be sticking to splash pads and also visit this reservoir.
It is a little bit crazy how much I love and adore this feisty little 3 ft being. I almost can't even imagine bringing another one into this world. Like it somehow won't be fair to her. It hasn't even happened yet and I already feel guilty about having to divide my attention in the future. And while I've always wanted 3 kids, it's just so perfect right now with just one. She's my perfect little baby (errr, toddler) and I would never, in a million years, trade her personality for a different one, even if would be easier. She is SO much stinkin' fun and really, for as feisty as she is, pretty obedient. More so with daddy, but you know....that's something mommy has to work on :) lol I actually have a lot of anxiety about having another one, not because I'm afraid I can't handle it....but because I feel bad for J. And my heart is SO full with just her. I know that my heart will grow and make equal amounts of room for each child, but it's just so hard to imagine since I don't know first hand.
AND I can't believe how fast she's growing up!! *sniff sniff*
Anyway, before I realized this, Jocelyn and I went to visit our little beach a couple days ago and before I realized you're not allowed in the water, I totally let her play in it. I got a couple of really cute pictures and wanted to share.
I just discovered a reservoir not too far from us, so from now on we will be sticking to splash pads and also visit this reservoir.
It is a little bit crazy how much I love and adore this feisty little 3 ft being. I almost can't even imagine bringing another one into this world. Like it somehow won't be fair to her. It hasn't even happened yet and I already feel guilty about having to divide my attention in the future. And while I've always wanted 3 kids, it's just so perfect right now with just one. She's my perfect little baby (errr, toddler) and I would never, in a million years, trade her personality for a different one, even if would be easier. She is SO much stinkin' fun and really, for as feisty as she is, pretty obedient. More so with daddy, but you know....that's something mommy has to work on :) lol I actually have a lot of anxiety about having another one, not because I'm afraid I can't handle it....but because I feel bad for J. And my heart is SO full with just her. I know that my heart will grow and make equal amounts of room for each child, but it's just so hard to imagine since I don't know first hand.
AND I can't believe how fast she's growing up!! *sniff sniff*
20 Months
I seriously cannot believe how time flies. Jocelyn is now 20 months old and I feel like I just gave birth last week. Especially after seeing pics of a friend's new baby, all those memories come rushing back, clear as day! I can't believe that was nearly 2 years ago. Seriously.
So much to update on since I've been slacking on posts this month, I don't even know where to begin.
Jocelyn has been talking up a storm, and while putting words together to sort of form sentences, they are mostly phrases that she hears us say than really putting many together herself. Most of what she says is only understood by mom and dad, or anyone that is around her often enough to figure it out. She is starting to say words more clearly though and it's really a lot of fun to listen to what she picks up on. :)
She is one super feisty child, but so majorly fun loving and affectionate. She is very kissy and huggy, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Makes dealing with the feisty a little easier :) lol And while she still will not talk to a stranger, she will hug someone if they ask for one. :)
We are in the stage right now where possession is a huge deal. Not just her possessions, but anyone's. If she knows an object belongs to someone in particular and sees someone else with it, holy moly she is hell bend on taking it from that person and returning it to the owner. This goes for everything and everyone. So, imagine when the object belongs to her :) This is a fun stage! lol I just feel bad for the other kids, since none of them quite understand the concept of sharing and get upset on both sides. If you have any super magical hints, I'd love to hear them! Right now, we're just focusing on not expressing any negative behaviors even though we are upset: ie, pushing, hitting, screaming. Right now, she still does not hit other kids. She's just starting to push a little, pushing them back out of her way if they're reaching for something that's hers more than just full on pushing to be mean. My favorite is when another kid is being aggressive, instead of hitting/pushing back she gets within inches of their face and just screams. lol I have to admit, it's a little bit funny and I'm proud she's not being physical but I obviously cannot encourage this behavior either.
Fortunately, she is really good at saying "sorry" and giving hugs. Also fortunate, that we're not dealing with this super often.
Our biggest struggles right now are bed time and eating. I don't think eating is ever going to get any better, she is just a super picky child as I was. This is where I say, I don't know how my mom did it. Holy smokes. The anxiety over her not eating all the food groups or different color veggies or everything organic that I try to cook for her. All the wasted money & food, but more importantly I can't say I'm really sure how she's still growing and still so chubby at that :) lol The child doesn't eat.
Bedtime. Well, she sleeps awesome through the night, she's always been an awesome sleeper. Our issue is that it takes her 1-2 hours to fall asleep. Lately, when Mike puts her down she doesn't fight it. She lays down without tossing/turning or playing around and it takes him NO time at all. It's really pretty frustrating for me. A friend of ours just suggested that he put her to bed every night until she is just used to the routine. I think that is the perfect solution actually, it will get her adjusted to getting down to business and not fighting it. Maybe in a couple of weeks when I try again, she'll just have it down. Not so sure Mike will be game :) We shall see.
Mike surprised me on Easter, we had a little talk about having #2. I had no idea, but apparently he's been ready to have another one!!! I've been saying we would visit the topic when Jocelyn turned 3, until then we were happy with just 1. How did I not know?? lol And he would probably kill me for airing that news on the web. :) Anyway, I say that to say this: I need Jocelyn to get to bed in less than 30 minutes before I bring along a newborn. There is just NO way this is going to work out with a new baby. So hopefully we get this all worked out soon. That and potty training.
So potty training: Is actually going pretty awesome. When we are at home and she can run around naked, she's actually gone to sit on her potty all by herself to do her business without any prompting. When she's wearing a diaper, she tells me and we have to go sit on the big potty. We are definitely not super consistent yet and most of this is my fault. If I could just force myself to stay inside 24/7 for at least a week, I'm pretty sure she'll be fully potty trained. But this weather has just been awesome, so we've been spending all of our time outside.
Sorry this was so super long. Just wanted to post an update!!
Couple more posts coming tonight =)
So much to update on since I've been slacking on posts this month, I don't even know where to begin.
Jocelyn has been talking up a storm, and while putting words together to sort of form sentences, they are mostly phrases that she hears us say than really putting many together herself. Most of what she says is only understood by mom and dad, or anyone that is around her often enough to figure it out. She is starting to say words more clearly though and it's really a lot of fun to listen to what she picks up on. :)
She is one super feisty child, but so majorly fun loving and affectionate. She is very kissy and huggy, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Makes dealing with the feisty a little easier :) lol And while she still will not talk to a stranger, she will hug someone if they ask for one. :)
We are in the stage right now where possession is a huge deal. Not just her possessions, but anyone's. If she knows an object belongs to someone in particular and sees someone else with it, holy moly she is hell bend on taking it from that person and returning it to the owner. This goes for everything and everyone. So, imagine when the object belongs to her :) This is a fun stage! lol I just feel bad for the other kids, since none of them quite understand the concept of sharing and get upset on both sides. If you have any super magical hints, I'd love to hear them! Right now, we're just focusing on not expressing any negative behaviors even though we are upset: ie, pushing, hitting, screaming. Right now, she still does not hit other kids. She's just starting to push a little, pushing them back out of her way if they're reaching for something that's hers more than just full on pushing to be mean. My favorite is when another kid is being aggressive, instead of hitting/pushing back she gets within inches of their face and just screams. lol I have to admit, it's a little bit funny and I'm proud she's not being physical but I obviously cannot encourage this behavior either.
Fortunately, she is really good at saying "sorry" and giving hugs. Also fortunate, that we're not dealing with this super often.
Our biggest struggles right now are bed time and eating. I don't think eating is ever going to get any better, she is just a super picky child as I was. This is where I say, I don't know how my mom did it. Holy smokes. The anxiety over her not eating all the food groups or different color veggies or everything organic that I try to cook for her. All the wasted money & food, but more importantly I can't say I'm really sure how she's still growing and still so chubby at that :) lol The child doesn't eat.
Bedtime. Well, she sleeps awesome through the night, she's always been an awesome sleeper. Our issue is that it takes her 1-2 hours to fall asleep. Lately, when Mike puts her down she doesn't fight it. She lays down without tossing/turning or playing around and it takes him NO time at all. It's really pretty frustrating for me. A friend of ours just suggested that he put her to bed every night until she is just used to the routine. I think that is the perfect solution actually, it will get her adjusted to getting down to business and not fighting it. Maybe in a couple of weeks when I try again, she'll just have it down. Not so sure Mike will be game :) We shall see.
Mike surprised me on Easter, we had a little talk about having #2. I had no idea, but apparently he's been ready to have another one!!! I've been saying we would visit the topic when Jocelyn turned 3, until then we were happy with just 1. How did I not know?? lol And he would probably kill me for airing that news on the web. :) Anyway, I say that to say this: I need Jocelyn to get to bed in less than 30 minutes before I bring along a newborn. There is just NO way this is going to work out with a new baby. So hopefully we get this all worked out soon. That and potty training.
So potty training: Is actually going pretty awesome. When we are at home and she can run around naked, she's actually gone to sit on her potty all by herself to do her business without any prompting. When she's wearing a diaper, she tells me and we have to go sit on the big potty. We are definitely not super consistent yet and most of this is my fault. If I could just force myself to stay inside 24/7 for at least a week, I'm pretty sure she'll be fully potty trained. But this weather has just been awesome, so we've been spending all of our time outside.
Sorry this was so super long. Just wanted to post an update!!
Couple more posts coming tonight =)
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