Titi V Comes to Arkansas

V trying on shoes to match the dress she just bought.

Both of us trying on shoes. :-)

Thanks, Nine West saleslady for taking the picture and humoring us.

So, a few weeks ago, one of my best friends from dance class/ballet company in Victoria (we've known eachother since we were 6), Veronica (Titi V to the kids) called to ask if she could come visit us since she found a great flight deal and could redeem a bunch of miles. I said SURE! (We don't get a lot of visitors up here! Although we have had both of our families here over the summer, and that was a treat!)

Anyways, she flew in on Friday night and stayed until Monday afternoon. It was awesome having her here. I'm not sure if she came more to hang out with me or with the kids, but that doesn't really matter. :-) Saturday, the whole family went to the gym. V and I took Zumba, Aaron worked out, and the kids played in the YAC (youth activities center). We had a blast in Zumba (that we paid for in soreness later) and then we came home to relax. We had family photos scheduled for that afternoon at 4, but the weather was storming/raining off and on, and we ended up postponing them till Sunday. So, instead of taking pictures that afternoon, we went and got pizza and did a little Duggar stalking. She is a HUGE fan of "19 Kids and Counting" and just the Duggars in general...and since they live just a town away, we told her we could drive down 71B in Springdale and show her Josh and Anna's car lot. We don't know where the house is, so we didn't officially stalk them, just pseudo stalked. ;-)

Sunday, we went to church, and came home to relax a while before trying "take two" of fall family photos. The weather ended up cooperating beautifully. We went down to the Fayetteville square, and our friends George and Terae (Terae has done all of our family photo shoots since the kids were born. She's super flexible and we've been so happy with all of the pictures.) came out to meet us around 4. We got some great family and candid shots in, and Alec and Emma had a blast playing with the leaves, all of the foliage, and a little waterfall pond thingy. Emma actually ended up slipping a leg into the water (oops), but other than that I think we got some great shots. I can't wait to see them. After that we picked up Sonic and came home to relax the rest of the night. V introduced me to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (don't know that I'll ever be able to watch it again, they are so obnoxious.)

Monday, Aaron went to work as usual, and V and I took the kids to MDO. We went and ran some errands, got breakfast, and went shopping at the Promenade. She was able to find a super fabulous dress and shoes for a photo shoot that she and Dr. Dan are doing in New Orleans (belated engagement pics). And she bought Dan a dress shirt from Banana Republic as his "gift from Arkansas." Maybe when he's done with his residency and things simmer down, he can come visit us too...and give us free checkups...JUST KIDDING!

V and Dr. Dan are both blessing Houston with their careers daily. He uses his skills to heal people, and she uses hers to educate high school kids who would most likely be "lost in the system" otherwise. She teaches Spanish at Cristo Rey, a Jesuit charter school that is focused on giving students practical real world work experience while they get their high school education and prep for college. These are low-income kids who are able to go to school there because they are actually motivated. They go to school four days, and work one day. It sounds like an amazing opportunity for the kids who are attending there.

And this brings me to the fact that I have been pondering going back to school and getting certified to teach. I've been considering doing this for a while, but it's just deciding on when to start. For now, I am perfectly happy being with my munchkins, but at some point they will start school, and I will probably want to be doing some kind of work. I will never go back to teaching dance full time in the evenings, because that cuts out all of our family time. Who knows? It's definitely something I am praying about regarding the what and the when. Well, that about sums up our weekend. We had a great time with Titi, and are all really glad that she paid us a visit!

Potty Party

I can't really even believe that I am able to write this post. Just as a refresher, on Sept. 17th, Aaron "announced" that it was time to put the kids in some underwear and really get going with this potty training thing. By the 22nd, Alec was basically good to "go!" He was telling us everytime he had to peepee, and was doing great!

Emma on the other hand, really had no interest in peeing on the potty (though every great once in a while, she'd humor us). She didn't want to make it her new default setting. She was comfortable with diapers, and it wasn't HER idea to use this potty thing. Anyways, I let off of her, and just focused on praising brother and helping him along.

The last few weekends, Aaron has put her in underwear again and tried to get her to comply (by freaking her out everytime she'd wet herself- she'd have a total cow...but not really want to change it by going to the potty). Last weekend, she was especially stubborn, throwing some major fits when we'd even ask her to sit down on it. We decided to dig our heels in and try to push through. After MDO on Monday, I put her back in panties, and did the same Tuesday and Wednesday. I decided I would not put a diaper on her, even if it killed me. She...and brother, went through every single pair of underwear that we have (7 for Emma, and 10 for Alec). All I did was clean up messes, and try to encourage, and deal with the knock-down-drag-out fights that Emma put up a few times. Alec wasn't having big accidents, just little whittles here and there...so I'd change them out.

Anyways, I was thinking that I just didn't have it in me to fight her much more, and I was starting to feel puny. My throat was killing me and I felt like I was coming down with something. Thursday morning, I felt so bad, that I was like "forget it, let her wear diapers...because I can't do this today." Well, I don't know what happened. I've always maintained that Emma will do what Emma wants to do when Emma is good and ready to do it...and apparently God really had mercy on me, because all of a sudden on Thursday morning when I took Alec to use the bathroom after he got up, Emma trotted in like it was no big thing, and plopped down on the potty to pee. ???? Holy smokes! After days of freaking out everytime I'd ask her if she wanted to use the potty, she voluntarily did it. I was so darn happy, and she was really proud of herself too. Ever since yesterday morning, she has either gone when brother has gone, or told us she needed to go. No accidents. No griping. No drama. I don't know what happened, but something clicked. They are really cute because they congratulate eachother when they go and they help give eachother a candy corn as a potty treat.

Now, let me just mention that they are not poopy trained. Alec will go in the toilet every once in a while, but they both have a hard time doing that on the potty. We are trying to transition them to doing that too, but I'd rather that they go and not get constipated, then try to force it and have them hold it all in. Sorry if that grosses anyone out, but its just the way it is. Kinda hard to get grossed out once you've had kids. You deal with every bodily fluid imaginable on a regular basis...sooooooo.

This has been a process that has really tested our parental ability and patience. I don't think we've had it too rough. There were a few days of insanity, but I've heard stories of kids that have taken years to potty train. I'm not saying it's done, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. When they really are completely trained, I feel like I should have an honorary degree conferred upon me by the American Academy of Pediatrics or something. I think anyone who has potty trained a child should.

Jai Ho

When the kids were about 6 months old, one of Aaron's co-workers went home to visit India, and returned with a beautiful outfit for each of the kids. We have been waiting for them to fit into them. A few weeks ago, we decked them out in their beautiful Indian clothes for church. They are such beautiful outfits, and Alec and Emma looked just adorable in them. Daddy got some great pictures. I love the first two. They look so Bollywood!

Teamwork

Alec: Hey Sissy, I have an idea. We should slide down head first.

Emma: What?! That's crazy! Let's do it.

Cool.

Wee!

It's All About Attitude

Here is my Emma in an outfit that must have been made for her. We've had it for a while, but she just now fits into it. I LOVE how it just captures the essence of Emma! Too bad she wasn't around in that getup when we were shooting our 80's video to "We Built This City" in college!