"POTTY" like a RockSt★r

my "potty" rockstar

Well, we did it!! we are officially potty trained here in our household, it was a process of many...many...many months and down to an ultimatum(we were at the end of our diaper pack and you knew she was ready when she opts not to use the big girl potty cause she knows she has a diaper on!! so we took the risk and went straight to big girl underwear) and we did it!! YAHOOOOO! so we threw our first ever "potty" party! We invited all of Addison's friends to come and "potty" like rockstars with us:) What a fun way to celebrate my lil girl!! Good job baby girl!! mommy and daddy love you:)

the spread...

the party favor: big kid underwear, potty treats, and a fun Kazoo to let cheer them on when they go potty!!

snack time

Our 'Lil Brody Bear

I am 2 months old today!! I have grown 2 inches and have put on a little weight. I love to smile and coo and ca with you if you let me. Mama says I am the best baby ever and the cutest..ok I might've added that last part, what, I can't help I am so adorable:) ... I have the BEST sister in the whole world, she loves me to pieces, literally, her favorite thing to do is to pounce on me to give me kisses and tries to wake me up by screaming at the top of her lungs..."WAAKE UPPP!!" She knows how to keep mom and dad on their toes that's for sure!

 

here is a game I like to play often, its called "Caption This Ma":

"...you don't want to see what happend to the other guy"

"What'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?"

with lots of love...

a month ago today we welcomed our newest addition to the family...Brody Richard

weighing in at 9lbs 6oz

&

21 1/2 inches long

(pictures @annitorriniphotography)

WHAAAT?!!!???

Below is by far the funniest moment I have had with our little girl! We were waiting at the doctors office for her 2yr check up and she figured out that she can open the door and run in and out of the room. I asked her to come back into the room with me and she comes around the corner with her hands on her hips and exclaims "WHAAAT?!!??" and then proceeds to walk out of the room like she owns the place!! :)

 

 

 

 

baby boy VerStrate

Here is our little bundle of joy growing ever so fast in my tummy.

I am now 26 weeks. I am guessing I have a future NFL Kicker growing in my tummy or he is getting way tooo much chocolate:) The doctors can't even get him to keep still long enough to take his heart beat. I feel him move all through out the day and into the night. He is going to have to learn quickly that when 10 o'clock in the evening comes it is sleepy time for mommy NOT play time!! I still have my cravings, most of my pregnancy I have craved popcorn, beer( I don't even like beer and don't freak out if you are reading this...I have not had any beer to drink, just a weird craving), and pickles. Lately it has been funnel cakes, and strawberries with Nutella chocolate!! Addison is very excited for her little brother to arrive, she loves going to the doctors with me to hear his heartbeat, she talks with him, tries to hold mommies belly saying "I hold brouder", and will give zurberts to mommy's tummy and tickle my tummy saying she is getting baby brouder:) The cutest is when she hugs my belly and gives it kisses and telling her baby brother "love you brouder"

Going through the Scary moments...

Over the last week I have witnessed what no mom likes to go through, watching their little girl(or boy) go through a scary moment.  :-(
When Addison was playing on a small trike at her grandparents in MI,  she turned the handle bars and she started to go down a hill, she started going faster, a small cry turned into a blood curdling scream and then crashed! I couldn't get to her fast enough, but when I did I held her so tight and cuddled her for hours.  Her scream is what haunts you as a mom. You wish your child would never have to go through a scary moment but they are bound to happen. Scary for them and for you.

A Dancer, A Baker, A Construction Demolition Maker!

We have been having so much fun watching a our little girl learn new skills and discover new things in life. 

She has recently found a love of dancing! If dancing with the stars is on TV she is right there dancing along with the dancers, if music is playing of the radio she is most likely dancing away, and she has this toy tractor that plays 10 secs of music, yes she is pushing that button over and over and telling mommy and daddy to join her on the dance floor and dance with her:) here is a short video of her and her friend dancing away sorry it is a sideways view....

She aslo has a love for cooking or baking with mommy and daddy. She really loves helping daddy mix egg as she calls it Saturday mornings while making breakfast.  She pulls the chair to the side of the counter climbs up and and insists on helping us:)

We love to play with blocks around our house, build them up as high as we can and then Addison will come along and torpedo them all down to the ground!! She recently has started identifying each color that is on the block. The other day we were playing with the big duplo lego blocks and Rich was trying to teach her how to build symetrical(don't ask its an engineer thing) he had a tower going pretty good all the way up to the ceiling and here comes Addison to PLOW right through it all:)

A few other things that Addison loves to do is play in water(whether it is a puddle the size of a quater or a big pool of water, she is in it:) ) bounce around on anything she can make bounce, eating corn on the cob, taking care of her dolls/stuffed animals and making sure they have a clean diaper on, blowing bubbles, coloring, and she also has started using 2-4 word sentences!! Here are a few more pictures to enjoy!!

18 months and Growing

Ok, I know everyone who has a kid says this, but I will say it anyway...Wow I can't believe our baby girl is growing up so fast!! I know it has only been 18months but a lot happens in that time!!
Her vocabulary is accumulating new words almost daily!! (This would be a pretty long blog post if I wrote all the words down) but here are a few new words she says...luv you, up pease, help pease, close, plate, fork, hungry,coat, & night night, just to name a few. She also has the anatomy of the head down as well; head, hair, eyes, mouth, ears and nose!!
Some of her favorite things to do is color, play with her friends, go for walks, playing at the park, playing outside(morning, noon and night...I often get walked to the door bright and early in the morning by my little girl as she is saying "side, side...go!"), hanging out with daddy, helping mommy around the house, playing dress up, bouncing in her chair, and talking on the phone(even if no one is on the other end)!!
Addison's biggest milestone this last week is going peepee and poopoo on the BIG girl potty!! The first time she walked daddy to the bathroom and pointed at the toilet saying "poo" so he put down her Elmo seat and put her up there and a few minutes later she went potty!! (This is probably TMI but we are just so excited for her and very surprised!!) There were a few other times she let us know she had to go, it is still a learning curve and I'm sure we have a long, long, long way to go before she gets to big girl panties!!

"Keeys"

Our conversation's lately first thing in the morning and ALL through out the day goes like this...

Addison: Side(outside)

mom: no not yet(when she is asking to go out at 6 in the morning)

Addison: keeys pease---Side(outside)

mom: no you don't need those

Addison: starts to cry and pout like I just crushed her excitment to go outside with the keys!!

I didn't think this was suppose to happen until she turned 16!! She is only 1! We found out today that she can walk up to the car and try to open the car door and then once inside(as you will see below) crawl into the driver seat and place the keys in the ignition!! Oh boy!! We are in TROUBLE!!

A Prayer for My Daughter

I pray that you seek God daily and know in your heart that you were created by Him, that you are His Master Piece. You were fearfully and wonderfully made, blameless before God.  Give her the strength to not fall prey in letting the world define who she is. Help her to see her true beauty and self-worth. My precious baby girl, you ARE God’s creation – beautiful, strong and created with a unique plan and purpose.

You are:

• Created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27)

• Fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)

• Precious and honored in His sight.(Isaiah 43:4)

• Redeemed and forgiven. (Ephesians1:7)

• A new creature in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

• Holy and blameless before God. (Ephesians 1:4, 1 Corinthians 1:30)

• Chosen by God. (1 Peter 2:9)

• God’s masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)

• Created with purpose to do great works for God’s Kingdom. (Ephesians 2:10)

(this prayer was inspired by a Proverbs 31 daily reading)

"Dents"

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:13 NIV

Wow!!! Do you ever have those devotions when you feel like God just gave you a Holy Spirit butt kicking?!!?? Well today's quiet time with God was one good swift kick in a good way:) I am kinda embarassed to even blog about it, but here I am...I signed up to get emails from this Proverbs 31 ministry and todays email was titled "seeing beyond the dent".  It started out with a verse from Thesselonians 5:11 "encourage one another and build each otherwise up..." When I first read the verse I was like well duh...I am great at encouraging and building others up. Then I read the story  that followed the verse and that is when I felt HORRIBLE!!! This gut wrenching feeling that I sat there and thought that is sooo me!! Ugggggg, I am not fan when I am correctted on things!! Who is...I mean do I really have to be encouraging when I don't like what someone is doing or saying!! I don't know about you but sometimes ivket my mind go on spin cycle(like the washing machine) and I let one little sent turn into one gigantic dent, when all I could've done is looked past the dent and looked for the good!!! Ok Lord...I get it!! :-)
I will let you read the story for yourself(I encourage you too) but the just of it was that too often when  "dents"  are present in situations or in people ,we are more likely to be critical or judgemental of that person or situation. So, instead of just seeing the "dent" to look past it and encourage or build up the situation you are in!!!  Whew!! I am thankful that God DOES see the good in me and He is not critical or condemning, instead He celebrates the progress I make. Lord give me Your strength to look past the dents in life and to be an encourager.

Mo...Cookcaa...MOooo

While my parents visit to New York to see my sister, on a an outing one day they ran into Addison's FAVORITE Sesame Street Characters:)  Elmo and Cookie Monster. (pretty sure if we had a name that Elmo tune contest, I would win. I could sing you his songs forwards and backwards...oh ya I could sing them in my sleep!!) I showed her the picture they took standing next to them and she was sooo excited to see Mo(elmo) and Cookcaa(cooking monster) 

Betty Crocker in the Making!

Hiee! Momma thinks I am napping... little does she know I snuck into the computer room and found my way to write this post!! Hehee:)
I love helping my mom out in the kitchen...especially getting into the bread drawer(I see she already told you about that in another post) oh and pulling all the pot holders out, and when I can,  rearrange her spice rack(dad put a lock on that draw too so when mom opens it...BAMM! I right there to help her pick out a spice or two!!) 

Now that I am a "big" girl she lets me help her when she bakes yummy food:) The other day she let me help make Rice Krispy Treats!! Who knew they were so easy to make!! Here are a few pictures of me making Rice Krispy Treats with her!! I am such a big helper...

First we measured out the Rice Krispies

                              Then you dump the marshmallows in...

momma says every good cook tastes what they are making...so I had to test out a marshmallow or two!

no worries, momma didn't turn the stove on, she was lettin' me practice stirring!!

CHEEEEESE!

The best part....Lickin' the spoon(can't let any of those krispy treats go to waste)

The Bread Drawer

"The path to becoming a better parent-like most every road to personal growth and mastery begins with self-examination." -Dr. John Gottman

A valuable lesson was learned today at my MOPS meeting this morning with me and my bread drawer! I know this sounds crazy but stick with me here...This drawer between 4pm and 5pm is my daughter and I's nemisis. It is during these hours that I am either trying to get dinner ready, tidy up the kitchen so I can start on dinner, or she is getting hungry, and or we are waiting for dad to get home. Little ms. Addison knows that she is not suppose to get into this drawer and will at times shake her head saying "no,no, no, no" while opening the bread drawer up(as I am doing any of the above in the kitchen). Why can't she get into the bread drawer??? you ask, well she likes the take the bread out, squezze it and hug it and bite into it...DRIVES ME BONKERS!!!! I don't know why, but right around the same time everyday, we seem to arrive upon this stressful moment almost daily in our house. My frustration levels rise and I feel like pulling my hair out at times. I try to discpline and teach her NO, then feel like the worst parent in the world for yelling at my child, for what...playing in the bread drawer! 
What did I learn...To let go of the situation, what is the real issue with the bread drawer? Is it because she is in harms way, no, is it because she is trying to rebell against me, no, it's because mom doesn't have control over the situation and I let myself get so frustrated that I allow it to be pointed towards her.. I need to remember that I don't have to be in control of this bread drawer...its bread for crying out loud!! so we have smushed bread, all I am doing is creating a negative environment for me and her and is not healthy for our relationship. Yes, my child needs to learn discipline and boundaries, but I need to learn to not be so controlling over something so little...OK...I admit...I tend to be a control freak as some would say.  I also learned to remember that after correcting my child I need to follow with a connection! That discipline or teaching boundaries with your kids should not just be about correcting, correcting, correcting, we need to make whatever the situation is a teaching moment and a moment to build on your relationship, that after you have lost it or "trying" to correct your little one by simpling hugging them and telling them, "mommy loves you, but at times I will say no and you might not understand right now, but just know that I still love you and always will!! "

Blanket(s) are FUN!!

Here is a fun little video of Addison playing with one of her many blankets:) our little girl sure does keep us laughing:)

Watch "Fun with a blanket!" on YouTube
(Click on the above link to see video...I'm still learning all this video upload stuff:) )

waiting.....

As I was doing my quiet time today with God, sharing all my doubts and fears, this song started going through my head
I'm waiting, I'm waiting on You Lord And I am Hopeful, I'm waiting on You Lord Though it is painful, But patiently I will wait
And I will move ahead bold and confident Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting I will serve You While I'm waiting I will worship While I'm waiting I will not faint I'll be running the race even while I wait
I'm waiting, I'm waiting on You Lord and I am peaceful, I'm waiting on You Lord Though it's not easy no, but faithfully I will wait Yes, I will wait
And I will move ahead bold and confident Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting I will serve You While I'm waiting I will worship While I'm waiting I will not faint
And I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting on You Lord
I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting
Song by John Waller

super woman vs abiding

Say Whaaat?!!?

such a fun stage we are in with our little girl:) she is starting to sound more words out and has added a few more words to her vocabulary!! When it comes to names she can only get out the end part...so for her friend Summer is "merr" and Elmo is "mo" :-) oh and everything seems to be "ought" for hot, and you will find her blowing on whatever is "ought" to cool it down:)  Here are a few of her recent favorites:


"AT" for hat

"Coookie"

All Grown Up!???!!

Addison and I were out shopping the other day and stopped to get pizza for lunch. We sat down to eat our pizza and as usual I will cut the pizza up into small bites for her so she can pick them up with her hand or try to stab the pieces with her fork. To my dismay she started to throw a fit and swiping her arms across her tray like she did not want them(keep in mind pizza is one of her favs) and she kept pointing to the plate on the table(where the rest of the pizza was) I soon realized she wanted to eat like mom and hold the entire slice of pizza in her own two hands!!! Or in her words..."enough with the baby bites mom...I want the whole slice!!!"

Here's to My Girlfriends!!

Girlfriend Motto
Girlfriends honor us and our choices ~although they may not agree~ Girlfriends live without judgment. Girlfriends live without jealousy. Girlfriends honor confidences. Girlfriends lift us up without rescuing us. Girlfriends always live in truth ~and that truth being spoken in love~ Girlfriends Celebrate our differences. Girlfriends know how to listen. Just listen. Girlfriends know how to love themselves and so then are able to love us ~unconditionally~ Girlfriends Celebrate! ~Rachel

I am not sure why we don't celebrate our girlfriends more often!!(me especially) I was talking with one of my girlfriends recently and she felt bad for bringing up a touchy subject with me. I then realized that, that is why God gave us girlfriends, to talk about our "touchy" subjects in life. To go through life as we call it together. I am not sure about you but I tend to put walls up around certain areas of my life becuase I don't want to "burden" others with it. But He uses our life lessons to help and even encourage others. I have also learned that if I do open up with what is going on with me, it is bound to happen that one of my girlfriends are going through the same thing!! I am so blessed to be surrounded by a great group of women who are there to cheer me on, cry with me, and laugh with me. Thank you ladies!!