Happy 21st Birthday Marika!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day:) I wish I could be there to share it with you, but alas, I'm all grown up. At any rate, you're a rockstar and you know it, have a blast (but be safe!).

We love you and if you come and visit us soon I'll make you kraut burgers...

Live it up!

Catching up on pics and what-not...

It has taken me some time, but I finally downloaded pictures off our digital camera. I don't know why I drag my feet in doing it, every single time, but at long last it's done! So, here are some pics:)
Helping put sugar on cookies right before Christmas. Jose was a huge help that day!

Chugging eggnog after Christmas Eve service. Josie loved the stuff and couldn't get enough this year.

Not the best pic, but it lets you see how pretty her Christmas dress was...

And the back of her dress...

Sitting on the couch displaying some of her loot after opening presents on Christmas Eve...

Honestly, don't you think it's hard to be THIS COOL?

Cabelas Rules!!!


Checking out the llama at National Western Stock Show, the lady who owned it held it later for Josie to pet, she still wans't sure what to think though.

Josie at the rodeo, she slept all the way through, only waking up at the very end in time for the barrel racing and bull riding.

All the way to Denver to see new things and what does Josie want to do? Look at tractors:)!

Being a princess... She walked around like this ALL DAY LONG the other day!


Chillin' like a villain...




Also, in other news, the big girl bed is a success! Her first night was Saturday a week ago, and she has yet to get up and wander in the middle of the night! She loves it and gets excited to take naps now:) Her duvet cover is purple (I actually sewed it myself!) and she has all sorts of pillows that I made to match with Tinkerbell, Cinderella, some random princesses, and stars. It's a pretty cool bed if I say so myself. I need to take pictures so that I can show everyone...

Also, potty training update: not so much success so far. She did go poo-poo in the potty last week but other than that, nothing. It's okay, we have lots of time. She does understand that there are "no more diapers" and she wears underpants (training pants) now. We just have to work on the going in the potty part! Also, no more worries about her dipping her booty in the water. Apparently the "seat" part of her little kiddie potty is designed to fit into the seat of the big people potty so now she perches up there like a princess on her throne (pun intended) and reads. We did get her a potty book that she thinks is pretty cool, so cross your fingers for us!

Josie is going to be two on Friday too! I know, I know, ALREADY! We're going to be having her party at 2 on Saturday, nothing fancy, just cake and ice cream for anyone who would like to stop by. Call first though so I know how many cakes we'll need!

Enter the.... potty!

So, we have officially started potty training. Sunday was our first "real" day of it. I had the packs of training pants ready to go in the closet and I told Josie when her diapers were gone she was going to wear big girl underpants and go in the big girl potty. As if...

Actually she's doing really well. We have yet to go in the potty, but she's cool with pulling down her little pants, and little underpants (I can't call them panties for some reason, it makes them sound so grown up, like you know- teenage girls wear panties! So we're going with underpants which is handy because underpants rhymes well with lots of things)... Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Josie is very good at sitting on the potty, she was all about flushing it too, until I told her she can only flush if she does something in it.

I think Josie is ready, and I'm cool with this being a long-drawn-out process. I mean, it's not like we have another kid on the way or anything so we may as well take or time. Josie is ready because 1. The minuet she wets or messes her diaper she tells me "Mommy, diaper change". If she can do that I think she can tell me she needs to go, we just have to work on it. 2. She has this new thing about anyone but me changing her diapers. Let's face, it, that's just annoying. Grandma Debbie was here and totally capable of doing it, plus she wanted to, but would Josie let her? Nope. Mommy got to do it instead. 3. She likes to flush and wipe (she's been doing that for awhile) and she knows what the potty is for.
So- we begin our journey!

Yesterday though, Josie decided that she no longer wanted to sit on her little "trainer" potty, she wanted to sit on the big potty like Mommy and Daddy. This is okay, but makes me nervous (I have visions of her dipping her little booty in the water). So we turned her potty into a step stool (luckily I had the fore-thought to buy one that converts) and she sits on the big people potty. It's pretty cute.

Also, since I'm all about rewards (I know, I spoil) she gets a sticker for every successful sit-down on the potty (it was a battle, I needed a prize for good behavior) and she will get a sucker on the event that she ever poo's or peepee's in the potty. Cross your fingers for us!