Potty training is still the big part of our world right now. We are doing pretty well, but was met with some resistance earlier today and an accident on the floor which hasn't happened in awhile. I'm running out of motivators! We are expecting a potty time video any day now so maybe that will help. I think the resistance was due to allergies kicking in resulting in lots of sneezing and coughing and therefore, a pretty tired girl. She only napped for an hour and half today, so now we have a tired girl and a tired mommy. Thankfully, my sister is coming in town this weekend so hopefully she can help me.

Each day it seems to be getting harder and harder to get around. I feel so huge! I officially handed over Aubrey's bath time to Mark since I can't seem to bend down anymore to do that. I guess she'll be getting a bath about once a week now - - - just kidding! I go to the dr. again Monday so we'll see how things are going. Having good and bad days now and definitely counting down the weeks. I think I enjoyed being pregnant with Aubrey up until the last 2 weeks of pregnancy and this time I'm so over it! Must be the heat.

Here's the funniest story of the week: My sister Court was home with Madi and she had her best friend Kinsley over for the day. Court asked them if they wanted grilled cheese for lunch, which is pretty much Courtney's specialty and Kinsley excitedly said 'yes'! Madi looks over at Kinsley and says, ' my mom's grilled cheese is not like your mom's.' Court is like, 'hey - what's wrong with my grilled cheese?' The girls decide that that is still what they want for lunch so Courtney grills them up. When she puts Madison's in front of her, she points to the brown part where the butter is and says, ' you see Mom, this is what scares me about your grilled cheese'.

Dr.'s appt this week - was there for 3 1/2 hours. Thank goodness Mark was with me (though I'm not sure he was all that happy about it!). Made the time go by a little better. Was feeling bad on Sunday like the baby was really really low - too low - and I got all scared that I was going to have to go to bed for the last 10 weeks of this pregnancy. So, dr. did all kinds of test, hooked me up to a fetal monitor and did another sonogram. Everything is fine, but baby's head is pretty low so she told me to really take it easy for the next few weeks. No more crazy visits to Target as mentioned in last blog! Pretty good timing since I should stay home more and concentrate on this potty training. But, it's just hard when you are used to being so busy. In fact, probably should be resting right now since Aubrey is napping and I swear I will as soon as I finish this entry!

Other than that, we are still concentrating on potty time. Aubrey is doing really good when we are home, but it's hard when we get out somewhere. I'm sure we'll get there soon. I'm not in any hurry, but I just worry that I'm not doing it right and my actions are setting her back. Parenting is hard because you just second guess yourself so much! Thank goodness we have such a good network of friends and family that have been through or are going through the same thing we are. Actually, I thank God for my sister since she's my main source of parenting wisdom. I'm sure she's entirely sick to death of daily potty training updates and questions. Don't you think you should HAVE to take a class in parenting or have some kind of required reading to be able to do your best job? I have a friend that is going through the international adoption process and will soon have a 15 month old Russian boy in her house and I've been reading her journal about what all it takes to adopt a baby. It's really incredible what she and her husband have to do to bring this boy into their wonderful home. Amazing amount of paperwork and background checks and home visits compared to so many that are just - oops! - pregnant and on their own. He should be here in September and it's moved pretty quickly for them so that is good news!

Preparation for the new one is progressing really well! Mark and Alan painted the nursery just to update it for the boy. I also purchased a new Baby Bjorn and just got his 'coming home' outfit today so we are doing good! A few more things to cross off the list next month and we should be good to go. So my nesting instincts are back in check and all is well!

We have a babysitter for tonight and I couldn't be happier!!!! 97% of the time I love Aubrey to death and could go on and on with funny stories about her. But the other 3% of the time...... Yesterday was one of those days......We got to Target right before lunch time. Probably not a good idea, but we hadn't been out of the house in 3 days due to potty training so it was time to just get out and get a few things for the house. I really wish I could recount the entire trip for you, minute by minute so you could feel like you were there, but you don't want me to do that. When we first got there and she knocked over the stand with all the sale flyers, I should have just turned around and left right then. But, we trudged on.....It was a 30 minute trip that ended with me carrying her out to the car with my purse and my bags while she is wrestling around, hitting me in the face, knocking my sunglasses off my head and tears are streaming down my face. I was the crazy woman in the store with the crazy kid that causes you to stop and stare for a minute before you shake your head and then get back to your own business. I have a headache just remembering the scene. I had to call Mark to come home and take over after her nap because I just couldn't be around her anymore. So I went and worked on my photo album and did some shopping last night and it's just what I needed. So there you go.... I thought I'd give you a quick perspective on what some other days are like in this household and I'm sure all you moms out there can identify. Aubrey wasn't quite sure how to react to her mom crying in the car the entire way home so she gave me her advice, 'mommy.... a lollipop? You'll feel better...'

Potty training is ALL consuming. I never knew. But, it's just like everything else with kids. You don't know until you are doing it. I feel like I have a newborn in the house - has she pooped yet? is she wet? when's the last time she went? I'm setting a timer for 30 min. intervals so I remember to take her to the potty since she's not quite to the point of telling me she has to go every time. What can you get done in 30 min. intervals? I can barely get a shower in or have to postpone it until after 'potty time' and then I'm dashing to my bathroom to get ready before the timer goes off again!!!! She's doing really well at home, but we went to Jen's today with all the kids and it was just too distracting, so I just put a diaper on her. I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do but that's what I did. Otherwise it would have been lots of resistance and fighting so I just backed off. We'll work on it at home for now and I'm sure we'll get there.

I'm starting to feel a little stressed about all the work that I want to do around the house before the baby comes. Mainly because I don't have the energy for it. But also because I see the dr. on Monday and then I start going every 2 weeks so I feel like we are running out of time! I've made my list of what we need to do, but I always feel better when at least a few things are scratched off the list! Hopefully, we'll get some of it done this weekend! We sold our pool table (YEA! - not sure if Mark feels the same). So now we have a whole other living area upstairs to put together. We just need to get it set up temporarily until we can furnish it like we want after the first of the year. The room is SO big with the table gone. Perfect for playgroup and all the kids!!!

Spent last week with Courtney and Madison doing all sorts of fun stuff. We made cupcakes, visited new babies, went to a water park, went to the Children's museum and went swimming. The week flew by!!! The water park in Denton is really fun for any of you close by with small kids. It's pretty cheap. I recommend trying to sneak in your own cooler - they say they are not allowed, yet there are no concession stands so you need to bring something if you plan to stay for an afternoon. There is a whole play area complete with all kinds of water sprays. Aubrey didn't love the water spraying on her, but since it's just a walk in pool that only goes about knee deep for her, she loved rolling around in the water. I got some pics of her laying on her back. Just like her mom. Lots of activity around, but prefers to just lay out and get a tan!

4th of July weekend was great. Started with Kaboomtown in Addison. Watched them from the 7th floor of my mom's building. Perfect spot - indoors, plenty of cold beverages and snacks and a great view of the fireworks. Perfect for Aubrey since the fireworks weren't loud at all. Seems that she is a little frightened of just about everything these days. Fantastic get together at Gwen and Steve's new pool and then just a walk over to the high school and we could see the Vista Ridge fireworks. Another great night! Spent Sat. afternoon at the parent's pool and Sun. afternoon at our neighbor's pool. I'm so glad everyone else has pools for us to come play in!

Other than that, we are spending our time being a little more intense with the potty training and it's going pretty well. We have naked time at the house these days so I have to warn anyone that might come over that we are without pants - just Aubrey - not me! It's quite the scene. It's also quite consuming so I'm looking for a new book to read so that I have something else to talk to people about besides tee-tee. Also, we are going to paint the baby's room this weekend. Just a shade of blue to change the room up a little bit for the new guy. That's about it from here!!!