July 4th

We had a great July 4th. We went to the Buerstatte's home and grilled out while swimming. EK was in the pool almost the entire time we were there. (She chose the bows !) We had a great time and enjoyed getting to celebrate America's Independence with the people who help keep it safe. Hope everyone had a good 4th and I pray for comfort for all the pregnant ladies during this summer heat because I remember last summer too well!The Fletcher FamilyMikey Harris and Kaitlyn Buerstatte enjoying the 4th

We tried to get all the kids lined up for a picture. This is after photoshop! (There are two more babies, Ethan and Kaitlyn, who didn't make it in this shot)

Friday

Today is Friday. Yes! Matt has been working A LOT and we are so excited that today is Friday and that we are going to have our Daddy home for a few hours two days in a row! I think that Matt is even more excited about having a few moments at home with his family.

This week we have been trying to stay cool (as with everyone else). Monday we had playgroup and Tuesday we hosted lunch at our house. We have so much fun when our friends come over and play. Wednesday we stayed around the house and then went swimming in the afternoon. Yesterday we had our movie (Madagascar 2) in the morning and swimming playgroup in the afternoon. The kids did great in the movie theater. Mason fell asleep (in his car seat) a few minutes after the movie started and EK sat in my lap eating popcorn and granola bars. I think my kids would do anything if I give them enough junk food! We had a good time and it was a little bit cooler in the theater than outside (only slightly as the air conditioner was not working properly). We then had to run to Target so I could get some new sunglasses. Mine broke the other day and I don't spend a lot of money on sunglasses because I am a Mommy and I know they won't last long. After Target the kids were pretty hyped up (we got ice cream between the movie and Target because I had a free coupon for cold stone creamery from my birthday) and so we went home. Once we got home EK ate MORE and then spent 1 hour in her bed trying to fall asleep. After naps we went swimming and the kids loved it. They love the water and could be in it for hours. Then it was dinner time and then I had bible study after the kids go to bed. It was a full and fun day. We are home today (except for a trip to the vet with Ashton) and hoping to stay cool.

On another note EK is doing great potty training. She is only wearing pull ups during nap and bedtime. We haven't had an accident in several days and I am so proud of her. The cute thing is that she is very proud of herself and gets so excited whenever she needs to go. I hope Mason is this easy!

A whole week and a happy birthday!

We have been potty training for a whole week (that is my birthday present...only one in diapers)! The last three days she has had no accidents and she only wears pull ups during nap time and bedtime. She has been doing great and I am so excited. I really hope that this is it and that she doesn't have any future issues.



On another note Mason is 9 1/2 months old! Wow, where has the time gone. He went for his 9 month check up and he is weighing 16 pounds and 11 ounces. That is pretty big for my kids! He is into EVERYTHING! He loves playing with anything EK has and EK does not want him to touch anything! That is how my entire day goes these days. We are working on sharing.



I also want to wish Abbey a very Happy Birthday (tomorrow)! I can't believe that it has been 29 years! I am so blessed to have had my best friend with me celebrating all my birthdays. She is an awesome woman, wife, mother and doctor. I am so proud of all her accomplishments (psst...she recently received PEDIATRIC RESIDENT OF THE YEAR for the LSU program!!! Way to go!!!)

Also, Gigi and Daddy Mac were here for a few days this weekend (didn't get a picture). We had a blast and did not want them to go. We ate, shopped, and sat on the patio laughing. We look forward to seeing them in July and know that it will be so fun for us all to be together.

tips 4 mommy: Bountiful Baskets

I tried out a new produce co-op called Bountiful Baskets with my friend Crystal. She took a picture of all the fruits and veggies we got for 18.00(plus 1.50 handling, next time it will only be 15.00 plus 1.50). If you aren't in the Yuma area you should check and see if there is something like this in your area. Great way to save money! tips 4 mommy: Bountiful Baskets

It's Official

We are officially potty training. EK wore panties all day and only had 2 minor accidents. She is trying really hard (so am I) and I am hoping that this takes. We shall see. Mason has been really good about me having to focus a lot of attention on EK. EK has also been good about trying to go by herself (I hope that continues to be a good thing...we have already had to ration out the tp). I would love to have one out of diapers and so I am trying really hard to be excited (it gets really old to cheer about the potty ALL DAY! But hard work pays off, right?) Anyway, we are looking forward to Gigi and Daddy Mac being in Yuma on Thursday (they are in Phoenix for business). Daddy Mac hasn't had a chance to come since we moved here in 2006! Lots of changes since then. Hope everyone has a great night!

Yay!

I know that I have been posting a lot recently and I am not sure why I have so much extra time. Oh well. Today was a big day. EK was sitting at the lunch table and she looked at me and told me she needed to go potty. She has done this before as a way to get out of sitting at the table and finishing, even though I always make her get back up to the table after she tries to potty. Anyway, I didn't think anything would come of it. Well, low and behold she actually went potty (#2). I never thought I could be this proud of poop! I hope that we can keep this up but I am not going to push her too hard because I have heard that a lot of times it can backfire. Well, I am almost getting excited about having one out of diapers!

JW Marriott Starr Pass

We took a surprise trip to Tucson this week. Matt was going for work and the kids and I had been sick and had not planned on going with him. After he got there he called the next day (Wednesday) and raved about how much fun it would be for us to come. So we did. I talked with him around 2 pm (during nap time) and we were on the road by 4. We are so thankful to Ali and Michael for taking care of Ashton!

We got there around 7:30 and met Matt at the mall. We just wanted to let the kids run around and eat something. We were in the mall a matter of minutes when I turned to Matt and said I need to change diapers since we had been the car. We go to the bathrooms and I put EK on the changing table. She starts coughing and the next thing I know there is vomit EVERYWHERE! She was coughing so hard that she gagged...in a public restroom. I kept telling myself that it could have been worse...at least we were already in the bathroom. (P.S. This is not EK's first time to do this...whenever she coughs a lot she vomits, fun times!) Of course I didn't have a change of clothes for her in the diaper bag. I cleaned her up and met Matt in the hallway with Mason and said we need clothes! Of course, we had clothes in the car but we were in the mall and so it was easier to go and buy something cute off the sale rack. So, we were the people with the naked toddler walking around Old Navy looking for clothes! Memories!

After our lovely few minutes in Tucson we ate dinner and headed for the resort. The resort is great and I would recommend it to anyone who is in Tucson. They have a pool, splash area for kids, lazy river, water slide, multiple restaurants, gold course, spa, Starbucks, etc. There is pretty much everything. We had a great time and the kids loved the water activities! We hope Matt has to do more work in Tucson! We are staying home this weekend and trying to get rid of our coughs! Sorry there are not any pictures of us. I remembered the camera but forgot to take the memory card out of the computer after downloading pictures! Hahaha!