Milk

CAN ANYONE TELL ME HOW TO GET MY CHILD TO DRINK MILK?!

It's starting to get a little frustrating. As most of you know, a few months back we threw away her "special" cup because it was old and leaky and getting to be to much of a comfort object rather than just a drinking device. We were so excited to finally get rid of that cup, not realizing what the repercussions would be. She has not touched a drop of milk since that day. Nothing, nada. I feel like I've tried everything. Chocolate milk, strawberry milk, out of a straw cup, out of a big girl cup, drinking mom's milk out of her cup, milkshakes, smoothies, EVERYTHING! I'm lost. Especially because she asks for milk and chocolate milk, and then we get it ready and she won't touch it. I've tried to be nonchalant about it and I've tried being strict and telling her that milk is all she gets for the rest of the day, and believe me, she'll go all day and night without a drop! The other day in a very last attempt I went to the store and bought her old cup! We had a re-introduction and a stern talking to about drinking milk from her old cup and then when we got home she wouldn't touch it. GRRRRRR. Any suggestions are useful!

Potty Training

I am so happy and proud to announce we have a potty-trained child! By that I mean she is 100% accident free at our house. We still put her in diapers or pull-ups for outings, but I'm hoping to buy her some panties soon and teach her to tell me when we're in public. She now calls her diapers "panties" and will ask you to change them or take them off. Today we had to go to a friends house to help paint and when I told her we had to put a diaper on she started crying!

We first tried to potty train back in April when she was 21 months old, and I thought she was ready because she knew what the potty was, where it was, how to flush, and if mommy or daddy was going pee or poop. Plus, she was peeing out of her diapers so often it was getting really old, so even if she wasn't ready, I WAS! Well, the day I started trying to train her I learned that if she wasn't ready, it wasn't going to happen! Every time she started to pee she couldn't have cared less that it was going all over her and the floor and her toys and everything. Then when I would try and set her on her potty she would scream and cry. So, as discouraging as it was, I decided to wait a couple months and try again.

One day at the beginning of June, Jonathan changed her diaper, took her on a bike ride, and by the time they got home (10 or 15 min later) she has soaked through her diaper all over her pants. He said, "How do you feel about potty training?" So we tried again, and she took right to it!

So far it's been such a good thing! We'll cross our fingers that it keeps going this well.

I'm sure that none of you guys actually care about all this, so I'll just end by saying we are 2 happy parents right now!

Emily's Wedding

The actual reason we went to Grand Junction was to attend my longtime friend Emily Rhodes wedding. She had asked me last summer, before they had set a date, if I would do her makeup for her wedding, whenever it may be. Of course I was honored! Well, the time finally came for her wedding, but we decided to go to Junction for an entire week to make the trip worthwhile. Anyway~ it was a gorgeous wedding up on Devil's Kitchen with a reception following at Two Rivers Convention Center. She did so many things that made me think, "Dang, I wish I would've thought to do that at my wedding!" For instance, I thought having both her parents walk her down the isle was adorable:


Needless to say, everything was beautiful and wonderful and I'm so happy for her! Here are some more pictures:

Jonathan and I on the bus being shuttled to Devil's kitchen

Beautiful hair, makeup, dress!

Her Dad did the ceremony, which I also thought was adorable.

1st dance

Longtime friends :)

Congratulations to the new Mrs. Emily George!

Anniversary

A couple weeks ago, June 6th to be exact, was Jonathan and my 3 year anniversary! On one hand I can't believe it's already been 3 years, and on the other I think 3 years feels so short and I feel like I've known Jonathan forever! Anyway~ last weekend before I headed to Junction we went to the Botanic Gardens to take our annual picture in the spot where we got married. Here's the timeline:

2008

2009

2010

2011 (Amelia would NOT put down that cup! Grr)


We're hoping to be able to continue the tradition for many more years. Here are a couple more pictures from the day:

Trying to touch the squirrel

Trying to touch the (real) duck

Smelling the flowers

Jonathan explaining why we don't jump in the water :)


Until next year...

It's a...

GIRL!!! Yay! Here's the money shot to prove it:



When they gave me this shot of Amelia I thought, "Really? You can't even see anything!" So I was pretty convinced it could still be a boy, until I saw an ultrasound of a boy. Then I knew that nothing in between those legs execpt some little white lines meant a girl. Here are 2 other pictures they took:

A cute little foot

The profile, with her little hand up by her ear. This little stinker would NOT show us her face, until the very end when we saw her open her little mouth, and then go back into hiding.


And here's a picture of me that Jonathan took the other night while I was reading my new cookbook. He walked right up to me and held the camera in my face and I never even noticed! Haha.


Of course my belly doesn't look that big when I'm standing up but you get the idea.

So, now that I have 1000 baby girl names picked out that I love, it's time to start convincing Jonathan that Abigail is too popular, and he needs to move on and listen to some of my ideas! :) :)

Smart Moves

Every day, Amelia is doing so many more things that make her seem SO smart. For instance, she can count to 10, she can tell you her first and last name, and the names of almost all her cousins, and literally ANY word you say to her she will at least attempt to repeat, most of the time very clearly. I'm loving this stage because she's so easy to communicate with and the tantrums are at a minimum. However, while she IS doing so many things that are so great, she is still a toddler. And she reminds me of this when she does things like eat a pre-filled stamp:


The joys.

Bullets and pictures

This post is an update of what's going on, and then some pictures if you don't care. :)

*This Wednesday is my birthday. I'm not too thrilled about that. I think over the years I've adopted my mom's excitement about birthdays, which is none at all. I'll be 26, which just means I'm getting older, and that I only have 3 more years until I stick to that age for the next 20 years. :)

*Tuesday the 31st we get to find out what gender our baby is! YAY! I've already been thinking so much about names and how we're going to decorate their room, that everything will just fall into place once we find out. Cross your fingers that it decides to show in between it's legs, or we'll be in a world of confusion.

*The next day I get a filling in my teeth. I'm excited only because it's the tooth that bothers me the most with this pregnancy gingivitis I've got going on. It's on the top in the very back of my mouth, so it's really hard to get to for flossing and brushing, but since it's the tooth I chew with the most it gets the most food stuck in it, therefore causing it to ache ALL the time. Quite frustrating. Hopefully the filling will help some.

*The weekend of June 4-5 we're going to Denver to celebrate our anniversary at the Botanic Gardens. Of course there will be pictures to show you after that.

*On June 15th we're going to Junction for my friend Emily Rhodes wedding. I'll have the honor of doing her makeup, which I'm so excited about! It should be a great time, and of course going to GJ is always fun.

Now pictures:

She was REALLY into this frisbee yesterday at Grandma and Grandpa Phelps house


She doesn't mind sitting on her potty when she's fully clothed! Naked is a different story


Mama's glasses


We just got her lion back from a friend and she was really into it!


I just thought this was cute


Until next time!