Potty Training

Many parents, doctors, etc. have such extreme views on potty training. Many doctors will tell you that 18 months is the key age to start. Some parents say, stick them in underwear, they will be trained in no time! Believe me, I've heard my fair share of rants on the importance of potty training early or about how to do it. I guess, my husband and I might have once gone along with these phrases but we've learned. Your kid is ready when they are ready, age really isn't the important factor.
Amber was ready to start talking about going potty at about 20ish months. She was even willing to humor us by sitting on the potty every now and then. By two years old, we were talking about another baby and thought wow, I guess we'd really better work on this. And we did...a bit. But honestly she just wasn't ready to do it all the time for us. So we got more laid back about it. In March of 09, we found out we were indeed expecting and thought again, now is the time to push the issue. So mommy got a bit more "mean" about potty training. But when I found out we were going to lose Alex, that changed a lot. I realized that every moment is precious in each kid's life and here we were pressing some not very important issues. I realized that all this time, I'd been rushing my daughter and myself. Don't get me wrong, I don't LOVE changing diapers but hey, that's part of being a mom and I LOVE being a a mom. So, we slowed down and I wasn't ready to push her, I didn't really mind the occasional diaper and I totally didn't mind keeping her as my little girl still.
So where am I going with this rant? I'm just saying that as parents, we should pay more attention to our children's needs instead of what everyone else says. It's easy to compare to so and so's kids down the road but every kid is different. Enjoy all the moments of your kid's lives and wait for the right time for these milestones.
I should add, that yes, Amber is ready and has been for a little while. We went and bought lots of cute underwear this past weekend and my eyes tear up when I see my little girl wearing them during the day now. I'm really proud of her and I know that she'll be prepared for anything else that comes her way in the future if I just give her some time. And honestly, I'm proud of myself for slowing down and enjoying the everyday moments and not just wishing the time away.

Long Time...

So, I've been blogging for all of what? a month and a half?! And how many posts are on my page?! Yeah, so I just proved that I'm not so great at keeping up with this, I'll try harder. ;) Anyways, I guess I should cut myself some slack, it HAS been the holiday season and my husband HAS just started a new job and I HAVE been busy preparing children's ministry stuff.

SO, where do I start? I suppose with the holidays. We were blessed with a lovely, though busy holiday season. The week of Christmas, we had my brother and law and his wife, as well as my sister in law staying with us. On Christmas Eve, we had our Christmas Eve Service and on Christmas day, visits to make.

Since Josh and I are leaders of the Children's Ministry, we were busy with the kids rendition of the Nativity story. They did a wonderful job with their "skit" and blessed the congregation with Away in a Manger and Joy to the World.



For Christmas Eve dinner, I baked a ham and had baked potatoes and vegetables. For Christmas day, I made raspberry pears, a peppermint cake, and a vegetable ring. We went to Amber's Nana's house and enjoyed these dishes as well as many others.

Josh and I made the decision this year to not give each other gifts and to stick to pictures of Amber for the rest of the family. This saved a lot of money for us and is something we're considering continuing in the years to come. It's the most fun to see the kid's reactions to their gifts anyways. Amber received a Strawberry Shortcake game, a cash register, her own camera, a princess bath set, some coloring books and a dance camera as well as other things. (No, these were not all gifts from us.) She absolutely loves taking pictures on her own camera.


A few days after Christmas, Amber went to decorate a gingerbread house at her Grandma's house. This is a holiday tradition started by Grandma which she intends to keep doing each year. Amber loved decorating her house along with all of her friends Carly, Carter, Allison, Anthony, Bejamin, Kayla, and Christopher.


Finally to sort of end the holiday season, we took Amber to Hartwood Acres to see the light display. We've never done this before with her and actually Josh has never seen it either. Grandpa and Aunt Bethany went with us since we could all fit in our van. :)




Well that's about it for now. I'll be posting about our potty training experiences later this weekend. Happy Friday everyone!