our weekly update

Isn't she a doll! 

Stella is very much potty trained now and it's been wonderful!  And right in the nick of time.  Baby sister will be here very soon!  Stella remains to be a friendly little girl!  A couple of days ago we were in the grocery store and happened to stop alongside another shopper.  This lady was wearing a dress and did look very nice; Stella turned to her and said, "You look so pretty."  Clear as a bell. Of course this brought a big smile to the woman's face and the two of them struck up a conversation.  Stella told her about having a baby sister soon, and how the doctor was going to help Mommy get her, and also that she was going to share her toys.  It was incredible how she held her own in this conversation!   It was time to get going so we said goodbye to our new friend and headed down the aisle.  Stella leaned around me and said, to the woman, "Nice talking to you!"  I'm telling you everytime we are in a store she says 'hi' to everyone and it just makes people smile everywhere we go. 

Lately Stella has been saying some pretty funny things.  If we tell her 'no' on something, or explain something for her to understand, she'll respond with, "Okay, if you say so."

Also, if she asks for something, and my answer to her is "no", she'll say, "okay, fine"

Stella is very interested in all of our little friends; the babies.  She loves to try to hold them and sit with them.  She likes to help hold bottles and give pacifiers.  Our friend came to visit the other day with her little girl, Lexington (below) and Stella just adored her and picked out some of her toys to share with her. 

and some random fun outdoors...(though it's been limited, it's still so hot here, especially for a big pregnant lady :)

Labor Day weekend

Labor Day weekend began with a cookout at our friend's house.  A rare moment in the night when Stella and Elizabeth sat still.  Many of her other friends were there too and they all had a great time. 

We went to a festival on Sunday.  Stella really enjoyed herself. And it wasn't too hot, so I did okay too.  Of course I couldn't go on any of the rides with her (and I wanted too)  so Dad had to squeeze himself into some things that might not have been too comfortable. Like the train ride and the helicopter ride.  So funny. What a good sport...thanks Dad!

There were many trucks there on display for kids to explore and so Stella got to sit in a cab of one. 

Stella's first ever pony ride...I did get to walk her around on this one.  She wasn't too sure she wanted to get on this small beast at first, but then, just like many kids, she didn't want it to end. 

And the helicopter ride...Stella loved this one and smiled the whole time.  What an awesome feeling it is to watch your child enjoy something so much.  Certainly those smiles of pure enjoyment are what I now live for. 

Side note:  I'm 36 weeks along now and am very much looking forward to Sept. 27th!  20 more days!

Baby shower

Left to right: Mary Ashley, Sarah, Me, Janae, Nicole, Mindy

(I'm 35 weeks pregnant now)

My girl friends from Greenville (and one from Pendleton) threw me a baby shower for baby number two!  I'm so lucky to have such good friends here and we had a nice time.  Usually during our get togethers, there are lots of kids running around playing and yelling and having trouble sharing.  So this was a great change and there was cake...pink lemonade cake! Delicious.

I got a fabulous organic Ergo baby carrier that I'm ecstatic about!  And received some really cute outfits for this little girl coming next month. 

It was a great afternoon.  I feel very blessed to have had it! Thank you girls so much. 

updates

I know this picture is washed out a bit, but it's still such a pretty picture of her, had to share...

Yesterday we went to the playground.  There were some boys there, a little older than Stella, playing some kind of crazy boy game about rocket ships blasting off and such.  I was watching Stella pretty close to make sure no one was mean to her, of course. :)  But they all seemed to be getting along very well and Stella liked the attention.  At one point she ran over to me saying, "Boys talking to me."  She was very excited about it.  How cute.

Lately she has been saying, "Let me do that."  These are her instructions to me prior to putting on her pants, getting in her car seat, putting the lid on her sippy cup, brushing her teeth etc.   

We had a very successful day in potty training.  She told me before she had to use the restroom, so we'd rush in there and she'd do the 'big girl' thing.   Only one little accident and she stopped herself and completed the job in the potty!  :)  Go Stella!  I'm sure she'll just die when she's 16 and she learns that I was telling everyone her potty training details...so shhhhh! Mums the word. 

This evening, coming out of Walgreens, there was a car with it's windows open playing some loud music.  Stella put a stop to us getting in the car so she could dance for a minute. 

love and attention spans in Greenville

Just some cute pictures I wanted to share...

Stella's practicing with baby 'Two' on how to love on her sister.  Cold and flu season should be interesting!

Stella's attention span while watching cartoons and videos has increased greatly!  And just within the past two weeks it seems.  She loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Clifford the Big Red Dog, & Sesame Street (Elmo is her favorite).  We went to the library yesterday to rent some videos and she sat still this morning watching Elmo visits the doctor for and hour before I had to just turn it off.  She watched it again after her nap and then on to Mickey Mouse.  This may seem like trivial news to you all, but this is a big deal around here.  This pregnant Momma is getting tired and swollen and as I look to the future with a newborn here, having Stella be able to sit still and watch a video seems like a dream come true. 

she loves to dance

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Baby Two.

This is Stella's baby.  Her name is Two.  Or Too?? But ask Stella her baby's name and she'll always say, "Two".  I wonder why this is;  whatever the reason I love it!

Time with friends at the pool.

This morning Stella woke up talking about a snake in the refrigerator.  I'm assuming this was the subject of a dream last night.  She didn't seemed frightened or concerned, just very matter-of-factly told me there was a snake in the refrigerator.  When we came downstairs she immediately went to the refrigerator to investigate.  She was looking all over for this snake.  I told her the snake must have left and she accepted that and we went on about our business for the day.