He's A Big Boy Now!!!

SAMUEL IS POTTY TRAINED!!!

Samuel turned 3 in April and from that time on I've been stressing over him being potty trained. I can't remember exactly when it was for Isaiah but I know it was soon after he turned 3. So, I always figured it would work the same for Sam. I know better than this because they two of them are SO different in many other ways!!! So, Sam has been wearing Pull-Ups for quite some time now but for him, they were no different than diapers. Recently we started putting more emphasis on actually pulling the Pull-Up down and using the potty!!! He knew exactly WHAT to do but simply was not interested in doing it. I was getting VERY frustrated.

THEN I PRAYED!

I kid you not, the VERY NEXT DAY Samuel started telling me, "Mommy, I need to go potty!" And he actually DID need to go! He had a dry Pull-Up that whole day! The next day was going to be a busy one. We were gone away from the house pretty much all day. He told me EVERY time he needed to potty and did not have a single accident. YES!!! Another day with a completely dry Pull-Up. So, the next day was Sunday and again we were going to be away from the house for a bit (to church) and Samuel REALLY wanted to wear "big boy underwear" (Bumblebee to be exact). I was reluctant but decided I would let him try and take his bag with Pull-Ups in it as backup. He did GREAT. No accident! So, here we are on day 5 and still no accidents!!! I hope I don't jinx it but I'm gonna take that leap and say, "Samuel is potty trained!"

I'm SO proud of my little man!

Thank you Lord for answering my prayer. Note to self: Prayer is always a good idea when you're at your wits end. And, if you pray BEFORE you're at your wits end you could save yourself a lot of stress!!!

Daddy's Day

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

I'm sure a lot of you feel this same way, but I am so blessed to have an amazing husband who is also and amazing Daddy! My boys love their Daddy SOOOOOOOOOO much and love that there is an actual day to celebrate him. We've had a busy weekend so the boys and I let Bryan open his Father's Day "stuff" from us on Thursday. Mommy got Daddy some new fight shorts that he was really wanting. The pics below are of what the boys made for him at school.

Isaiah's gift to Daddy. I loved this!

Samuel's gift to Daddy. Samuel's teachers went to Isaiah's class to get his prints on the shirt too! It's so cute!

The boys were supposed to be hugging Daddy but somehow it turned into a sandwich of Sam!

My most favorite of all. Happy Father's Day Beav! We ALL love you!

I am so very thankful too for MY Dad. I told him in his card that I love him even more now that I have kids. Doing things with my kids reminds me so much of all the things we did when I was little. My dad and I are so much alike that when I was younger often times our stubbornness got in the way of our relationship. But, now that I'm older and again, have kids of my own, I am aware of how hard it is to be the "parent" AND the "friend". I believe the "parent" part is what the kids need while growing up and the "friend" part is what is needed when you've done all you can and hope it was enough! I'm proud to say that I had a wonderful "parent" in my Dad growing up and I now have a wonderful "friend" in my Dad now that I'm on my own. Thank you Dad for loving me, disciplining me, teaching me, and being there for me ALWAYS!!!

I am MOST thankful of all for my Heavenly Father. Thank you Lord that You love ME, that You chose ME and that You died for ME. I fail horribly at being the child You deserve, but You chose to look into my heart and KNOW that my heart's desire is to love You more and to show Your love to others. Thank you for letting me be a part of Your master plan to use humanity to be your witnesses to the world. My heart's desire is to be better at being this "witness"! I love you Lord!

Austin Day Trip

My parents were in Austin last weekend (my dad for business) so the boys and I drove over on Saturday to spend the day with them. We enjoy EVERY minute we get to spend with our families and wish we had more of them!!! We spent the day shopping, swimming and dining. We had a wonderful time. Here are some photos of our pool time fun at their hotel.

Isaiah and His Papa!

Samuel jumping in! He LOVES his life jacket (and goggles)!

Isaiah doing the "Vulcan" (never heard of the "vulcan" myself - LOVE the tongue)!

Now, the splits!

My cool guys! Nana bought them matching sunglasses - StarWars!

WONDERFUL memories yet again!

Can I Brag???

Well I'm going to!!!

Isaiah's t-ball team, the Astros, is in the Rookie CHAMPIONSHIP game tomorrow night!!!

Now, you need to know that our little team only won 1 game and tied another the whole season! But, what a comeback they have made. Tuesday night they played and won 14-10 and tonight they won 15-14. Isaiah plays first base. He got 3 (or 4, I can't remember) outs at first on Tuesday night and 2 outs at first tonight. He almost got an out at home but it wasn't a "forced run" so he needed to tag the runner, not just touch the base first. The amazing thing about this was that the ball was overthrown to Isaiah at first base and he had to go over to the fence to get it. As he turned around our coach was yelling for him to run home. The runner on third had already started to home. Isaiah made it to home base BEFORE the runner (from well BEHIND first base)!!! It was incredible if I must say so myself! THEN, it is the top of the 5th inning and we are at bat. We already had a 1 run lead because we got 3 outs before the other team scored their 5 runs (run limit) in a previous inning. Anyway, in this top of the 5th inning, the other team has 2 outs and we have 4 runs so far. So, we needed 1 more run to keep our 1 run lead. Guess who's up to bat? Yup, Isaiah! We have a runner on 2nd and 1st. We only need the 2nd baseman to come in for us to get our 5 runs and keep the lead. Our coach jokingly told Isaiah as he was preparing to bat, "Isaiah, hit it over the fence!" So, Isaiah readies himself and WHAM! He hits it TO THE FENCE! The 2nd baseman scores and we keep our lead!!! Obviously (by my score earlier in this post) we went on to win the game by this one run!!! Everyone was calling Isaiah the MVP after the game. It was a proud moment for this Momma!!! Now, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging too much but Isaiah is pretty darn good at this t-ball/baseball thing. Every time he was up to bat tonight (and most every other game) he hit a double EVERY time. For those of you who don't know what a "double" is (I didn't either before tonight), it is when you hit the ball and get to 2nd base. Two bases it the most you can run in our t-ball league. So, needless to say, we are ECSTATIC and SO VERY PROUD of our little guy and his Astros team!

I'll be sure to let y'all know what the outcome is!!! GO ASTROS!!!

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UPDATE: WE WON!!!

WAY TO GO ASTROS!!!

Isaiah receiving his first place trophy!

Our Astros Team!

Good buddy, Jacob (behind his trophy) and Isaiah.

GOOD TIMES!!!