Our Darling Daughter Turns Two in Two weeks (Tomorrow)! Wow.

Indulge me, as I take a walk down memory lane...

Vivianna Hope

Born March 14, 2007



Baby's First Easter

3 months old

6 months old

Baby's First Halloween

9 months old


Baby's First Christmas

Baby New Year

One Year Old

Baby's First Birthday

18 months old


I was told once that when your children are young- the days go by so slow, but the years go by so fast. I think about this phrase often as I have struggled and celebrated with my children these past few years. I cannot believe that in two weeks, I will no longer have a baby. I LOVED having a baby of my very own, and tried to never take one day of it for granted. That baby is gone now and been replaced with this climbing, crying, trouble-making two year old. But despite the long days of dealing with a toddler, there are so many moments where Vivi just captures my heart. We have a bedtime routine now where I put her to bed before Isaac and I read and sing to her. She requests songs in her tiny baby voice "twinkle", "bridge", then she holds up her feet and says "piggies" and I do the piggy toe rhyme. She aks for her Barneys and snuggles in for the night, saying "yuv you, Mommy." During the day, she has gotten into the habit of saying "mommy mommy mommy" when she wants her songs on the radio or a snack, or anything really. Just a dozen "mommy's" over and over again because I guess I am the source of ALL things! She is my little doll and precious, precious to me-even putting a smile on my face sometimes when she is in the throws of a fit.

She is so passionate and I think she must get that from me!

I will post some baby videos in the weeks leading up to her turning two, for nostalgia sake- and the sake of her Grandmothers and Great Aunts who will just eat up all of her cuteness!

I need sleep!

What is the deal with my child's sleep? This is getting REALLY old. It is 5 a.m. on Monday and I have been awake since Billy left for work in the 4:00 hour. Vivi got in bed with me at 4:30. She has been doing this at 5:00 am for the past week or so. She doesn't go back to sleep but instead thrashes around kicking me in the ribs. So I move her back to her bed where she proceeds to scream sometimes up to an hour. I have now anticipated the fit that ensues once she gets up, so I wake Isaac up and move him out to the couch where he can atleast doze in and out without her in his face. But she is so loud I can't get any sleep from across the apartment- I don't know how he does it.

Last night I went to bed at 8:30 because I was so exhausted. That means I didn't get to see any of my favorite show Brothers and Sisters. I just could not stay awake, it felt like torture. And because of my insomnia, once I get woken up- getting back to sleep is next to impossible. So here I am at 5:00 a.m.- I organized some stuff in my closet, checked my email and am angrily blogging as she wails away. Every time I go to the pediatrician I ask about her horrible sleep and they have no suggestions, just siting that she has always been like this. Thanks alot, Doc.

Birthday Prep!

Today I am going to my Mom's scrapbook room to work on the invitations, banner, and cupcake picks for Vivi's birthday party. You can see from the picture above what the theme is! I am not purchasing all that stuff, but those are the plates. It will be at a park this year with a really nice gazebo and astro-turf flooring instead of woodchips, which I love! So after church, it will be an afternoon of black paper, pink ribbon, and mickey ears for me!

Potty Readiness

And so begins my first installment of my potty training series. As most of you know, our little daughter will be turning two in just one month from tomorrow. Big milestone as this means that for atleast another year or so, my baby days are over. :(

I am not happy about this as excited as I am for her and her development.

But regardless of my missing my baby, the fact remains that kids grow up. And part of growing up is getting out of diapers! I personally don't mind changing her diapers. Not a big deal to me, but since she was 18 months old- she has been showing signs of potty training readiness. Our ped. wanted us to start her back then, but I am a firm believer in 2 being the youngest appropriate age, for a more timely success, unless of course your child just "potty trains themselves" as some Moms claim. Then more power to you and your diaper free baby!

My anxiety is heightened about the fact that I have never trained a child this young or a girl before! Both the boys I trained were two and a half. They trained in 3 days. So, I anticipate my little darling taking longer simply because of her age. But we are going to give it our best effort!

Step One- Educate yourself!

I checked out the above book from the library and finished last week. Today I will be getting a different one. I like to speed read through them to glean people's varying ideas of what works and what doesn't. The consistent theme in these books is one that I hold to- once you determine to take them out of the diapers and have done so, don't go back! This can set you back months. I have seen it from other children I know, it's true.

The biggest mistake I see parents making is getting all ready to do "potty training boot camp" as in, getting them trained in a day, and by noon the Mom has pooped out and put her little darling back in diapers, stating the child is just not ready because she peed in her panties 14 times. Well, I think the more accurate account is that Mom is not ready. Those first 24 hours are exhausting!! And there are WAY more failures than successes, but most potty training experts will tell you that if you stick to the plan by the end of day 2 something usually just "clicks" with the child and they begin to get it. I have seen this! It happened for Isaac on evening two at The Olive Garden!! Now that was exciting!

Step Two- Look for Readiness Signs

You can read this signs in books, or google them- so I won't bore you with the extensive list here, but I will share Vivi's personal readiness signs:

**Tells us when she needs a diaper change by grabbing at it and saying "poo poo" or bringing me a diaper when she is wet, as she did this morning. They do not have to do this every time. Just most of the time.

**Can pull her pants down

**Says potty and goes to it, wanting to sit

**Wakes up from naps dry (again not all the time)

**Can go 2 hours without peeing in her diaper

**has a regular schedule of pooping

**wants to imitate family members

**Is atleast 18 months old

So with these readiness signs, it appears as though she could potty train, and therefor we will begin it the week after her birthday.

Step Three- Begin To Purchase Your Supplies

We have our potty chair set out in the bathroom, and she sits on it when she wants. Ikea has some really cute little ones that are less than $5 a piece, so if you live in a big house, you can get one for every bathroom. I bought a dora potty training chart and stickers at Target but will also be downloading free ones from the internet. I will also be getting a toddler toilet seat that goes on the big potty and a step stool. I have been purchasing underwear in her favorite characters, over the past few months to make sure we are well stocked, and of course- carpet cleaner. We have a baby doll that "pees", so we will be using that one when we are ready to train. Wet wipes that are flushable are a must, and pull-ups for night time.

As I am reading books from the library, I have also checked out some items for her.

These DVD's we will be getting from Netflix in the coming weeks.

I bought her this book.

And we checked this one and others out from the library. The library has a lot of great resources on potty training, and they are free! So take advantage of it!

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I will go into detail further on the remaining steps as our time nears. The reason I don't just strip her of her diapers and GO right now, is because timing is key. You have to make sure your schedule is free that for atleast 2 days so your child does not have to leave the house. I am waiting until Spring Break for the perfect timing. Also, it helps to not go it alone if possible. A Sat and Sun where mom and dad can tag-team the wiping, cleaning, and washing of all the mess and the constant trips to the potty, means you set yourself up for success. Support is neccesary so that you will not doubt yourself and your methods. When my friend was potty trianing her daughter last summer, I talked to her or emailed her almost every day to encourage her to keep going. She did, and within days her little one was on her way to full-time success!

A cheerleader and another helping hand makes the whole process a lot less stressful!

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So, if you are currently ready to get your little one going and you think they are ready to take on the task, follow along with me over the next few weeks as we get ready to board the potty train!!

Disney on Ice

The week after Vivianna turns two, we will be going to see her favorite power couple LIVE on ice! Billy's aunt is flying in for her party and is staying a week to be my support system while I potty train the little darling, so she is coming with us! My sister, niece, and our parents are coming too- so it should be a fun time.

Toddler Gymnastics

Vivi did a trial class at The Little Gym last week. She loved it so much that tomorrow Billy is going to go sign her up for the semester. My friend is a gymnastic instructor by profession (not the teacher at this place) and sent me a link to an article that gives the reasons why starting your child in gymnastics early has a lot of developmental benefits, which makes me feel better about paying for the tuition!

Little Gym Videos

Vivi doing the bar jump. She was the only one that could do it from a far distance. But it didn't always go well as you can see from the below video!! Billy watches this one over and over again!

Kamakazee (Is that how it's spelled?)

Hey, look... when things get dull around here and the weather is cold, you've got to get creative! Using your mattress just to sleep on is boring!

Random Vivi Shots

Mommy in training.

Little Diva.
This is her new thing...opening my bottom drawer and getting into my jewelry box.
When I put them back and take her down she cries "Pretties!!" in a very whiny girly voice. She needs some plastic jewelry. Her great aunt gave her some colorful beaded bracelets and she wears them all day.

Mommy's Little Party Planner

Vivi absolutely LOVES the catologs of birthday themes and supplies that come in the mail.
She flips through every page and comments on the themes she knows..."Memo" (Elmo), "ChooChoo" (Thomas), "Pretty" (Disney Princess) "Day-go" (Diego and Dora). And of course...

Mickey!

She loves birthday supplies. She wears the catalog out and has even slept with it. When it gets really raggedy, we throw it out because a new one will arrive in a few weeks.

Is she a girl after her Mother's heart, or what?

We have planned out her Minnie Mouse birthday party and it is not even until March!

Mickey the "Muneco"

One of Billy's college roomates and groomsman, with his wife, are missionaries that we support in Argentina. They sent out their newsletter and we got it today. Vivi climbed on the bed and grabbed it up screaming "Mickey!!". How she saw that so fast, I will never know! Thanks George and Emily for a shot of our beloved Disney character! I won't be reading the caption to the children.

This is how I feel...

All the ho-ho-hoing around here has us exhausted! Here is a rundown of what is going on with us: Thursday night we went to a lights parade which was very cold but fun. Friday night I had a four hour dinner with 3 college girl friends, we hadn't all been together in more than 8 years! That was a lot of fun. Saturday was Samantha's b-day. Sunday I made more birthday cupcakes for a friend's daughter and we drove to Sanger to see Paige and Jarrett. Monday was errands all over the place and last night I had my staff Christmas party. The school sent us all in a Hummer limo. It was crammed in there! We did a gift exchange and I got home way too late. Tomorrow night I have dinner and a church event with a friend and Friday night is Billy's writing group's Christmas dinner so the kids are spending the night at my parents house. Saturday is the trains at Northpark with Isaac's favorites Jen and Jay, and a town Christmas tree lighting event that night. And then begins all the craziness of next week! Whew!! That is our life in a nutshell right now. Amidst all this has been lots of baking, some shopping, and working. So Vivi's sleepy picture represents all of us these days!

Santa Baby

Billy asked one of his co-workers if she wouldn't mind taking some pictures for us for our Christmas card this year because she has a great camera. You can see some of them on our sidebar. There are so many wonderful shots that I will spread them out over the month into several posts. That way you won't be overloaded with cuteness all at once! :)

Vivi's new friend

Make a Smilebox slideshow

When Isaac was Vivi's age, his favorite character was Barney. So I dragged out our old DVD's and Vivi has now fallen in love with him too. I happened upon our Barney toys in storage and brought them up. She immediately hated the talking Barney as she is not a fan of talking characters. However, her favorite toy is a talking Mickey that she once acted this way towards- so you never know, she may warm up to the talking purple dinosaur yet! Until then, watching this is hilarious!!

Carrot Top or Gallagher?

A Vivi Pumpkin

Toddler bed!!

"I'm a big kid now!"



Vivi has moved on from the crib. After a few escapes (she scaled the crib wall like a marine!) and the dr. saying it was time, we bit the bullet and bought Vivi a toddler bed. It is really cute and we love the extra space that the room feels like it has now, but she does not like to stay in it! My nightly routine is for over an hour to say "get back in your bed", from my position on the couch, every time I hear their bedroom door open. We don't talk to them or allow extra drinks or stalling tactics. We just say "get back in your bed" and then we hear the door shut again! It is kind of funny. The not funny part is going in there once they have passed out and walking around a land mine of toys. I am hoping this transition does not take too long!

18 month check-up

Today was our well check and here are Vivianna's stats:

Weight- 21lbs. 9 oz. 10th percentile
Height- 32.5 75th percentile
Head Cir.- 17 2/3 10th percentile

This is consistent with her growth from birth! Her weight and head have remained around 10% and her height higher. The Dr. said not to worry about beefing her up, her body should be allowed to grow at it's natural rate as long as she eats a balanced diet, which she does. So she will keep at her 12-16 oz. of whole milk a day until she turns 2.

It makes it easier to carry her around!!

We scheduled her flu shot for October 4th, so we will see if she gains any weight in the meantime! SO far she is Mommy's little peanut!

Happy Adoption Day, Vivianna!

Today we celebrated Vivianna's adoption day! One year ago, we went to court and finalized. One of the fun things about being adopted is that you get a birthday party and an adoption celebration every year! Woohoo!!

Today, after church, we went to the mall and had lunch with our friends; went to Build -A -Bear, and had a sugar cookie cake (our adoption day tradition!). Vivi did a Puppy at Build-A-Bear and we did the same voice box in hers that we did at Isaac's. It says "Vivi, it's Mommy and Daddy. Happy Adoption Day!" We put two hearts in her bear, one for her birth family and one for her adoptive family. It was a really fun day! Incidentally, she wore a brown dress w/ pink dots last year and a brown dress w/ivory dots this year! Too funny!

Below is a digital scrapbook of our celebration!

Above are two pics...one of her passed out after court last year, and one today of her passed out after her fun day at the mall!

Make a Smilebox photobook