Adventures in Potty Training... and Other Stuff

So, this week we have attempted to start potty training Ellie. It would be really nice if she was diaper-free by the time a new baby was in the house (I have heard that it is common for small kids to regress to diapers with the traumatic entry of a new sibling, but I figure she would at least know how to do it, and could return to it quickly if this chances to happen). Ellie is excited and wants to wear her new Little Mermaid underwear and sit on the potty, but we have yet to actually have her go there - she seems to save it until 5 minutes after her potty trip. I have heard that some parents have had their toddlers sit on the potty with a juice box until something comes out, but it seems that would make her not want to sit on the potty at all. Oh well, we'll keep trying.

On Friday, Ellie and I went to Alicia's graduation at BYU. I'm proud of my little sister. She makes number 6 of the 12 kids in our family to graduate from BYU, and the 9th to recieve a bachelor's degree (if my figuring and memory is correct). Yes, I am well aware of the fact that she is like, a foot taller than me... Saturday was a busy day, as it always seems to be at our house. First, our ward had a 5K, and we participated, as well as Nick's dad. Nick ran it, and Dale and I walked pushing Ellie in her stroller. She loves going for a ride and kind of "phases out", she doesn't respond to questions, just checks out the new surroundings. After that active start to our day we worked in our yard. I mowed the lawn for the first time this season - I love mowing the grass, it is so relaxing to me, and just smells so good. Then I cleaned out a big flower bed and spread woodchips while Nick prepped and planted potatoes, which we should have plenty of come the end of the summer. Nick loves his garden and tends to get a little carried away... We also purchased and planted the last of our fruit trees. We now have a tart cherry, bartlett pear, danjou pear, sugar plum, fuji apple, gala apple, and lemon elberta peach. Ellie had a good day, too. She helped mom pull weeds and dug in the dirt with dad. We always have more work to do than time to accomplish it. Nick had good intentions to work on our fence, but that will have to wait for another day.

The baby must be growing fast these days. I feel like I am ballooning, however, to the outside eye I am just beginning to 'show' and some people in my ward are surprised to find out that I am pregnant (instead they were thinking, 'gosh, Wendy's getting fat lately...'). I started wearing maternity clothes about 2 weeks ago. Our baby girl is just reaching the size to make me uncomfortable - sleeping at night especially. Her muscles must be getting stronger because in the last few days she has really had some whopper kicks, and I can watch my tummy jumping. I am now almost 27 weeks, and am a little concerned because with Ellie I was put on bedrest at 28 weeks - although I don't plan on doing bedrest this time, and so far my BP has been okay, - I still think about all I want to do before this baby makes her entrance (specifically making our office into a nursery). We have been discussing lots of names. Our favorites thus far are Maren, Saige, or Claire. Maren seems to be our front-runner, despite both of our families expressing dislike. We like it and that's what really matters, right!?! In fact, if you ask Ellie what her baby sister's name is, she will likely say "Maren". Her middle name will probably be Patricia, after my mother.

And here's a cute photo of Ellie. She'll put her sunnies on and wear them around the house. This morning I walked into her bedroom and she was playing with her dishes and wearing them. Sometimes she'll even push them up on her head and wear them like that - she must have seen mom doing that while we were in California. What a cute girl.