Toilet Times

Bella has been obsessed with the potty lately. any time I change her diaper, when I go to rinse it out, she follows me to the bathroom, gets right up to the toilet to watch what I do, then watches as it all flushes down. She loves it! So lately, I've been letting her flush the potty after I rinse her diapers out (of course, I have to help her...it's too hard for her to do herself). She watches it all go down, and wants to do it all over again...
She's not even walking, and she's getting introduced to the potty.
I guess it will just make it that much easier to start potty training once she's walking :)


And if you thought I was kidding about that last statement, here's an interesting fact for you: Before disposible diapers were introduced in the 1950's, 90% of kids were completely potty trained by 18 months. my, how things have changed. Yet another reason I love cloth!

Waddlin' at the Waterfront

We met up with Mendy and her clan Saturday afternoon for lunch at the St. Marys waterfront. (yay picnics!!) Mendy's sister, Rita, went crazy with her camera and took some really cute pictures of Bella (who could blame her?). If you see a random black dot -it's a gnat. they were everywhere! - Gotta love SE Georgia... And yes, she's a little rashy again. Teething+never-ending drool puddles+sensitive skin=rash. but she's still a cutie. Enjoy!!


This is my favorite!! (below) Maybe you should expect to see this again on a birthday party invitation... or a J Crew catalog... too bad they don't sell baby clothes.


... And here's our cute family! (stray hairs and glares accepted here)

Getting into everything...and scars to prove it

If I've learned anything since Bella started getting around, it's this: Bumps and bruises happen.

I think I have a dare-devil on my hands too, which makes for even more bumps and bruises.
This morning was rough.
we were playing on my bed, and she started crawling around (typical). she usually stops at the edge, gets onto her tummy and looks down and around the bed, then scoots back. I saw her going to the edge, and didn't think much of it, until she just kept crawling right off of the bed, doing a sommersault thing onto the carpet floor beneath.
of course, to me, it was all in slow motion - me yelling BEEEELLLLLAAAAAAAAAA as I'm trying to grab onto her before she falls. yeah, didn't work so much.
after we got over this bump, then about 10 minutes later, she found something to pull down on top of her...
I don't think it will ever end.

I guess as parents we just have to do the best we can, and understand that we can't protect our kids from everything. even if we did everything we possibly could to protect our kids, bumps will happen. bruises will come. hearts will break. feelings will be hurt. scars will stay. we just have to be there to comfort and direct with love when we can, and teach our kids that yes, bumps and bruises, and scars happen. However, bumps will go down, bruises will turn to yellow, then go away, and anything broken will heal with time. there may be scars to show what we've been through, but it reminds us that we have overcome, and can overcome again.

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." - Phillipians 4:13
"...but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." - Romans 5:3