Finally!

Lillian is now almost completely potty trained. Literally one day she was refusing to go in the potty, and then the next she did, all on her own. We did give her rewards for when she went in the potty. I printed off a sticker chart that I found online (here) and she got one sticker for pee and two for poop. After about two weeks we stopped giving her stickers, and so far she keeps going in the potty. She just goes on her own now. We still need to get her potty trained at night and when we leave the house. So far she just wears pull ups when we arent at home and at bedtime. I'm thinking were going to try to take her grocery shopping in regular undies this weekend and see how it goes.


Lillian is talking more and more every day. She seems to love to talk all the time. Its amazing all the new things that she has learned to say. She's getting very good at expressing herself and what she wants and thinks. She loves to color, and giggle. All the time. She's learned to cross her eyes and thinks that its the funniest thing in the world. Its cute how hilarious she is.


I'm also trying to get things ready for when we leave for Idaho. We're going to be gone almost the entire month of June visiting the husband's family. I'm excited, and it'll be nice to relax for a bit. I think I need a vacation. There is just so much to go before we leave, and I know that I still have a month to get ready but that doesnt feel like enough time right now. I'm making lists of all the things that need to be done before we go, so hopefully that will make it easier. I'm also making lists for what all needs to be packed so that we dont forget anything, or over pack like I did last year. I think that I brought almost everything that we owned last time. It was pretty ridiculous. I'm going to try really hard not to do that this year. I'm also not going to worry so much about packing Lillian's stuff based on exact outfits with matching hair bows and all of that. I think I'm just going to make sure she has enough to wear, and if she runs out I can do laundry while were at his mom's. Okay, to be honest I'm going to over pack. I always do. I would rather have too much then not enough.


I also need to get the two chapters of Sleeping Beauty that will post in June written before we leave. I dont want to have to worry about them while on vacation. That means I need to get May's written first. I'm hoping that by the 15th I'll have the four chapters done and scheduled. We will see how that goes. The latest chapter of Sleeping Beauty is up Chapter 4. There are also a lot of new posts by all the other authors up. They are all pretty great as well.


I have a few crafts and things that I'm trying to get done at the moment as well. I'll post them as I get to doing them. I'm thinking more glitter jars, finishing the afghan, and maybe some other things. I figure the busier I keep myself the less I'll stress about leaving for vacation. We'll see how that goes.

Everything is getting done!

So this week has seemed so busy for some reason. I still cant figure out why, since there really wasnt that much to do. I guess its probably because Easter is on Sunday, and it takes forever to get ready for anything. I have made progress on some of my goals, which is exciting! I am actually really proud of all the things that have actually gotten done, or at least started over this past week.

There is a new chapter of Sleeping Beauty that went up at 8 am this morning. You can check it out here http://wickedlytwistedtales.blogspot.com/2013/03/sleeping-beauty_28.html . Please leave me some feedback if you do check it out. I would love to know what people are thinking as they read it. I've been trying to promote the blog as much as possible so that we can get more readers. The other author's works are pretty great as well, so check them out after you read mine. Twitter seems to be the easiest for promoting everything. My twitter is @SaraEcho for anyone who might care to follow me. (I really could use more followers, it would make promoting everything easier.)

I have also been working hard on Lillian's afghan. I am really proud of how far I have gotten so quickly. I am already one skein of yarn in, and started on the second. I think that its going to be beautiful when I finally finish it. I did make it larger than I had planned on, but thats okay. Its going to work great as a blanket on her queen sized bed this summer. I really enjoy crocheting. I cant wait to take more classes and get better at it. It seems to be really calming, which is awesome. Here's the blanket so far.

We have also been working hard on potty training. Lillian doesnt seem to really want to, which makes it hard. She doesnt care if there's poop or pee in her diaper or underwear. It doenst seeem to bother her at all. She does like to sit on the potty, which is a start. She also knows how to tell me when she goes potty. If we could only get her to tell us before she goes I think she would be potty trained in a second. She loves to put her monkey on the potty. The other day he even took a nap there. Which is really cute, and kind of gross at the same time. The monkey finally got washed, and it looks almost brand new. Luckily Lillian didnt mind me cleaning him. Here's where she tucked monkey in for his nap the other day. It was really sweet of her. She takes such great care of her monkey.

Lillian also got to see her grandpa, which was awesome. He had a layover in Denver on his way back home to Idaho, and so we went to see him at the airport. It was nice for him to get to spend a couple of hours with her. I really do wish that Brandon's family lived closer so that we could see them more often. I do talk to MaK every so often, and his mom video calls Lillian almost everyday. I'm grateful for the technology that we have today, because without they would miss out on seeing her growup, which doesnt seem fair. We are going to Idaho for around 20 days or so in June, which will be fun. I'm really excited to go this time, instead of nervous like I was last year. Of course this time I know everyone, know that we all get along and love each other, and Brandon and I are married. Its going to be a great vacation. 

We are still working on the getting pregnant thing, but so far no luck. I am afraid that its not going to happen, and I know thats silly. I mean we were pregnant in November, we can do it again. I'm just afraid that we'll have another miscarriage, and I dont know how I would handle that. It was so hard to lose that baby, and to know that we wont ever get to know that child. I know that God will send us our second when the time is right, I just wish it would happen sooner rather than later. Sooner as in this month. I really need to work on being patient. 

Now all I need to do is get my house clean, start on my novel, and figure out how to find more story competitions to submit my shorts to. I am so excited for the way everything has been going, and I am excited for everything to continue. Its a beautiful life, and I know that I only have God to thank for all my blessings.