Bloggy Giveaways Carnival

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Go over and have a look at all the great giveaways!! Just click on the picture and it will take you to the Bloggy Carnival site!
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Pictures...

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Just some pictures of the girls from one morning before school. I have a hard time getting a good smile out of Brooklyn for pictures because if you tell her to "say cheese" - she makes a cheesey face!!!

Potty Talk - Day #2

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Bella did well at school again yesterday wearing panties all day (except naptime) with only one accident (and that was right after she got up from her nap and they took the diaper off! Hey - accidents will happen!!! I am just so thrilled at her interest and how well she is doing. She also had a tiny accident while we were eating supper - but she did sit on the potty afterwards and try!! In other exciting news - she even poopied on the potty last night (hey - you were warned that this was a potty talk post!). It was quite a chore to get her to put her pull up on last night for bed! She finally did. And this morning -we took it off as soon as we got up and she used the potty with no problems!! Then put on her big girl Ariel panties!

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And now for the embarrassing photo I know you've all been waiting for!

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Then she wanted me to take a picture of her in her big girl panties! And of course, Brooklyn had to be included....

I've Been Tagged

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My blogging friend, Kristen, tagged me to define my life in six words (like a week or so ago - but I'm just now getting around to it). Here goes...

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1. Fun
2. Busy
3. Fulfilling
4. Challenging (at times)
5. Important

6. Blessed!!
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Now I'm supposed to tag five more people...(the rules are to describe your life in 6 words and tag 5 more people, leaving them a comment on their blogs so they'll know they've been tagged).

1. Christina
2. Angie
3. Allison
4. Liesa
5. LeAnne

Could it be??? Just maybe...

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Bella is getting the hang of using the potty!

She wore "panties" all day at school yesterday with no accidents. Granted, her teacher did have to stay on her asking her if she needed to go potty. BUT - every time the teacher asked her she did indeed sit on the potty and tee-tee!! Oh my - do you know how excited I was to arrive at school yesterday and see her sitting on the potty?!?!? I just kept telling her how proud I was and how proud Daddy would be when she told him. And she said she was proud of herself, too!!! She did get stickers for going potty at daycare (which if anyone knows Bella - she LOVES stickers)!

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Yesterday was our 8th Anniversary, so we went to Mobile for dinner and then we went to Target and got some "potty essentials"! We had a "little potty" that sits on the floor but at school they only have a regular (although shorter) toilet - so we got a ring for ours and a little stool so she can step up and get on the "big potty" easier! Then of course, we had to get some new panties (because you know she didn't have any - haha!). She was asleep by the time we got home last night - but..

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This morning she sat on the potty before she got dressed and she did not want to wear a diaper - she only wanted panties!! YAY!! After she (and Brooklyn) had sat on the potty this morning, I had removed the ring from the toilet and moved their stool out of the way - but before weleft, she had gone back into the bathroom and informed me that the toilet lid should be up, her ring on the potty and her stool in front of it, so she could use the potty! And we didn't have any accidents on the way to school. Hopefully, she's had a good "potty" day at school!!!

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Yesterday was certainly an exciting day in our house with this big event!!!

Silly Bella!

While Brooklyn was napping on Sunday and Bella was supposed to be napping (or at least playing in her room) - Bella raided my "linen closet" and took out every wash rag we have and made a path of "magic carpets" through the living room and leaving a "magic carpet" in front of each door in our house! You've got to love this kid's imagination!

Here is the path through the living room area!

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Here is Bella sitting at the end of one of the paths just giggling because she knew I had the camera out and that she was technically supposed to be in her room!! Little squirt - but look how cute she looks....Needless to say, she did not nap on Sunday!

Weekend...

We had a busy weekend! On Friday night we ate dinner with Nana and Pop - thank you Nana!!! Then Saturday morning we got up early and headed to Birmingham with Nana and Pop! They were having a "Hunter's Extravaganza" at the BJCC and Pop and Daddy went to that while the girls headed over to the Galleria!! We just walked around - didn't buy one single thing!! We had a yummy dinner and then our final stop was at the Bass Pro Shops in Montgomery! The girls loved all the animals, especially the fish tank. It isn't a very good picture - but here the girls are standing with Pop looking and pointing at the fish!

Sunday we just hung around the house - I cooked, did laundry, etc. Brannon fixed the light in the bathroom, cut the grass, worked on one of our doors, etc. Just a "chore" day!

All in all - it was a very fun weekend!!!

Our Garden

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We have a garden to the side of our house. In addition to the corn Brannon's dad planted - we also have crowder peas, purple hull peas, okra and pumpkins! I finally took some pictures!
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Bella showing off her "prized" okra!!! She came into the house saying "we got to cook this"! Too bad it wasn't worth cooking!

Daddy and Bella pruning the okra!


Brooklyn helping Daddy prune the okra!

Our pumpkins!

Another pumpkin!

Our pumpkin patch!

Care Bear Parade

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On Sunday, the girls got out their Care Bears and were walking back and forth on the couch - just being silly!

Flower Garden - or at least an attempt

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We have a two pecan trees in our front yard and we attempted to make a little flower garden around one of them - we plants some different flowers, planted a gardenia bush and put a little garden flag in there as well!

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The flowers did grow, but as soon as there is any sign of color - Bella feels as though she must pick the flowers! So we basically have more of a greenery garden.

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Here are some pictures of the girls picking the flowers one night after we had gotten home from somewhere!

Another contest...

With another baby on the way - I had to enter this contest!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Nap Time?

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This is a typical nap time in our house! I put Brooklyn in her crib and she may fuss a little bit - but not much. She then sleeps for about an hour and a half to two hours!

Then there is Bella who does not like to take a nap because "I not tired Momma"!!! But I do try and convince her to at least stay in her room and "rest"! Last weekend - she did quite well with staying in her room for about an hour or so (which is great by me)! Here she was having a spot of tea....

Then this is what happens between 4:30 and 5:30 on those days she decides to play in her room instead of napping!

Playing together - nicely!

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Generally, the girls play together nicely...as long as no one is trying to steal the other's one toy! Last Saturday - I was picking up/cleaning and happened to be in the kitchen. I looked around the corner and found Brooklyn on her hands and knees crawling while Bella was leading her around by her shirt! Bella said that Brooklyn was her puppy!!!! And Brooklyn was more than happy to oblige!!! They were just giggling away with each other!

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Here the puppy must have broken loose from her master, aka Bella!

Where's Bella? Where's Brooklyn?

We live in an older house, so the closets do not have doors on them. I have improvised and hung curtains to (most) of the closets in the house to hide the clutter contents of the closets. Bella and Brooklyn love to hide behind the curtain and we, of course, act like we have no idea where they are asking each other "where's Bella", "where's Brooklyn" and they come running from behind the curtain!

Brooklyn - 0, Concrete - 1

Brannon took the girls out for a quick walk to Grannie's last night to see Grannie and to pick figs off her fig tree. As they were heading into the house - Brooklyn fell face first on our "porch", which is concrete. She busted her top lip and as we were putting her to bed last night - I noticed she had chipped one of her pretty front teeth!!!

New Blog Layout

Have you noticed the new blog layout? Our blog now has different pages - exciting, I know!

The "Home" page is where I will continue to post the happenings of our life! The "Bella" page will contain all things Bella - including the countdown to her birthday! The "Brooklyn" page will be all about Brooklyn! The "Pregnancy Updates" page is where I will post updates on pregnancy #3 and post pictures of my every growing belly!! The "Who's Reading Our Blog" page will list (eventually) all the visitor's locations of those who visit our blog The "Leave us Message" page is where you guys can leave us a message!!

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Be sure to click through the different pages!

Happy 4th of July!

Most people in the United States celebrate the 4th of July, but do you know exactly why the holiday is so important to our country? Imagine how you would feel if someone older than you (maybe an older sister or brother) kept telling you what to do all of the time and kept taking more and more of your allowance. That is how the colonists felt in the years leading up to 1776. Great Britain kept trying to make the colonists follow more rules and pay higher taxes. People started getting mad and began making plans to be able to make their own rules. They no longer wanted Great Britain to be able to tell them what to do, so they decided to tell Great Britain that they were becoming an independent country. (To be independent means to take care of yourself, making your own rules and providing for your own needs.)

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The Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and they appointed a committee (a group of people working together to do a specific job) to write a formal document that would tell Great Britain that the Americans had decided to govern themselves. The committee asked Thomas Jefferson to write a draft (first try) of the document, so he worked for days, in absolute secret, until he had written a document that he thought said everything important that the committee had discussed. On June 28, 1776, the committee met to read Jefferson's "fair" copy (he put his best ideas together and wrote them neatly.) They revised (made some changes) the document and declared their independence on July 2, 1776. They officially adopted it (made it theirs) on July 4, 1776. That is why we call it "Independence Day." Congress ordered that all members must sign the Declaration of Independence and they all began signing the "official" copy on August 2, 1776. In January of the next year, Congress sent signed copies to all of the states.
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The Declaration of Independence is more than just a piece of paper. It is a symbol of our country's independence and commitment to certain ideas. A symbol is something that stands for something else. Most people can look at a certain little "swoosh" and know that it stands for "Nike." Well, the signers of the Declaration of Independence wanted the citizens of the United States to have a document that spelled out what was important to our leaders and citizens. They wanted us to be able to look at the Declaration of Independence and immediately think of the goals we should always be working for, and about the people who have fought so hard to make these ideas possible. The people who signed the Declaration risked being hanged for treason by the leaders in Great Britain. They had to be very brave to sign something that would be considered a crime! So every time we look at the Declaration of Independence, we should think about all of the effort and ideas that went into the document, and about the courage it took for these people to stand up for what they knew was right -- independence!

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This is another good opportunity (not that we need one) to remember that our freedom is not free!! Thank you to all who serve everyday to protect our freedom!!!