New Photo blog address

I changed the web address of my photo blog. It's now www.reneecampbellphotography.blogspot.com/

Piper Piper Piper, growing up so fast

Sunday is here and this past week has brought so many new unexpected changes for Piper. Within the blink of an eye she is transforming into a little girl just about to be three. Really, I can't even believe the transformation she has made right before my eyes and so quickly. I guess sometimes you need a reminder of how fast they do grow up.

It all started last Saturday morning when Nate was at drill in FT. Worth. Piper kept saying she wanted to go potty and because she has done this before and had many accidents when we tried panties I was reluctant to believe that she was seriously wanting to go forward with the toilet relationship.  I decided we would go ahead and put panties on and to my surprise she was potty training herself with little help from me ( I was in no condition to put a lot of effort into anything last weekend anyways, so it worked out great). We went to church the next day and she did great, no accidents. I was really surprised to see all week that even at night she has kept her panties dry. 

Thanks to Piper and her willingness to do things on her own time, my mom will no longer have the duty of potty training her in a couple of weeks. I am very excited to not have to change the first diaper of the day which usually induced vomiting.

It is such a transition for me when my girls go from diapers to panties, I know that may sound weird. 

Anyways all week Piper was still reluctant to poop on the toilet, we would have to try like 10-12 times before she would actually let it go. Today marks three days with no accidents AND the first day she pooped on the first try. Yippee!!! I was so excited about it and of course took a picture to mark the occasion.

And another thing.....

We had been planning all week to have a family outing to Sherman Friday night to see Shrek and the girls were both very excited when we got there, heck I was too! It was fantastic to get out of the house and actually do something that felt good for me. I felt so good at the movies I ate nachos with jalapenos, sour straws AND Reeses Pieces. My body did not thank me later that night and throwing up jalapenos for the second time this pregnancy was indeed a great reminder that I need to take care of my body even when I am feeling like it can take some garbage. 

We took about four potty breaks during the movie but Charly and Piper laughed and had fun.

Afterward we walked across the street to a giant strip mall (I was most excited for this part). On the way to check out some new shoes for momma we past by Claire's and casually asked Piper if she wanted to get her ears pierced. Charly, nor myself expected her to say yes or Nate to agree to it either so we were both excited when she excitingly screamed "YES".

Charly continued to tell Piper it would hurt a little while I shoe shopped. Finally we ended back at Claire's, Piper climbed right up in the chair and was very excited about going through the process. It really helped that the young lady helping was very engaging, she was actually awesome, we really appreciated the way she was with our little Pipes.

Of course after she pierced the first ear Piper was not as thrilled but brave regardless. Within 5 seconds of the first ear the second was done. I mentioned before we even started that if we have to hold her down to get it done we were absolutely not going to do it so I was glad it was so fast and Piper held still.

Of course picking a sticker and a sucker after was a treat. Within a couple of minutes she was down and taking charge in the store, she even got to pick a pretty necklace which she models in the color picture below.

Don't let her face fool you she is one proud girl of her earrings. All day at church today she was loving the attention they were getting her and yesterday when she would catch a glimpse in the mirror she marveled at her new accessories. I really thought Piper would be pulling at them which is why I never really wanted to do it but her enthusiasm Friday night just couldn't be passed up and she has been awesome with not touching her ears since.

So here it is folks, our little toddler turning into a little girl. She loves cowboys and snow cones and really what else is there at this young age? 

While Nate was taking a nap today she comforted him and let him know that even though she seemed to be changing fast, she would always be his little girl. Well, that is what I imagined was going through her mind when I saw this.....

I need a hair-cut....bad

Before I forget and start a new post I wanted to mention that on Monday we actually had to crawl into our storm shelter for the first time. *Gasp* I thought I would feel really safe in their but to be honest I didn't. There is something about putting your whole family under ground with only 8 inches of cement between you and a possible tornado. I think I may clean out our closet under the stairs for next time.

We were fine as the quick 10 minute little hail storm pounded overhead and returned to bed at 11:30pm after only 20 minutes of that nonsense.

Back to business.....

This week has been up and down. Just when I think I may be on the way to feeling 'normal' again, I puke in my hand, all over the bathroom rug AND on my Birkenstocks. *Sigh* I think I have officially passed the vomit point I was at with Piper. I read in an old blog at ten weeks was when the main throw up stopped and then I had a freak up-chuck at 13 weeks. 

Today marks 11 weeks and to be honest I can't even believe it has been this long already. When I was pregnant with Piper I thought numerous times about never wanting to be pregnant again. I haven't hit that point yet this time but I imagine if I don't get some relief in the next couple of weeks I may be rethinking that concept.

I hate to be so dramatic about the whole thing but really I just want to flash forward to the point when I love to be pregnant, which according to my calculations should be in a couple of weeks. There is always the thought in the back of my head that this could go on for the next 6.5 months, then what would I do?

Seriously, what the heck would I do? 

Yesterday on our way to clean the church we stopped on the side of the road for some pictures. Click here to see those shots. I was terrified we would come across a snake in those tall grasses. Thankfully we didn't, probably because Nate is a snake whisperer and told them all to flee before we got there. LOL

And because my blogs lately are similar to an essay that is all over the place and makes no sense I'm just going to jump into a completely different topic that has nothing to do with snakes and everything to do with my budding artist. Look what Piper drew this morning. It's a baby. She is awesome!

It's a.....HEARTBEAT!

Monday night we had our first appt. with our new midwife Amanda. I fell in love with homebirths when we had Piper, for one, I love that the midwife comes to me and does almost everything in the comfort of our own home. It is very peaceful and wonderful not making a medical situation out of pregnancy. 

Here are the girls helping Amanda check out my pee stick, which checks a variety of things.

For some reason I thought hearing the heartbeat for the first time would make my nausea disappear.  Of course it didn't but after almost five minutes trying to find our little beans heartbeat I was relieved when we finally heard it. Perhaps now Piper believes me that there is indeed a baby growing in my belly. 

There is something magical about hearing your baby's heartbeat when it is still so tiny, hard to believe it is even possible.

A week in pictures

I know I said I was going to blog later last week while we were still in OK but sometimes things don't always go as planned.

In between Nate's meetings in OK the girls and I killed time by walking around the grounds. I broke one of my camera lenses while trying to keep Shelby from running away and the girls only had a couple of moments that were less than delightful, which of course I documented with my beloved camera.

 After the last post I ended up making a friend at the pool who just happens to be the mother of Charly's future husband, Sam. Sharing birth stories with her and watching the kids become friends.was a treat. It was neat to discover how much we all had in common. Later that night Charly turned to Nate and I and got extremely shy while asking about whether or not it was OK to marry your friend. Nate knew she was talking about Sam and as soon as he turned to answer her she blushed. This was the first time Charly has ever expressed interest in a boy, it was a very sweet moment, one I wish we had on video. Her sweet little face will forever be engraved in my mind of the moment she told us of her first crush.

The girls were dying to get Nate down to the pool after him being gone all day. Despite me throwing up in between pool sessions, we actually had a pretty good time there, it was a nice break from our HG home.

Piper, of course, was a little dare devil around the pool. She went under a few times and with no cares either. I was always near by to help her out but it boggles my mind how she could be so fearless, even after going under multiple times.

Nate gave Charly a lesson on skipping rocks on these bizarre stairs that seemed to lead to nowhere. We didn't hang out on them too long for fear Piper may just decide to run and fly off of them.

After a sad goodbye to Sam and his family and a long trip home we arrived at the house in the middle of the afternoon and spent quite a while outside admiring new growth in the garden/yard.  Since being back my nausea still comes and goes, being tolerable one day and terrible the next. Luckily I haven't lost my desire for watermelon and Trechas(a chili powder seasoning). Piper and Charly love it too. Nate, not so much.

Saturday was such a lovely day outside. After Charly's T-ball game we spent the rest of the day outside. I got burnt while I pulled weeds, ate more watermelon and even got to take a nap on the grass for about an hour while Nate did his homework under the tree and the girls played in our homemade birdbath.

It's so nice the girls have each other, especially when I don't feel so great. Most of the time they play nice together.  Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a carefree little girl when I watch them play. Oh to switch places for just an hour with these sweet faces.

Speaking of fun, we finally got to plant Piper's placenta! I know right! Very exciting, considering it has been taking up space in our freezer for the last almost three years. The girls were very helpful digging up the hole and keeping dirt from falling in while we waited for the placenta to thaw.

Here is the final product, a fine sweet little Granny Smith apple tree. I couldn't imagine a more perfect Mother's Day gift.

While this week has been better than last as far as nausea goes, I still find myself bent over toilets more often than I would like to be. As I looked through the past week and a half in pictures I realized this period in our lives doesn't seem to be as bad as I would think with me half present most of the time. The girls are thriving, having fun and enjoying the small things around them. I find great beauty in that.

Oklahoma is the place to be

Sometimes there are perks with Nate working for the Forest Service.  This week we are enjoying those perks. While Nate is attending a Forest Service convention, the girls and I are enjoying a pool and gorgeous view  of a giant lake....Charly calls it a sea because of it's massive size. Who knew there was a nice resort getaway in the middle of nowhere OK?

I was super hesitant for the 5.5 hour drive yesterday but it was vomit free.....doesn't mean I didn't want to vomit, I just didn't.

Today has been a little bit better as well. Usually when I wake up I dry heave a bit and then eat breakfast which comes up shortly after. So far I have not thrown up yet today....it is after noon!  

We are all anxious for Nate to get back so we can take him to the pool and the 'hot pool' (girls call the hot tub a hot pool...)later on.

Right outside our balcony door is a cool rocky shore and the girls are begging me to get out there so I will hopefully write more later on this week.