Christmas Picture 2009...

I took Jocelyn to a local portrait studio called "Portrait Innovations" on 12/05/09 to have her Christmas picture done. I had a hard time choosing one but decided on the one below. I just love it!!!!!!

Christmas cards were mailed Saturday, all but two of the presents are wrapped. We are going to put up the tree tomorrow. I am the queen of procrastination (otherwise the tree would already be up). I can't believe that I am going to be celebrating my 2nd Christmas as a mommy. I waited such a long time to become one and the time seems to be flying by. I am cherishing every minute of motherhood (well maybe not EVERY minute) but I wouldn't trade it for the world. To all of you out there waiting for your own China doll, keep the faith that you will soon be celebrating Christmas with your own daughter.

Doing Mission work...

This past Sunday at church some of the congregation stayed after to decorate the church for Christmas. Jocelyn and I stayed after to help get the food sorted and lined up for our Deacon Baskets (these are baskets of food that we deliver to families that need help). We have done this every year and I decided that Jocelyn needed to start helping with missions that we do as a church as I want her to have a giving heart and to also see how lucky she is. Here she is loading up food in her "shopping cart" to take to the fellowship hall.
Here we are on our way to the fellowship hall with our cart full.

We had to make many trips as we had lots of donations.

Here she is unloading her cart and helping Aunt Betty putting like foods together.

As I said earlier we made MANY trips.

Jocelyn was EXHAUSTED when we were finished and the minute I put her in her carseat she was out like a light and she took a 2 and a half hour nap when we got home. I am so proud of our church and so proud of Jocelyn as she is beginning her mission work.

The leaves have fallen......

A few days before Halloween (as you can tell by the decorations in the background) when we pulled into our driveway the neighbor across the street had raked up all of his leaves in his front yard and had them in a huge pile. His daughter was jumping in them and having a good time. Jocelyn said "eeves, mommy Jocen pay". How could you pass up such a cute request? I couldn't of course. We went across the street and asked if we could play and he said sure. Jocelyn had a blast as you can tell by her smile.

Unfortunately we couldn't play very long as it was pretty chilly outside.

I am queen of leaves!!!

She wasn't so sure what to think of mommy throwing her in the leaves. She wamed up to that quickly though.

Here she is just after mommy threw her in the leaves trying to get back up.

We had a blast and I think that I had more fun than she did. I don't think that I have ever laughed as much as I did just seeing her have fun and her precious smile many, many times

Mommy's Little Pirate.....

For Halloween Jocelyn dressed up as a pirate. We went over to our friend TJ's house. We had mummy dogs (really hot dogs wrapped in pastry dough) Turkey pot pie, and fruit salad in oranges that had Jack-o-lantern faces. We had a really good time.

I had to get one without her mouth open.

After we were done trick-or-treating. We came back to the house and decorated pumpkin shaped cookies. Here is Jocelyn's masterpiece pumpkin.

I hope everyone had a Happy and safe Halloween.

Playtime.....

Jocelyn and mommy being silly. Now don't forget to say cheez.

These pictures were taken last Sunday after we got home from church. Jocelyn and I decided to have some fun. We had a tea party, then we made some dinner, and then she decided it was time for her dolly to go night-night. So she decided to read her a bedtime story. I thought this was sweet so I had to go and get the camera.

Let's see what happens next in the story.

I could of course understand just a few words and most of the story was about trees, dogs, and night-night.

She is telling our dog Nutmeg to "go way baby seeping"

After we put dolly night-night Jocelyn and I went outside to have some fun. She is having fun watching mommy fall down on the ground and roll in the leaves. What fun, I get a second childhood!! I got Jocelyn the vaccination for the swine flu on Wednesday. She woke up on Thursday with a fever of 103.5. The nurse said she might run a fever for a couple of days to possibly a week. My mom stayed home with her on Thursday. She was still running a fever on Friday morning but it broke Friday night. Praise God. I had a pretty cranky girl on my hands those two days but I would be cranky too if I had a 103 degree temp. She really has become herself again and is ready to play, play, and play. I am so glad but exhausted at the same time.

We have piggytails.......

I had an appointment after work this past Monday so my mom picked up Jocelyn from the babysitter and watched her for about an hour before I got home. As I walked in the door this is the sight that greeted me. Jocelyns babysitter decided to put her hair in piggytails. She has been threatening to do this when Jocelyn had enough hair. My mom said that she kept trying to take them out but she wouldn't let her until I got home. As soon as I saw I had to go get the camera and take pictures. As you can tell she wasn't happy with mommy taking pictures.

She turned around though.

This picture is somewhat fuzzy but I thought it was the best picture of her piggytails.

I am so happy that she finally has enough hair that she can have piggytails anytime now!!!

Updates....

Sorry it has been so long since I last blogged but we have had quite a round of sickness in our household lately. First I got sick the last week of September with what they thought may be the H1N1 flu. The test came back negative!! PRAISE GOD!! It took me a good 5 days before I felt close to normal. Jocelyn then came down with a bad case of diarrhea that lasted for 3 days. I called the doctor and he said that as long as she wasn't running a temp and was eating and drinking ok that we could only wait it out. He also suggested that I put Jocelyn on the BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast (dry)) diet and no dairy products at all. That was ok because these are some of her favorites. We only gave her Gatorade and water to drink. That helped also and we have no more diarrhea! Again PRAISE GOD!! Jocelyn is starting to use 4 to 5 word sentences. The other day she told me "mommy watch" and she did a somersalt all on her own. I guess one of the girls at her daycare was doing them and Jocelyn copied her. There is no way that her mommy taught her as she can't do one. She is a SPONGE!!!

Thank you for your prayers for Lily (a girl adopted at the same time as Jocelyn). Her chicken pox are cleared up and she is doing well.

Jocelyn and her beh-beh.

My Budding Artist.....

These pictures were taken this past Sunday after church. Jocelyn loves to color and when Grandma bought some colored pencils Jocelyn has been trying to use them. I decided to buy her some of her own and a Doodle Pad to see what she would do. She loves them!! She is concentrating to hard.



Thanks mommy for the colored pencils and paper.

What should I draw? A dog, a cat. I know I will draw a picture for mommy!!!

The MASTERPIECE is finished!!!

Jocelyn got the box of Elmo bandaids and covered her "owies". She used all but two of the bandaids. Of course she really has no "owies" but you can't tell her that.

Please be in prayer for Lily (another little girl adopted at the same time as Jocelyn) as she has the chicken pox and is pretty itchy. Let's pray that her chicken pox heal quickly

Wake up you sleepyhead.....

The pictures below were taken about 2 weeks ago. Jocelyn is usually up before me most of the time so I never get to watch her sleeping. When I went into her room to get ready for the day she was still asleep. This made such a cute picture that I had to go get my camera. Don't you agree???

Why did you have to wake me mommy? I was sleeping so good.

Ok mommy that is ENOUGH pictures. I haven't even combed my hair or washed my face yet.

The blankie is still with us and seems like it always will be. It is her pacifier. Do any other girls have a security item that they hold on too???

Potty training is DONE. Jocelyn still wears pullups at night and during nap and we are starting to have days where they ar e dry when she gets up.

I am amazed daily at how much she is growing up and learning new things every second. Two days ago we were working on our numbers and I was using my fingers to show them and she counted to ten by herself for the first time. I was soooo impressed. We have been working on them for a while with little or no success. She just needed for mommy to be patient.

Hide and Seek....

As you can imagine with our three dogs and with my brothers dog Mija in the house anytime there was food around they were all right there. Jocelyn wanted to eat her "fut nak" (fruit snack) in peace so she went and tried to hide from the dogs. I thought that this was so cute that I had to take some pictures.

You found me!!!

We had another milestone happen at our house! Jocelyn woke up this morning with a dry pull-up for the first time. She then went and immediately got on the potty. We may not even have to buy any pull-ups at our house anymore. Horray!! Hooray!!

Family...

My brother Rob and my nephew Lee came to visit us this weekend. They live in the state of Georgia. This is the first time my brother has gotten to see Jocelyn other than pictures. As you can see she went to uncle Rob with just a little prodding. My brother thought she was so cute and full of energy. I think he as forgotten as his little one turns 13 this December. She is showing her "cool man" pose. (Notice the thumbs of both of them)

This is my nephew Lee, (the soon to be teenager) . He had Jocelyn full out laughing 10 minutes after he arrived. She now says "were eee, were eee" (Where's Lee?)

They also brought their dog Mija. So that means that there are four dogs at our house right now. Boy is it crowded!!

We are still doing really well in the potty training arena. We have only had one accident and that is because I didn't get the bathroom door opened soon enough. Today Dee (our babysitter) said that Jocelyn even had a dry pullup after her nap today!!

Her scabies have gotten much better and she is no longer nearly as itchy as she was. Her back is clearing up and we are so happy!!

Busy, Busy, Busy.....

We had a very busy weekend last weekend. Friday night was game night at church. Of course Jocelyn was the hit of the party. We helped Aunt Betty put together a puzzle, and just played and had fun. Saturday morning we ran errands and then Saturday afternoon we had a birthday party to go to for Jocelyn's good buddy TJ. He turned 3 and we had a good time. Great food too. On Sunday afternoon from 3 to 6 pm we had a back to school carnival at our church with games and food. They also had an inflatible jumping room. As you can see Jocelyn loved it!!

Oops, I don't think that I was supposed to fall down. Oh well it sure is fun!!

They also had face painters. Jocelyn sat still and was great while the lady painted her face. She was a little scared at first. She wasn't sure what to expect but she went with the flow.

Like my two Happy faces???

On the potty training front. We have now gone four days in big girl panties with no accidents. I am sooooo proud of my daughter that I can't tell you.

On a bad note the rash that Jocelyn has on her back (for 3 weeks now) was getting a little bit better while on the antibiotics that the doctor put her on but started spreading like wildfire the last 2 days. The itching is constant. I ended up taking her to urgent care last night as I couldn't get her back in to the doctor due to the holiday weekend. The doctor at urgent care said that she has scabies. I had never heard of it before, but apparently there is a mite (the size of 5 mm) that burrows under the skin and lays 3 eggs and "poops" under the skin. We are allergic to the poop and this causes the itching and when the eggs hatch they in turn burrow under the skin and do the same thing so it is a continuous cycle. I have a cream that I put on her last night and again tonight that will kill the mites. Unfortunately it could take up to four weeks before the itching stops for her. Please pray for Jocelyn's itching and rash to have a quick and speedy recovery.

Bathtime...

Jocelyn loves her bath and has to have every bath toy she owns in the tub with her. She has started becoming Miss Independent. She wants to do everything by herself. She has now figured out how to get her hair wet so that we can wash her hair. As she says "I do it".

Here is the after picture.

Proof that she has to have every bath toy she owns in the tub with her.

On the potty training front we had our first day in our big girl panties with no accidents. The only time Jocelyn has a pullup on is during her nap and at bedtime. She is now telling me when she has to go potty and we are making it to the potty in time. I think that we are almost done with potty training. HOORAY!! HOORAY!!

Stay tuned for posts from our busy weekend!!

Playtime.....

The weather was great here on Saturday. Jocelyn and I decided to enjoy it and just have fun!! We blew bubbles, drew on the sidewalk, and threw a ball around. We had a great time!! Doesn't the smile on her face just say it all?? Sorry the pictures are blurry. I had trouble with my camera.

I can throw the ball really high!! I haven't quite mastered catching it though.

Look at me mommy!!

I love to cower (color) with all of these pretty colors.

I have also started something new this week. When I get ready to give Jocelyn her bath at night I go into her room and pick out 3 sets of pajamas and let her choose which one she is going to wear to bed that night. The smile on her face each night is from ear to ear. She just thinks that this is the neatest thing. I think next week I will start this with the clothes she gets to wear during the day.

Potty training is still in progress. We have graduated to big girl panties at home and she has had a few accidents but they are getting fewer and farther between. I do put her in a pullup during nap time and at bedtime still.

Updates.....

Sorry no pictures today. Jocelyn has been keeping me pretty busy the last couple of weeks. She is talking so much more and in 3 or 4 word sentences. She has learned some animal sounds, we are still working on potty training, but most of all we ar e enjoying being together. I received her birth certificate in the mail this past Saturday. It was a great moment to see my name under the title mother. I am still amazed that I have that title at all.

Right now I have swimmers ear in my left ear and let me tell you that it is no fun. It started last Thursday, I went to the doctor on Friday, was in the emergency room on Sunday and back in the doctors office on Monday. I am feeling much better now but still have a wick (basically like a sponge) in my ear as my ear canal has completely swollen shut. I go back to the ENT on Monday and have the wick taken out and so that he can see how my ear is healing.

Jocelyn has a rash on her back and a little bit on her legs. She is really scratching at her back. It is a heat rash, we are putting hydrocortosine cream on it and hopefully it will be gone soon as we are planning to go back to the zoo on Labor Day. She is now wearing 3T clothes. She still soaks up everything like a sponge.

Will post pictures soon I promise

Surprise....

Saturday July 18th was my 40th birthday. On Friday the 17th my mom and my church family threw me a surprise birthday party. The theme was flip flops as that is the shoe of choice for me if I have to wear shoes. It was a blast and I was sooooo surprised. I had no clue!! Most of the gifts were gag gifts such as bran flakes, large print crossword puzzles, and crying towels, etc. I also had to wear my purple hair, purple beads, purple flipflops, and glasses that had the number 40 on them. I was quite a sight let me tell you!! By the way can you guess what my favorite color is??

Here is the wonderful cake that they had for me.

Other things to report. Jocelyn is working on potty training now and is doing really well. We have had no accidents so far, we still have some work to do but I think we will be out of diapers real soon. YEAH!!! I have had two rounds of sore throat in the last two weeks, the last round starting last night and getting worse as the day wears on so please pray that my throat will get better quickly.

Last Day of Staycation ....The Zoo.....

On Friday July 3rd, some friends and I took our daughters to the zoo. You might recognize them as they were at Jocelyn's 2nd birthday party. They are Lupita and her daughter Celeste, Lisa and her daughter Jaelyn, and of course Jocelyn and I. If you can believe this picture was actually taken at the very end of the day on the way to our cars.

The 3 musketeers (Celeste, Jaelyn, and Jocelyn)

Her first ride on a careousel...

Here are all the girls on the careousel...

We saw many animals at the zoo. Just to name a few
Deer

"iga" Tiger

"e ion"

Sea Lion

"angoo"

Kangaroo

"eep"

Sheep

Jocelyn actually touched and petted the sheep. At first she was scared of them but soon she was saying "eer eep", "eer eep"

Pig

We had a very busy and full but most of all fun day at the zoo. Jocelyn didn't nap at all that day and she fell asleep on the way home. We arrived home at 5:30 pm and I woke her up so that she could eat some dinner. She wanted none of that so I put her in bed expecting for her to wake up very early the next morning. If you can believe she slept from 6:00 pm to 7:00 am the next morning. She slept for a full 13 hours. Thank you Lupita, Lisa, Jaelyn, Celeste for one of the best times we have had.