P is for Potty!

 It's in full swing over here - potty training that is.  I didn't actually have a date marked on the calendar or anything.  It just hit me the other evening, and I decided to get in the game.  By the looks of the ball cap Samuel wears 90% of the time, he's in the game too!  I guess it's been almost a week now, and I have to say it's going pretty well.  Of course, I have to say I have no clue what I'm doing either.

 He's the only one reading books on the topic.   Thankfully, I don't feel the pressure to read any how-to books for once.  We'll just give it a try and see what happens.  He's so cute sitting there.  I've put a little box of books next to his potty as you can see, and he'll thumb through them.  He's actually done his business in the potty each day since we've started.  He doesn't exactly tell me when he needs to go, I've just asked a lot and put him on there.  When he goes #2 he gets a reward of two Skittles! Ha!  The book he's reading below is called, "Sam's Potty." That's his favorite.  It would be nice to have this mastered by the time the next little guy arrives in July. One in diapers as opposed to two would be a little kinder on our budget.   At this point it's been nice just to see the amount of diapers we're using be less and less.  When we're at home during the day I keep him in underwear then put him in a diaper if we go out or during naps and bedtime.  So far we've only had a few accidents.

He's growing up so quickly.  This is just one more sign that my baby isn't a baby anymore.  He's gearing up to be the big brother.

Thomas Flannel Board Fun

 I pulled this out about six weeks ago after remembering I had it.  My sister-in-law passed it along to me years ago when I was teaching, so it has been around the block a few times.  It finally dawned on me that Samuel may enjoy it at the phase he's in, so I dug it out of the closet.

 Enjoy it is an understatement!  He loves it!  He's played with it several times a day since.  We just leave it out on our coffee table at all times, so he can play with it when he pleases.  He sometimes likes for us to join him, but for the most part he wants to create little scenes all on his own and show us what he's done.

It's so fun to watch his creativity blossom.  We don't actually own any Thomas stuff like the actual train set or anything yet.  Funny how this simple little felt board with all the pieces just lights his fire.  I'm so glad I remembered we had it at just the right time.  

Us Lately

Time just gets away from me these days.  I have so much I want to say or document here in this little corner of my world but somehow one day leads to the next and I don't get to it.  Finally, I'm dedicating a few minutes just to reflect and write...

I'm officially 22 weeks pregnant today.  I'm really starting to feel this little boy's kicks and movements.  He's active at different times throughout the day or evenings.  Last night, Tyson got to feel two really strong kicks for the first time.  Makes it so real for him.  He got all excited and initiated a lengthy conversation with baby boy.  Speaking of Baby Boy, that's his name at this point.  With Samuel we knew from the start what we wanted to name him, but this time around we don't have a name chosen yet.  We've thrown out a couple of ideas, but we are really praying into it and believing God knows his name and we'll know too by the time he's born or shortly there after.
Samuel has a little guitar and he's initiated singing "lullabye's" to the baby.  It's the sweetest thing.  I don't know where he heard it, but he sings "lullabye and goodnight, go to sleep little baby" real slow while strumming his guitar.  Oh my goodness.  Last night, he got down and said, "I love you, baby brother."  Oh, I hope this affection continues for years to come.  He also asked for a pacifier over the weekend.  Hmmm... He said he was a baby now.  Oookaay.  We obliged him and found a pacifier he could carry around.   He didn't really want it because he lost interest very quickly.

I'm slim on photos (not slim in photos though :).  I haven't taken hardly any belly pics this time around and not to many of Samuel this month.  Consequently, I don't have a picture of it but Samuel has been enjoying helping me wash the dishes lately.  Our dishwasher isn't working right now, so I've been doing a lot of hand washing.  He pulls a chair up to the sink next to me and does his "water work."  I put soapy water in a large bowl with a few plastic dishes and it keeps him busy.  Actually he's right there with me and I'm getting dishes washed.  It's a win/win.  I don't have to stand there at the sink and wonder if he's decorating something with a Sharpie or digging through my jewelry box.  Of course, I have to strip his clothes off first in order to salvage them from the copious amounts of water that makes its way out of the sink.

Hide and seek is a big deal right now too.  It goes like this...Samuel says to one of us (usually Tyson), "let's play hide and seek.  Go hide, Daddy!"  However, what he really means is I'm going to hide and you find me.  Every time.  This could be very confusing to the outsider.  The other funny piece of information is that the child hides in the exact.same.spot.every.time.  That special spot would be in his bed.  He runs to his room and hides in his bed as if it's the first time he's thought of that spot.  We count, go look, and he screams and squeals with delight when we find him.  Over and over.  He loves it.  I do have a picture of this...
Another game of hide and seek went on tonight which is when I asked Tyson if he noticed that Samuel never wants to find us.  He always wants to be found.  He especially wants to be found by Daddy.  We talked about how that's so true with us.  Don't we all want to be found?  We all want to be wanted, pursued, sought after...found...ultimately by our Father God.  The ultimate lover of our souls.

What about Africa?
It's been six months already since we've been back.  I've personally done a lot of processing, reflecting, and wrestling with God since we've been home.  There's been a big battle of the flesh and the spirit in this heart of mine.  Thankfully God can handle it.  Long story short, ultimately we believe going back to Africa is for us.  We are praying and seeking God for His timing in all of this.  We would appreciate your prayers for us too.   We're looking ahead and trying to live in this present moment at the same time.

Well, that's all the musings this pregnant brain can jot down for now.     Good night!