i am a bit concerned..

that it's February and my child can wear clothes like this, outside, in southern Mississippi.

i will not complain though, because my wonderful family is still freezing

in Utah with teen degree weather.

it went from being in the teen's here to being in the high 70's.

i'm talking 77, 78, and even 79 degrees one day this week.

it's lovely.

i do believe we've skipped spring.

but what does that mean for summer?

i'm scared.

potty training 101

please excuse the brief nudity.

but at this point in our lives we are potty training and i have to remember

 how cute my child looks in her Dora panties.

i'm sure all you mothers our there can sympathize with me,

potty training IS.NOT.FUN!

some days are good, some days are absolutely horrible!

yesterday was good.

she only had 2 accidents

and she ALWAYS poo pooh's on the potty.

thank goodness for me.

when she wets in her panties she'll say,

"Uh-oh mama, I pee peed on Dora!"

with the most concerned look on her face.

by the end of the day i'm ready to slap a diaper right back on her,

and that's usually what i do :)

i love how she has bed head and she's eating her favorite thing for dinner, pancakes.

typical night at the Spiers' home when daddy is away.

her interest in barbies

i was never a barbie girl.

i didn't really enjoy playing with them.

but our girl-

she can't bathe without them,

go to the store without them,

go outstide without them,

go on a drive without them,

go potty without them,

or even nap without them.

she's obsessed.

this particular day she woke up from her nap

and stayed in her bed for another 45 min. playing with her barbies.

i'd ask, "you ready to get out and play with mama yet?"

she'd reply with, "no ma'am!"

{see them layed up next to her pillow?}

2 year pictures

i finally finished editing layla's 2 year pictures.
i love them.
now if i could just choose which ones to print

my friends wendi and stephanie came along to do pics of their girls too.
let's just say we were all sweating by the time we were done.
it's not easy getting a 3, 2 and 1 year old to look at the camera at all times,
so i got a lot of profile shots, which is fine with me.
i love layla's little profile.

 love that i caught her in a laugh..

 she was pretty much done at this point..

thankful thursday

yesterday was a beautiful day.

sunny, clear and in the 70's here in southern mississippi.

layla and i took full advantage of it and spent all day roaming the neighborhood

and picking up every rock she could fit in her chubby little hands.

about our 2nd time around the neighborhood she spotted a couple cute little boys.

and of course she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to go introduce herself.

as we approached, the mother and i began sharing small talk.

she asked if i was a stay at home mom and i told her i was.

i asked her the same.

she replied, yes.

i notice some big yellow ribbons hanging on the columns of their house so i asked  if

they had recently sent someone away that she knew or welcomed someone home.

they had just sent her husband to Afghanistan.

last month.

for a full year.

my heart went out to her.

my heart goes out to him, and their adorable 3 year old little boy.

they sacrifice so much for us.

(and i complain when my husband is gone for 2 nights in a row)

i'm thankful for her.

her husband.

others who are serving our country so we can rest peacefully at night.

i'm also thankful for their families, children, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles,

and all those who have to be away from their loved ones.

i am so blessed.

these pictures are priceless...

what i'm working on

i finally took Layla's 2 year pictures yesterday.

here's just a couple for now.

i'm very pleased with how they all turned out.

pretty easy when you have somone as cute as her to photograph!

29 weeks + 2 days

yesterday i had another ultrasound.

everything is looking great,

which was a relief.

at my 20 week ultrasound, a white spot what showing on his heart.

my doctor told me to not be concerned, that they're seeing it more and more everyday

with new technology,

but there was a possibility that it could mean our little guy had down syndrome.

how do you not worry after that?

the hard part..

i had to wait 8 weeks to check it again.

well, the spot is fading, which means it's only a calcium deposit.

pheww..

all other organs look great and he's weighing in at 2 lbs. 11 oz.

he's right on track.

he sure is an active little fella.

makes me really nervous for what i'm in for.

and besides being active, he's quite stubborn.

he would not move his little hands off of his face for the ultrasound...

(yep, those are his arms and hands, covering his face.)

we were finally able to get a profile after a few nudges..

and then he took one hand off so we could see one eye.

silly little man.

We've also decided on a name.

Marx Preston Spiers.

he's a pretty special guy to have that name.

i'll explain later.

maternity

wanna know who took my maternity pictures?
my wonderful husband.
i love him.
we actually took them in our backyard.
talk about convenient.
i'm 29 weeks in these pics.
(i know i know, i look full term, but i'm not)
thought i'd better get them done before i get to big and swollen.

we're so excited to meet our little man.
10 more weeks to go!

love day

lance and i were spoiled with a wonderful valentines weekend.

layla went to picayune to stay with papa and grandma until sunday afternoon.

let's just say it we had a lovely time.

but

this was only layla's second time being away from us,

overnight.

so we missed her and talked about her the majority of the weekend.

it was nice to just reconnect.

to have that time together.

simple time.

we made each other breakfast.

watched 3 different movies.

went shopping.

went out to eat,

and snuggled a lot.

we probably won't get a weekend like that for a while.

so thank you grandma and papa spiers.

but we're happy to all be back together.

our house isn't super clean anymore nor is it scary quite.

we have layla back!

now me and little miss gotta get to work on daddy's valentines dinner.

hope yall have a wonderful

L.o.V.E

day!

thankful thursday

i've been homesick more than usual this past week.

the fact that i've been pretty sick with a nasty cold probably doesn't help.

(doesn't everyone want their mommy when their sick?)

and i'd imagine being 7 months pregnant, feeling large and husband working lots of nights away

doesn't help either.

every time i pass my computer i want to skype with my family.

but i know they all have busy lives and can't sit and chat just whenever is convenient for me.

but when i get that short hour of their time, it means the world to me.

gives me a little fix a what it would feel like being home at that moment.

it's not like this extravagant event either.

it's simply sitting down with my mother while she asks how my week has been.

how potty training is going.

how our mississippi family is here.

and her concern for every little thing going on in our life.

or when my dad gets on and tells me how cold it is.

(only he could work in -10 degree weather)

and when he makes the silliest faces and sounds that make Layla laugh hysterically.

my parents are amazing.

i miss them so much and wish i would have cherished the 20 years that i lived close to them.

i am who i am today because of their example.

their courage.

their responsibility.

their integrity.

their compassion.

their faith.

and so much more.

i'm thankful for you mom and dad.

pantry secrets

for christmas, one of the gifts my mother gave me was a big box of

pantry secrets
products.

 i was so excited to learn how to make bread, but a little intimidated.

(making banana bread and zucchini bread doesn't count)

well, last week, i finally took the plunge.

with the starter kit you get 2 how-to dvd's.

so i watched them first.

i thought, "that seems easy enough!"

and it was!

i whipped up my first two loaves in less than an hour.

baking and all.

there is all different kinds of varieties of bread that you can make with one recipe.

this time around i made the cinnamon bread using their famous cinnamon drops.

{i know one loaf looks a little "warty" but that's just the yummy cinnamon drops}

just so you know how good this bread was,

the first loaf was gone within an hour or so.

i just made another 2 loaves to share with our family in picayune.

i'm sure they'll be gone shortly after the bread bag is opened.

check out

pantry secrets

by clicking right on the link above

and invest in their starter kit.

you will not be disappointed.

and it's a wonderful investment.

thanks mom!!

thankful thursday

when you have a 2 year old, that usually sleeps 10-12 hours a night on a regular basis,

then one night

all the sudden

is up ALL night crying

there has to be something wrong.

--

yesterday was a long day.

i don't think i've had a day like it since Layla was an infant.

she begged me to hold her all day,

begged me to sit down with her and watch Barney, Dora, and Backyardigans.

so i did.

she wouldn't eat, she'd only drink water.

and while giving her a warm bath

(in hopes that it may soothe her and help her feel better)

she started complaining about her ears.

i made an appointment right then.

--

come to find out, my poor baby has a double ear infection.

the left ear has already ruptured (sp?)

i felt like a horrible mother.

i should have known something was up while she cried all night, the night before.

so it's easy to say, that today i'm thankful for her wonderful pediatrician

and for modern medicine.

they were able to fit her in shortly after calling.

and i've never seen a doctors office so full with sick kids.

(after one dose, she's already been asleep for 11 hours, thank the heavens)