Cookies, a Costume, & Cool Party

I've been extremely tired lately... probably for many reasons, but I was starting to feel guilty that I wasn't getting to do a lot of fun things with Gavin.  It's hard to go outside all the time, everyday since there are days when the weather is a scorching 100 degrees.  It's difficult to make it through the morning when you were awake 2-3 different times during the night helping your child potty or changing their bed sheets since they wet the bed.  It's also tough to get the energy to "play" when you're 7 months pregnant and your body feels like a heavy, loaded blimp.  Soooo.... I decided to take advantage of the times when I am feeling good and make the most of these moments I have with just Gavin and I.  Earlier this week, we went into the kitchen and whipped up a batch of sugar cookie dough and we went to town.  I pulled out a few Halloween cookie cutters, but Gavin liked the pumpkin one the best so that's what we used!  I gave him any and all tools that I was using and allowed him his own stash of dough.  He did awesome with it and had a lot of fun.  He rolled the dough in a ball, used his rolling pin to flatten it out, then pressed the cookie cutter in the dough and made his pumpkin shapes.  It was a blast making these cookies with him and I must say.... he didn't figure out until the very end that he could eat the dough.  I'm grateful for these moments with Gavin and I'm loving him being at this age... he's been a lot of fun and I've enjoyed watching his personality come out more and more.  

At the beginning of October, we found out that some parents on our compound were going to be hosting  a Halloween party and were going to prepare a Trick or Treat night for all the kids.  I tried being prepared for activities like this before we left, but frankly, never thought that Halloween would be an option for us, so I didn't get/bring Gavin a costume over with us.  Fast forward a few weeks----- I didn't find any costumes here, so I called my mom and had her go find Gavin a Buzz Lightyear costume, I mean, who else was he going to be, and mail it to us.  That's where the fun began.  The costume made it here in time and we were so excited, until we put it on Gavin.  He was scared to death of it.  He screamed and cried and expressed in EVERY WAY POSSIBLE that he did not want to wear it.  Brooks and I really were okay with the idea that Gavin might not wear his costume, but we did want Gavin to work through being afraid of something.  Now.. picture a full week of "introducing" Gavin to his Buzz Lightyear costume, attempting to get him to touch the outfit, or even look at the outfit, or better yet, stay in the same room as the costume-- yes, it was that bad!!!!   We eventually came to the place where we decided and agreed we would take him to the Halloween party dressed in regular clothes, let him see all the other kids dressed up, and then let him tell us he wanted to wear the costume.

But then, I came up with an idea.... I contacted one of my best friends back home, whose little boy, Cade was Gavin's best friend.  I remembered that Cade was Buzz Lightyear one year for Halloween and asked his mom to send me pictures of Cade wearing the costume.  I showed Gavin pictures of his friend dressed up as Buzz, he saw that it was Cade, and that he had the same costume as him!!  Then, I very carefully put the costume on Gavin while he was watching tv.  He let me put it on him!!  Hmmmm... I was a little confused, but went with it.  45 minutes later, 2 popsicles, and more pictures of Cade dressed up Gavin loved his costume.  We even went outside and waited for Daddy to come home from work so Gavin could "fly" to him.  Total Success!! Woo Hoo!  Thanks Susie for sending the pics!

Our schedules have been really hectic lately and last week it seemed like we had something every single night, so we took advantage of the down time we had this weekend, when Brooks wasn't working, and we spent the afternoon at the pool, just the three of us.  It was a lot of fun and Brooks and I are soaking up all that we can with Gavin while it's just him and us!

 

After the pool and a nap, we got ready for the Halloween Party.  Gavin was willing and eager to put his Buzz Lightyear costume, thank goodness, and he looked PRECIOUS all dressed up.  You can see more pics on my facebook page from our evening, but here are a few of the highlighted moments.  We kept Gavin away from the Haunted House and let him play in the "kid room".  They had lots of little games for kids to play and Gavin had a blast.  He got to do the Cupcake Walk, play with friends, and found a "bean bag like toss game" and stayed there for a LONG time!!  We really had a lot of fun and made some more fun memories.  This was just one more thing that has made our move here easier!

 

 

 

29 weeks and a few hiccups

I'm 29 weeks and can't believe that I'm already in the 3rd trimester.  This pregnancy seems like it has gone by so fast. Maybe because there has been so much going on the last few months and my life seems to be moving from one transition to another.  

We had an appointment last week and got to see Miles again.  He is right on track and looks good.  I lost the ultrasound picture, which I'm really sad about, so I don't have one to post on the blog.... sorry.  We ran into a small problem at our appointment, when we found out that our international insurance account was closed at our hospital.  Apparently, someone isn't paying someone and they got mad.  Brooks and I panicked and after a 20 minute ordeal of talking to the head of the head of the head of certain departments, we were told we could pay cash to see our doctor and handle the situation later.  We are still working on it, but our company is now aware there's an issue and we should be taken care of soon.  

I received the test results from the routine glucose screening that I had done a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, my sugar levels were high so I had to schedule to go in for the 3 hour Glucose Tolerance Test.  I was not looking forward to that ordeal since I don't do well getting blood drawn and you have to have 4 different withdrawals done in a 3 hour time period.  I also had to work through whether or not to travel to the hospital and spend the 3 hours alone while someone watched Gavin and dealt with his potty training, or bring Gavin with me and have him endure 3 hours at a hospital, plus having to watch Mommy get poked.  Instead, my bestie, Steph, agreed to come with me and she helped out with Gavin.  I had some anxiety about having to bring him with us and entertain him for 3 hours plus I felt horrible keeping Stephanie away from doing something she probably would have rather have been doing.  In the end, everything worked out.  It was a huge help having Stephanie there with Gavin while I went back into the lab.  He listens to her and she always knows how to make him laugh and have fun.  Gavin did AWESOME throughout the whole morning, never having one fit or getting upset.  He pottied like a big boy and got lots of snacks in a 3 hour time period.  I'm so grateful to have Stephanie here and appreciate her help so much.  It was also nice having her there to visit with.  It really made the time go by faster.  

I'm proud to say I did not pass out one time and I never got to lay down to have my blood drawn, which is usually a must.  I don't know if it's the whole idea of being in a foreign country or if getting weekly injections has helped me move pass that stage.... but I'm just thankful that I'm able to keep things under control in that area.  

I'm suppose to get the test results to the GTT tomorrow sometime, so we will see how things go.  My next appointment is in a week.  I'm praying for this pregnancy to continue going smoothly and that there aren't many more "hiccups" to deal with.  However, I felt Miles have the hiccups twice this past week (hence the title).  It feels much more faint then kicks, but is a constant rhythm that is more like a heartbeat.  It's fun to feel and makes me realize even more that he's in my belly!  I've been feeling good, but extremely tired lately.  Sleeping though the night is starting to be an issue, but it may be more because of Gavin waking up tneeding to go potty, versus my body being uncomfortable.  

Funny story before I go..... Gavin thinks that Miles is in his belly.  If you ask Gavin where Baby Miles is he will lift up his shirt and point to his belly.  It's the cutest thing ever.  I'm confused since he kisses my belly all the time and tells Miles hi, but yet, he still thinks he's in his belly.  Not sure about all that, but it's fun to see Gavin liking the idea of "Miles".  

Hello

Gavin just wanted to say Hi!  

He loves playing outside with all his toys.  The weather has been wonderful lately... where we can actually sit outside on the back porch and enjoy ourselves.  He's been having a lot of fun!

 

 

Not all Glitz and Glamour

We're done Potty Training.

Whew.

That's all I have to say, okay not really, but I will admit this process has been one of the most exhausting tasks I've taken on as a parent thus far.  Yes, I realize my child is only 2 years old and there will be plenty more issues to tackle down the road, but still.  It has taken both Brooks and I a few days to recover from our 3 days of non stop training!!

As I stated in my previous post, Gavin took to the potty training beautifully and was understanding the concept by lunch on day 1.  For that, we're grateful we didn't spend 3 straight days of continuous accidents since that could have been the way things worked out.  He did awesome throughout the 3 days and has continued to surprise us!  He has been able to go through the night dry and accident free for the last 5 evenings!!  We attempted to wake him up during the night the first few nights, as the method recommends, however, Gavin did NOT appreciate that at all so we stopped and figured we'd just be prepared to wake up to a wet little boy and change his sheets.  Haven't had to do it yet!  Brooks and I both feel like we have a newborn again.  We're constantly more alert at night and any sound from Gavin's room we both would jump out of bed and run to him.  Guess, it's getting us prepared to start that process all over again in a few months.  Gavin hasn't made it 2 straight days without any accidents, except for nap time.  Not quite sure what that's all about-- he can make it 11 hours at night dry, but not 2 hours during the day.  Well, if that's the only accident in a 24 hour time period, we'll take it!

I titled this post "Not all Glitz and Glamour" since there are a few aspects of potty training that you have to deal with that aren't listed in the manual nor are you fully prepared for so I thought I'd share them with you.

1. Apparently, going #2 isn't as easy to do in the potty when you're first learning to be potty trained.  Poor Gavin is scared of going and that's the only time he asks for a diaper.  We're slowly working on this, but for now, it seems Gavin's preferred location to go #2 is in the bathtub, no matter how much we watch for signs and remind him to tell us when he needs to go potty.  Yuck and Gross!

2. Sometimes, boys don't want your assistance in helping them point a certain something downward.  That wouldn't be an issue, except, when you're the parent sitting on the stool directly in front of them while they potty-- IT IS AN ISSUE!

3. No one tells you what to do when the 3 days are up.  Going out in public is a whole new scenario and there should be a handbook for that too.  From experience: 3 pairs of underwear aren't enough.  Extra shorts and shoes are required.  It helps to bring a towel to wipe up the mess and dry your child off.

4. Bringing the potty seat with you is important!  However, not leaving it in the car when you go inside a restaurant, is even more important.  For many of you that's not an issue, but when you have a driver who goes to lunch while you're in a mall and needs 10 minutes to get back to you-- it's a problem.

5. You have to teach your child it's not necessary to bring every toy with them to the potty.

6. You also need to teach your child that the show on TV will still be on when they come back from the potty.  Geez-- you'd think he was going to miss something just to go potty.

Needless to say, Brooks and I have learned a lot from potty training and we're looking forward to the day when Gavin can go all by himself.  Until then, we're going to continue encouraging him, reminding him to let us know when he needs to potty, and praying for his and our patience to not run out.

Today, I have a doctors appointment so for the first time, we're going to be bringing Gavin with us.  We aren't ready to hand him over for someone to "deal" with his potty training needs, nor do we want to risk any inconsistency causing him to relapse.  Plus, the dr appt is an hour away.  We decided this would be a great time to work with Gavin on long trips.  It wouldn't be a big deal, except there aren't exactly gas stations or fast food places on every corner or at every exit on the interstate.  Not to mention, the driving here is horrendous, so pulling over on the side of the road won't be an option for us.  This should be interesting.   I'm thinking step 1 will be for him to not get any liquids at least an hour before we leave.  Say a prayer for us as we embark on this new adventure!!!

"Tell Mommy & Daddy When you Need to go Potty"

Well, we're 2 days into potty training boot camp and Gavin has been doing AMAZING!!!  This has been a really intense method, but Gavin picked it up within 3 hours of starting it.  It almost seems like there is more work for the parents (except the kid has to be doing the pottying) but Brooks and I have made a great team.  We watch Gavin like a hawk and say a 100 times to him to tell us when he needs to go potty.  The whole idea of this method is to train the child to tell you when they need to go and not force them to go.   He has loved going potty, & getting M&M's, and he gets a sticker to put on a special chart every time.  He has enjoyed wearing his new big boy underwear and hasn't even asked once for a diaper.

DAY ONE: We woke Gavin up telling him he was wearing the last diaper he was ever going to wear!!  We gave him his first juice box of the day and he was happy! We started explaining to him and showing him his new underwear that he was going to start wearing.  He had a look of worry some on his face (the 3rd picture), since I'm sure he wasn't really sure what was going on).  After breakfast, we had him throw away the last of his diapers (we kept 3 or 4 in his drawers and hid the rest in the top of Miles closets for him someday) and then put on the big boy undies.  Within 10 minutes he had his first accident, but we stuck with the method and after 7-8 accidents and lunch time, he was telling us he needed to go potty.  He made it through nap time without an accident, and did awesome the rest of the evening.  Night time, was the same thing.  We kept him in his undies and told him to tell us when he needs to go potty.  We woke him up a few times during the night to put him on the potty, but he never went.  He had 1 accident around 3am and that was it!!  He did awesome.   Here are some pictures from our day.  Including the first change of clothes AND his first time to potty in the toilet without having an accident.      

 

 

DAY TWO: Gavin woke up dry this morning, after his 3am accident, and went straight to the potty.  He has done an even more amazing job today then yesterday.  So far, he's had only 3 accidents (it's 7pm so our day isn't over yet), but I will say 1 of his accidents was our fault.  He started off struggling this morning because he really needed to go #2, but was scared to on the potty.  It resulted in him telling us he had to go potty every 5 minutes- this lasted an HOUR!!  He finally went in the potty and he was soooo excited and I think relieved.  However, we realized he wasn't done going #2 when we let him take a bath and he finished his business in the bathtub.  Neither Brooks nor I were standing directly over him since the water had already drained and he was just playing so we never assumed he would have gone potty in the shower.  We learned our lesson.  He showed small signs of regression after that incident, and it took him a while to get back into the swing of things; resulting in his next 2 accidents of the day.  Although, he made it through nap time without an accident (YIPEE) and he has been accident free since 1pm!!!  He has enjoyed getting lots of different liquids- kool aid, tang, gatorade, apple juices, mango juice, chocolate milk, etc, etc! He has even been getting lots of popsicles throughout the day!  We're so thankful that we did this and we keep laughing at ourselves of how nervous we were to start this, but he has surprised us once again!  

Brooks is going back to work tomorrow (he's been home for the weekend) so I get to do this all by myself tomorrow.  Brooks has been a HUGE help with this and is always encouraging to both me and Gavin.  I can't imagine what the past 2 days would have been like had he not been here to help!  Even though Gavin has done great with the training, it's been a lot of work. Plus, with me being 7 months pregnant it has made it tough running and carrying Gavin to the bathroom.  Not to mention bending down over and over to help him potty.  My body has taken a little beating, but it's worth it.  I can't imagine had we waited until December to do this, with me being bigger, I don't know if I could have done it. 

Well, I better run.  Brooks has let me take a long enough break.  I'll let you all know how tomorrow goes and then we will start a new routine with attempting to get out of the house while being "potty trained".  We are also going to put shorts on (those aren't allowed during the training program) , which I'm sure will add to the bathroom fun!  

I would highly recommend this program to any of you moms who don't want to deal with potty training for months at a time.  Sure, it's a ton of work for a few days, but then you don't have to tackle the issue constantly all the time.  I'm sure Gavin will have accidents once the 3 days are over and I'm prepared to handle any situations out in public and in new places, but at least he will know that the goal is to go potty in the potty.

Hope all is well with everyone!    

Potty Training Here We Come

Brooks and I decided to potty train Gavin and we are going to start tomorrow!!  The program we're doing is the 3 day Potty Training Method.    It's been seen and advertised all over and we have had several friends who have done this program with their kids around the age of 2 and it works!!  We're really excited to begin this new adventure and are hoping that Gavin picks up on it quickly.  Brooks and I both studied up on the method, together, and this week I got all of our supplies ready for the 3 days!  We have M&M's and popcorn as rewards, a sticker chart, and 3 brand new CARS potty seats for each bathroom toilet.  We've been preparing Gavin for the past few days of what was about to happen-- we let him try on his new underwear, practiced sitting on the potty seats, and have been showing him where his pee pee goes.  In the morning, we're going to let him throw away his diapers (the rest are hidden and put away in Miles closet for when he needs them in a few years) and start drinking lots of liquids.

Brooks and I weren't really planning on potty training Gavin this soon, however, we knew we wanted him to be potty trained before Miles gets here, and thought this would give Gavin plenty of time to work out having accidents and adjust to this new freedom.  Plus, our schedules are going to get busy with events and things that we weren't going to be able to miss, so we're taking advantage of not having anything going on this weekend.  In order to use this method, you really have to give up going anywhere and doing anything for the 3 days.   We're ready and prepared as we will ever be so here goes nothing!  I'll let you know how things go in the next few days.  Say a prayer for us, please!

26 weeks (a week and a half late)

I had an appointment two weeks ago that went really well.  Things look good!  I've been feeling great, aside from walking and living in scorching HOT weather while big and pregnant.  As always, we had an ultrasound done and got to see Miles.  He looks just like Gavin did.  It's amazing.  There weren't any more jokes about his lips being big this go around thankfully, but he was sleeping and looked simply precious.

We semi toured the hospital (we had to leave in the middle of it to go to our appointment), but we went to a presentation where we learned hospital procedures and important information about their policies.  For instance, they are a breast feeding ONLY hospital... no bottles, no pacifiers.  We're not worried about that though-- we will just bring in our own bottles and formulas if we feel it is necessary (we would only be there for 2 days anyways).  The hospital is run just like back in the states- they have all the same equipment, labor and delivery is all the same.. they DO conduct epidurals and husbands ARE allowed in the rooms during delivery.  We're planning on finishing the tour at our next appointment where we will get a look at the rooms, nursery, NICU, etc and ask any questions we still have.  We did talk with our doctor in more detail regarding the way their labors run, who delivers, etc.  We feel good about all the information we've received and feel that having this baby over here would not be a bad thing.  I also had my third trimester testing done- glucose, blood work, and my RHogam shot (since my blood type is negative).  All of that went fine and we will find out the test results soon.  As you can see in my picture, I'm still growing!  I'm not use to being mobile at this stage in the pregnancy so this is all very new to me... my body feels... well, just heavy.  Is that weird?

I am enjoying being pregnant though.   Miles is moving around and kicking all the time.  This past week he has enjoyed the left side of my rib cage and finds comfort in counting each one of my ribs or something to that effect.  This was the first week I felt discomfort with him moving around inside, but I love knowing he's active and awake!  My belly button has protruded so far out that Brooks has nick named it a door bell (I can't believe I just wrote that) and he and Gavin enjoy walking up to me and pushing on my belly button while making a ding dong noise.  They think it's soooo funny!!  I'm just laughing hysterically (complete sarcasm).  Now that our shipment is here, we have our favorite book, Guess How Much I Love You, which Brooks is starting to read to my belly every night.  We did the same thing with Gavin (only we started much earlier) and the day he was born, our first moment in the hospital, just the 3 of us, Brooks read it to Gavin and he opened his eyes as if he knew what he was hearing.  We're hoping to do the same for Miles.

I have a latest ultrasound picture of Miles, however, I can't seem to get our scanner to work to upload it.  He was weighing/measuring just under 2lbs and was right on track with his size.

Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

I spent a majority of this past week working on a birthday cake for Gavin's friend, Tucker.  He is turning two on Sunday and his parents threw him a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party tonight.  The cake was a lot of fun to make and, I think, turned out really cute!!  Tucker's mom asked for the cake to be traditional Mickey Mouse meets Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the show on the Disney channel).  This is the design I came up with.  The hat was chocolate flavored cake and the bottom tier was white cake.  I made colorful "gears" from the Clubhouse theme and placed them all around the back of the bottom tier.  I kept with Mickey's original hat theme for the cake topper.  Tucker was very excited to see his cake and Gavin was excited to finally get to eat it-- he's been staring at it in our kitchen all day!  Tucker's mom also made LOTS of cupcakes to have in addition to the cake!  

Gavin had a blast playing in the backyard at Tucker's house with all the other kids.  Tucker got a playhouse for his birthday that has lots of gadgets all around it (a gas station, basketball goal, indoor kitchen, windows, doors, etc).  Gavin was in and out of that thing all evening.  By the way, can you tell Gavin got a hair cut?  It is sooo short compared to what it's normally been, but we like it.  He looks much older and like a true toddler.

 The "older" kids got to play washers while all the ladies hung out and visited!

 Tucker got lots of gifts and Gavin was helping Tucker open the gifts we got him.

 Brooks and Gavin got to hang out together outside with all the boys.

Overall, it was a very fun filled evening!  Happy Birthday Tucker!!

The wait is over...

We decided on a name for Baby Perry #2 a few weeks ago and have been "practicing" it for some time now.  We've been trying to get in touch with our parents and siblings to tell them first before announcing it, but with time differences and schedule conflicts, it was a little difficult.  Sorry to be teasing you for so long.  The wait is now over and our baby boy #2 will be.....

MILES LEE PERRY to be exact! 

(sorry, I didn't have enough blocks to spell out his whole name & was missing one more "E" to get his first and middle named together- so this will just have to do).  

Miles was a name we've had on our list since the beginning and just kept going back to it.  Lee is Brooks' middle name (and his dad's)!  We're really excited to finally have picked a name and we love talking about him as "Miles".  We giggle every time we mention putting something in "Miles" room or Gavin likes to kiss my tummy and he tells Miles hi!  It's precious & so surreal that we're having another baby.  

Back story... for those interested.....we had several names on our list that we really liked, but were having a hard time making a choice.  We ran into a conflict where we wanted this baby to have Brooks' middle name, but the first names we were picking wouldn't go with Lee (remember Brock?).  Then, we would pick first names that had disaster written all over them if he was given nicknames.... for example, we liked Harrison, however, if people called him Harry (which we really wouldn't want) then his name would be Harry Perry.  Yikes.  Not to mention, we considered the name Titus, but my older brother made one comment and that name was GONE!!!  We also liked Hudson, but if/when we have a girl, her name will be Brooklyn, NO MATTER WHAT (for Brooks and Lindsey put together)... so we really didn't think it would be appropriate to have 2 children's whose names seemed to be devoted to the state of New York (thanks mom and dad for that realization).    We got lots of ideas from friends and family and appreciated all of you who took time to offer us suggestions.  We honestly took them into consideration.

Rock N Roll

I guess it's safe to say I'm officially legit over here in The Magic Kingdom with my cakes!  I've created set prices for my cakes (I never really had that before since I hate charging for them), semi advertised (not really, but word of mouth is enough), and have made myself known as the "cake girl" on our compound.  I've completed three cake orders so far and have another one for this weekend.  I've really enjoyed getting back into the cake making "business"... I've missed it.  However, I don't like having limited ingredients- not to mention making cakes, icing, and fondant in this heat is HORRENDOUS!!  I feel like I need to go take classes on how to bake cakes, make fondant, and prep icing according to high humidity and drastic high temperatures.  

My latest cake was for a 13 year old boy who started playing the electric guitar for his elective class, Rock Band, at the International School here.  His mom has ordered a cake from me before, for her daughter back in the states, so I already knew her style, what she likes, and was excited to get to be creative for this cake.  I got the idea for this cake from Shannon's Creative Cakes, who does cakes in Lake Charles.  She made a guitar cake for a friend of mine's little boy's first birthday party and I collaborated with her on how she made the guitar.  Thanks Shannon for all your help! I was really pleased with the way the guitar came out, even though the guitar strings started melting upon delivery, thus causing them to sag a little bit.  I actually had them lined up precisely evenly-- I guess that side of Brooks is rubbing off on me.  

Next up.. a mickey mouse cake.