Potty Training Day 1

According to the Farmers Almanac this week in November is the "best days" to potty train. Now, I will say that I don't really believe in stuff like that, BUT since we have had so many attempts at potty training (none have stuck), I thought I would give it a shot. In the past, Ella has always been the one to iniciate this, so today it was Mommy's turn!

After getting some pointers from Chronicles of a Baby Wise Mom, I pulled together a basket for toilet paper, treats and a potty book. I moved the potty into the living room (just something I thought I would try) and awy we went!

We have had a great morning! On ly one accident as of now. We will continue working until she is confident enough to go to the bathroom on her own. I have cleared my schedule this week and plan to be very patient :)

Things we have done today:
Toilet in living room
Bare Naked Baby
Treats! (M&M's have been very successful)
Lots of Praise

If you are reading this, say a prayer for both of us :)

Change...

Is a good thing!

We have decided to make some changes around our house. For a while now, I have been wanting to paint our bedroom. Back when I bought our duvet(in which the colors weren't at all what I thought), I had to make a quick change in paint for the bedroom. Once the paint was on our walls, it looked very orange or Autumn looking, I should say. I HATE painting, HATE it! but I finally committed to changing this color. Below is a picture of a pillow or should I say inspiration. I took this to the paint store with me and matched up the back round color. When I started trimming out the bathroom, I got really that I had chosen the wrong color again! That this color was too light... Grhhhh! But now that the bathroom is finished, I really like it :) Now I just have to find the time and patience to finish the bedroom!

This is a better picture of the "orange" and the new color.

Moving on....
Do you see anything different?
That's right! No railings.

We removed our old, dry rotted railings and posts and installed these brand spankin' new square fluted posts! And we decided not to re-do the railings. I love it! It looks so much different, but the more I look, the more I love! now I guess I should paint my benches white, considering they are the main focal points now.



And last, but not least: A quick shot of my little ballerina! Grandma made this adorable tutu for Ella today and she has worn it all day. We even made a road trip to Big Daddy's in South Pittsburg and this little ballerina stole the hearts of every "hunter" in the store! Every time she walked by all of the men, she fluffed her tutu and tilted her head ever so slightly...Oh NO she is just like me! Yikes....

WAIT! I forgot to show you my new toy! "I got a road bike, I got a road bike" Have I told you how incredibly sweet and generous my husband is? Well he is! I found this baby on craigslist and I knew this was the one. I have a lot to learn, but I'm so excited to be able to ride with my girlfriends!

F-A-M-I-L-Y

Ella and I love this song and we love dancing to it too! I thought it would be appropriate to share it with this post considering it is about FAMILY.

I have a large, beautiful family. Full of happiness and joy, full of children and giggles, full of life! My sister is about to give birth to her third little girl and we are so excited :) The women in our family came together to celebrate with Heather and shower her with love! We put together a brunch and spent the morning laughing and talking about our children....Blissful!

This is me, Mom and Heather

I never realized how much we actually do look alike!

Here is Pam, Melissa, Heather, Mary Helen and myself.

We decorated Mary Helen's dining room in Harvest Decor, it was beautiful!



Instead of cake or petite fours, we had miniature pecan and chess pies (from Julia's, nonetheless!)




We decorated the table with miniature pumpkins and gourds and a beautiful red and yellow mum. After our brunch, we took a moment to pray the 'Baby Blessings' over Heather and Presley. We are so lucky that God has blessed us with a wonderful family!

Sunday, Jeramy, Ella and I headed to the farm! It was a very cold day so we bundled up and had a blast.

Ella loves to help Daddy at the farm! Here she is following him down the road...

This is my life, my family!

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring

Went to bed with a bump on his head and didn't wake up in the morning!

(didn't wake up 'til the morning) actual verse, ha!

This has been our theme song lately. Ella loves playing in the rain, but then again what doesn't she love! She is a girl of many excitements...

So she stands on these steps, going up and down as we sing this song. In which I never realized how morbid that song is. Maybe I have the words wrong?

We have had to get really creative with all of this rain. Ella decided to put on this old straw hat and scoot around in that stroller with Chelsea Bear. It was too cute!

It is rare that you will find this:

Usually this wild child is running from one side of the coffee table to the other, but not tonight. She needed some cuddle time with her Daddy! When that opportunity arises, you have to just sit back and snuggle.

Happy Fall Ya'll!

As far as excitment, I don't have too much to report...But I do have a lot of pictures to share! Ella is a hoot lately, she is so full of life and creativity. She is really into playing with her doll and I get so tickled when I look in the rear view mirror and she is clapping her dolls hands together to the music. Hilarious. She also is into to wheeling herself around in her doll stroller. Silly Girl! One day I came in and she was just hanging out in it watching tv!

Since I've been home, I have joined a group of Mothers called M.O.P.S. (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people in my community! One of of the Mothers hosted a play date at her house, a pumpkin party! I made rice crispie treats and put little plastic spiders in them, it was really cute.

We decorated pumpkins in these coll monster stickers! Ella really enjoyed this part!

Moving on... How cool are forts! Ella is loving her some forts. We have a flash light and this is where we like to hang out and read books, change diapers...what ever we can do in there :)

It may not be the architectured fort but to Ella it is a super fun place!

Last Thursday I got to go to the Zoo! I mean we got to go to the zoo...

Melissa, Carson and Campbell invited Ella and I to go to the zoo with them. I was so excited!!! Ella has been with them before, but for me it was my first. I love the zoo! Melissa's little neighbor, Mallory, also went with us. She is a sweetheart! Ella and I had a blast, we all did... We took a picnic lunch and enjoyed a wonderful morning taking in the sites

Probably my favorite!

The petting zoo was of course the kids favorite!

Here is Melissa and Ella looking at the turtles!

The turtles were pretty cool too!

House Project # 2 --- CHECK!

But first I have to show you some pictures I took of Ella today. It seems to me that she has really done some growing here lately. She is talking more and more every day and she is really into playing with her food ;) Seriously, she will get bowls and measuring cups and transfer her snack from one thing to the other, it is really cute!

Yesterday I learned that if I take my eyes off of her for one minute, she will have made the biggest mess you have ever seen! Example #1) Ella loves Danimals Yogurt Smoothies. She loves them so much she thought her "Chelsea Bear" would love them too! I walk into the living room and Chelsea Bear is covered in smoothie and it's all in the rug as well as all over Ella's hands. My consensus is that Chelsea Bear probably isn't the biggest fan now ;) Example #2) If you leave the child alone to eat her scalloped potatoes, make sure she has on a rain coat and a hood or hat! Otherwise she will turn her potatoes into finger paint and hair gel!

Have I told you how much I am loving being able to stay home with her? I can not explain the emotions involved and I feel so Blessed and fortunate to have this opportunity! I feel like a Mother, I feel like Ella and I have never been closer, don't get me wrong; she is still a HOT mess... But she is the best of the best! Being able to enjoy these moments with her is priceless.

My little drama Queen!

Now for the post: The Arnolds finally have landscaping!!!

Yeah this project is about 2 yrs late, but it's done and we love it. And Glory to God that it has rained every single day since we have planted it :)

Below is a picture of our walkway; This is what you will see when you pull up to our home. We decided to plant Soft Touch Hollies and variegated Monkey Grass in this area.



Moving to the front of the house; we captured the corner with Adagio Grass. This is to separate the soft touches with the laurels.





In front, we used Otto Lukin Laurels. We chose these laurels as opposed to Skip Laurels because they will grow wide and somewhat tall, but not overly tall like the Skips. We also staggered each bush. Right now, it is very noticeable but hopefully they will fill in nicely!




On the other side of the front steps, we continued with the Otto Lukins and acceneted with more Monkey Grass. There was a wide area on this side that needed to be filled with something. Our idea was to keep this simple looking and that it is. We couldn't be happier!

HOW 100

Saturday was an awesome day! For quite some time, I have been committing to riding 29 miles to help support Breast Cancer. I haven't really talked a lot about this because I was nervous I wouldn't be able to complete it. Last September, Kim decided to do this ride for the first time. She had just bought a road bike and this was her first group ride, I think. She loved everything about it, especially the women and the support to this much needed and wonderful cause! When time came this year to start planning, she was adamant I was doing it with her. She brought me her other bike, she calmed my every fear and encouraged me that I cold do this. I really didn't have time to train, a short ride here and there but I told myself "this is for fun and if I have to stop or even turn around, I am not going to stress, but just enjoy the ride!"

Kim was such an amazing riding partner! I couldn't and wouldn't have done it with out her. She was patient and stayed with me through out the entire ride. She encouraged me. She taught me. She made this such a wonderful event for me!

Here I am before the ride. Kim said she could tell I was getting really nervous as we were pulling in! I was, but I think it was hilarious that she could pick up on that.

This is at the start of the ride. The parking lot was full of women all shapes and sizes, some
who have battled cancer them selves and some who are supporting a loved one, it was beautiful!


I was so proud to have made it to the half way point! At this point I was feeling pretty good. We rested and refilled drinks and ate some snacks. We headed out for the ride back.

29 miles later and a hill that almost got me down... We did it!

As we crossed through the balloon arch, we were both just filled with so much joy! I really thought I could have cried... It was a struggle, but we finished and we finished stronger than we were when we began! Thank you Lord for giving us this gift.

By the way, we are already
talking about next year!!!