Toddler beds and potty training...

Well, Kaitlyn sure has turned out to be one independent little diva! She yearns to do everything mommy and daddy do without any assistance. Climbing the stairs to our condo, climbing into the car, buckling her carseat, eating at the dinner table (without the highchair), picking out her clothes and so many other things!

The last couple of weeks we've tackled two new "big girl" things; the toddler bed and potty training. A friend of mine offered to let us borrow her daughter's old toddler bed since she wasn't using it. I sent Jared over to pick it up and the second he brought it home Kaitlyn was hooked. She took a nap in it that day (within 30 minutes of putting the thing together) and absolutely loves sleeping in her big girl bed. I was worried that she would constantly be getting in and out of bed, but she hasn't done that at all...yet. Even in the morning when she wakes up she doesn't climb out of bed she just yells "Papa, come here right now"! Jared is pretty slow in the morning so she repeats this several times and finally ends with "Papa, come here right now, I mean it"! It's pretty darn hilarious!

Sometime in August Kaitlyn transitioned to the toddler class (aka "the big girl class") at daycare. This is a bigger class that includes children from 2-3 years old and they really encourage potty training. They have mini toddler toilets in the class and all the kids wear pull ups. Katy loves wearing her "big girl diapers" and sometimes insists on wearing big girl panties over the diapers. Her teacher was wondering why she needed to wear a pull up and panties, but sometimes you let your child do whatever makes her stop screaming in the morning! Having Katy be around the other kids at school who are using the potty has been great. She sees them doing it and wants to do it too. She goes potty in the potty several times a day now and has gone poop once (it's funny how excited you get to see your child poop in a toilet)! Now, everytime she goes I'm thinking "Wow, I'm so glad I don't have to clean that up".

How about November 24th?

I had a doctor's appointment last week and told my doctor I was a little concerned with scheduling my mom's visit to help out with Katy when the baby is born and with Jared having finals the week after my due date. All she said was, "how do you feel about induction" and that was it! As of right now I'm scheduled to pop this little girl out on Monday, November 24th. This works out perfectly because Jared has that week off from school because of Thanksgiving, I'll get out of the hospital the day before Thanksgiving and my mom will be in town so she can make me one of her fabulous pies! Not to mention I will have just had a baby so I won't be expected to cook a single thing! The induction date is 10 days before my due date, however, I went into labor 15 days early with Kaitlyn so who knows, the baby could come before the 24th.

For those of you who keep harrassing us, Jared and I think we've decided on the name Alexis. It's not 100% set in stone, but it's the only name we both really like and can actually see being our daughter. I can't believe I'll be holding her exactly two months from today!

Getting through Hurricane Ike...

So as many of you know we had a pretty big hurricane here in Houston a little over a week ago (on my birthday to be exact)! We decided to pack up and go to Dallas for the weekend, because we didn't want to risk it especially with Kaitlyn and me being pregnant. My biggest concern was that I didn't want to be without power. I think it's literally torture to live in Houston without air conditioning because not only is it extremely hot, but it's extremely humid too. Anyway, we rode out the storm in Dallas and tried to turn it into a mini vacation. We went to the zoo, we went swimming, did some shopping and ate out a lot! The only thing hindering the fun was wondering how our condo and our car were holding up against the storm. On Saturday night we talked to a neighbor on the phone and found out that our complex was one of the very few that never lost power. This was all the incentive I needed to go home. I'm such a worry wart and the whole time we were in Dallas I just worried about everything happening in Houston. We drove home on Sunday morning and were lucky to find our car in one piece and minor leaks in our roof over the bathroom (the HOA will fix this). The scary part was that most of the town did not have power which meant grocery stores and gas stations were not open. The Kroger down the street from us finally opened on Monday, but every single parking spot was full, there were no shopping carts available and shelves were bare. If you wanted to get gas you had to wait in a mile long line because there were only a handful of gas stations open. These conditions lasted until about Thursday of last week. The hurricane was 9 days ago and there are still so many people without power and a lot of damages all over town. In fact, almost all schools are still closed. Jared and I feel so blessed and so spoiled that we got through everything so well. Our biggest inconvenience is that we still don't have cable or internet.

We went to church on Sunday and our building still doesn't have power, but they wanted to hold sacrament meeting anyway. As we were walking up I said to Jared, "if it's too miserable inside we'll just leave after they pass the sacrament". Right as the words left my mouth I regretted them. I thought about all the pioneers and saints who have attended church meetings in much worse conditions. I only had to be there for one hour and then got to return to my air conditioned condo! Besides, half the people in the meeting had to go back to their homes which still didn't have power! Needless to say I was feeling a little selfish and definitely learned a lesson that day. I'm just so grateful that our family is safe, because in the end that's all that really matters.

Fun with the Cotters...

Since I'm playing catch up on my blog I thought I'd post some pictures from Leah Cotter's wedding. For anyone who doesn't know, Gabe Cotter was one of Jared's best friends growing up and still lives in Kansas. However, most of Gabe's family has since moved down here to Katy, Texas. A couple of weeks ago Gabe's sister, Leah, got married in the Houston temple and we got to see most of his family that night at her reception. We had a ton of fun hanging out with them and I know Jared felt right at home being around the Cotter clan. I had fun chatting with Sara and holding her new baby boy. Kaitlyn and Noah hit it off right away and are officially betrothed! They followed each other around all night, danced together and even shared a good night kiss! If it was any other little boy, Jared might have stepped in. Anyway, enjoy the pics and the video of Katy and Noah dancing!

Twilight Addiction...

So, I haven't posted anything in a really long time and I'd like to think it's because I'm too busy getting ready for this baby...but it's not. The last month I've been totally addicted to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series and have used every ounce of my time reading these books. I had a friend recommend them over a year ago and I told her they sounded lame and I didn't want to read anything with vampires in it! Anyway, I kept hearing people talk about the books and not just LDS people either, so I thought I'd give them a try. They totally sucked me in! I read all four books in two weeks (which for a working mom is record time)! The only thing that kept me from being sad when I finished the series was knowing that the motion picture was coming out in November! I know, pretty pathetic. Anyway, if you're up for some light reading you should give them a try.

Baby Hickman

Jared and I finally went in last week to get an ultrasound of baby Hickman and yes she is still a girl! Sorry to brake the Hickman family tradition of having a girl and then a boy, but girls seem to be the prominent sex in the Saxton family. During the ultrasound she wouldn't stop moving and even seemed to be doing everything the ultrasound tech didn't want her to do. Meanwhile I'm thinking "Oh, great! Another defiant, independent little girl". I keep asking the Lord to please let this one be a quiet, sweet, soft spoken child. We'll see! Anyway, for anyone who can't tell, the picture to the left is of the baby's profile. You should be able to see her forehead, nose, lips and so forth.

Meanwhile, my stomach has finally decided to pop out over the last couple of weeks and you can definitely tell I'm pregnant now. I was getting looks from people who seemed to be thinking, "is she pregnant or did she just gain a few pounds"! Last week a stranger finally asked "so when are you due"? I was thrilled because that means I do look pregnant and not just chubby! Anyway, I'll try to have Jared take a picture of me soon so that anyone who cares can see how big I am.

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

It's hard to believe that my sweet little girl is already 2 years old! I didn't know what to expect when Kaitlyn made me a mommy, but it has been such an amazing experience. When she was first born I think I cried everyday for the first month, and not out of joy! Although Katy was a "needy" baby, who didn't take a nap until she was 5 months old, I fell in love with my little angel. This little angel has grown into an energetic, independent little girl. Her laugh is so contagious and full of life it's unbelievable. Lately she's really become a daddy's girl and cannot get enough of him chasing her around the house, giving her piggy back rides and spinning her around until she's too dizzy to walk. Katy has really turned out to be an affectionate little girl, always giving out kisses, hugs and pats on the back. She still doesn't quite understand that she has a baby sister on the way, but we know she will be a wonderful big sister. Jared and I feel so lucky to be able to raise this beautiful spirit.

Kaitlyn had a great birthday and loves all of her many presents. It's so cute how she really gives the time and attention to each present. When it was time to open presents, she would open one and then want to play with it right away. After fifteen minutes of playing with a gift we had to convince her to move on to the next present. For her birthday we decided to do some of Katy's favorite things. We went "swimmin" at the pool and Kaitlyn learned to jump off the edge into mommy's arms for the first time. Then we went to Incredible Pizza, which for those of you from California, it's just like John's Incredible Pizza. Anyone not familiar with Incredible Pizza, I would describe it as Chuckie Cheese times ten, minus the big rat! Anyway, Katy had a blast and we just enjoyed watching her have so much fun! Happy birthday munchkin!