Houston, Texas - More Pictures

 

 

 

I know that you all know by now that we had a wonderful time while we were in Texas, but this was by far the coolest thing that we did. I do not remember what all of the names of the dino's are and I cannot guarantee that everything is spelled correctly, but here are some really cool pictures that we got of the Dinosaurs.

 

T-Rex and his teeth!

Justin, Cameron and T-Rex

Giant Sea Turtle- yes, these really existed.

Magdalen Shark Jaw!
Yes, He swam in the ocean at one point!
 

Mammoth

Sabertooth Tigers on hind legs! They were HUGE!

Sloth-Zilla
 

 

The Adventure of Potty Training

Once we returned from our trip to Texas (which I still have to post some pictures), I had two goals that I watned to complete before the New Year. One was wean Cameron off his pacifier since he still took it during his naps and bedtime. The other was to potty-train before the baby arrives. I was feeling pretty confident that the timing was good since he would come to me and make gestures that he was 'potty-ing'. I had started back in September but he just cried and cried once I put his 'big boy pants' on him and would even cry after sitting a while on the potty. He was just not interested.

So, with my mind made up- we started Monday morning. I think if you're going to attempt it, you have to be in the right mindset with your mind totally made up that you're going to start and not stop until it's done!

 However, I got up and we went thorugh the morning routine like we ususally do and then around 10am (after his morning "serious business") we got to training. I wanted to keep it as normal as possible so that it wouldn't scare or shock him. We had accidents and he cried and didn't want to sit for very long to begin with, but once we had as many books as I would allow in there, he started getting the hang of it. Once he knew that 'pee-pee' went in there and not in his pants he would just start crying when he had an accident. I felt so bad for him because he knew where he needed to be, but just didn't realize it until it was to late.

Tuesday went a little better and he was getting the hang of it more and more. I made a Potty-Chart for him so that once he went to the bathroom he got a Smiley-face sticker on his hand and on the chart. I honestly wasn't to concerned with him going poo in the potty since I have heard that some children just don't go at all for days and days, and I still put a diaper on him for naps and bedtime. I just thought he would go in there. To my surprise Tuesday night I caught him in 'action', and caught it just in time for him to go in the potty! Whew! I dodged that one! Ha ha. He cried because it scared him and it wasn't the normal for him. We all just clapped and made a huge deal of him going and once he went and was done he got a truck sticker for going poo. I thought I would make it just a little more special with having a truck sticker when he went poo instead of a smiley one.

Wednesday went about the same and Tuesday. Making more and more progress!

Today is Thursday and he still has on the same 'big boy pants' as we put on this morning, and I can confidently say that we are 85/90% trained! I am so proud of him and of myself for surviving 'The Adventure of Potty Training'!

Where we have spent lots of time this week :)

"The Potty Chart"

Cam showing me how many times he went potty and poo :)
Of course this brings joy to a Mommy's heart!

If you have any questions please ask! This hasn't been as bad as I first thought but it is up to you to be consistent and persistant! Of course your little one has to be ready, too.

Thanksgiving and More!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, a tasty turkey, all the fix'ns and just being with one another!
I am so thankful for my little family and the joy that it brings me each day. My sweet boy who wakes up so excited to see me every morning. Who loves to cuddle first thing and then wants to get down and immediately needs something to drink and his cars. Lol. You can rarely find a moment throughout the day when he doesn't have a car/truck in his hand. It amazes me how he just 'drives his cars' ALL day long! He brings me so much joy!

Justin, Myself and Cameron's room is upstairs of my mother-in-law's house. It was meant to be a game room but Justin has built a wall with storage and closet space, and has made two rooms for us. It turned out really well. Well, Cameron is getting to the age where he needs to start learning how to sleep in a 'big boy' bed and I am scared that he would just dart down the stairs or even learn to get out of his bed. He hasn't tried that yet! Can you believe it?? I can't! However, I am very thankful for that, too. Well, long story short. Justin has built us a half door like the ones you might see at a church nursery. It locks on the stair side where he can't get to it. He hasn't learn to open doors yet either, thank goodness. Anyway, Cameron not only has more space to run around upstairs, he has his own wonderful little room that is complete! The door still needs to be sanded and painted a little but I am going to get some of the magnet primer that you can paint over so that Cameron has somewhere to put his ABC magnets and his farm magnets! I cannot wait to get it all done. I will post pictures of it soon.

Be Back Soon!

Baby Update!

We are excited to annouce that we are having another baby boy! Yes, that's right another boy. Who would have thought I would be the mother to 3 sweet boys? When they laid the little wand on my stomach and we saw the little body, the ultrasound-tech said "Oh, I see what it is.." and I immediately saw the little "turtle" in plain sight! Haha. There was no second guessing what we were having.

 I finally feel like its real. Since we know the sex of the baby I feel like we can move forward with planning.  So much for our curly-brown-headed little girl, but it truly is okay. We have so many adorable boy things that I will be able to use since they are going to be born in the same season.

 I am excited to annouce his first name, and it is, Landon! We haven't decided on a middle name yet, but we both absolutely love the name. It is something that cannot be shortened and that isn't very common. I will keep you all updated!

God is so good! I am so very blessed with my wonderful little family, and all of my boys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Texas Vacation ~ Pictures

My big boy in his new T-Shirt!
I just had to make this one larger, couldn't resist blowing up
 the picture of my sweet boy!

The Barbarian/ Viking that we saw walking in the gates of the festival.

The Castle Gates

Old Fashioned Paper Making

Just thought this was a funny sign.

Wish this wasn't so fuzzy. This was a garden that you could get married in.

Chowing down on the Turkey Leg.

Some 'Romans' and the cute little chariot that they were pulling the kids in.

The Knights finishing up the games.

Box Jelly Fish

Cameron loved the Elephants.

The baby Elephant born this year.



Cameron copies everything that Justin does. Justin was getting a closer look at the Komodo Dragon.
This thing was like 7 or 8 feet long! I can't believe people have these things as pets! Crazy!

Looking at the Giraffes, Cam enjoyed these, too.

The baby Giraffe that was born this year.

 Loving some lemonade at Joe's Crab Shack.

Cameron with his Uncle DeWayne and cousin Zach.
Zach is  in the ROTC at his school and was just promoted to Sgt.!

The Thomley Men
DeWayne, Cecil, Cam, Zach and Justin.
Justin looks so short amongst these tall guys, lol.

Texas Vacation ~ Renaissance Festival

We are having a wonderful vacation and on Sunday we had quite an experience! We went to the Texas Renaissance Festival. We had a great time walking around just looking in some shops and watching people! Justin got his Turkey leg he was wanting and had been talking about for months, lol. He tore that thing up! I had never seen a piece of meat gone so quickly. Cameron also got into the action! (Pictures to come) My child will eat anything and I do mean anything, ha ha. Each weekend is a different 'theme' and this weekend just happened to be the 1300-1400 theme. Everyone dressed like Barbarians/Vikings and Romans. We also saw some people dressed as goodness only knows what. A lot of people that came dressed up. Not quite my thing as far as everyone dressing up, but it made for some interesting people watching. Everyone spoke in "Mi-Lords" and "Mi-lady" ... it was neat. I am glad that I got to experience it. It took about 4.5 hours to walk through it. Well, we did stop and rest a few times because I was getting tired. We also got to watch some jousting and old-fashioned 'knight' games. 

It was an experience that we will never forget, that's for sure! This whole vacation has been wonderful, thanks to my sweetheart.

Well, thanks to my mother-in-law I have found a way to upload pictures! Wahoo! The next posting will be nothing but pictures.

Hope you enjoy!

Happy Tuesday! (Election day, hope you all voted!)

Texas Vacation : Part 1 - Houston Zoo

Oh how I wish I hadn't forgotten my camera cord! I have so many wonderful pictures to post already!

Yesterday we had an amazing day at the Houston Zoo. It was a beautiful day and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Cameron had an absolute ball. He was just mesmerized by everything. He really enjoyed the Elephants and the Chimps. Unfortunately they didn't have any Gorilla's like we thought and we had just missed the Dinosaur exhibit. However, I am pretty sure that we saw everything! It took us a good three hours to go through it. We also got to see Reliant Stadium where the Houston Texans play and got to see the Houston Medical Center. It may not seem like something to "see" but it was quite impressive. Knowing that some of the world's best doctors are here in Houston.

Also, Herman Park was beautiful! A lake with a water fall in the middle, ducks all around, a little train that takes you around the Zoo and just the pure beauty of being outside on a perfect fall day. It was a perfect family day. Afterwards we were super tired and hungry, and thanks to my sweet hubby, who had already purchased gift cards to several restaurants that we knew we wanted to eat at;  we ate at Joe's Crab Shack! It was SOO good! I enjoyed that meal for sure. I had some wonderful crab! Justin and I split a Steam Pot full of Red potatoes, corn on the Cobb, sausage (he and Cam ate that) and Crab! Yum! Oh my goodness. It was very satisfying. However, we got the pot for two and I wouldn't recommend that. You can easily get an appetizer, and split the pot of yummy-ness and get a dessert without feeling like a stuffed turkey! We had a to-go-box FULL of leftovers. We took it to his dad because we didn't have a way to heat it up today. So good... after that we came back to our room and relaxed after a very long wonderful day. Today Cameron and I are hanging out at the room while Justin is working. He should be home in a little while. I am trying to finish this post before Cameron wakes up because his new thing is to sit in my lap while I am on the computer and sit and look at the screen as closely as possibly, making it impossible to do anything on here! LOL



Herman Park
I got this picture from the Internet because I wanted you all to see!  

Happy Thursday!