The latest on my two kids

So far this year I'm not doing as good of a job as I had hoped on

updating our friends and family on our family...

My goal is to get better at this for two reasons- so that in between visits home to see family everyone can see what is going on with our kids (and us too I guess!) and to keep a journal of cute and funny moments in our life. As much as I think I will remember all of the funny things Macy says or the cute things Matthew is now doing...reality is that I won't! How do I know this? Because I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast and couldn't tell ya the last movie I watched. *Sigh* I CAN however tell you the last time my kids pooped (and describe it in detail), what THEY ate for lunch yesterday, how much they currently weigh and the latest milestones they have achieved....sorry probably too much information...but that is where I'm at in life! :)

So latest milestones for Macy:

* We are 100% done with potty training!!!! Never thought I would ever get to say that but the big 'poop in the potty' moment happened about a month ago- I've never felt more proud! Ha!!
* Macy LOVES to ask questions and they are getting more detailed like "Mom, do we have any milk or do we need to go to the store and buy some?" or "Is Annie and Liam coming over on Friday or on Tuesday (she has no clue what days of the week are but she at least has the words figured out!)
* We have started a sticker reward chart giving her stickers for doing certain daily things - brush teeth, make bed (her choosing not mine), getting dressed ("All by myself"), sharing toys with her brother or friends, picking up, etc. This has really worked with her attitude on doing certain things. It is amazing what stickers can do. Mark wants to continue doing this until she is 18....but I really doubt bribing with stickers is going to keep her from staying out late with friends...maybe! :)
*We are reading LOTS of books and she is acting more like a big kid every day. When people say "kids grow up fast" man....they really mean it. She is just so sweet and so caring- and a great big sister.
*Macy will be 3 in almost a month- hard to imagine but she is! So we are working on a birthday party idea too.

The latest with Matthew:

*Matthew is almost 8 months old - and is finally ear infection free (for now anyway)!! He had an ear infection (right, then both, then left, then both) for almost 2 months. During that time I had some of the hardest 'Mommy moments' I've ever had. I really don't know how families with very, very sick kids can go through Dr appointments and medicine like that for months. Thank God we are done with all of that. Praying that they don't return or we could be looking at tubes. :( It has been so nice having a 'happy and healthy' Matthew to love and enjoy playing with!
* Pulling up on almost anything has become one of his greatest daily accomplishments. He looks so proud of himself. It is scaring me to death because I know crawling and walking are not too far away- yikes!
* We all have been getting so much sleep lately which has been great! Matthew is sleeping 11-13 hours at night only waking once to eat around midnight. It has been so nice for both of us. Although I do miss the little guy by morning and I'm itching to hug him when he wakes up. He really enjoys playing in his bed when he wakes up so that has been fun to listen and watch him do too. Such a great kid!

That's about all for now. Will try and post some pictures later...but must go check on my sleeping kids.