Where am I?

The question of the YEAR!!

Busy, thats where. haha! All is good and fine and BLESSED here at the Azar household. Just crazy.

More posts to come I hope. I have so much to share. So little moments of get away time to share them!

Here's to hoping your New Year is blessed.

Kate

Azar de Piso

I believe that this sign was made for me to swipe. I haven't seen once like it since, but ironically, I saw this sign the week after we began potty training Joey. I didn't take it (although highly tempted), but I did get this pic of it at the local Kroger. Its basically saying "Warning: Joey's most likely pissed on the floor you are about to walk on, so don't slip and bust your ass."

Pink: my new blue

She's a complete mess. Adorable in EVERY way. You know, I thought I would have a hard time adjusting to a little girl, but to be completely honest, she's definitely more my style. Pink is definintely a color I love. This little girl is my new little sidekick. ((Joey still is too.... I just have a new addition to my clan!))

She's about 9 weeks old now. She's beautiful and sweet. Its been quite the adjustment as you can imagine. I've been nothing but overwhelmed.

She's sleeping through the night already for the most part. She smiles all the time, and throws in a giggle or two - just absolutely heart melting. I already don't know what I did with my time without her. Was it really just Joey and me during the day? Shoot....those were the days when I had nothing but "time" on my hands (eye roll...). Now - I have no time on my hands - hence the lack of blog posts in the last 9 weeks, and the urgent request for prayer.

I've been on the brink of losing my mind these last few weeks. I've needed a break. Not that I'm not enjoying every second of my world right now, but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing, right?

The thing that has pushed me over the edge is potty training Joey. About 5 weeks after we had Delaney, he developed a rash on his bottom (don't ever tell him that I mentioned his boo-hiney issues on this blog) and the doc told us that it was time to get him out of the diapers and into cotton underwear. "Oh Lord," I thought.

The reason I didn't attempt potty training before then was because when he was finally ready, I was too prego to get up and down off the floor with him while he sat on his potty. And plus, I heard rumor that most likely he would regress after the baby was born, so I figured I would do it well after Delaney was settled in. I didn't know it was going to come THAT quick.

I had already ordered this program off the internet for the 3-Day Potty Training and was armed and ready with 30 pairs of "big boy" undies, and prepared myself to throw away all the diapers. I did just that and dove head first into the program one weekend. Lucky for Annie-Bo-Nannie, she happened to be gracing us with her appearance, and I graced her with a weekend of poopy pants and peed-on floors. ((Sorry Bo Nannie!! You're an AMAZING SPORT! We always have a new project to attack when you come to visit... I'm sure I'll have another random project for the next time, if you want to come back. haha!))

The 3 Day Potty Training method "worked" for the most part, but Joey was too smart for it, and decided that he would try to get on our nerves by NOT cooperating. To this day, its still a power struggle. He STILL will not tell me WHEN he has to go. I just have to rush him to the bathroom to pee, or catch him before he goes. So needless to say, its been a struggle now that 3 days has turned into 6 weeks. I'm about to go out of my mind. He KNOWS how and when to go, but he's more stubborn than his father.

And his terrible twos have really shown up in the last 2 months. He's a little more defiant that usual because of Delaney's presence, but I honestly think that she doesn't stand in his way that much. We show him more attention than we show her (in his eyes anyway), but his little boyish nature is just exploding. he's a monkey. I've found him on top of just about every piece of furniture that is no more than 4 feet tall. He's figured out how to pull out bottom drawers of dressers for his "step ladder" and it has gotten him on top of about every dresser in the house. And chairs.... his new "thing." They are the step stools to a whole new world.

He's obsessed with washing machines. he has to sit and watch the full cycle of the washing machine every time I use it - so I've been doing most of the laundry post-Joey, while he is sleeping (which these days, he doesn't fall asleep until about 11pm if we are lucky, even if he goes down at 9pm. UGH.

In the midst of kid craziness, its been nothing short of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom here. In the last 9 weeks, we've had everything grace our yard. In one day, we had a 4 ft long snake in the pool, a mouse on our porch (of which Rudy caught), a box turtle on the porch, and a family of geckos and some other kind of funky looking lizard crawling on our porch pillars. Before that we had birds flying around in our screened in porch (snuck in through a torn screen from a storm we had a few days prior), cardinals, dogs, spiders of every kind, skunks, deer, frogs, armadillos, bunnies - you name it.

The worst is the snakes. Three weeks ago, I spotted a 5 ft long rat snake crawling across the drive. Two days later, we discovered a family of cottonmouths living next to the house. Since then, we've had a little bit of yard work done. We no longer have a lot of woods and brush up next to the house. We had it pushed waaaaaaaaay back in order to get rid of the snakes. So far, its worked!

I'm going to try to keep up more with the blog. I want to for sure, especially since I did so much when Joey was a baby. I want to do the same for my little girl. Thanks for all your prayers and patience!!!!

Please pray...

I'm so overwhelmed. I'm going crazy. Please just pray for my sanity.

Little nose and baby toes

I'm so sorry that I haven't updated until now. It has been an amazing week since LAST Thursday morning.

I'll get into the detailed story later, but please.... without further ado, meet my precious baby daughter.


Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for us in the time. And thank you for checking in on us! Angela, thank you for updating everyone on the comments page of my last post.

I promise - a better post is to come on our new world. Thank you again for all your love!

Still waiting...

She's not here yet.

And by the size of my abdomen, I just don't understand.

I was out the other day and people were looking at me like I was a fragile water balloon, and that if I came within inches of a sharp or blunt object, I would burst. But I assure you, if I haven't broken open by now, God has a pretty good reason of keeping me in tact, and this little baby inside.

But am I ready..... please God...... I'm about to do a dance.

Security?

Whenever Joey gets out this wagon.....
.... the dogs scatter. Last night, Rudy was trying to escape from my cuddling grip, but when Joey pulled out what we affectionately call "The War Wagon," he decided to stay in the safety and security of my arms.

My new project - finished, just about.

Just finished up a site. Check it out: Jimmy Alleva

We are still tweaking here and there, but seemingly, I think I've done alright!

THoughts?? :)

Carolina Jasmine

I have these beautiful flowers growing outside my back door. And boy - do they smell AMAZING. I'd like to capture this scent in a bottle, and sell it.

I'm about 5 weeks away from the due date and she's kicking my butt. Instead of laundry and ironing right now, my butt is plopped on the couch, praying that she'll disengage herself out of my lower pelvis and allow me to walk across the floor without buckling to my knees. I'm thinking that she'll grace this world before she's due, but I also thought that about Joey - and he came pretty much on time, one day before he was 'expected.'

The popular nesting feeling among prego women has set it. Can't seem to get the house clean enough. Little girl's room is done and ready, but the rest of the house could drive me mad.

Joey is in desperate need for a haircut. I may attempt again. I've done pretty well on all his other haircuts... but I get so nervous. He's wiggly and it takes me an hour to do it every time, (which baby may not tolerate well), but its worth a shot. I may attempt tonight. If so, pictures to come.

Hope all is well!!!

The taste of the basketball - not as rubbery as you'd think!

I haven't had any real prego pics up on the site this go-around. So here's one from a few weeks ago. Yep - I swallowed that basketball. She's a big girl. Suspected to be over 5 lbs by now. This was at 26 weeks, and I'm currently 34 weeks, with 6 big ones left to go. I'm bigger now, obviously, but honestly, not by much. But SHE is bigger. I just don't have any more skin to stretch, or room for her to move. Believe it or not, no stretch marks. How in the world?!?! But I feel her every inch, from one side to the other, up and down. I don't know where my other gastrointestinal organs are currently located. I guess when I had my gallbladder out 10 years ago, I made a gaping hole where everything could slide into if need be - and they need be.