some random thursday updates

1. my grandma passed away a couple weeks ago. i had written about her on here over the past year or so. her health had been deteriorating for quite a while. she was admitted to the hospital over a dozen times in the last 18 months and in january, suffered a couple strokes. she lived as a polio survivor, and i always admired her strength and courage living with a physical disability. she was diagnosed at 9 months old and spent her first 3 years of life in a children's hospital. can you imagine? i'm so thankful that she was in my life for 29 years and that she got to meet ashford in her final days. i have so many wonderful memories with her, especially our tradition of making pies and me sleeping over at her house the night before thanksgiving until i was in college. her funeral is this weekend and it will be sad saying our final goodbye, but also wonderful to celebrate her life.

2. potty training. i'm planning on doing a post dedicated to this subject, but here has been our experience in a nutshell: azalea is on her 5th day wearing undies during waking hours. she has been at home and at daycare during these days and she has had almost no success on the potty. she is very stubborn and holds her pee all day. she either doesn't "get" how or doesn't want to go on the potty. i know accidents are an important part of learning, but she's barely having them, she's just not going...period. we've tried lots of fluids, treats, stickers, character undies, talking about being a big girl, letting her tell us when she needs to go, putting her on the potty at regular intervals. i'm sort of at a loss. i know she will get it eventually and i want to stick with undies until then, so she doesn't think she can just go back to diapers, which is probably what she wants. she is almost 3 and should be physically and emotionally able to do this, she is just stubborn. hoping we turn the corner soon! anyone else have a stubborn potty trainer? 

3. my maternity leave is flying by! with all the cold and snow lately, ashford and i have been having lots of quality daytime tv watching snuggle time on the couch. it's wonderful! he's also starting to smile, which is the best! :) we are counting down the weeks until our trip to florida. our plans have changed a bit. originally my mom was going to come up here to fly down with me and the kids (thatcher is going down a few days later), but she fell off her bike in florida and broke her ankle!! she had to have surgery (on her birthday to boot!) and can't put weight on it for 4-6 weeks. so needless to say she won't be able to help me with the kids. it sounds like my brother is going to fly down with us instead. whew! florida, we can't wait to see you!