Twin Vacation!

Last year, Amber and I decided that we would like to start having annual twin vacations! What a wonderful idea! This year, we decided to get a cheap hotel in Austin and shop! We met at 9:30am and the mall was close so we went there. I told Amber that I have a lot of “Mommy” clothes and I need more teaching clothes since I will be working 3 days a week at UTSA. So, she was very helpful when I was tempted to look at/buy “Mommy” clothes. At one point, she even said, “I hope you didn’t just buy a Mommy shirt behind my back.”
We shared a chicken sandwich, fries, and a coke at lunch and shopped some more. One funny thing that happened was I finally found a shirt that I liked and when we finished trying on more things we totally forgot about it. About 45 minutes later, Amber said, “What happened to that brown shirt you decided to buy in Dillards?” HA! We laughed and went back and bought it.
After so much shopping, we were getting tired and cranky, so we headed back to the hotel and took a long nap. Yes! I never get a nap!
Our hotel was CHEAP! Ooh girl…cheap. Amber got us a great deal- $36.00 at a 2 star extended stay hotel. It was just fine. We had cable and a refrigerator and felt very safe. The air conditioner leaked cold water on the floor and the shower curtain came down in the bathroom, but other than that it was a bargain! HA! It certainly gave us something to talk about!
After our nap, we hurried out the door for our evening show. A live performance of “Beauty and the Beast” was showing in Zilker Park’s outdoor theater. We arrived over 2 hours early so that we could have good seats and too our surprise the hillside was already covered in blankets and lawn chairs. I was relentless in giving Amber a hard time, because she kept telling me that no one would be there that early. We laughed and kept calling ourselves “rookies.” We ended up finding a place near the front, but very much on the side of the hill. They were still really good seats. We spread out our blanket and lawn chairs and ate our Taco Bell before the show. The show was high quality and surprisingly well done. We were not expecting much since it was free, but wow!...it was great. I can’t wait to take Rachel to a show next year.
After the show, we bought powdered doughnuts, milk, and cereal for breakfast.
Sunday we slept in and were checked out of the hotel by noon. Amber took me by her work and showed me her office and then treated me to lunch at Mimi’s Café…so good! We leisurely shopped some more and laughed mostly. We shared Jack in the Box for dinner and ended our day watching Wall-E at the theater nearby. It was a great movie. Amber panicked when she realized that she didn’t have a hoodie to keep her warm. I said we can share this one! …so we did. I had my arm in one sleeve and she had her arm in the other. We joked that we were Siamese twins! (see picture). As always, it was sad to say goodbye, but we had to return to the real world eventually.
Favorite inside jokes
· “Twin Baca!”
· “Jean skirt, blue necklace?”
· “A person can die without water!”
· “Its like your buddy”

Breakthrough!

RACHEL POOPED ON THE POTTY ALL BY HERSELF! Halleluia! Praise the Lord! She is getting it! ...AND she is peeing on the potty like a pro - all day! Can you believe it?!

I may be blogging a lot about potty training, but it is my life right now...MY LIFE!

Lightbulb Moment!

It has been a long 5 days, but I am happy to report that we are making progress! I have been tireless in my efforts to devote every ounce of my attention to this potty training task. I am also fortunate to have the help and support of Aaron too! Thursday and Friday, she sat on her small potty in the living room every hour or so. It was fun and exciting for most of the day, but toward the end, not even my bribes would work! She enjoys coloring, working puzzles, watching TV, and eating while sitting there. She peed on the potty mainly because she sat on it so often. Saturday, she only peed on the potty ONCE! It was not a successful day. She did not want to play that game anymore! Keesha watched her during the afternoon, because we had a wedding to sing in (Julie and Alex). Thank you Keesha! ...That is a good friend! Today, I stayed home from church to continue to work with her. I feel like a broken record! "Rachel? Do you need to go potty?" Today, She began telling me "potty!" in the MIDST of saturating her panties! ...I quickly scooped her up and took her to the potty each time. Although frustrating, She did much better than yesterday. Tonight was the biggest breakthrough when she simply looked at me and said, "potty Mommy." I just knew she was peeing at that moment, but to my surprise...she was dry. I said, "ok, Rachel...lets go potty." We calmly walked to the potty, I helped her with her pants, and she sat down and PEED! WOW! What a concept! Aaron and I rejoiced with her, clapped with her, sang potty songs with her, and gave her a well-deserved M&M! I am so proud of her. I called Mom as soon as I could!

Oops!

"I accidently pooped in the bathtub! ...Sorry Mommy!"

"...Hey, stop looking at my ears."

Picture Gallery

I started a picture gallery, so if you would like to see more photos please click http://picasaweb.google.com/aprilhufty.

Potty Training

Yesterday, I started the impossible task of potty training Rachel. I have gathered a lot of advice and decided to begin my quest. She had a few accidents yesterday, but overall did well. Sitting on the potty yesterday was fun and exciting, but today…not so much. She is bored with the idea already telling me “no!” so I am trying to be very sensitive and not pushy. I am pulling out all the tricks and practically doing cartwheels when she is cooperative. So far today, she has had two accidents...not bad. With all this hard work I understand why they call it a milestone! I read an article online that reminded me that “this is HER milestone…not YOURS.” I laughed…so true. I don’t expect her to be potty trained tomorrow or even next month, but I am certainly determined to devote my best efforts so that she can be successful before I start teaching in a couple of months.
This is something I pondered today…What possesses a child to hold pee in while sitting on the potty for 5 minutes, and then letting the flood gates open as soon as new birthday clothes are put on? …Anyone?

Camping

Last weekend, we went camping at Beuscher State Park. This was Rachel’s first time. She loved every minute of it. Mimi made Rachel an Elmo birthday cake that she just loved! Aaron and Tim B. went on an 8 mile hike! …crazy, I know. A few Austin relatives stopped by on Sunday and brought Rachel presents! What a wonderful surprise! It was so nice to spend time with family. When it started to get dark, we roasted marshmallows and ate smores. Aaron quickly put our tent up before it got too dark and Rachel loved playing inside. Rachel ate so many sweets that she had a terrible tummy ache in the middle of the night. I am sure she woke up everyone in the entire park! I finally consoled her and let her sleep on me for most of the night….lawn chairs aren’t the most comfortable things to sleep in! The next morning, Papa made breakfast…eggs, bacon, and toast. Aaron and I rested while Mimi and Papa took Rachel to the playground. It was a fun memory.
Mimi and Papa
Jeremy and Amber
Tim and Emily
Granny and Ann
Tim, Lauren, and Garrett
Theresa and Beth

4th of July

Yesterday, we celebrated the 4th of July by watching the Fiesta Texas fireworks from the parking lot of La Cantera Mall (as we did last year). We brought food and had a tailgate party with our friends- the Eppersons and the Gileos. Lee staked out a good spot near a grassy island, so we spread out our lawn chairs and the kids played. It was so much fun. I believe we have started a tradition with this event…free entertainment!

Rachel's Birthday Party

(notice the shoes...Nike shocks- Thanks Aunt Amy!




Rachel is 2! Wow! It is so hard to believe. When she was born, I always thought to myself…she will never be 2! Realistically, I knew she would, but it just seemed so far away.
We celebrated yesterday at La Cantera with my mom’s group (lunch bunch). I brought cupcakes for everyone and they were quite popular. Rachel ate hers using one of her candles as a utensil. Like most of the kids, Rachel ate just the icing.
When we finished eating, we went to the mall playground which is our normal routine. We had a great time watching the kids play and run around with their balloons. I meant to get a group picture of all the kids.
Rachel, Sarah, and Allan Epperson
Keesha, Olivia, and Xander Williamson
Niki, Lauren, and Luke Loudermilk
Alyssa, Kaden, and Benjamin Fitz