Question for all you moms

So for about a month AnDee (all on her own accord) has been going potty on the big potty every night but she isn't showing any interest during the day. Should I start putting her on a schedule and make her try to go every so often? I'm only hesitating because I'm having a baby in less than 3 months and I don't want to make a bunch of progress with it and have it all go down the toilet (pun totally intended) when the new kid comes in and disrupts her world. Advice please?

Today and I were not friends, but tonight and I? Different story.

It's been one of those days. I woke up with a bad case of pregnant mom today. I was mean, I was grouchy and I was aware of every bit of it. I could not find the strength to shake it off however. As a result, my baby picked up on it and played her part. She was mean, she was grouchy and we both broke down into tears multiple times. I needed help, desperately. Lucky for me my husband is amazing. I had been wanting to go with my mom and my sister to hear Sister Julie Beck (general relief society pres.) speak but I wasn't very hopeful. Andrew has been working insane hours. He didn't get home until after 4 today and was planning on going back at 10pm to work graveyard, only to come home for a few hours and go back again. He needed sleep, badly. With no one to watch AnDee I just didn't think it was going to happen. Andrew, however made his mind up that he was going to make it work and sent me out the door. So here I was, feeling bad for myself and totally irritated and angry about... Well.... Everything. Did I really want to attend this meeting? I was in no mood to feel chastised for my weaknesses. Luckily, Sister Beck is truely inspired. There was not one moment that I felt that she was chastising me. Instead, from the moment she stood I was at peace. The anger was gone. The frustration was gone. Mean pregnant lady was gone and AnDee's mom was back. Every ounce of everything she said inspired and uplifted me.
Now, here I sit in my bed (at a quarter to 11 when I should be sleeping) with my all-too-convenient iPhone, blogging because I can't settle down enough to sleep. I'm just happy. So thank you Andrew and thank you Sister Beck for knowing what I needed
What most stood out from the meeting tonight? Well... Sister Beck opened it up for a bit of a question and answer type of deal. One sister stood and asked how to find herself. She explained that she has been trying to find ways to describe herself without using the words 'mother' or 'wife'. She felt like those things were taking away who SHE was. When sister Beck answered she said "you must never take away 'mother' it is who we are. That is the name we will go by in the eternities. We do not have children because it's a lifestyle. We have children because that is God's plan."
Being a mother has not taken anything away from me and the things it has taken, I can confidently wave goodbye to, knowing that 'mother'' is who I am and what an honor it is.

Her name is...

AnDee knows her name. She has actually known it for a few days now but I forgot to put it in my last post. When you ask her "what's your name?" she says "name Annee!" translation: my name is AnDee. She also really likes to yell the last word of every sentence so it's actually more like "name ANNEE" it's also "... Eight, nine, TEN!" and "no mo jibber jabber jibber jabber on BED!" translation: no more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Oh and just in case you were wondering... She did indeed call my next door neighbor fat the other day. Nice.

A little update (warning: excessive bragging)

AnDee is growing up so fast it's scary. No seriously, sometimes I panic a little if I think about it too much. Kinda like when you think to much about the end of the world... Yeah... Same idea. Anyway, as of late she has gone from being able to count to 6 on her own to 10. Except sometimes she skips five, why five gets forgotten, I'm not quite sure. She is a summersault maniac and we recently started taking her to a gymnastics class where she rocks everyones world with her ability to walk on the balance beam by herself. I'm pretty sure she is the youngest kid in the class but she puts those other kids to shame! (proud mother? Yes! Bragging much?.. Again, yes!!)
She has also taken up singing and it's always entertaining to listen/watch her sing. She is mastering her AbC's though which is yet again another amazing accomplishment :)
Coloring has become an obsession. One which mom isn't a real fan. She likes to sneak away with a marker or crayon and color on her toys, the walls, ect.
She is a chatter box and is constantly giving me lip! I'm not gonna lie though it mostly just cracks me up. She is a blast and I love love love being her mom! It's crazy to think she is already 19 months old! She is one cool cat!

Our little Pep

So I have been debating about blogging about this. I don't know if everyone needs or even wants to hear about it but since I have decided to make a book out of my blog (a genius idea brought to my attention by Mindy. Thank you mindy!) it's kind of turned in to a bit of a journal for my little family and this is something I'd like to remember.
For those of you who remember, AnDee Lew wasn't given a name until she was about a day old. Andrew was determined he had to see her before we could even really discuss names. Luckily her name turned out to be quite meaningful. With this baby, the story was much the same. I would throw a name out and Andrew would all but ignore me. (drove me crazy!)
Well... Because I struggle a lot with more things than I like to admit, I am constantly praying for guidance, especially as a mom. For a long time the name Joseph kept lingering in my thoughts, but I kept pushing it out. You see the name doesn't bother me, it's just not really my style. But this name was haunting me! I couldn't get it out of my head and so I started to really think about the name itself. What does it mean? Joseph is a Hebrew name meaning: God will increase. Now let's go to the bible and list a couple of the men named Joseph. We have the Joseph of the Old Testament. The son of Jacob sold into Egypt by his brothers which led to his eventual saving of a nation through the gifts God had blessed him with. A good man? Yes. Would I want my son to be like this man? Most definitely.
Now we have the Joseph of the New Testament. Joseph, the husband of Mary and earthly father of our Savior. He was visited by a messenger from God and instructed to wed a woman who was a carrying a child that was not his. Without question he took the child upon himself. He was called of God to raise Jesus Christ!!! What a honor but what a responsibility! A good man? Undoubtedly. Would I want my son to be like this man. Nothing would make me more happy.
Now let's talk about another great Joseph. That is Joseph Smith. What 14 year old posseses such great faith and such wisdom? I would be so lost without this mans hard work and diligence. I, and so many others owe so much to him. His lifes work is as great as any, except for Christs. Truly a man of God. Was he a good man? One of the very best! Would I want my son to be like him? I could only hope!
So there it was... In my opinion some of the greatest men in the entire history of our world have carried the name Joseph. I should be honored to name my son after such powerful people.
Ok so... I was feeling... inspired?.... I guess more like instructed to name my baby boy Joseph. That didn't change the way Andrew felt about naming our children before their birth. I guess I would just have to wait until the little guy got here and then explain the situation to Andrew?
On our way home from our trip to Bear Lake for New Years Eve, Andrew and I were just discussing the bible and some things he and his brothers had talked about. I decided to just throw it out there,
"So I was thinking about the name Joseph"
"Oh yeah? What about it"
"Well I was just thinking about the men in history but especially in religious history named Joseph and I was just thinking that next to Jesus Christ it might be one of the strongest most important names there has ever been"
and then Andrew surprised me with this...
"Thats what you are going to name him, isn't it?"
I stammered a little
"Well.... I don't know. Is that what YOU are going to name him"
and here it was...
"Yup!"
So now I think he is messing with me. Maybe he just got sick of me throwing names at him so he was just trying to get me to give up?
"Whatever... I dont believe you"
"Why not?!"
"Cause you have been SOOO determined not to name him until he gets here"
"I know, but I am serious. That is supposed to be his name"
"Really? When did you decide this?"
"Last night. While I was talking to my brothers all the sudden I just knew that was his name." (Andrew had spent hours the night before discussing deep doctrine, that is way over my head, with his brothers)
So there it is. A name I never would have even considered on my own. Im not sure the purpose of it or even if there is a significant purpose but our little boy has a name and it is Joseph! We call him Pep. AnDee likes to squish baby Pep and tell him to come out. Mom is not ready for him to come out yet but at least I know who it is that will be coming when we are ready :)

We like to call him "THE ROCK"

Have you ever met a young person you were totally impressed with? Like a teenager that made you think to yourself "this kid has really got it all together"?
Well if you haven't... Let me introduce you to this young man
Jacob Wendall Naugle

Jacob entered the MTC today and soon will be headed to Brazil for a couple of years. On our way home from his being set apart last night Andrew and I were discussing what makes Jake's situation different than the other missionaries we have been a part of sending off. This is the conclusion we came to..

Jake leaves one with total peace of mind. Never have I seen a 19 year old so solid in his faith and so ready to serve the Lord. Not only does he know the scriptures inside and out he is mature and totally capable of taking care of himself, physically as well as mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He truly is as solid as a rock. Don't get me wrong I have had some family members and friends go out that I knew would be amazing missionaries but with everyone of them there has been a little worry and a little sadness with sending them off. Not with Jake. He will be missed, especially by AnDee who has attached herself to him in the last few weeks (I think little ones have a sixth sense about future missionaries) but the excitement that radiated from him made it impossible to feel sad about his leaving. He is leaving with a testimony and wisdom that it takes most missionaries two years in the field to develop. He knows how to work and he loves the Gospel. This kid was born for this! I am excited but slightly intimidated to see the person he comes back as. Oh how I hope with everything in me that I can raise my children to have the faith and desire that Jake does. Good luck Jacob! Not that you will need it!

A little late

I realize that we are now 8 days into the new year, but 2010 was a SUCH a great year for us. We have been super blessed with amazing health. We really haven't even had any major colds or anything (knock on wood) Andrew has done So well at work and in the last year and a half has received 2 major promotions. He is incredible. He has also been very successful in school. I don't know how he does it all. AnDee Lew is the smartest most healthy little girl in town. She is only 19 months old (yes I am bragging a little) and can count to 6 all on her own, can do a lot of the alphabet, knows more animal sounds and names than I did until we started working on them together, She kneels, folds her arms and "prays" all on her own. She says the most hilarious things and is constantly making me laugh. We are so lucky that on top of all this she is sweet and sensitive and just wants everyone to be happy.
This year we have also been blessed with the news that we are having a baby boy! This was such a miracle and brought lots of tears of joy.
I feel like I am rambling but my point is, we are so blessed and we are so grateful. Happy 2011! I realize how fortunate I am to say I am sad to see 2010 go. We have had so many friends and family who really struggled through last year.

For New Years Eve my brother was nice enough to let the Naugle family stay at his cabin up at Bear Lake. We thought this would be a last little trip with the entire fam before Jake leaves on his mission. We only spent  a couple of days and it was FREEZING! ( I think the high we reached was about 9 degrees) but it was good to be there with everyone and we spent a lot of time discussing the gospel. I did however brave the cold a couple of times to take AnDee sledding. She is a nut. I swear she doesn't feel the cold.

here are a few random pics from the last week or so...

This one is my favorite. Really it should have its own post. This depicts AnDee almost perfectly, wearing Dads boots and carrying a dirty sock. Not to mention the fact that her onesie is filthy and that she had refused wearing any other clothes all day. She is the coolest.

I wish I had more pics of Andrew. Im pretty sure he sneaks on to the camera and deletes them.
I happy New Year to you all!