F is for Friday!

Oh my gosh y'all I cannot tell you how happy I am that it's finally Friday!  Except that this week has gone by so quickly that somehow it is Friday already! Life really is going fast and next week my baby will be TWO!!! How did that happen?

{ONE}

A few months ago we got a potty for Ellie at IKEA. I chose to go with the IKEA one because it was like $8 and we have been letting her sit on it randomly since. Sometimes she has her clothes on and other times not. Last week I decided that we should start being a little more serious about this whole potty situation because I am pretty much over doing diapers!  So last Friday we started a very laid back attempt at potty training. We had our first success!! I was so thrilled with Ellie going almost as soon as I put her on, she could have cared less - she is just more excited about reading her Daniel Tiger book and pressing the flush button!  Anyways we had one success on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  Nothing on Wednesday or Thursday but that's okay because I don't want to push it, however she really only likes to sit on her IKEA potty. I'm just happy with progress we're making.  Of course it's not all sunshine and rainbows there have been several times when there have been tears and crying when I tell her we're going to sit on the potty. 

{TWO}

Ellie is turning TWO next week and we are having her party at the end of the month. I finally got the invited sent out and I am in planning mode. I'm on the search for a curtain of some sort that has birch trees on it...any suggestions?

{THREE}

I mentioned on Monday that we have been working on doubling the size of our backyard. It's much easier than it sounds.  We have a side yard that we never really used and I had plans on fencing it off to increase our backyard for about 7 years. Thankfully our neighbor decided to fence off his yard this fall, which included our side yard! So all we needed to do was get some fencing to go on the "fourth" side of it to be complete. We got that done on Saturday and then on Sunday we took down the cedar fence which totally opened it all up!! I have plans to plant some privacy bushes along the black fence, I'm thinking Camelias!  And then our summer project is to double the size of our deck! Lots of "doubling" going on on the farm...of only we could double our number of children....

{FOUR} 

Which leads me to number four, I know we've been on the roller coaster of Infertility for 6 years but I am finally starting to fully educate myself on my disease. I went to our local library and picked up these books. 

I don't know what took me so long. I already finished the "Conquering Infertility" and practically cried during the entire book. It was so good to have my thoughts, feelings and emotions validated. This book didn't give a "cure" for infertility but rather helps you with coping mechanisms and learning to accept the cards that you have been dealt. That infertility is temporary and to try and find satisfaction and happiness in your life. I am half way through the diet book and it's just a good way of eating overall. It talks a lot about PCOS (which I don't have) and really what a big role our diet has on or overall health. Major recommendations I've picked up on so far is eliminating Trans Fat (duh) and eating more beans/legumes instead of red meat and also whole grains vs. white breads. All pretty common knowledge but it's nice reading some scientific findings on how diet affect fertility. 

{FIVE}

In addition I've been in a little bit of a funk this week as well because Sunday would be baby #4's first birthday had I not miscarried.  I often find myself thinking about this babe in particular and try to imaging what our life would have been like had we been blessed with a viable pregnancy. It would have been crazy for sure but I would have loved every minute of it. My heart aches for #4 (and the other 3 as well) and I pray every day that God will bless us with our rainbow babe. 

♥ Ashley 

Linking up here

In case you missed it
Monday I shared about my second Mother's Day
Wednesday I shared about my Third Stitch Fix