Potty Training - Preparing

This topic will be covered over a few posts. I think it makes the most sense that way. This one is about everything I did to prepare for the "BIG DAY".

Special Notes: In these posts I'm focusing on Emily's training, she was 2 years and 7 months old when we started and within 4 days she was 100% potty trained including naps and nighttime! Abby began her potty training today and I will do a whole series of posts about that at a later time.

I searched a ton online about potty training and read a bunch of blogs. The one that made the most sense to me was this one. She said she trained all 4 of her kiddos this way in 1 day each! The key was putting the child on the potty every 15 minutes. To be honest I tried this 2 different times with Emily but I wasn't really into it...I kind of half-*** it. But this time would be different!! I'll go more into my actual method in a later post.

Before the BIG DAY, Grandma and I took the girls out shopping. We went to a few different stores to find Emily her new potty. (The previous 2 times I had used the insert that goes on the big potty, but my OB made a great point, Emily can't get on the big potty by herself and who wants their little legs dangling all over when on the potty?!)  Emily first wanted the loud, flashing light potty that she could make go on with the flushing on the fake handle. I knew that would be a mistake...she would do that all day long and not be doing her business.

Instead she decided on this pink, princess one.



I like this one, when she goes it plays music...so no guessing!

The other item on my list was training pants. Emily picked out some real underwear (Toy Story, Princesses, and Pixar Characters) and I grabbed a few sets of training pants that provided some extra padding.

And lastly, the rewards. I decided to provide a bag of goodies (toys, stickers, coloring books, books, etc). Pretty much things found in the $1 section of Target and a couple higher price items for the times she first went #2. The smaller rewards went into the bags and the "larger" items were kept out of sight...I tied them with pretty ribbon to really jazz them up.

Whew....we were ready to go home and get ready for the BIG DAY.

Later that night after the girls went to bed I set up the bathroom for them. Providing labels on the goody bags and their potties!

Seeing that Emily and I would be spending LOTS of time in the bathroom I also found some adorable bins at Target and filled them with books both reading and coloring, flash cards and crayons.

Next post....Day 1 of Potty Training.

Baby Update Week 16

Not a whole bunch going on these past couple of weeks. It's in between Dr appts.

Weight:  I feel like a gained a bunch more. I have the bump for sure. Hubby said things are really taking shape. Luckily I know he means that in a good way...not that I'm getting fat. Although I did have to give him a hard time about it!

Following my Dr's Advice:  First, Emily is potty trained! Wow!!! She is staying dry during naps and at night. It's so amazing, I will be crating a post (or multiple posts) on how we did it. I'm trying my best to limit my stress...but it seems to find me. I worked out 3 times last week and think that helped.

The iron pills are making a huge difference I have so much more energy. I'm so happy!

Baby Sex: Still a mystery...hubby and I talked the other day and we are leaning towards finding out! I honestly go back and forth on it all the time!

Getting Ready for Baby: Haven't done much more since the last update. I want so much to prepare for the baby and that's why I may find out what it is. A couple more weeks until we have to make our decision.

A Great Week

It's been a great week. Emily decided to potty train and I can say she is pretty much trained! I'm going to write a post about what worked for us in the near future.

The girls have been in great moods, I think that getting out a little bit each day really helps this. We have another busy week with meetups this week. It's great, all these little outing really help Emily understand that we go potty not just at home.

This week the "game" or "ride" has been bin sledding. Emily dumps out all of her toys from the bins and brings one for her and one for her little sis...yes she is very mindful that Abby is always included. Then Dad has to push them down our make-shift hallway. The girls LOVE it. They start to get ready for their rides as soon as they see Daddy's car pull in from work.

We did get a little...very little...bit of snow yesterday. Emily has been dying to go and play in it. So we bundled up and grabbed the sleds and we pull them around for a little bit. Good thing we took the opportunity when we did. When we woke up this morning the snow was already melted!

I'm excited that I'm sticking to my New Year's resolution to cook more. Which means I plan our meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) in advance. For me I plan a month at a time. I love this. I take an hour or two and plan it out making sure we don't do chicken everyday for a week and the such. Then each week I can make my shopping list, look for deals and coupons and it takes almost no time at all. Last week I tried a few new recipes that we love and I will be sharing these here as well...so stay tuned! The meals were all pretty healthy and turned out great and I must say I felt better this past week and I think some of this is due to the healthy meals.

Have a Great Week!

My Little Artsy Girls

I just adore how much my girls love to be creative. In our home we go thru tons of art supplies...mostly paints. Emily's passion has rubbed of onto Abby. It makes for huge messes but that's okay it cleans up pretty easily...most times the girls end up in the tub, especially Abby she tends to paint herself as much as she does on the paper.

I'm so shocked how much supplies we go thru. It's just amazing...but they make the most adorable paintings. I try to spread the 'wealth' of these paintings by giving the girls blank cards to paint. Then we use them for all the special occasions we have, they are a huge hit!

I have my 'to-make' list for the new home and I will be making a tarp to go under their table to catch all the extra paints, glitters and such. I'll be sure to post the project for everyone to see.

Baby Bump 14 Week Update

My first baby bump update for #3. The girls and I just returned from my Dr. appt and running a few errands. The appt was good but I had a scar for a couple of minutes. This little one was hiding for a bit and the nurse had a very difficult time finding the heartbeat, but she did finally and all was good.

Here is a self-belly portrait. I'm going to try and remember to have hubby take one but just in case I forget I will have this one for reference.

Weight:  Up 4 pounds from my last visit (last month) today's weight is 131.5, which sounds like a ton to gain in 1 month but I'm starting off this pregnancy much, much smaller and the Dr was very happy at the weight gain.

Heartbeat: 152. Took the nurse F-O-R-E-V-E-R to find this stinkers heartbeat today.

How Did This Happen?!: Let's be honest, Hubby and I "know" how it happened but we have both been perplexed as to how the precautions didn't work (aka...full strength birth control). Well my Dr looked into it and this is what she figures. I was in the hospital late July with what was thought to be gallbladder attacks. I was given grade C & D medications, which I was told would not affect my breast milk or my birth control. This is true for 99% of people, but it seems that my metabolism is in high gear (which I can agree too with my weight loss) and that all mixed together = lower effectiveness in the birth control. Needless to say we will take permanent precautions after this one arrives. 

Notes from the Dr: Given my history she's got a plan. If I begin to have early contractions, on to the medicine I will go. No need to worry about that with 2 little ones running around. If the contractions come on sooner than before I will work with a nutritionist to help put on some extra weight. I'm also anemic and will begin to take Iron supplements and drink lots and lots of fluids. She says this will help with my shortness of breath and being so tired. I need to avoid/limit my stress. Not easy to do, but she says I need to make this a priority. It's in everyone's best interest. I'm going to start by adding in yoga to my day during the girl's nap time and limit my time in my Etsy shop. 

Dr. also thinks that I can have both girls potty trained before baby arrives. Hmm...sounds like a great idea but only time will tell.

Baby Sex: Still a mystery and not sure if we will find out. I kind of want to. Mostly becuase I want the nursery to be complete before the arrival and know if I can get rid of the girl's stuff. But part of me loves that moment when the baby arrives and we find out. Hubby does not want to know. I have about 4 more weeks before the "big" ultrasound to make up my mind.

Getting Ready for Baby: I've been "pinning" a lot of ideas for the baby room. I also found a dresser that I will be making-over. Hubby and my Dad picked it up and once we move I will begin to work on that.

That's about it. I'm exhausted from the morning. Getting everyone ready/fed and to the Dr by 9a.m. was a workout. I made the next appt for 9:30...I think those extra 30 minutes will do wonders.

Breakfast with Her Crew

Whew! She actually slept in her own bed last night. Emily has been waking up for about a week crying and screaming between midnight and 2a.m. and the only thing that was working was her sleeping with Hubs and I. But all three of us in one queen size bed = less than a restful night.

But last night she made it all night in her room. And she woke up in a great mood, playing with her sister and then she setup a special breakfast for her and her Toy Story crew. All on her own she carried out her 4 charis and made a special one for Bullseye.

Then she entertained and fed them yogurt and juice. It was adorable to watch.

-Amy

Mommy Brain

Wow...my "Mommy Brain" has kicked into full swing with this pregnancy. Now granted, we do have a ton of things going on and I sometimes find myself not even sure what to do next. This even includes wandering the grocery store trying to recall what we need back at home.

But then when I go to fall alseep at night everything I forgot comes rushing back to me and I toss and turn and struggle to fall asleep. As a solution I decided to take a few minutes before bed to make a list for the next day. What a blessing!!

I feel so much more on top of my game. I'm getting things accomplished and I can "shut off" my brain each night.

I just printed off a calendar for 2013. We have been without and I never realized how much I use it. I love the colors of this one and thought I would share!

http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/2013printablecalendar/

I love the colors and have the year printed out and ready to jot down our important dates.

Currently

Lots of things going on here. We have been sick, again! What a year it's been for that! But knock on wood we are on the mends and I think we may be finally getting better. We are packing, packing, and packing. Our move is a little bit off but I really want to start things off on the right foot in our new home so I'm using this time to go thru everything, organize and purge and clean. I'm deep cleaning everything. Thanks to Pinterest, I've been scrubbing pots, pans and baking sheets to make them sparkle like new!

I'm also day dreaming about how to decorate our new place. I'm so excited and a bit challenged but it all but I'm sure I'll figure it all out. My first priority is the girl's room. I hope to have that complete right away so they will feel at home.

The girls are loving all the boxes and have claimed a couple as theirs!

-Amy

Happy New Year

This poor blog...the last few months of 2012 were crazy and I didn't come here to really talk about it. It was just too much, and I'm glad I didn't share it. But I'm ready to embrace 2013 and look forward to many positive things happening to our family!

First...we are expecting. Yes, you read that right. Our family will be growing by one more! This summer we will welcome another bundle of joy into our lives. Once the shock wore off we realized how blessed we are to add to our family and are so happy about this newest addition.

Well that last bit of news (and some other stuff) has lead us to rethink our home. And we decided to move on. In the very near future we will be packing up and moving on. We began to pack up and it's bittersweet. I'm so excited about our new home, the extra space, backyard and that but will miss a lot about our current home. It's been a great home for us, but it's time to move on.

We've had some crazy stuff going on personally and we are handling it the best we can. It's been very stressful and I look forward to the end of it all (hopefully soon) in 2013.

I've made some resolutions and want to share. Mostly for me...so I can look back here and see what I've accomplished.

1. Become organized...I like to think that I am an organized person but I just can't seem to make it work to well in our current place. Since we are bursting at the seams. So I'm taking my time in packing and hope to move into our new place and start fresh and keep it up!
2. Refocus on my Etsy shop. I became very withdrawn from it...the 1st trimester of this pregnancy really hit me hard.
3. Make home Pre-Schooling for Emily and top priority, which is sometimes hard to do during the day but she loves it.
4. Cook meals at home 4-5 days a week (the rest will be leftover days). We have gotten away from this the past couple of months and we all miss it!
5. Focus on the positive things and try to forget the negative.

These were just on the top of my head but I want to make an "official list" and will share it soon!

-Amy

Difficult and Strengthening Day

Today was tough.

Nothing else I can do or say would sum it up better. But even in tough days I see the light. The Hubs and I pull together, put ours heads down and know tings will get better. And the girls....aw....they make EVERYTHING okay!

I try to keep things super positive here but sometimes I can't avoid it. Before anyone worries too much. Nothing life threatening is happening. Just a challenge, a hurdle...or whatever you want to call it.

Things will get better. I know that. But it may become difficult first. But we will overcome...God gave me this life because he knew I was strong enough for it. I need to remember this!!!

here is a way he shows me....

Emily and Abby are loving each other. Then Emily and I snuggle right before bed...she wrapped her arm around me and pulled me in close....ahhh...life is perfect again!!!

A Long Night

Poor Abby. She's teething again and was up from 10:30 to 12:30 and then every hour after that. She woke Emily up every time too! What a night!

She's been obviously sleepy all day and so has Emily....and I'm not going to lie, I am too.

So I'm hoping that these two will FINALLY take a nap. It's been a long day on top of a long night but that's okay. I just want Abby to be okay. She has the worse time with teething, the pain and awful diaper rash...she dreads diaper changes right now.

On a better note...here are some fun pictures from the week:

Yogurt faces! These girls will eat 32 ounces between them in one sitting! 

 Gottca

Painting

 After we paint, we bathe

Enjoying Popsicle...Abby's first. Helps with the teething.

Have a great weekend!

-Amy

What's Going On

Sorry for being so absent, lots of things are going on here. Some great, some just good and a couple I would rather not be dealing with (so I won't bother you with them)

I'm so grateful that the girls (knock on wood) are both healthy. Finally! It seems like one or both were sick during the month of October. Yikes!

The girls continue to play, entertain, laugh and enjoy each other. It's so, so, so much fun to witness. Abby is about to be 1. 1. WOW, she is almost 1. I can not believe it, I have so much to get together.

I've been so busy. My shop is really busy. I took on a large order (60 pairs of pants) on top of my Shop orders....and the extra money was a huge blessing but it really has been hard. My family has been very supportive and My Mom has been awesome (as normal), she's stopped by on a few occasions with Diet Cokes from Mc Donald's...my guilty pleasure...and even watched the girls to let me make runs to the post office. She then gave me hugs and told me to basically breathe. I realize that I bit off more than I could chew...well almost. But I've learned and now know better. I will keep these big orders for non-holiday times when I'm a bit slower.

I would have been able to fly thru the large order if I ignored the girls, but that would defeat the purpose of being home. So I get up early, work during naps, and stay up late to get it all done. But I'm BEYOND grateful for this HUGE, GINORMOUS blessing that has been handed to me. Nothing worth having is easy, and dreams don't come to those that don't push themselves.

I'm struggling with keeping my work/bedroom area separate and organized but as soon as I get caught up on my orders that will be the very next thing on my list.

Okay enough about me. The Hubs is working away from home right now and we miss him, but he will be home soon. So I'm taking advantages of the extra time to get some stuff done. Emily was hoping every noise she heard this evening was him coming home. So sweet. She loves her Daddy!

So there is our update, some info/pictures and the such. I have to end this with some things I'm thankful for.

Hubby's car broke down 2 days ago. He was on the interstate and I had to round everyone up to go get him and have the truck towed. But God was watching over us and had it happen in a safe spot, and near our friend who was able to fix it over night so it was ready for Hubby's work trip. This would have been a disaster had it happened far away from home!

I'm so thankful for my life, my Hubby, and kids. It's not always easy but that's okay. I'm strong enough for this life that was given to me!

I will be doing another post on Homemade Christmas but I really want to share my dear friend's new Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/KHBPrintShop

She is adding stuff all the time and I love everything. I wish I had more walls that she could design pieces for!!!

A Family Photo

I don't think we have had a picture of all 4 of us since Abby's newborn photos. Someone is always left behind the camera but we have a new one. While at the pumpkin farm on Monday the Hayride Driver jumped in and offered to snap some pictures...so sweet!

I think I may have this one blown up and placed behind our couch. I have had a few adorable ones of just the girls and I but feel to guilty to make it our big photo minus the hubby.

The girls had so much fun...it was both cold and windy but they both tolerated it better than I did. This was the first time that Hubby could join in on the fun and he had fun. Honestly had fun!

He took full charge of picking out the family pumpkin and jumped right in later that night to carve it up. I love seeing him get into the holidays, even one as simple as Halloween!

And to finish this post up...my favorite picture of my baby Abby and me!

Love,

Amy

Sometimes you need some time

We are so blessed that my wonderful sister-in-law gives us her awesome hand-me downs from her little girl. My niece is just about 18 months older than Emily and she has some of the cutest clothes. But this also means that for a few days after we receive the bins (yes BINS!!) the girl's room is a mess.

But its all in good timing, since the seasons are changing and Emily and Abby have outgrown many of those items hanging in their closet. The funny thing is that both girls insist on "helping" me while I tear apart and reorganize the closet. Their way of helping is unfolding everything I just folded and making a huge pile to 

jump into. It's fun the first time for me but after 5 or 6 times I sometimes want to cry.

But a bag full of plastic balls and a crib will provide our girls with a bunch of fun! The girls are never in their cribs unless they are sleeping so they find this super fun!!

 This helped me out big time. I was able to get Abby's side of the closet done and about 50% of Emily's.

Oh yeah...check out our raspberry theif!!!

On The Road Again

The little ladies and I have been spending a lot of time of the road this week. Typically we are in the car once or twice a week, for very short trips. But this week we had fun traveling around (in Ma-Ma's car...that Emily loves!) We spent a day visiting the girl's auntie and dear cousin and then got together with some of Mommy's friends yesterday. Emily made sure to pack her bag for our trips!!

So the girls actually worked with me on these trips and slept! Emily even took a pillow from our friend's house yesterday...how funny is that?!

The great thing was that both girls had playmates to hangout with during our outings. It was a fun (granted...a buys week)!

We hope you have a great weekend!

-Amy

Make it Monday....it's Back!

I love this time of year. The holidays are bunching up...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Abby's 1st Birthday Christmas...it's fun. And it's even more hectic fun with the kiddos. I'm making it a point to do fun activities with them and here is our first one. I can't take credit for the orignal idea...that's 100% Pinterest. I am getting better at actually doing all those pins I pin, I think that is an accomplishment in it's own.

Okay...back to our craft. How cute is this?

It's super easy...here is what you need

1 Egg carton (you can make 4 of these)
Black paint
String/ribbon, something to hang when done
Scissors
Eyes

1. Start by cutting the egg carton into 4 - 3 egg holder lengths. From there I made some "v's" on the sides to make the wings look more real
2. Have the kiddos paint the cut up egg cartons black. See this happy little one happily work away?!
   

1. Once it dries (ours took all day, Emily used almost a bottle of paint on it!) glue on some eyes and add it the ribbon. I decided to pop a hole in the top and tie the ribbon.
2. Hang and enjoy!!