Its GO Time...{Potty Training Samantha}

POTTY TRAINING....

Monday, May 21, 2012

I woke up and said to SJ.. "okay.. today is the day, we're gonna throw out the diapers and you're gonna wear BIG girl panties and pee-pee on the potty now.

She was okay with it... until she had to go pee for the first time.

I learned quickly that this child can HOLD her pee for a LONG LONG time.

I guess I knew she could .. she was waking up dry overnight and after nap for months now..

Until things had calmed down with Andrew, I didnt want to add any more stress to us or the kids.. so potty training was put off until now. But I think she has been ready for a long time...

I was so so nervous and scared for potty training... now, its been a FULL week, and looking back it hasnt been so bad. But to be honest, the first few days SUCKED!!!

First day:

She went on the potty 4 times, and had 1 accident.

She cried when she had an accident.. and we were just trying to be so pateint with her, and say "its okay.. you're learning .. its okay, just tell me next time.

She was asking for a diaper all day the first day.. she was also going pee a tiny bit, and holding it in to the point of pain.. so it took some convincing and brutal bribery to get through to her that her belly would feel better if she "let all the pee pee go"

 Second Day:

5 pee pees - 2 accidents

She was getting the hang of it, but would sometimes cry and ask for a diaper.

I would hold her on the potty and rub her legs and say.. "just let the pee-pee go, your belly will feel better.. just let it all go" We were following her around ALL day, and I'd ask her every 10 mniutes if she had to go.. I'd force her to sit and try.. but little did I know.. she wasnt 18 months old anymore, and didnt have to go as often at all..

I

 Third Day:

NO accidents.. she peed 8 times..this day

Stayed dry through naps and bedtime... so we decided to keep her im underwear for naps and bedtime, until we have reason to do otherwise.

 I'll skip ahead a few days..

Through reading blogs, and friends suggestions, I went shopping and made a potty box.

An old shoe box of mine, and every day I told her she gets a present if she stays dry all day..

So far this has been working..

We've learned that she really DOES get it .. and she got it super fast.

She was getting frustrated with us in the beginning because we were making her sit to go.. and she didnt have to go!

She knows when she has to pee.

We were playing on the 3 or 4th day, all of the sudden she ran to her room, took her pants down and yelled AFTER she was done.. "mommy... I went pee pee"

So she really picked it up very very fast.

NO accidents at all..

and on the 5th day...

We took a road trip to Ohio and were in the car for 4 hours.. she held it the WHOLE time.

We brought her Bjorn potty,

 and she's been peeing at Baka and Papa's house, My bro and sister in laws, and even today at my friend Megans house!

She will only go in "her" pink and red potties for now, so im sure the BIG potty will come eventually.. I'll let her decide...

I've also learned that every child is different, and half of potty training is really just feeling out your child, and a little bit of trial and error until you figure out what works for him/her.

Pooping:

This is a whole other road we're working on... for now, I KNOW she's holding it.. I've caved and given her a diaper to go in when she has to go.. (please no judgements!) After she's done, we put underwear right back on.. We're traveling right now, so when we get back home tomorrow that will be our goal to reach next week... but for now Im just SO thrilled that she "gets it" for the most part.

I couldnt be more proud of my big girl!

Its such a releif to have one out of diapers!

This guy has a ways to go..

 but I wanted to document how we approached all this with SJ, so we know where we were at looking back..

Its funny, certain stages of Motherhood (weaning, walking, naps, potty training, constipation, car rides, airplane rides) I've completely dredded.. and I always look back and say.. "it wasnt that bad" But in the moment.. it truly feels like you'll never get past this stage, and it is so stressful!

My babies are getting so big....and with each stage I try and keep a certain level of grace about me, and I think, they will be 16 before I know it.. and I will wish for these days to return 

So potty training has commenced and there is no turning back..

Next is working on #2 in the potty...

Family Road Trip {The Strong Museum of Play}

We took our first road trip as a family of four plus Grammy... two weeks back

It was very successful. Andrew slept part of the way..

but was laughing and giggling when he was awake (thank you Jesus!) I know I keep saying this, but he has come a LONG LONG way...so proud of my little guy!

Samantha was good too...she played with her IXL,

read books, and played with the IPAD with Grammy in the 3rd row with her. It was so nice having a big car to travel in.

We arrived just before it opened.

To say Samantha had a great time is an extreme understatement.

WE all enjoyed all the exhibits.. It was so amazing! I'll try to go through the areas we saw, but we didnt even get through the 2nd floor, so there is MUCH more that we missed.. but with a 2.5 year old and a 3 month old, our time was limited..and so was the crankiness..

We first saw the Sesame Street exhibit

The Little Wegmans

She was so cute.. and kept wanting to go back and shop

Getting her little cart

Getting her groceries

and scanning them! She had a blast.. and she got to print out her very own receipt.
Another great thing..

Thank goodness for the nursing rooms!
They were perfect. A glider rocker, closed door, books, toys.. It was so nice that I could nurse Andrew in private. And I changed him right in the stroller.. He was pretty well behaved. Not one outburst the entire time.

We ate  lunch when we noticed Sassy needed a "re-charge"

.. and then she was off again to do a litte more shopping at Wegmans, and see another area before we left.

The carousel was right by the exit/entrance, so that was a good way to lure her out of there without a scene...

They had a pretty cute gift shop too.. I snagged an adorable Wizard of Oz tea set for Sassy..and a little Elmo for Andrew George.
It was a great first little road trip.. and Im glad I finally got this post done!

Andrew's Baptism {Food & Sweets}

Yesterday we baptized our sweet boy Andrew.

We hosted a party afterwards at our house, it was a great success.

The weather was around 89 degrees and sunny.. so desserts were kept inside, and food on the back patio.

We had quite the dessert table.. cupcakes, cookies, candy.. ahhh it's my passion.. every party should always have a yummy dessert table!



I made cupcakes with my signature buttercream for one dessert option.

I got the personalized cake toppers from Posh Pixels. You can find them on Etsy.

Oreo Cake Balls. These were gone in literally 2 minutes.. My cousins were tripping each other to get inside and get the last cake pop.. I should have made more! ...next party..

I used this wooden shelf as a cupcake display, and it looked so pretty with the white and blue coordinating frostings and cupcake liners.

This is where we set up the food.

I cut out some more scalloped circles and tied them to the shade... then had some lanterns and filled ballons with sand to weigh them down and hung them by fishing wire.

We had ham sandwiches with kaiser  and pretzel rolls, hash brown potatoes, sandwich wrap trays, fruit tray, broccoli salad, potato salad, and regular salad.

I decorated the tables with little wooden crosses, tin containers filled with sand and grey shells and rocks, and I wrote out a prayer that I put all over the tables.

I had a small candy bar with cotton candy blue taffy, gummy sharks, mints, and grey/blue/white M&M's and Sixlets.

I love these cupcake papers .. they looked very elegant for a christening party.

I added some pearl sugar beads over the white frosting.

I tried to decorate with as many blue and grey things I had available.

I ordered some glassine bags from Garnish so each guest could take home some candy/sweets.

Lemon Elephant Cookies

At the end of the party, I had these cookie favors to give to each guest.

All in all it was a great party!

What Im Loving Wednesday

WILW - May 2012 Edition.

Not only have I not been blogging recently, but I've slacked on WILW with Jamie

So here's what I've been loving...

1. Getting my hair did.

Its been so so long.. I needed a good highlight, cut, thinning, and retouch.. ahhh I feel like a new woman..

 2. New Shampoo...

Fekkai Color line. I havent tried it yet, but my Mom used it while visiting a friend in Calif.. and says its amazing!

 3. Peanut Butter Honey Ice Cream (courtesy of Pinterest)

I cant wait to try and make this.

I love peanut butter ANYTHING...

 4. My little studly man.

He was so cute at a family graduation party this weekend.. and so well behaved.

He's getting SO enormous.. but Polo does run small. This shirt is 9 months, and I dont think he'll be squeezing his round belly into it again...sad.

 5. My Sassy little girlfriend.

This is her right after her afternoon nap.

She either wakes up super happy... or really whiny and sleepy..  Guess which day it was ??? haha

6. Party Prep...

Im loving getting all the final details ready for AG's Christening...

The desserts Im making include: Oreo Balls, Cupcakes, Cookies and an assortment of "blue" candy/sweets.. I cant wait! and YES I WILL post pics/recipes... etc.

Happy Wednesday!

Yes, I blog...

Gosh.. Its been forever..

Life has been so crazy busy.. I havent even had time to squee in a post. I remember when I would think, I'll always have time to do a post in the evening, or when they're napping..

Well lately I haven't had time to even sit down!

The happenings recently have been, my sister in law is here for 2 weeks until the christening next Sunday. Mathew had a small surgery last week and has been really needing me to step it into high gear as the Momma around here..

The kids can sense the changes: someone else in the house, and Daddy not being himself.

I've definately had some of the toughest "momma" days ever this week. But its also nice to know that I CAN be there and do so much for my family when they need me to.

Funny that Im writing this post on Mother's Day, right?

Anyways.. Im planning a super cute Christening party for Andrew for next Sunday.. so Im prepping all the little details... Okay mainly just for the dessert table... but I love doing stuff like that..

So happy Mother's Day to all you Momma's out there..

I feel so blessed for all that I have.. especially to be able to be called a Mother.



Flaky Creme Filled Cookies {Sans the Creme}

Finally a new recipe!

I made a bag of these earlier this week when we went on a little family road trip.. (that post coming soon). We headed about 1 hour away to The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY.

I had these when my MIL visited in February, and they were so good.

She referred to them as "light crackers" that they snacked on in the car.

They were DELISH.. I must have finished half the bag she brought.

I finally got the recipe from her. Its from Taste of Home and the original recipe calls for all sorts of sweet stuff... (which look sooo delicious for another day...)

but I enjoyed them as a snack cracker.

Its 4 ingredients!

1 cup cold butter cubed

1 cup flour

8oz cream cheese cubed

1/4 tsp salt

You mix it all up until coarse crumbs form.

Flatten into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap.

Stick it in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours.

Roll out and cut 1/8 inch thick (just like sugar cookies)

Pop em in the oven at 350 - 7-10 min.

Voila! They are light, flaky, and kind of irresistible!

I'm thinking of making them for Andrew's christening.

The theme is Elephants/Gray/Blue/Polka Dots, and I just bought an elephant cookie cutter

These cookies shrink quite a bit, so keep in mind when choosing your cookie cutters.



6 Years

6 Years.

On April 28th we celebrated 6 years of marraige.

It was our "first" official marraige in NC

We were married after just knowing each other just 8 months.

I flew down when I lived in Ohio to NC on a Friday morning..

we were married by the afternoon...

We didnt tell ANYONE what we were doing, or what we had done for a long time.

Reactions were mixed.
Some people were happy, some people im sure confused, some were very questionning...

But we didnt care. We knew in our hearts it was what we both wanted.

And looking back everyday since then, even now 6 years later.

It was one of the best days of our lives.

I only wish I could re-live it over again.

It was just US.

No family, no friends.

Just us, and a piece of paper that said we were now officially married.

It was a justice of the peace ceremony in Jacksonville, NC.

Mathew left for Iraq 6 months later for 13 months.

So this weekend the in-laws were in town.

We had an amazing dinner at home this year.

We made crablegs, fish, and steak... so so delish!

Then we went on a date!

We both agreed not to buy gifts..but we each got each other mushy cards.. which I loved.

And it was so nice to get away for a few drinks.

We headed a few miles away, and had a few glasses of wine and martinis... oh how I have missed adult conversation and a few drinks... We could have stayed all night talking and laughing!

Papa and Baka kept sending us pictures of what the kids were doing.

Andrew took a bottle and passed out on Baka's shoulder... and Samantha had a nice long bath and enjoyed playing with her Papa..

It was a perfect weekend and anniversary...and not one day that goes by do we ever forget how special this day is. Some people probably doubted and definately questioned our "secret marraige" ... but 6 years later.. we're still going strong, and I thank God for giving us strength, love, patience, understanding and faith in him to guide us through every day.

Andrew George {3 Months}

Andrew George 3 Months Old

You probably weigh around 17 lbs I'd guess.. you were 15 about 2 weeks ago.

You are in size 2 diapers

You wear mostly 6-9 month clothes, and onesies.

You are talking, screaming and cooing all the time.

Smiling, laughing.. ahhh such a sigh of releif ...

My baby is happy.

We are happy.

 You love being outside.

Finally the weather here is getting better.

New discoveries since last month:

- You can roll from back to ALMOST front... (you amaze us with your strength)

You love sucking on your knuckles, and you've been drooling a lot.. Its too early for teething.. but still I think I measure everything you do to SJ, and she NEVER was a drooler.

 You hold your head up pretty well, you're almost ready for the Bumbo chair.

You are nursing really well

Waking up 1- 2 times a night

Still sleeping with us though.. you cant quite take naps on your own (in your crib)

So we're doing what works for now, and I cannot bare the thought of you regressing and crying again, you've come a LONG way.. and I am so thankful for that.

You had your first car trip today!

We went to the Strong Museum, and you were so good! Slept the whole way there and back, and nursed/ate really well while we were there.

Nicknames: the big guy, musky, musk, bubba, buddy, brother

I think you're looking more and more like your sister at this age..

This is Samantha Jane - 3 months

(below)

 Seems like my babies dont stay little for very long at all

So we're soaking up all of our little man with plenty of love, hugs, holding, kisses, oh yea he's pretty spoiled already... but he's turning into SUCH a good baby.. Thank the Lord. If someone had told me 8 weeks ago that everything would be so different now, I would have never beleived them.

Happy 3 months Andrew George --- we love you!