So Far

It's noon on Day 1.

We have been through 7 pairs of undies and I have cleaned up 3 floor puddles. Caught them in the act a few times. Only one successful trip a piece. Gonna be a looooooooong weekend.

Let's Get This Potty Started

Forgive me for the horrific pun.

I think we have everything we need to start formal training tomorrow! We are using the 3 Day Potty Training Method by Laurie Jensen. It comes highly recommended to me by a friend and knocking this out in 3 days sounds awesome to me! We have been going as they think of it the last few weeks and we've had success with poop and pee (more so from Gracie actually, but YOU try and convince Tate not to go every time she does).

We've got the Big Boy and Big Girl underwear in our drawers (My, I am feeling punny today. Feel free to boo now)



They both chose Elmo (no surprise there) and were VERY excited to carry these around the store and at home. Being budget conscious, we let them pick out one pack of "character" a.k.a more pricey underwear, to get excited about, and then we selected a pack of generic colored ones for each of them. It was a big price difference. On a side note: Thank you underwear Powers That Be for making girly Elmo underwear! Gracie loves Elmo too and trying to get her jazzed about Disney princesses wasn't happening.

We've got potty chairs in place!

These will not travel around the house with us, as I want them to learn that the bathroom is the only place, but I guess have to come in the car for awhile? Awesome.

And the most important tool/resource we have at our disposal:


Once after a successful potty, Gracie was so excited she whispered to me in her most adorable voice "I Yike THESE!"

Wish us Good luck!

Summer Fun

Just wanted to post some random cuteness from this summer:

Linus

Just had to share this picture of my little boy. I think this is exactly how I am going to remember this period of his life. He carries 'blue blankie" (which is actually a blue cloth diaper we used to use as a burp cloth) everywhere, and has been sucking his thumb with it since 8 months old. He can often be found in this position when watching sesame street, cuddling with mama, when he's scared, tired, or riding in the car.

P.S. We just took them to the dentist and he said I don't have to worry about the effects of thumb sucking for a few years, so I'm not going to.

Not Cool.

The twins are currently refusing their nap.
Benny refused his morning nap.
Benny was asleep until they starting yelling so loudly from their room, they woke him up.
Now he is crying and they are playing in their room.
Not cool you guys, not cool.

Things my kids are afraid of

I don't get why AT ALL, but my kids are afraid of seemingly everything these days. It's getting to the point where its hard not to make fun of them.

1. Dogs: I'll give them that, big dogs can be unnerving when you've never seen one up close. But wiener dogs are where I draw the line
2. Statues of animals at the zoo: hundreds of kids climb in these a day, but mine are terrified. well done, statue maker, they look real!
3. Bugs: We call them "buts", I am trying very hard not to pass on my fear of spiders, so I cannot be blamed. Anything that flies or crawls or moves in any way is a "buts" and must be removed from the yard/house/car/pool immediately before the world ends.
4. Leaves on the ground: can be mistaken for large and scary buts.
5. Cats: any cat closer than 10 feet is a reason to scream and cry. Further away it is exciting.
6. Sirens
7. Big trucks: spotting them from the car is fun, seeing them up close or with the window rolled down is unacceptable.
8. Cracks: Tate cannot handle walking on a deck or big toy that you can see the ground through, he thinks he will fall.
9. Church ladies in the nursery: every week we go, every week they quiver in fear.
10. Dirt: They both cannot handle dirt on their hands or feet. Anywhere else is totally fine.
11. US leaving a room or moving 2 inches away: This just applies to Benny, and it is supposed to be a stage, but it is driving us crazy.

Weirdos. They are, however, NOT afraid of running away from us in a crowded place, running into the street, or base jumping off of furniture in the house. So we've got that going for us.

360

Yeah, I just had to tempt them, didn't I?
Bragging in my last post about our perfect little morning led the universe to punish me.

I walked into the twins' room after nap and was hit first by the smell. You can guess where this is headed

Next I noticed I was stepping on some squishy items. You were right

Then the full force of horror hit me. POOP. EVERYWHERE.

I will spare you any more graphic details and just say Gracie was the culprit who managed to empty her diaper of its contents and decorate the entire room: floors, beds, clothes, walls, and finally, twin brother.

Disgusting doesn't quite cover it. I just know better than to count my chickens or eggs or whatever again. When things are going well, I am going to KEEP.MY.MOUTH.SHUT.

The blogger in me wanted to take pictures of the room, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, let alone post them. I did take one of her pretty little bumblebee dress before washing. Great irony in the dainty dress smeared with toddler poop, don't you think? This should be enough to embarrass and torment her with as a teenager.

180

You know that scene from Sex and the City 2 when Charlotte is crying in the pantry because her children are so overwhelming? Well that was me, only it was the little kids library and I was sitting on a big stuffed dog.

The heat caused a nap strike and it was all down hill from there. Nothing you MoMs haven't heard before: sass,lost blankies, many time outs, fights, tantrums, and clingy babies. When Sean walked in the door I burst into tears and went into hiding. He is amazing at recognizing when I.am.done. He just shut the door behind me and took over. I went to the store because we had run out of baby food and wipes (awesome) and came back with just enough energy to help with bath and bedtime.

Today is a new day! We got up rested, kids are smiling and happy (thank you box air conditioner), and we went to the farmer's market! I got deliciou cinnimon raisin bread and we shared blackberries on a bench. Beautiful. Kids are all napping (at the same time!) allowing me to play on the computer and recharge my batteries.

Funny how days can flip on you like that. I told Sean if we could just win the lottery he could stay home and every day would surely be this wonderful. Then again, it's only noon.

Road Trip!

We did it! Not sure we could, but when friends invited us to drive 5 hrs to stay with their family at a lake for the fourth, we jumped at the chance. We had a great time, truly. First boat rides, first time playing in a lake, first hotel stay, so many wonderful memories! We felt like we got a glimpse of what the future can hold for our little/big family (just gotta get these kids off bottles and diapers).

Some pictures...
We got a family suite at a Best Western and (after moving some furniture) were able to fit 3 pack n plays in the bedroom and then Sean and I slept in the living room/bedroom. It was key to have a door for them to sleep behind. They go to bed at 6:30pm so I knew they'd never fall asleep in the same room as us.

Benny started trying to crawl the first morning in the hotel! We were so excited, since he's a little behind in this area. We were all cheering "Go Benny, Go!"


Fun at Liberty Lake!
Benny watched a safe distance from the water. He hates baths with a passion, so I didn't think he'd be interested in the lake anyway.
He still had some fun :)



Highlights for the kiddos were the "FAST BOAT!!!" and the baby ducks that visited us!




Lastly, the neighborhood parade was so much fun! Everyone decorated their golf carts and walked around the few blocks and threw candy at us. Tate kept throwing it back thinking they were playing catch. ;) It was really fun to watch them run in the street and collect candies for us. They seemed like such big kids!
We didn't do any fireworks because they were too late at night and I know my kids would have been terrified as they are of most new things (dogs, shadows, statues, bugs, etc.)

Hope everyone had a safe and happy fourth!

The Score

Terrible Two's-1
Mom-0