Potty Training, part II

Well, after being couped up all weekend and being very potty centered, I felt like Madeline grasped the concept, but needed a little boost. So, the incentive chart came to be:
Checks for using the potty and a Ring Pop as a reward! While we are not big into candy treats as a reward, Madeline really digs lollipops and jewels, so the Ring Pop is a perfect prize for her. We hung around on Monday earning checks left and right, but not quite enough for the ultimate treat! I also ditched the potty bell in order to promote some independence on her part. It seemed to work well for us. She'd ask me to sit on the potty, or I would have her sit if it had been awhile. On Tuesday, we ventured out for the first time in four days, and this Mama was a nervous wreck on the inside. However, I portrayed ultimate confidence in my trainee! But, I was prepared with our travel potty, numerous new undies, and an extra outfit for our morning out. Oh, and I even lined her car seat with an ultimate crib sheet. (I loathe taking apart a car seat to clean it of bodily fluids!) She spent a portion of the day with her babysitter, and this little turkey used the potty all day long! She even took care of BOTH items of business for Ms. Shannon, if you catch my drift.

Needless to say, today we headed out to the gym as normal, and Madeline did really well. NO accidents. She was very proud of herself for getting her final check mark!

I am by no means under the impression that we are accident free, but I am certainly hopeful that things are pretty well under control to go about our normal daily activities. I am loving it, and Madeline loves to pull her dress up and show everyone her undies. Now we must work on the finer points of wearing undies, like not showing them to everyone we encounter! :)

Potty Training 101, Part I

In true Anne fashion, I picked a date on the calendar and declared, "This will be the day the diapers for Madeline go away!" So, Friday, June 24, 2011, arrived, and we were prepared to start potty training. I read John Rosemond's "Naked & $75" plan carefully as if I were studying for my AP Calculus exam, purchased entirely too many undies, bought a potty, set said potty up in the den, picked a perfect ring tone for the timer on my new fancy phone to pose as the "potty bell", mentally prepared to be on house arrest for a few days, and mustered up as much as enthusiasm as I possibly could, and went for it!

Madeline's new stash of undies. Her only request was pink and purple ones.
Our new best friend, the red potty. It goes where we go for now!

Mama's attempt at finding "around the house" activities to do other than the normal books, dolls, puzzles, etc. to cure cabin fever. Yep, my toes are now that lovely shade of purple per Madeline's request for us to matching toes.

A few "official potty training" shots.

Even while potty training, a girl has got to wear her jewels --- notice she is wearing her necklace & bracelet! :)

Proud Madeline --- such a big girl!

Amelia is a supportive little sis.

We've watched more TV than normal, and Madeline discovered this "My Little Pony" show. She enjoyed dancing to the music.

Potty training does make for some pretty cute "from behind" shots, and this Mama has occupied her down time by playing Solitaire as evidenced above.

I chose to start off this entire process with the suggested potty bell two reasons: I know myself, & I would have a tendency to micromanage the situation, and I wanted Madeline to have ownership in this process. So, I set the timer for 20 minutes and each time it rang, she learned to go to the potty, pull her undies down, and (attempt to) pee. Madeline caught onto the procedure quickly. She loves to dump her product into the big potty & flush. She does everything and is very proud of herself. Our first day was a little rough as I was figuring out her timing, and she had no clue what she was doing, so right off the bat, Madeline had a couple of accidents. (Deep breaths even though I expected them!) Then she was too busy playing to drink and eat enough (as usual), so she was dry for the longest time and seemed to become annoyed that she wasn't making anything in her potty. After an extra salty popcorn snack requiring Madeline to drink LOTS of water, she finally had "Lellow pee in my red potty!!!" She took it to the bathroom, dumped it, and returned the bowl to red the potty. The whole process seemed to click at that point.

The following day, Saturday, was a success in my book having only one accident all day. The potty bell set at 20 or 25 minutes worked for us. Madeline was very proud of herself, and we plunged into Sunday pretty optimistic. Sunday gave a new twist in the game when Madeline decided to test the limits of the potty bell and my patience. She wouldn't immediately go to the potty, and a few accidents occurred which caused me to be more stern with her in explaining not to lolly-gag to the potty. A slight power struggle came into play on Sunday. At this point, I stepped away from the situation by putting Madeline in for a nap in her 'sleeping undies' (Pull- ups). Post nap, we started with fresh undies, a fresh attitude, and an incentive chart with a Ring Pop being the reward (a jewel AND a lollipop all in one!). We've been couped up for three days now which is not good for any of us even though I am sure Amelia is loving her morning nap in her crib! On Monday, we will venture out the gym which will be interesting...stayed tuned for Part II and hopefully PROGRESS!

Amelia's Baptism
Happy Father's Day, Happy Seven Year Anniversary, and Happy Baptism was the theme for Sunday, June 19, 2011! Eric and I had Amelia baptized in our church. I couldn't think of a better way to honor our marriage and Eric's fatherhood than by having our sweet Amelia baptized.
As always our pastor did a wonderful job during the ceremony.

Amelia was a gem, and Madeline did pretty well too.

We were presented with a book and a wooden cross from the Session.

After church, we all headed back to our house for a lunch of grilled chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, and lots of yummy sides. It was a wonderfully hot day filled with love and family.

(Eric and I spent the day visiting with our friends and family instead of chasing down the perfect pictures, so unfortunately, we have none from our post church party!)

No More MOM-phone!

Up until recently, I still had a Motorola Razr phone, or as I liked to call it, "A Stay-at-Home-Mom-Phone". You know, the kind that just makes & receives calls and the texting is tap, tap, tap until your finger cramps up. Eric had been hounding me that I needed a new phone, a data plan, blah, blah, blah. What did I need a fancy phone for? OH yea, all those pressing emails that I get on a daily basis? Ha ha. Well, Eric finally just took the step and went and got me a new phone with a data plan, and I love it! He said I would, and I do, but I am not sure I need so much fanciness. Madeline loves a kid puzzle app that Eric downloaded on his phone. (Mama's phone is a no touch item since we spend all day together, so no kid apps for me.)

The other night Madeline and I had a lovely fancy phone Mother-Daughter moment on the back porch:

Looking at this picture makes me realize that we are two peas in a pod --- no wonder we "butt heads" so much...

Six Months

Sweet Amelia is 6 months old, and this last month has brought about many firsts for her. Amelia had her first virus, first ear infection, first fever, first veggies, and first oatmeal. She handled her first illness pretty well considering she was pretty sick, and she has since bounced back like a champ!
Amelia LOVES her veggies. I think she is particularly fond of peas, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and corn. Green beans is really the only veggie she has clamped her mouth shut in refusal. She refuses anything remotely related to rice cereal now, so I moved onto oatmeal with bananas for breakfast, and that seems to make her happy. She sits in her little Bumbo seat like a little birdie --- mouth wide open ready for her food.

Amelia is a happy little baby most of the time. She really loves her exersaucer and playmat. She has absolutely no intention of sitting up on her own, but she does really well propped in a chair. She also could care less about rolling around. She can roll from her back to belly, but that is about as far as she moves. Her interest in being mobile doesn't seem to be there. However, her interest in her big sister is undeniable. Amelia loves Madeline to pieces. Anytime Madeline is within earshot or reach, Amelia's legs just start kicking and the biggest squeals and laughs burst from within her! It seems to be the beginnings of a very sweet relationship.

Amelia received another clean bill of health at her 6 month well visit. Her ears and chest all looked clear, so the doctor was happy with her recovery from her virus. Dr. Kapp was pleased with her developmental milestones and her stats. She weighed in at 17 lbs. 4 oz. (77%). She seems to be very long at 27.5 inches (97%), and her little peanut head at 42 cm (40%).

One of my most favorite things about Amelia is her ability to just go to sleep with zero fussing. If she is fed, clean, burped, and has her lovey, she just curls up and falls asleep! If she's fussing or crying, there is something wrong, and once it's fixed, she's all set to just go to sleep. (We were not this lucky with Madeline.) Unfortunately, I don't think Amelia gets enough sleep during the day. She usually misses her morning nap, and instead she cat naps. She takes a nice long afternoon nap, and she goes down for the night about 6:30 PM. Usually she sleeps until 6 AM.

Amelia is such a sweet blessing to our family, and I am especially excited to watch the bond between Madeline and Amelia grow!

Hilton Head

Happy 7 Year Anniversary, Happy Birthday Eric, and Happy Post Baby Getaway was the theme for our most recent beach rendezvous to Hilton Head. With all of Eric's travel, he has racked up a bajillion Hilton points, so we decided that it was time for us to get away ALONE to the Hilton Resort on Hilton Head. (Side note: It really did feel like we were on a tropical island getaway! That hotel was amazing, and our stay was at no cost thanks to Hilton Honors points.) It was fabulous. Our room was perfect, our extra special treatment was divine, and the alone time with my honey was wonderful. We only had a couple of goals on this trip: relax, talk adult talk, eat slowly, sleep in, and play bocci on the beach. All of our goals were met!

We certainly enjoyed walking out to the beach with only a small cooler, chairs, towels, and bocci. Ahhhh, just beach, sun, and water.
Just us...we enjoyed lazy days by the beach playing bocci. We also enjoyed getting cleaned up to go out to dinner during what would normally be the dinner/bath/bed routine with the girls. (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for giving us a long weekend away!) We had several dinners out, some fancy, some casual, to celebrate our anniversary and Eric's birthday.

This next series of pictures cracks me up because as Eric and I were posing to do our famous self portrait at dinner one evening, the lady at the next table kindly offered to snap a photo of us. Not only are they blurry, but she was not happy that we were content to sit across the table from each other. She wanted us to be all lovey, dovey on each other. She obliged and took our table picture.

Then she pointed to me, and said, "Sit on his lap." So I threw caution to the wind & did as she asked since she was rather insistent. :)

Then she wanted us to kiss. Really lady?! We agreed upon the cheek kiss.

Luckily, the lady and her man's cab arrived, so she gave us our camera back. Later back at the resort while wandering around, Eric and I documented the night with our self portrait!

Lunch at the pool bar was so relaxing --- no wiggly kiddos, no cutting up food, no worries!

A much needed mini vacation with my true love!

Costa Rica

I had the most wonderful opportunity for a little getaway with my friend of 25 years! Yes, we have been friends since we were 10! How crazy is that?! My friend, Steph, was invited to go on a trip with her company to Costa Rica as a headquarters guest. Apparently, she is some sort of rockstar within her company, and it was really interesting for me to see the "Business Steph". She was allowed to bring a guest on this trip, and since she is not married, she thought of me! Although we only live 30 minutes away from each other, we are not able to get together very often, so she thought it would be the perfect way for us to get in some good girl time.

I must give my husband huge props for making this all come together for us -- the trip was from Monday, May 20-Thursday, June 2. My sweet husband took Monday and Tuesday off to hold down the fort, and on Wednesday and Thursday, he worked from home, managed the girls, and used my parents' help to give him some peace and quiet to work in his office.

Not only is Steph a rockstar within her company, but her crazy busy travel schedule put her into the "fancy" status in Delta airlines. We were upgraded to first class on the way to AND from Costa Rica. It was awesome, and we were giddy about our first class seats. Well, I was giddy about our first class seats. Steph gets upgraded quite a bit, so I think she was highly amused at my antics!

The flight was fun. We chatted, had a couple of celebratory beverages, ate snacks, and laughed at the fact that we brought all kinds of reading material that never got read! The obligatory snapshot of our destination from the air!

Our resort was really nice, and like most resorts, the staff was super accommodating to make sure our stay was relaxing and pleasurable. Our room always had nice touches after the cleaning service visited.

Steph and I did not have an ambitious agenda for our trip. She works hard and wanted to relax, and I most certainly wanted to enjoy some girl time and adult conversation. We went to the gym in the mornings, had leisurely days by the pool and the beach, and had lovely dinners with her work people.

Costa Rica was beautiful, and it was a wonderful opportunity for two old friends to catch up!