Potty Training

Last September at her third birthday party, Sydney was potty trained.  It hadn't been an easy road, but she was potty trained.  She had been for over a month.  We'd gone on vacation and she hadn't had any accidents.  After trying to potty train her a number of times, I told her I gave up and she did it herself.  Maddening, but wonderful because it was done.  And then something changed.  Aaron had to travel for work frequently last fall and she totally regressed.  She went back to wearing diapers and no amount of begging/bribing/threats/etc. did anything about it.  Then she decided she wanted to go to dance class.  Hello, new incentive!  A week later that was not very exciting or worth earning anymore.  We've been doing this for months. We try to convince her that she's a big kid and EVERY OTHER KID HER AGE (ok not all but most of them) are potty trained.  Her response?  Cool.

Why do you want to wear diapers like a little baby we ask?  "I'm not a baby, I'm a big kid." is her response.  The two are not connected in her mind.  Nothing is working.  She'll stay dry for a week at a time, so I know that nothing is wrong physically, it's just motivation.  When we ask why her diaper/pull-up/panties are wet she'll say, "I didn't want to go potty."

Twice in the last couple of days she has wet her diaper and informed me, "It's wet, cuz I'm a baby, but that's ok."

?????
What do I even say to that?  I hate potty training more than ANYTHING else I have ever done as a parent, or pretty much anything ever.  This is how I feel every time anything to do with potty training comes up:

I've decided that disposable diapers are going to be a permanent fixture in my house until she goes to kindergarten. sigh.  Any advice?

Easter Sunday

On Easter morning the girls were very excited to see what was going on downstairs!

 And both were thrilled to discover the eggs hidden all around

 They had a grand old time running around the house looking for all the eggs.

This video captures a bit of the craziness.  Sydney was pretty good at picking up every egg she saw.  Mady would go to a space that had 4 eggs, pick up 1 or 2 and then run off in the opposite direction, only to come back a few minutes later like, "hey look what's over here!"  It was so fun to watch them and see how excited they were!

 Just a little sisterly love on Easter.  Awww.

 Happy girls about to get really sugared up!



Holy Easter Eggs Batman!

On Friday we were driving around a spotted a sign for an Easter Egg hunt happening Saturday morning at 10.  I had been looking for a nice one in a park (like one I grew up with) and this one was the closest I had found, so on Saturday we saddled up the troops and headed over.  I was nervous for the girls since they had never done an Easter Egg Hunt before and I was sure they would get trampled, but I figured if they each got 1 or 2 eggs it would be a success.  I shouldn't have worried.  This was the sight that greeted us when we got there.

 Yes those millions of colored dots are Easter Eggs.  Click on that picture to make it bigger, no really, do it.

Do you see the massive amounts of eggs on that field????  This was the little kid hunt (0-5 to avoid the trampling I was concerned about).  The 6-12 hunt looked the same but on a different field.  The little kid one was on a baseball field and included the diamond too!!!!  They had garbage sacks full of stuffed Easter eggs the dumped out there.  What?  Needless to say, Kid #1 was darn excited.  Kid #2 accidentally smiled for this picture.  It was an unexpected bonus.

 And she's not crying in this one, which was taken after they got their haul.  A real estate group does this every year and it gets bigger each time they said.  Their goal was for each kid to have 10 eggs.  Sydney got twice that in about 45 seconds.  Mady wanted nothing to do with the hunting until she saw that everyone else was having fun and she STILL got 10 eggs in about 1 minute.  Oh we'll be going back to this EVERY SINGLE YEAR people.  It was a winner.

Check out this awesome video Aaron shot.  It's a little wobbly because there are children running EVERYWHERE but it gives you a great feel for the event.  The kids were all in heaven, everyone got what they needed, and no one played mean.  It was superb.  I would buy a house from the Easter Egg guys.

 That afternoon we attended our community's annual Easter Bash.  There was a fun visitor that Sydney has been dying to see since last year.  Look at that grin.  Mady was less than impressed and I am shocked we got her this close without a meltdown.  Seriously, the kid is impeding my photo ops.

 Both girls were thrilled to discover the petting zoo and the pony rides.

 Mady did have a meltdown getting off the ponies.  It was hysterical though because every time she came around the circle and saw me standing there her voice jumped about 3 octaves and she said, "Mommy, I'm riding on a black pony!"  I took a video, but there's too much background noise to hear her properly.  Take my word for it.  The dog tones were priceless.

 There was a lovely bouncy house with 10 year olds jumping like crazy that my toddlers wanted to get in. We turned that down in favor of a giant inflatable obstacle course and slide.  Great choice right?  Here's Mady about to go in. 

 I was so worried she wasn't going to be able to do it all and I was going to have to go in there and get her.  Imagine my surprise when I went around the back to check on her and found her almost at the top of the inflatable ladder (which looked wicked hard to climb up).

 All smiles here!  She went 5 times! 

 Sydney was a different story.  She took one look and ran over to Daddy at the pony ride.  She wouldn't go until Mady had gone 4 times and then she finally went down and still insisted on sliding down backwards because it was too scary.

 They both had so much fun though!  Look at that smile!

Happy Easter!

They Grow Up So Fast

Tonight my little miss decided to dress up as a princess.  Notice the tiara and the Cinderella slap bracelet.  Remember slap bracelets?  Oh I do.  Aww, the memories.  Anyway, my little princess was asking some questions about Mulan tonight.  Apparently the concept of the Matchmaker (at the beginning of the movie) and arranged marriages are a foreign concept to her.  Shortly after that she started quizzing me about getting married (her daddy is a husband - why can't she marry him?) and I told her that when she was older she could find a boy closer to her age (not Daddy) and get married. 

She thought about that for a moment and said, "Like Uncle Garth!" 

I quickly explained that Uncle Garth was taken. 

"Daddy!" she said. 

"No, remember, Daddy is my husband.  You'll choose someone your age."

"I could marry Kenzie when she gets old like me!"

"But Kenzie is a girl.  You need to marry a boy."

"Oh, um....."

You'll be happy to know that she has picked a husband.  He's a couple years older than her (he's in first grade) and lives down the street.  He goes to church with us and is one of her best friend's older brothers.  I'll let you know how it works out.

A few minutes after the husband topic had been decided she came up to me and said, "Look, I have a baby in my tummy!" (can you spot the "baby bump"?)

Immediately Mady replied, "Mommy, I have a babysitter in my tummy!"

I neglected to inform them that those are 2 very different things!

Sleeping Struggles

I mentioned we've all been sick.  All but Sydney that is.  That girl is NEVER sick.  And when she does get sick, it's for like, a day.  I would covet her immune system if it was actually transferrable and it wasn't a sin.  Another great thing she got from her birthmom!  Anyway, I digress, but the kids have been giving me a run for my money every time I try to get them to sleep.  My favorite was yesterday.  I was desperately trying to get them to nap so I could stop being so frazzled and maybe even sleep myself since I had hardly slept for 3 nights in a row.  They kept talking, getting up, and generally being wiggly.  I then found Sydney out of bed going potty.  I calmed myself down by reminding myself that this was the one valid reason for being out of bed.  Then I noticed her naked feet.

Me: "Um, why did you take your socks off?"
Syd: "I didn't, Mady did."
Me: "How did Mady take your socks off?" (she's still in a crib)
Syd: "Mady asked me to put my feet in her crib, so I did and she took them off."
Me:  deep breathing...... "Why were you out of bed?"
Syd: "ummmmm"

I decided to ignore this and put her back in bed.
Syd: "I need socks!"
Me: "You shouldn't have taken them off!  Stay in bed."

A few minutes later I cam back in to find Sydney sitting up in bed putting on a new pair of socks. 

Me: "Why did you get out of bed!?!"
Syd: "I didn't!"
Me: "Where did you get the socks?"
Syd: "Ummmmmm.."

Don't you love toddlers?

Is it Easter Yet?

My kids are so excited for Easter it's ridiculous.  Nana and Pop Pop brought them a few little Easter treats and presents (including the awesome Ariel glasses seen in this photo and some Snow White ones for Mady.)  I've been asked literally every single day since if it is Easter yet.  The bad thing about holidays with this age is that they wait and wait and wait and wait for it to come and then it's over almost instantly.  Fun right now though!

Also, my ARC of Chime came yesterday!  FINALLY!!!!  I'm so excited!  Has anyone read this book?  I'll post my thoughts when I'm done....

We're all sick at our house, so I'm off to watch Tangled for the 456,792,484th time and win some more books.  What's on the docket for you today?

Nana & Pop Pop Visit

While Nana and Pop Pop were here we had some time grooving at the aquarium.  I know it's fuzzy, but don't they look like they're dancing?  It cracks me up.  This is where we eat lunch every time we go to the aquarium.  There's a nice little nook and a great view of the sea turtles! 

 Did you know they have a mermaid show at the aquarium?  Like with girls who have on mermaid tails and actually dive down in the water?  It's so wicked cool and my kids were A-MAZED!!!  I kept thinking, "I wonder how long it took them to learn to swim like that?"  Mady's convinced we saw Ariel (there was a read-haired mermaid!), so the trip was a huge success for her.  On the way back to the car the kids found big rocks to climb on.  I think they thought these were equally as cool as many of the sea creatures and, in Sydney's mind, infintely more cool than the sting rays.  She is apparently deathly afraid of those things and still pretends to see them in the bath tub and almost jumps out screaming.

 A couple days later we headed to the Botanic Gardens to get some great shots of the girls.  This is pretty much how it went.  I love the flying pigtails.  It looks like she's trying to take off.

 Sydney actually stopped a few times and let me snap some photos.

 This was,  BY FAR, the best group shot we got.

 Look!  A standing still one!

 I love this one of Sydney checking out the little river.

 This was what most of the pictures I tried to take looked like.  Mady disappearing around the corner (she's getting fast!), Sydney running away, and Nana calling them back.  Sigh.  Welcome to everyday life!

 This is pretty much the one decent picture I got of Madelyn.  Hooray!

 And the best one of the girls!  It's totally wall worthy right?

In other news, Mady has discovered the Fancy Nancy books.  Have you read them?  They are hysterical.  Mady has picked up some great new phrases such as "new ensembles" and "too plain."  She came up to me the other day and said, "What's a fancy girl to do?"  I may have cracked up right then and there.  She's our little princess!  Fancy Mady!

Having the Kids Help

For book club last month we read the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua.  It's inspired me to try to make my kids (despite their young age) a little more responsible and accountable.  This morning I started off great by requiring that Mady carry her own soggy diaper from the night before downstairs so we could throw it away.  Since I was carrying her down the stairs, I thought I had an ultra-reasonable request.  I handed it to her and said, "You need to carry this downstairs."  She reponded by saying, "Ok!" brightly and chucking the VERY full diaper (which, mercifully, was only wet) over the railing onto my living room floor.  Have you seen the inside of a wet diaper?  It's filled with this goopy crystal stuff.  See? (that's not me or my finger.  I found it online - some science class dissected a diaper).  But I did get to see it first hand this morning when the diaper exploded and deposited this all over my carpet.  Lucky me.  And, since it's gel stuff, I had to vacuum it up, not just wipe it.  Joy joy joy. 

I think Mady might be exempt from chores for a teensy bit longer.

We're so Lucky!

What have we been up to you ask?  Oh, not much.  Just winning free books (8 9 so far!  Yay!)

Going to the zoo in lovely spring weather (look - my kids have capris on!).  Isn't that gaggle of girls cute?  They walked around the zoo holding hands like that.

 Silly leprechauns turned our milk green on St. Patty's Day.  On April Fools' it got turned blue and Syd blamed the leprechauns.  When I asked her if she knew what today was, she said, "What color is our milk now?"  Silly kid.

 This funny kid had a blast helping Daddy get rocks to build a wall (outdoor projects, here we come!)  Such a ham!

 Nana brought some Ariel panties for Sydney as an incentive and Mady got ahold of them.  She has all 3 pairs on OVER her diaper and pants.  Such a fashionista.

Lots of fun with Nana and Pop Pop too!  More posts coming!

Were you lucky in March?

Sick Kids

We've been fairly lucky this winter, but finally we got hit with a bug.  Prior to this, only Aaron has been sick, but the girls and I finally got it.  This means we've been hanging around watching a lot of movies and such.

The kids got sick of just laying on the couch and wanted something more exciting, so they commandeered (nautical term) my laundry baskets to make "boats."  As you can see, they enjoy their comforts and insisted on pillows and sleeping bags and blankets while at sea.

After the boats were put away for a bit, Mady decided to find her own and came up with this - one of the toy bins.  Notice she's still got her "favorite book?" 

Funny kids.  I think we're finally pretty much over the colds now.  Thank heavens.  Two weeks of Mady not sleeping was enough to do me in.  Is is summer yet?  We're ready to have no more sickness and lots of sunshine!

Adventures in Feeding Toddlers

Sydney and I just made chicken salad.  While making it, Sydney informed me, "Sometimes I don't like chicken salad, 'cause I don't like it."
"How do you know?  You've never had it," I responded.
"I just don't like it," she said.
"What if someone said, 'I don't like gumbo; I've never had it?'"  I asked.
"I would say, 'That's silly!  Gumbo is tasty!  I like gumbo!"  she exclaimed.
"Exactly.  I like chicken salad.  You don't know if you like something until you try it.  This has chicken and celery and grapes and onions in it.  Do you like those foods?"
"Yes."
"Then why wouldn't you like this?"

After tasting it she exclaimed, "This is TASTY!"

My point exactly silly girl.

Looky What We Can Do

Sydney is learning her Articles of Faith for Primary.  Mady didn't want to be outdone and has memorized them just by listening to Sydney!  We're so proud!

Sydney passed off her first one and is working on the second.  She was so proud when she was able to pass it off to the Primary President and get a little bead for her accomplishment!

End of February Fun

Our girlies got invited to a birthday party and they were supposed to dress as princesses.  Thanks to a friend who had recently given us a bunch of dress up clothes, they had loads of choices!  Sydney ended up going with Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty and looked darling.

 And wow, despite her hair being a bit crazy since this was after the party, don't you love my adorable Snow White?  I do.  She was the cutest kid and finally let me put that ribbon in her hair and kept it in.  I won that battle. :)

 Lots of girl time.  These babies are my favorite girls to hang out with.  Boy do I have fun with them.

 We had mock fondue for the kids one night.  Hilarious.  Sydney would have eaten an entire bag of marshmallows if we had let her and Mady devoured every strawberry she could find.  So typical of my kids.

 As a kid I remember spending hours threading buttons on a needle on the floor while my mom was sewing.  It's great hand-eye coordination and my kids are completely good for a long time because they feel so grown up crafting with mom.  I've recently let them start doing this sitting right next to me and I've got to admit, I love it just as much as they do since it means they are good and quiet without just watching TV (which they do plenty of).  JoAnns has a big box of buttons for $6, so with a coupon, that's a steal!  Also, what the heck is up with Mady's face in this one?  Zoom in for a better look.  I crack up every time I look at it.

 That's better!  Happy kids = Happy Mommmy!

Hope you enjoyed your February, now on to summer!  Er wait, I think I missed a season.

Pack Rat

Confession time, I'm a bit of a pack rat.  My mom is too, she sort of cursed me that way. ;)  We hang on to all sorts of stuff.  Last summer I came home with this old nightgown of mine (which is rather threadbare, hence the long sleeved shirt under it.  It IS still February you know, despite it being 60 degrees today).  I even have some matching black and hot pink hot pants that go with it.  Sydney rocked it for awhile, but tonight it was Mady's turn.  Poor Sydney was not pleased to find that her Mickey Mouse pjs were no longer hers (this happens a lot).  What's a girl to do?

 Raid Mommy's dresser!  She was pleased as punch when she found this little number.  And let me just say, that paired with the red heart covered leggings and white socks pulled up to her knees that she chose, she looked very Valentine-y.  Can you believe this shirt was mine when I was like 8 years old?  And it still fits me?  Shocking I know, but it means I'm either really small chested now, or I wore really big shirts as a kid.  But hey, that was really in then, remember?

 Look at these happy little monkeys.  Now imagine them sound asleep in their beds.  Ahhh.  I'm going to go enjoy that for a bit until my youngest looses her pacifier and wakes me from a dead sleep at 2 AM. 

All Dressed Up

Sydney's not much of a girly girl, but the kid still likes to sport some princess wear once in a while.  Today she found a set of press on  nails that we got on after-Halloween clearance for like 30 cents.  She begged me to put them on her and this is what we ended up with.

 And yes, those are spiders on them.  Awesome right?  To a 3 year old, yes.  She's in heaven.  We also made our first successful attempt at french braids.  Don't get me wrong.  I know how to french braid, but this little miss's hair never fell out when she was a baby and it's still as soft and fine as it was when she was teeny, so it doesn't like to stay in stuff like this without massive amounts of gel and hair spray.  She's going to hate it when she's older.

 All dressed up and no place to go.  Guess we'd better head to Target!

We're planning pedicures for this afternoon and she's stoked. 

I love having girls.