Happy Birthday Aunt Kimi, love Haley and Emily

We are sorry we missed a post on Aunt Kimi's Birthday but better late than never I always say!  Aunt Kimi is the mommy of cousin Ellie who is only two and a half weeks older than Emily.  We expect them to be best buds.  She has always been a very attentive aunt, even now with her own baby!  We were sorry we couldn't be with her on her Birthday in PA, but I'm sure she had a happy time without us.  Happy Birthday Aunt Kimi, we hope it was a good one!  Here is our tribute:

Haley and Aunt Kimi in December of last year

Emily and Ellie this fall

Emily and Ellie this fall, already best friends

Emily and Ellie together in utero

Aunt Kimi and Haley last fall

Aunt Kimi holding Haley in the pool this summer, she was in her 3rd trimester at this point! 

Okay, I know I have two days to catch up on so I will try to do them both.  Be warned though, potty training brings a lot more excitement into our lives and maybe a few unwanted details.  Okay, you've been warned, if you read more than you wanted to, it's your fault!

Tuesday we had MOPS so I got up around eight or so and Haley woke up soon after.  I put her on the potty and gave her a poptart to eat.  I can't remember for sure but I kind of think she went pee.  Emily watched nearby in her bouncer seat once she had woken up.  We were out the door by 9 with Haley in a pull-up.  When we got to the church I told Haley's teacher that she was potty training and that they should put her on the potty if she asks.  I still take Emily in with me to the meeting because I hardly hold her anyways because she gets passed around so much.  When she got fussy I took her back and put a blanket on her head and she fell asleep.  She is not always so easy, sometimes I have to stand up and sway a little bit but she must have been tired from all of the new faces because she went to sleep right away.  When I went to pick up Haley she had a note that said she went #1 at 10:15 written next to her name where I check her in and out.  I was pretty excited and confirmed with the teacher just in case.  The teacher said she didn't ask to go, they just put her on the potty when they put all the other kids on.

My potty high did not last long.  When we got home I fed her lunch on the potty and then decided I would wait to put her down for a nap until she had gone at least once.  Well, she got sick of sitting on the potty after about an hour so I let her off and just watched her closely.  A couple minutes later she was squatting and I could see boo coming out.  I grabbed her and cupped my hand under her bottom to catch the boo in case it came out.  It did.  It bounced out of my hand and hit an innocent Emily who was laying on her tummy time mat a couple feet away from the potty.  It hit her in the face, about an inch from her eye and then rolled away.  Poor Emily had boo on her face, I had boo on my hand, and Haley had boo on the carpet.  I tried not to sound too frustrated as we cleaned up the mess and then headed to the potty to dispose of the boo.  While at the potty, Haley was playing with the lid when she promptly peed, right next to the very throne she should have asked to sit on!  At that point, I put a diaper on her and put her to bed.

God must have known I needed a break because Haley then slept for over three hours.  Emily slept for about two hours of that time.  After Haley had been asleep three and a half hours, I went into her room to wake her up.  I loved the quiet afternoon but I didn't want to stay up with her until midnight waiting for her to get tired.  I brought the potty along and had her sit on it as soon as she got up and she peed right away, that was a nice change.  Then I put her in panties and pants, said a quick prayer, and headed out to buy some more juice boxes from Big Lots.  We ended up buying some toothpaste and batteries too, I think I'm going to like that place.  After Big Lots we went to Target to take back a toy organizer we bought last week.  We found a cheaper, bigger one at Big Lots and we still had the one from Target in our trunk.  It had been an hour since Haley had peed so the first thing I did was take her into the Target bathroom and give it a shot.  She sat on the potty and promptly asked to watch the Ipad, oh my.  After a couple minutes she said she was all done = didn't have to go, so we went and returned the thing and then headed home.  

David got home from work a couple minutes later and refereed the children while I made dinner.  We ended up switching places eventually because the potty training was getting a bit intense.  We ate dinner and then David gave the kids baths while I did the dishes.  As soon as Haley hits the bathwater she starts to pee so it was easy to watch for that and then quick transfer her to the toilet, I'll take any victory we can get.  After baths David watched the kids while I vacuumed.  That turned out to be kind of a disaster.  Haley had two accidents:  one in her room and one, wait for it...on our bed.  David said he was watching her jump around on the bed while simultaneously thinking about how dangerous it was, and then she peed.  After that we put the kids to bed, we had had enough!

TODAY, I woke up feeling super refreshed.  I think Emily has been feeling bad about how difficult potty training is, so she decided to do me a favor and, SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT!  We put her to bed around 9 last night and I had to wake her up at 8:30 so I wouldn't be late to Bible study this morning!  I have no idea what brought on this sudden sleepy streak, especially because Monday night she slept terrible.  I put her in similar pajamas tonight and tried to have her at the same place on her mattress but I can only hope it will happen again.  I put Haley on the potty as soon as she woke up and she went right away.

We had BSF this morning and I gave Haley's teachers the same schpeal I had given the MOPS teachers.  When I went to pick her up the teacher said she had asked to go and they took her but apparently she was just wanting some alone time with the teacher or something because she didn't go at all.  After Bible study we came home and had lunch.  Haley sat on the potty while she ate.  I decided again to wait to put her down for a nap until she had gone potty.  Two and a half hours later, she finally went.  David had a trip today but it ended up getting cut short so he was home for most of the day.  He hasn't been feeling well and has had to get up at 5am the past two mornings so he napped most of the afternoon.  Haley slept two and a half hours and finally I went in and woke her up because it was getting late and it was so beautiful out and I really wanted to go to the park.  Her diaper from her nap was dry.  I put her on the potty as soon as she got up and she eventually went after about fifteen minutes or so.

We spent just under an hour at the park and Haley never had to go pee pee.  We brought the potty along just in case.  Then we came home and I put my potluck macaroni and cheese in the oven and Haley sat on the potty until it was time for church.  It worked out pretty well because she ended up going just before it was time to go.  I put a pull-up on her for church and she never asked to go while we were there but she did pee in her pull-up at least two times from what I could tell.  Bonnie Mason was in childcare with Haley and two little boys (The Caldwell girls are sick) and she said Haley sang the abc song for her three times.  She said each time she sang it she would look her straight in the eyes and sing it really seriously like it was a sad song or something, haha.

After church we came home and sat Haley on the potty again.  She got tired of it after a while and played but ended up peeing about a foot away from it.  I'm not sure what has happened but she doesn't tell us when she is going anymore.  At first she told us as she was going and there were even a couple times when she told us before she had to go, but now she doesn't tell us at all.  I wonder if a couple frustrated reactions have now made her want to hide it, I hope not.  If you have any advice, please pass it on!

Haleyism:

Today I asked Haley what she wanted for lunch.  I listed off a bunch of options like chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, string cheese, applesauce, and chips.  She listened intently and when I was finished said, "ice cream."

Emilyism:

Emily slept through the night, can't say it enough!

Hanging out in the tub Tuesday night

She is saying cheese

She's saying 'come on in, the water's great!'

Haley loved the bike racks at the park

She was also sitting in there

Going down the slide

Emily's first time in the swings

Bare bottom

Hanging out in the Target bathroom on Tuesday