Science is Fun!!!

Liz and I had fun with this experiment for science!!! We were able to get the bubble to 18 inches in diameter. Alana liked it too! If you want to know how to do it, let me know, and I'll send you the info.

She Did It!!!!

Alana Jo- aged 2 years, 3 months is officially potty trained!!! After a very stressful first two days, she became a pro at it. She even is doing her best to not go while she's sleeping!!!! She runs to the potty first thing in the morning. I'm still keeping pull ups on her just in case, but I don't even have to prompt her anymore. Here is a pic of her first potty, and a pic of the potty princess herself in the pretty gown her grandma smocked for her.

I might be seeing less diapers soon?!?

Today we are potty training. I'm scared, and she's ecstatic. It'll be nice to not have to change diapers for two anymore, but I'm not looking forward to the race to the bathroom for a while...or the mistakes. If anyone has any helpful hints on what to do about nights and when in public please let me know. I'm planning on using pull-ups for now, until she gets the underwear during the day thing down. Ugh. Who knew it would be so nerve-wracking? Oh, and I'm keeping it a surprise from Max. He won't know until he gets back from the island on Monday. Hopefully it will be fairly well established by then. He'll appreciate the extra sixty dollars a month not spent on her diapers, I'm sure. I'll keep you updated on the progress... Here's some pictures of her pulling her big girl panties and pants on after an attempt earlier this morning.

Who's the Boss?

What happens when two first borns have a first born? They end up with one bossy lady, that's what. :) Lizzie, for the past few weeks had been jokingly telling Gracie to "shut up" when she was fussing. Alana, of course, picked right up on that, and had been telling Gracie to "shut up" as well. Neither my husband or I really approved of a two-year-old telling people to "shut up", and we quickly reprimanded her. She even had a few time outs to help her remember that we didn't approve of her saying that. We told her that she should ask people to "be quiet please" instead. Lizzie was also reprimanded for setting a bad example, and she has been working really hard at not saying that around Alana. This was all going fine until the other day, and Alli was teasing Lizzie. Lizzie had no come back, so she fell back on the typical "shut up" in response. Alana whipped around, pointed her finger at Liz, and in a very stern voice said, "Shhh....We don't say that, Izzy (What she calls Liz), we say be quiet!!!!!!!" We just about died laughing, and Lizzie quickly apologized, of course. Alana has also been caught several times wagging her finger at her toys and putting them in time out.....I'm a little concerned at what poor Gracie is going to be put through growing up- I thought I was bossy when I was a kid! I think Gracie might be in for more than what I put Alli through... We'll have to work on her with that. :)

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Oops!

I forgot my password to blogger. I don't have the same email as I did when I set up my blog two years ago, so I'm having to start over because there seems to be no other way to get into my old one. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Let's see.....We'll start with Max. He still likes his new job, I think he really enjoys working with the boys. Unfortunately, the commute just wears on him. He is looking into getting on with State Farm, but if that doesn't happen, we'll be moving up North still as planned in the summer. I hope he can get on with State Farm.

Alana is a very busy two year old. She'd probably be potty trained by now if it weren't for my laziness. I just have a really hard time dropping everything to run to the potty only to find that she didn't make it in time. Of course, then she wants to sit on the potty for a half hour trying to go, so she can get her sticker on her "big girl" sign, and is usually not able to because she just went. This is all very hard to do when you are homeschooling and have a baby who refuses to be put down for very long. Alana is almost desperate to be a big girl. She loves taking care of her "baby" along side mommy. She can actually put a perfect diaper on her dolls. With no help either, she's never asked once. She loves helping mommy and grandma with the household chores and taking care of her sister. She's such a sweetheart. Even if she is addicted to Dora. There are sometimes when we have to have "no Dora days"...she isn't very well behaved those days. Oh well, I don't like her watching TV that much anyway. I can't wait for the summer when I can send her out to play when she gets tired of her toys.

Gracie is a thinker. She's very serious most of the time. It takes some work to get her to smile, but man, when you do, it's breathtaking. She's a momma's girl. She doesn't like to be put down very long and gets antsy when others hold her sometimes too. I love that I got my cuddler, Alana never would cuddle. She has had a lot of trouble with acid reflux, so she can get really fussy and spit up a lot if everything isn't done perfectly. Breast feeding was not a success again with this one. I had to give up and give her a bottle mostly because of the reflux- she would spend most of the feeding spitting milk back at me and had trouble staying latched because of it. So it's me and the old pump again. I hate it. I really do. I can't in good conscious quit though, when I have the milk to give her. Her, and about 2 other babies. We have a freezer full of milk....and I dump alot too. I should take a picture of the freezer one of these days. She'll be able to get breastmilk for at least another month after I dry up at this point! She is an amazing sleeper. She'll sleep a good 10-12 hours a night. If I wasn't having to get up to pump because of how uncomfortable I get, I could probably get a good eight to nine hours of sleep before Alana wakes up. I get about seven to eight on a good night now.

And now on to my news. I officially quit working at State Farm yesterday. I am now a stay at home mom. *doing a little dance*. It's so weird to know I won't be going back. It's a little sad too. I'll really miss some of the people there, and I've been working (except for when I was full time during the school year in college) since I was 16. I love being home with the girls though. I wouldn't give it up for anything. Lizzie and the girls keep me very busy, and I am NEVER bored. In fact this is really about one of the first chances I've actually had to write a post. It's Saturday, so no school, and both girls are down for a nap...At the same time!!!!!! I also am trying to get back into working out. While I am already below my pre-pregnancy weight, I still have about 13 pounds to go to get back to what I was before Alana. I look like I have more like 25 to go though, the weight gain mostly in my gut. Ugh. That's mostly it for me though. Most of my excitement in life is because of the kids....and I love it. If only I can talk Max into another one.... ;)

My Archives are Here....

Due to the fact of having to start a new blog, if you would like to see my archives from my previous blog, please go to this link:

Diaper Days 2