Potty Training Phobia

I have had this crazy phobia of potty training Elizabeth.  And just like any good fear, it only magnified the more I tried to ignore it.  So this weekend, I decided I had procrastinated long enough and it was time to face it head on!

 After much over-analyzing with two of my best friends and mommies I know, I felt ready to go!  So when Bert went to Troy to cheer on his team, the girls stayed at home for potty training boot camp.  Can you see Elizabeth's reward still on her face?!

My biggest fear was how she would deal with #2.  And just as suspected, she started begging me for a pull-up as soon as she felt the urge.  I encouraged her to sit on the potty, and she actually did without crying.  Then she said, "Mommy, Go Hide!"  It took me a second to realize that she wanted me to get out of the bathroom.  She usually hides when she's going #2, so I guess she thought that if she couldn't hide, then I at least had to let her be by herself.  Of course I just stood right outside the door, and when she came running out yelling, "I did it!" I almost cried!  I'm not even kidding.

We needed a change of scenery, so we continued our boot camp in the basement.  That also let me relax a little since it's not new furniture down there.

This morning, only day 2, somehow I felt brave enough to go to church in her big girl panties.  I told the nursery workers that this was her first time in public without a pull-up, and to come get me if she had an accident.  They never came to get me so I was hopeful.  Not only had she pee-peed once, she also went #2!  In fact, she ran through the nursery halls yelling, "I went poo-poo!"  So I guess, now my phobia should be my child shouting about her bowel movements in public.

Because it was such a beautiful day, I took the girls to the park after nap time.  There is a port-a-potty on site (yuck) but I just had her pee before we left and did a lot of praying on our walk there.   We only stayed for an hour before we went home, and she stayed dry the whole time!

I knew I pushed my luck all day on Sunday, so it surprised me when she had her first accident right before dinner while standing 10 feet from our toilet!  It was just a little bit (didn't even get on the floor) and she caught herself doing it.  Which is how she stopped and got herself to the bathroom  Lesson learned: don't stop asking if she needs to go!

 Thankfully she's already stopped asking for a treat after each time, and we'll start rewarding her for "good days."  Tomorrow I'm sending her to school with a dozen panties and pants, so we'll see how this goes.

I couldn't leave out Elizabeth's biggest cheerleader who is almost sitting by herself!  She's also trying to get her knees up under her.  I'm not eager for her to start crawling, but it's fun to watch her get closer and closer to it.

Fun Times in our PJs

Now that it gets dark by 5:30, we like to get in our pajamas almost as soon as we get home from school.  It's nice to lounge around and be comfortable.



Elizabeth loves her rain boots and feels the need to put them on over her footed pajamas.

She also likes to watch Dora or Minnie Mouse in her sister's bouncy seat.

Caroline already looks up to her big sister so much.  I always say that no one makes Caroline smile quite like Elizabeth does.

Elizabeth was mocking Caroline who is always holding her feet.  Notice which one of my babies is attached her paci!

This made them both start giggling.

My heart could burst with how much I love these two girls!  Sometimes I can't believe they're mine.  Thank you, Jesus!

Just One Good One

Our family is quite difficult to photograph. We always have been, and adding new members only makes it harder.  So when our sweet neighbor agreed to photograph us in hopes of getting a Christmas card picture, I told her I only needed one good one. 

I really wanted one of our entire family, but would definitely be happy with a good one of the girls.

Since Caroline doesn't sit by herself yet, I knew that would be difficult. 

Getting Elizabeth in a picture at all proved to be difficult since she NEVER sits still.

I adore this picture of Caroline because she is always putting her hands together like this. 



This was taken of Elizabeth right as she plopped down, but then she jumped right back up!

 This one was almost a Christmas card contender except that we are squinting in the sun.

In the end, we did get one that I am happy to put on our Christmas card.  And it's of the whole family!

She also took this one of Caroline on Halloween when she fell asleep in the wagon.  I was glad that she added it.  I love how content she looks.

Gaines's Pirate Party

On Saturday, we took a little girl trip to Nashville to celebrate Gaines's 3rd birthday.  It was Pirate themed and was held at a place called Shipwrecked.  How perfect! Christy's outift (including her pirate boots) was perfect too! 

We tried to get all the kids to together for a group shot.  Elizabeth really didn't want to give up the dirt devel vacuum cleaner.

This was the best shot I could get.  It's probably only half the kids that were there.  Gaines has a LOT of friends!

Of course, Elizabeth was pretty obsessed with the train table.  So was Will.

She had a blast playing in the ball pit with James Henry too.  It was really nice that our kids are old enough to play independently.  And this place even had an exersaucer and toys for Caroline's age too.



The birthday boy was so animated when he blew out his candle.  I love how much they get into it at this age.

Elizabeth devoured the icing on her cupcake, and then came after mine!

On Sunday morning, we went to the Odoms' house for a brunch and to watch Gaines open his presents.

Elizabeth was so excited when Christy gave her this Dora dress.  This picture doesn't do her excitement any justice!  She wore it all the way home, and I had to beg her to take it off before bedtime. 

She also won "Pin the Tail on the Parrot."  I think she thought it was her birthday too!

I love these next two pictures of Elizabeth lovin' on Gaines.  Elizabeth loves to give hugs, but Gaines usually isn't too sure about letting her that close.  He's looking at her like she's crazy, but he let her hug him.

And when she went to kiss him, he even stuck his cheek out for her.  It must be love!

Here's a sweet picture of two of my favorite friends and two of my favorite babies!

I don't think Caroline got enough attention on this trip!  Ha!

Hair and Cupcakes

Elizabeth likes to play with my hair, and I love it!  She's actually pretty good at getting the tangles out without ripping my hair out of my head.  It feels really good and is quite soothing.

In this picture, she looks like she's about to seek revenge for all the times I wasn't gentle enough on her hair.  Which is her favorite line when I'm brushing her hair, "Mommy, be gentle!"

The next two pictures are random pictures that I don't remember taking.  But they make me laugh. 

Bert says Elizabeth looks just like me in this picture.  Funny how her "mean" face looks like me all of a sudden!

Elizabeth is also very much into cupcakes right now.  She calls them "Happy Birthday Cakes" and she sings the happy birthday song with each of our names in it.

I'm not much of a baker, but I decided it would be fun for us to make cupcakes together.  She was really into it.  Especially the part where we ate the them!

I can't get over what a big girl she is becoming.  Today, she told me that she wanted some yogurt and I watched as she went to the frig, got out the yogurt, opened it, got a spoon from the drawer, climbed up in her seat, and started eating her yogurt.  It was scary how much she didn't need my help AT ALL!  I know she still needs me for so much more, but her independence never stops amazing me.

Heart Walk

Last Saturday morning we went down to Turner Field to do the Heart Walk.  Auntie Melissa is the Heart Walk Director so the girls didn't mind getting up early to see her!  

It was a beautiful morning, but very cold.  The girls stayed all bundled up in the stroller.

Chris walked the 5K with us.  He was really patient and helped us when blankets fell off the stroller or layers had to come off when it warmed up.  Three sets of hands for 2 babies is a good set up!

It was cool to walk through thte city and under the Olympic rings.

Afterwards, we ate at one of my favorite diners, OK Cafe.  Yum!