Potty Update

Potty training Noah has been a struggle.  That's probably a massive understatement.  If you add up all the time we've put in to training him, well, it would add up to a lot.  He's progressively getting better, albeit very slowly.

He's been mostly trained during waking hours since about september.  He hasn't had many accidents during the daytime hours since then.

Sleep time has been a different beast.  For a while, we kept him in a diaper everytime he went to sleep because he was waking up wet just from a short nap.  We did this for a few month and finally decided we would try no diaper at naptime.  He did pretty well, but still had an accident at least a few times a week.

As that started to improve, we were excited.  Perhaps the end was finally near.  His only remaining issue was he woke up wet almost every single morning.  There was a stretch of about a week in late november were he woke up dry a few nights.  We were excited, but still didn't think it was time.  That much laundry is a deterrent to even the best plans.  A week later, he was waking up wet everytime again.

So we waited until the last week.  Our Parents as Teachers coordinator recommended giving it a go for a week just to see how it went.  This was a risky move because he hasn't woken up dry even once in the last month.  We weren't going to do it yet, but last week, Peggy forgot to put Noah in a diaper one night.  He woke up soaked the next morning.  We decided just to go with it for the next week.

So far, it's been a decent success.  He's been dry 4 out of 7 nights.  That's not too bad in my book, but still makes for a LOT of laundry.  Each night we build the excitement and talk about it.  He gets two prizes from the treasure chest (typically a couple pieces of small candy) if he wakes up dry in the morning and one prize if he wakes up dry from nap.  We have been able to mostly cut his M&M's for going pee, although he does occasionally remember.

Overall, we're about 7 months in to potty training.  But, we're almost there (hopefully)!

Happy 5th Birthday Monkey Pants!

This little girl celebrated her 5th birthday with cupcakes at school and she requested pancakes for dinner. This past year this little girl has grown up so much. She's reading now and always making crafts for all her friends. She's had a trying second half of the year but she's tough and she's making great strides. We are so proud of her bravery.

 And the way she takes care of her brother she often refers to her brother as "buddy" or by his full name "Noah Thomas." She has the blessed big sister gene, good for keeping him in line and tattling on him, it is a strange and wonderful mix of sibling love.

 Happy Birthday Ms. Abby!

Ears Pierced

Our baby girl wanted her ears pierced for her 5th birthday, it was the only thing she asked for. So the weekend before her birthday she dressed up in one of her favorite dresses and necklace. 

This is before the piercing.

 During the piercing - they did both ears at the same time. Look at her - no fear at all.

 She was so excited.

 They also painted her face and sprayed glitter in her hair. Beautiful girl.

Halloween 2013

Our kids have different ideas about Halloween, most children ask to be pumpkins or superheros not these two...check out the puffer fish and the jellyfish. Grams made their costumes again, thank goodness for pinterest.

 And no Noah's face isn't dirty and neither is your monitor the kid took a tumble and Grandma and Grandpa's house.

 We waited until right before Halloween to carve pumpkins, Noah liked to watch but wanted little to do with holding the guts.

 This bug loving girl was all about the guts.

 Our little Batwoman

 We only hit a few homes on Halloween, it was raining and not a lot of fun these two didn't mind our neighbors spoil them. Counting their candy.

Girl's Weekend

Abby and I took a weekend trip to Minnesota at the end of October to be there for my sister-in-law's baby shower. It was a nice long weekend. While we were waiting for our plane to Minnesota Abby made friends with the pilot of our flight and he asked that she stop at the cockpit on our way to the seats. They let Abby sit in the pilot's seat and gave her a giant hershey's bar.

Once on the ground, Abby had a very difficult time getting her ears to pop. She enjoyed catching up with her Bobo, Sally and Gabby the cat.

 Our first full day in Minnesota was busy - one little girl was up well before the sun due to ear pain.

 She got right to work making cookies for her Uncle Jon who had a transplant earlier in the month.

 Jon was home recovering from surgery, Abby was a little freaked out by Jon's cast so she didn't get too close. We did get a nice group shot of the siblings though.

 After we visited with Jon we headed over to the Mall of America, Abby requested we eat at the Rainforest Cafe. She loves the animated animals and she actually ate most of her lunch.

 Bobo treated Abby to a couple rides at the amusement park and Abby visited the "Hello, Kitty" store for the first time. She was in love with the whole place.

 That night Bobo, Abby and I went to a local pumpkin patch in Lake Elmo, they had a petting farm and pumpkins galore.

Back at Bobo's place the three of us went to work carving pumpkins.

Friday morning we were up early to drive to Gram's house in Wisconsin... this isn't her house but the fairies house in her front yard.

Grams and Terry had pumpkins to paint and us girls were busy painting many of them.

Gram's gave Abby an early birthday present, a cabbage patch doll. Abby loves Callie Pearl.

Sally was put to work in the kitchen doing her best Julia Child, thankfully she didn't ruin lunch.

My Aunt Heather and her girls, Alanis and Shelby came by for a visit as well. Abby was excited to show them all the work she was able to do on Sally's old dollhouse.

The girls.

We drove from Prairie Farms to Zimmerman to see more family Friday night, Abby was exhausted but refused to nap. She did get a lot of cuddles from Callie Pearl though.

Abby was so happy to see her pal Claire, these two are peas in a pod.

From their love of sweets to their fancy dresses - these two love each other very much.

My Aunt Shannon set up a table for the kids to decorate sugar cookies, Claire, Owen and Abby had a great time making treats for all of us.

Didn't they do a great job!

Abby had brought a bunch of handy me downs for Claire and it made for a very entertaining time watching the two of them try on dresses and comment on all the clothes.

Abby was also very excited to see Great-Grandma Pat & Great-Grandpa Jim they are very amused with her antics.

She was asleep before we were a mile from their house.

When we got back to Bobo's that night Bobo had carved yet another pumpkin for Abby, but she was too tired to see it.

The next day was the baby shower (the reason for the trip) Abby was excited for more time with Claire and another cousin Clara. Lots of girls who love crafts just as much as Abby.

By this point in the trip Abby was beginning to get worn out, no naps lots of travel and lots of strangers, most pictures from this point out ended like this.

The mama-to-be, Aunt Anna!

An attempt at a 4 generation shot, you can see how well Abby is holding up.

Sisters! Gosh I look so tall in this photo! haha

We left straight from the shower to the airport, doesn't Abby look like a business woman? Thank goodness for a quick flight home and a solid night sleep for one little four year old.