Standing

David is finally getting the hang if just standing without holding onto stuff. Such a big boy!!

And we couldn't leave sweet Elizabeth out, of course! :)

Big Boy Car Seat

We ordered David's convertible car seat this past weekend and it finally arrived yesterday! And, might I add, I got an amazing deal on it! It retails for $320, was $220 on Amazon, I got 20% off that, and with gift cards, only spent $125 on it!  That's almost a $200 savings. Super good deal for this mama on a budget! :)

Anyways, we played around in it yesterday afternoon to try and get all the settings ready before Alan installed it in the car. And today we took it for our first trip - to pick up some contacts and run to HEB! I think he likes it!

What came in this thing?

I think he likes it!

Of course Big Sis had to try it out!

Inaugural ride

And a sweet smile from Miss E

The First Cut

Things have been crazy busy getting ready for the first day of school this next Wednesday, so I've been quieter than normal on the blog, but hopefully I'll get everything up to date in the next week or two...

I have yet to get a post up of Elizabeth's first haircut (I still don't have the pictures...), but when we were in Texarkana, David got his hair cut for the first time. Alan was threatening to do it himself with his clippers, but I quickly put a stop to that and said that the only person that was touching his hair (as of right now) was Mrs. Diane, the one who has cut my hair for a loooong time, plus done all of my special events hair styles...

I held him while he got it cut and attempted to keep him still... Despite being so young, David did great and looks like such a toddler now that his hair has been cut. Such a handsome little man!

Potty Training Miss E

On Monday, I decided to take the plunge and begin potty training Elizabeth. Let me preface this by saying that I read NO books, just did what I thought and what I'd heard worked with other parents. Here is a play by play of what happened each day, Monday through Wednesday...

Monday

We started Monday out by wearing our new Minnie Mouse panties. Elizabeth was sooo excited to wear them, but quickly had her first accident. After having 5 accidents (and one of those wasn't just urine...) and no successes (despite pushing liquids and sitting on the potty every 15-20 minutes), I resorted to putting her in a pull-up for the rest of the day. She was ok with that, thank goodness, but I was just too tired of cleaning up the floor to do it any more...

Panties of choice

I normally let her play in her room while I nurse
D and/or put him down for nap, but I didn't want
to chance any accidents, so I laid our her napmat
and pillow and she watched a movie while I
was with David

Tuesday

Tuesday morning I told myself that I was giving her one more day, and if it went like Monday, Elizabeth just wasn't ready and we'd try again at a later date. I sat her on the potty with a sucker that morning. She didn't tinkle that time, but a couple hours later she had her first success! We ended the day with 5 successes, only two extremely MINOR accidents, and waking up from her nap with a dry pull-up! I was sooo proud of her! We took her to Bahama Bucks to celebrate with a yummy snow cone.

I let Elizabeth walk around naked all day, hoping that would help, and while it did, I also think it created a monster... Now almost as soon as I get her dressed, she completely undresses herself. Good thing she has a cute little hiney. ;)

The sucker that started
it all!

Wednesday

We started the day off with a bang... Elizabeth pooped in the potty, all on her own!! She then went several hours without doing anything, despite sitting on the potty every 30ish minutes. She had another very minor accident, but was able to stop herself and finish in the potty a little later. Elizabeth didn't stay dry after her nap, but that was my fault this time. She woke up after a 45 minute nap and I let her play for about 20 minutes. Next time, I'll have her potty when she wakes up then send her back to her room to play for a while longer (Mommy needs a little longer than 45 minutes to recharge...). The afternoon progressed and we ended the night with two more mini-accidents followed by two successes on the potty!

I definitely don't think she's all the way there yet, but I do know that she loves to run around naked and she knows you "don't teetee on the floor, you teetee on the potty." :) She's a smart girl and I can't wait to see how quickly she's in panties all the time!

Giving up Elizabeth's Paci...

This past Saturday we decided that Elizabeth was going to lose the paci at nap and bedtime (she'd gotten rid of it in the car the week before that...). I was a little nervous about it, and in hindsight, I wouldn't recommend doing it when your other child is in the middle of a sleep regression. Nonetheless, Elizabeth is paci free now! We went cold turkey and threw the paci away Saturday morning.

"bye bye paci!"

Excited... for now

We got her some play-doh for giving up her paci. She loves it!!

This is all for me!?

Saturday nap and evening was really rough... Sunday morning she woke up at 3 am and Alan went in there with her. She got up out of bed somewhere between 3-5 times between 3-7.

At least someone is happy...

Sunday nap we learned that she did much better if you didn't occasionally go in there. Which was hard for this momma when she kept saying "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" over and over and over... That evening was a little better, but still not the best. At least she slept all night!

I was worried about Monday nap, especially since David had been having issues sleeping. And it took her about 30 minutes to go to sleep. Alan, however, has the magic touch, because she didn't cry at all when he put her down. 

Nighttime has continued to go well and naptime is slowly getting better, thank goodness! I'm so glad we're done with pacis (with one child at least), but I'm not looking forward to getting rid of them with David...

Weekend recap

We had a very fun weekend! And this time, I made sure I picked up my camera and took some pictures. :)

On Saturday, we said "bye bye" to our paci. Elizabeth only had it at nap and bedtime, so we figured it was time to go! I'll do a whole post on giving up our paci, after we finally get into a good routine.

We hung out at the house most of the day! Daddy mowed and the kiddos loved watching him from the window, especially David... He wouldn't leave!

That evening, Alan grilled steak and chicken fajitas and I sauteed bell peppers and onions. Oh my goodness! It was one of the best meals we've had in ages! And I think David agrees...

This face sums up our Sunday morning... Elizabeth up and happy and Alan still wanting to sleep. E woke up at 3 and Alan went in to lay down with her. This picture was taken at 7 when I went to go get Bubba up. :)

Sunday we went to church, had a fun filled afternoon of crying kids who had a hard time napping... And then that evening we went back to the church for our seminar for Parent Dedication (like baby dedication). Afterwards we went to DoubleDaves for a Belly Buster combo. Elizabeth actually ate about the same as David for a change... David ate a little over a piece of pizza and Elizabeth ate an entire slice of pizza AND the top part of the chocolate cookie pizza. Sooo yummy!







Hope everyone else had a great weekend! Stay tuned for a "bye bye paci" post soon!

Big Girl Bed

While the kids and I were in Texarkana, Elizabeth slept in her Uncle Dustin's bed. And she loved it! I was worried that she wouldn't do a good job coming back to her crib, but she went on as if it didn't phase her one bit. Well, this weekend, Alan and I decided to go ahead and get her "big girl bed." Her crib converts to both a toddler bed and full-size bed, but we skipped the toddler and went straight to the full bed.

Saturday after her nap, Alan put together Elizabeth's bed. She was very excited and kept asking if Alan was "Done." And when he was finally finished, we all jumped in her new bed to test it out. :)

Saturday night/Sunday morning wasn't the most fun, as in she woke up several times and was up for the day well before 5:30, so we're hoping she adjusts quickly!

He's getting too big!

Watching Daddy 

Can I climb in?

Sweet face!

Playing inside the bed frame

Sitting as close as possible...

Climbing up for the first time

Checking it all out