Happy Mother's Day

*Today I celebrate my mother.... who showed what it means to be a mother. 

*Today I celebrate my grandmother.... whose love & wisdom never fails to amaze me. 

*Today I celebrate my children.... who are teaching me how to be a mother. 

*And today I pray for those missing their mothers, those hoping to one day find a mother and those longing to become a mother. That one day they too may celebrate on this day. 

Today is an amazing & emotional day for me. Today & everyday I am blessed. 

 

 

I had an amazing Mother's Day weekend.  We have either been out of town or I have worked the last 6 weekends, so its been a long time since we were all home together for more than a few hours.  It was nice!!  We went shopping Friday night & got ourselves a much needed new computer.  And we went out for dinner.  (All during which Logan told us when he needed to potty & stayed dry.  Hayden... not so much.)  Saturday I had a lazy day with the kiddos celebrating them turning 2 1/2 , got in a nice afternoon nap, and got to go grocery shopping by.my.self!!  Sunday I got to sleep in (and Jeff got up with a certain group of kids who think its appropriate to wake up at 6 or 6:30 for the past week!), we went to church & had some pretty well behaved kids (who between the 3 of them took probably a dozen trips to the bathroom during the 1 hour service, but they all stayed dry & all actually went potty most of the times they drug us out).  We went out for lunch at my favorite little cafe in town.  And had a fun afternoon/evening playing outside & grilling.  It was just so nice to be home as a family for a change.  And now I'm blogging & eating a bowl full of cake & ice cream in honor of mothers everywhere!

 

Happy Mother's Day!

 

{This looks a little bit more like reality!}

2 AND A HALF!!

My kids are officially 2... AND A HALF!  Pretty much blows my mind!

We made ourselves a cake today to celebrate.  The kids LOVE helping.  Now if only Hayden actually liked sweets (such his father's son like that!)

Of course Lightening & Mater had to come help too.  My bet is on him for being the child with an imaginary friend who has to come along everywhere!

They LOVE getting outside every day.  Leaving me to set up this litte mirror by the back door to get ready in the mornings while I keep an eye on them.  Actually works out quite well.

Little boy boxer briefs!!  Seriously?  Top 10 cutest things ever!!

Either take a little potty outside or keep it by the back door for potty stops.  Again so I can keep an eye on whats going on outside.  This having 3 kids who need potty stop thing is time consuming!!

And so you actually get to see his face....

Logan playing outside in panties too.  They spend a lot of time in shirts & panties.  Less layers to pull off to potty & less laundry to wash with accidents.

They have good days & bad days.  Yesterday Logan had an AWESOME day.  Today, they had rough days.  But no one can be as easy as Liv was!

And so you see her pretty face too ;)  This is what I got when I asked her to say cheese!

Her current obsession is diapering her babies.  Well, usually its her babies... but that night it was her dad!  Ha!

She can finally put their diapers on all by herself!!!  Her brothers better get this PT thing mastered or we'll have her chaning them soon!  She almost always at home chooses have 3 "babies" when she plays.  Coincidence?  This intrigues my mind so much. 

Happy 2 1/2 "Birthday" to my "babies."  I love you beyond words!

2 weeks later...

2 weeks after this potty training accident all begun....

Today we spent most of the day in panties to see how it goes for us "clothed."  After an awesome success out of the house Monday & 2 accident-less days at Grandma GG daycare.  I wanted to try a clothed day.

Logan had just one accident while playing outside.  And actually even woke up from his short nap dry.  Rock star!!

And Hayden had 3.   Two of which happened within 5 minutes of me trying to take them potty & him refusing to go.  So really 2 were "attitude induced accidents" per say & one was a real pee potty accident.  He is in a bad way with negative attitude lately & ultimately thats what's holding him back. 

Otherwise successful #1s & #2s all day!

And... because you are all dying to know.  Olivia has had a 5 day run with no poop in her panties.  This is HUGE HUGE HUGE for her.  She's {we've} been battling this battle for a large majority of her PT'd days.  The girl can stay dry all night but can't manage to poop in the pot!  My frustrations with this are sky high & our patience for poop is running thin.  So hopefully with all the boys' success & their ability to poop-a-la-pot {multiple times a day} without drama, she can learn a thing or 2 from them along the way too!

We took a quick run to the pediatrician today for a Logan eye full of goop & a less than ideal sleeping pattern.  His ears look good.  So we just got eye drops.  And his tonsils had a little white on them, but appear to be just a viral irritation vs an infection.  But we brought a antibiotic prescription home just incase things aren't trending up over the next few days.  While we were there, I slipped them all on the scale {inbetween taking them all to the bathroom to clean up Hayden's accident since he refused to go before we went back like the rest of us & waiting for "Dr. Fran" as the kids so call him}.  They were cheerful & chatty & no one shed a tear at "Dr. Fran's house."  They have been on a feeding frenzy lately & I was expecting weight gains.  Feeding frenzy to the extent that Logan, YES LOGAN... ate hot dog & summer sausage this week!  You have no idea how HUGE this is!  The boy eats NO meat beyond chicken nuggets & while I'm not saying hot dogs are a healthy meal choice, I am THRILLED he is finally trying things!!  Hopefully he keeps it up!!

Clothed, with panties on (no diapers!!) & with crocks on....

Hayden was 32 lbss 11.5 oz (OMG!!!)
Olivia was 27 lbs 15.5 oz

AND, you will never believe it, but Logan was 28 lbs 2.5 oz.  MORE than Olivia!!  For the first time probably since they were 12 months old!

Despite our runny noses.... they have all managed to gain almost a pound since we were there 3 weeks ago when H was sick.

Here's to potty training, a hopefully health-full summer & eating hot dogs off the grill!  And I promise I will take & post some pictures soon :)

Panties & Potties!!

So this potty thing is going along just smashingly.

Today for example, the boys peed in diapers when they napped.  Otherwise wore panties ALL DAY long without so much as ONE accident.  And yes, I was actually able to do a day in panties without accidents.  They didn't have to be naked all day to remember!  I make it a point to take them about every hour when I'm home.  And they sometimes go more on their own in between.  So we more or less LIVE in the bathroom.  But thats part of the progress, right?

We go through spurts where they want to squeeze out a few drops about every 10 minutes just to get a jelly bean, but hopefully we can phase treats out with time & with that phase out the 10 minute pee cycles too.  But the boys definitely don't have the bladder size that Liv has.  That girl sometimes goes just 3 or 4 times a day.  She was so easy, that even our boys who really have been easy to this point by most peoples standards, seem much harder.

Today I even ventured out of the house with NO diapers on!!  {Ok, ok... so Hayden had a pull-up on.}  I wanted to put pull-ups on both boys, and Logan REFUSED!!  He said it was a diaper & he wanted panties on.  So I figured I'd go big & bold, put them all in panties... but then Hayden WANTED a pull-up & refused panties.  So close enough.  2 in panties, 1 in a pull-up.  That's technically no diapers.  We made a quickie trip to Walmart & a drive through McDonalds.  We were gone maybe 1.5 hours.  Peed before we left, came home & peed before we ate lunch.  And EVERYBODY stayed dry!

Saturday H had a couple accidents for Jeff in the evening.  And Sunday they did diapers with being out of the house 1/2 of the day for showings & such.  But we have come an incredibly long way in, what, a week?  Especially considering I didn't think Logan would get this til he was 5!  And really this wasn't even our agenda.  It wasn't on my plans until July.  But they totally took the lead on this one & I'm not about to deny them & miss out on our perfect opportunity & possibly make it harder on us later. 

I need to invest in one of those travel potties people talk about.  So if we're on the road we can just stop & use it instead of dragging 3 kids into a restaurant or gas station.  I've seen people talk about THESE & THESE.  I've heard great things about the Potette. 

Anybody have a travel potty?  What do you have?   Pros?  Cons?

And get myself down a system for taking 3 tots to the toilet in public.  Tried it once & it was a bit of a disaster.  Finally got taking Liv potty on the go mastered, now I have a different method to tackle.  But like everything with parenting, you figure out your way of doing it eventually. Right?


Tips for potty going on the fly.  With one... or three?  Or boys??

No I will not!

Today I was buckling Livi into her carseat.  She wanted me to move the chest clip down, then up, then down, then up.  I told her we needed to keep it right there... right by her boobies.  (a body part she does know)

She then tilted her head to the side, looked at me sweetly & asked "Will you buy me boobies mom?"

Where do they get this stuff??!!


And PS Livi, no I will not!

The things they say...

You never know what will come out of their mouths these days.  They keep me giggling.....

Hayden causing trouble in one room.... Jeff & I yelling at him from the other room to stop.  Hayden shouts back at us "I can't hear you!"

Logan sticking his tongue out & spitting on Hayden.  I tell him not to spit.  Logan responds, "I'm being an Elephant!"  ....right....

Picking up the kids at daycare.  They are shouting & excited "Mommy's here."  Olivia stops, looks at me funny & says "Are you Katie?"

I managed to score myself a sinus infection from the kids' last cold so they are constantly "assessing" my health status.   "Are you have owies mommy?  Are your neck owies?  Are your ears owies?"  "Mommy go a Dr. Fran and get all better today."  {Nope kids- didn't go to your pediatrician for medicine.  But its amazing what 24 hours of antibiotics can do once you finally cave & go to the doctor for the first time in YEARS & YEARS!  In hindsight pretty sure I had a sinus infection when the kids were sick with RSV too.  Never went to the Dr & it took me over a month to fight it off!  So glad I went this time!}

Instead of telling us "No" lately their response to everything is "Un uh!"  

And they have started "lying."  Hayden right in front of me swiped everything off the counter & when I asked him why he did it his response was, "No, Olivia did it!"  Later he came walking down the hall with the fakest-ever-cry & when I asked what was wrong he said "Logan hit me."  It starts.....


Sometimes the kids like to get out the scale at home & "see how big are."  So randomly we also got out a tape measure to see how tall they are.  Logan is back to looking like his no-neck-chunker-cheek self (post RSV weight loss where he had a narrow chin & a neck!)  And Hayden is looking so lanky & lean lately.  So apparently when they pulled the scale out of the closet this week, they were as curious as I.

Logan read in at 27 pounds.  And is just 35 inches tall.  {Don't lots of rides & things say must be 36 inches tall?  Thinking about the fair this summer....So close!}  That makes him 25% for height & 20% ish for weight.

Olivia also read in at 27 pounds.  However she is 35 3/4 inches tall.  50% for height.  30% for weight.  She does have some skinny 'lil legs & a tiny little tushy!

Hayden was 31 pounds.  And 36 3/4 inches tall!!  I knew he was looking TALL!  70% height, 60% for weight.  I think this is the first time in his life, he has been a higher percentage for height than weight?  He's always been such a chubba-bubba.

Because a few of you have asked...

Because people have asked....

My kitchen countertops

They say kitchens sell houses.  Well ours was awful.  Its a picture of a picture, but check out those old beat up linoleum countertops.  And worse, the later added in dishwasher countertop is tile.  So we needed a cheap solution to update things a little without spending much time, $ or energy!

I did quite a bit of online research.  Then I discovered this product at Lowes!  Giani Granite!!

It went a little something like this.  It was about a 3 day project for me with drying times.  And it was awesome because it was a project I could do!  Leaving Jeff free for other projects.

My practice spot.  Instructions said to fill any cracks in countertops with wood filler.  I took it to the extreme & used that to fill the tile lines & smooth the transition between the 2 surfaces.

I have seen online where people did a similar thing with regular primer, regular paint, sponged acrylic paints & sealed it with 6 or so coats of polyacrylic.  Maybe that can be done even cheaper yet?  But I liked that this was a kit & had a 2 coat sealer that is an automotive grade product.  I tried to do the backsplash with the same product & didn't like the results.  {My sponged paint ran}  So I painted that linoleum to match the walls & sealed it with 3 coats of polyacrylic. 

I am pretty happy with the results!!

This picture is before I painted the cabinet fronts & did away with the gray trim, but look at the difference in the countertops!  Cost just $70!!!

We have been carefully using the countertops now for a number of weeks & don't have any issues.  I think if someone is looking for a temporary update this is a great solution.  I can't speak to the long-long term durability.  But heck, for $70 if you have to re-paint it in 4 years its still worth the cost! 

Boys & potties

If we are at home & they are running around sans pants...  they pee & poop in the potty a lot.  A random pee on the floor, but very minimal.  Lots of the pees are like just enough drops to see it in the little potty, but that counts right?  If we're out & about... diapers.  And they do pee in them.  They did SIT on the big potty at my friend Kerry's house & try to pee though.  Does that count as an accomplishment?

If left in panties... they dribble.... and then want to go pee in the potty.  So I'm pro my friend Kerry's belief that comando is the way to go.  Panties give them too much "security" like diapers to just pee wherever/whenever.

They get so excited about getting some pee in the potty, they jump off to celebrate & I don't think fully get their bladders empty.  So they pee ALL.THE.TIME!!  (Plus they know then they will get jelly beans, which is a blessing & a curse that way!)  And Livi has a re-found (annoying) need to pee often & use the little potty too.  (Or I try to slip her a jelly bean everytime the boys pee to keep from having to wash out her 3 forced drops of pee every 10 minutes too.)  And she knows she gets FOUR jelly beans if she poops on the potty... which we have had a little success with this week too.

Definitely not doing any potty training boot camp, or ditching diapers for strictly panties just yet.  Just letting them play with their new found abilities & see where they go with it.