We conquered Mt Olympus

We are back from the Dells and I just got done uploading a bunch of new pictures and videos from yesterday and today. I think Stephen is still a little to young for the big waterparks. He had a lot of fun in the indoor kiddie area, but everything outside was way to big. There were even a couple slides that I got a little nervous on. But it was great. I felt like a little kid again. I had to talk Lyhna into going down slides with me. This was the first real vacation that we have taken Stephen on, and of course Aria too. They had never been in a hotel before. I think we will be going every year from now on.

First Day Back At Work

Hmmmm, first of all let me say this sucks. My scheduler lied to me. She said there would me another person with me at this house, she doesn't get here until 1 (I got here at 8am). Although I am already bored so it would be much worse with another person here. I would much rather be home with my babies. I miss them already.

It will be interesting to see how Robin handled things at home without me.

Back to work

I am officially working again. I am working both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, then again on Wednesday. It should be interesting with Robin home with all 3 kids all weekend. I bet this will put a big dent in his plans to go swimming all weekend again. HA HA!!

Stupid Cashier

Last night we did our grocery shopping (I refuse to go by myself with 2 kids if I need to get more than a few things, there just isn't room in the cart). So I was already annoyed because we didn't even leave to go until 7:45pm, I don't like to leave after 7 with both kids. It throws my night-time routine all out of whack. Anyways, so we finally get done shopping everything is bagged and in the cart. Robin wanted to pay half cash and half on the debit card. No big deal right? WRONG!!! The dumb bitch screwed it up to the point where we had to unbag EVERYTHING and re-check out. You would think she would see a 2 year old and an infant, both of which are getting very cranky, and pick up the pace a bit or maybe even apologize. I was so pissed I nearly walked out with nothing. Eventually we made it home, but because of all that crap I didn't get Stephen to bed until 10, he usually is asleep by 9:15pm. What a frickin nightmare!!

Question

How do I get Stephen to poop in the potty chair???? I know when he is going, and when I try to get him to go in the bathroom he runs away and screams at me. So what do I do about the doodoo?

Updates from the potty

So far things are going pretty well. I would say that Stephen is definately getting the hang of this whole pee-pee in the potty thing. He does still have accidents, it seems like my timing is off by 5 minutes sometimes. He will sit on the potty for awhile, get up, then a few minutes later I hear "Mommy, potty." But by then its to late. He definately knows when he has to go, I just think that sometimes he just doesn't care if he is wet or not. He no longer fights me when I say its potty time. Yesterday he even woke up from his nap dry and went potty right away for me. That to me is a huge success. Still no poops though. And I still haven't ventured out of the house without a diaper on him. I think I will give it another week, but most times when we get home he is still dry then goes to the bathroom. Overall, I think this is going much better than I expected.

My 2 Babies

Stephen and Aria hanging out in their diapers together. Don't forget the blankies. I just made that blankie for Aria. I think she loves it. She snuggles right up to it when she is tired.

Enough already

I am soooooo over this "terrible two's" crap. All that comes out of Stephen's mouth is "NO! Don't! and Stop it!" It doesn't matter what I say, the response is always NO. Yesterday to test him I said, "Stephen do you want some candy?" Sure enough he said No No. I know it is just a phase, but holy crap this sucks big time. You better watch out if you dare to say no when he wants his Dora yogurt for every meal. That is when the kicking and screaming really starts. The whining is also driving me crazy. It usually only happens when he is tired. I have read to completely ignore your child when the whine. If you respond to it, it sends the message that it is okay to vocalize wants and needs that way. I am doing my best, but this kid is really testing me lately. Than god Aria is not being so fussy anymore, and is content sitting by herself for a bit longer. Or else I just might blow out my brains.

What the hell what I thinking having a baby when I had a 2 year old???

Chuncky Monkey

Aria had her 2 month check up today. She is doing great and the only concern that I had was her cradle cap that isn't going away. I have to get a dandruff shampoo for her, hopefully that will help clear it up. She now weighs 11 pounds 15 ounces (76%), and is 22 inches long (32%). I guess all that nursing every 2 hours is doing something. She has also started sleeping through the night. I guess I can deal with the frequent feedings during the day as long as she continues to sleep all night long. The worst part about the appointment was of course her shots. The bastards gave her 5!!! She was such a trooper though, by the time I got her dressed and in the car seat to go home she was already passed out. She has been pretty sleepy since.

Stephen did soooo good with the potty training yesterday. He went pee on the potty 8 times, one of which he actually told me he had to go. And we only had 2 accidents. Today is a different story though. Robin isn't being as helpful and consistent as I would like. He took a half day to help me out since Aria and I both had doctor appointments today. So I was gone from about 9:45am to 12:30 pm. Daddy wasn't able to get him on the potty at all while I was gone. So it looks like I will be starting from scratch tomorrow.

Success!

After being away all weekend, the potty training was put on hold. Now that we are home and getting back into our routine, potty training is in full force. So far today, we have had no accidents and he peed 3 times in the potty. Eventually I will have to move the potty back into the bathroom. Right now it is in the living room with a towel underneath it. Sometimes he gets very excited to go on the potty, but other times he goes straight to tantrum mode. I have a feeling this will be a long process, but at least we have a pretty good start going.

We spent the weekend in Oak Creek. Friday Robin and I had a little date night. It was really nice to get out again, we didn't even talk about the kids. It was sooo wierd, but very enjoyable. We stopped at Applebee's for an appitizer and drink, then off to the movies. Step Brother was pretty funny. I think Robin enjoyed it more than me, but we had fun. Then Saturday was birthday party day for Madisen. We were able to float in the pool for an hour or two before the party while Stephen napped. Man, I really miss floating in the pool whenever I want. We had a great time at the party. The bouncy house was a big hit with Stephen. Even some of the adults got in it. Aria was pretty cranky for awhile, but we still had fun.

Tomorrow Aria has her 2 month appointment. So I will be sure to update everyone with her new stats.

Potty Update

We got all of our potty training supplies yesterday, including little toddler boxer-briefs. He is sooo cute in them. We watched the Elmo potty movie and read a couple books. Then I got out his potty chair and he was sooo excited. All he wanted to do was sit on it the rest of the night. So since he was so excited about everything I decided to try setting the timer for every 20 min, then when it goes off, "It's potty time!!!" He would run to the bathroom and sit on the potty. He actually went in the potty twice and on the floor once in the few hours before bed last night. I couldn't believe it. Maybe it was just luck, we will see how today goes. I can't believe this might actually happen. I am just as excited about it as Stephen.

It Is Finally Time

Time to start potty training. I have been doing lots of research this week and read the book that my sister gave me on potty training. A lot of what I read says that waiting to potty train after the age of 2 will make it more difficult. Boys tend to be more challenging, but what the heck. I am a stay at home mom and can make it my mission to do this for the next how ever long it takes. So here is my plan:

1. Go get potty training books and a video for Stephen. I think we will go to the library when he wakes up today, so he can start with those ahead of time.
2. Take a special shopping trip with just me and Stephen to pick out big boy undies and rewards, and a timer. Maybe even a sticker chart too.
3. Have a potty party where we get rid off all his diapers and bring out the potty chair. (Obviously I will have a secret stash of diapers for nap and night time).
4.Then next Monday will be the official start of potty training. We will be gone this weekend again so that would be a bad time to start. There is nothing going on next week so we can focus 100%.

I still need to get Robin on board with this too. I am sure he is just as ready to get rid of the diapers as I am. I just need to make sure he understands all "rules" so we are both consistant with Stephen so not to confuse him.

Wish us luck!

Spongebob Scooter

Happy Birthday Weekend

My baby boy is officially 2 now. Yesterday was his second birthday although we did most of the celebrating over the weekend up at the cabin. It was great to get away for a few days with no tv or cell phones. My sister, bro-in-law, and niece were there too so there was another kid to play with. We did the typical presents, singing and cake on Saturday evening for Stephen. He was so much fun this year. He couldn't wait to open his presents with very little help from me. Anything that was spongebob related was the greatest thing ever to him. I did post lots of new pictures from the weekend to flickr. Now I spend the rest of this weekend trying to get everyone back into their routines only to throw it all out the window this weekend when we head down to Milwaukee for Madisen's party.