Random Venily!

(After getting her all ready for bedtime and tucking her into bed)

Venily: "Mommy, you were so nice and did such a good job today.  Can you bring me to a garage sale tomorrow so I can get you a nice present?"

LOL!!!  We sure do love garage sales! :)

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Also, it has been an ENTIRE week since Venily has taken a nap!  I am definitely not ready for her to give them up yet!  I need my mid-day Venily-free time!

Bike Riding and Tumbling Class!

BIKE RIDING

Venily is doing GREAT at riding her bike without training wheels.  Her Daddy has been working on it with her this last week.  He designed a bar that connects to the back that he can hold onto.  He took her around the neighborhood today and said she can go several hundred feet all by herself (but she needs to be going fast and gets wobbly if she's too slow)!!!  I'm really impressed since I may have not learned to ride my bike w/out training wheels until I was 10, lol!  She's got me beat by 7 YEARS!!!  Now, that's impressive!  :)

TUMBLING CLASS

Venily just finished up her tumbling class!  She did so great!!!!  It was the first class where she didn't even hesitate at Day 1!  It helped that it was a small class and all the teachers were cute high school girls! :) (Oh, and her favorite "teacher" looked EXACTLY like my brother's girlfriend of almost 2 years that Venily loves!)

She learned things on the parallel bars (of which I'm sad I have no good pics!), the balance beams, the vault, and tumbling things on the floor.  One of her friends that we frequently see (through play group, story time, etc.) happened to be in her class so that was a huge plus as well!  I think at the most there was only 6 kids in the class, lol (but usually only 4-5) so she got a lot of attention since there was always 2-3 teachers!

 

She says she wants to try baseball and soccer again, but I don't think I'm going to have her try those since they didn't go well at all the last time!  Her next class is Beach Volleyball and it isn't until August!

Woke up dry this morning!!!

(This would be Day 14 if I was still keeping track... okay, maybe I am! :)  )

Yay!  Haven woke up with her pull-up 100% dry this morning.  I think it was the first time ever!!! :)  She is still currently only wearing pull-ups at bedtime and I can't wait until we are done with them completely! *fingers crossed she wakes up dry tomorrow as well!*

Other than that she is still doing really well.  At home, it's a piece of cake!  Out of the house, she's had a few accidents, but overall has done really well.  (All 3 times happened to be outside at a park and she'd go some in her underwear and finish the rest on the potty)  Yesterday we spent 45 minutes in the library and she told me she had to pee 3 times, lol, and she actually peed all 3 times!  Gotta love this stage, lol!  I remember Venily having to pee 4 times during my 1 hour yoga class! ;)

The other downside is that she likes to use the "I have to pee" excuse to get out of eating or taking a nap!  Haha!

And I think it's the cutest thing in the world that I give her a couple of squares of toilet paper and she wipes her front and then her back, throws it in the toilet, and then flushes and WANTS to wash her hands! :)

Here's a pic of her going at the library, lol.  She was making the cutest face in the world but stopped when I took the pic! :)  Which reminds me, I NEED to take a pic of her "trying to go" face.  Fricken adorable! ♥

We are going camping this weekend and she still refuses to pee in the grass, lol.  I'm going to bring her little potty seat and hoping that she does well out of the house for 3 days!

Potty Training- Day 7/8!

Week 1 is DONE!!!!

Wore underwear (with pull-ups over them) out of the house yesterday morning for Venily's Tumbling class and to Jacki's and the park!  She told me she had to pee while Venily was in her tumbling class so she went on the potty there.  Then at Jacki's I asked if she had to go and she said yes, and she peed there too!  Yay!!!!

One of the mom's at Venily's class was really impressed with her.  She heard Haven tell me she had to go to the potty and couldn't believe it, haha.  We were talking about potty training our children and I said something like "Yeah, she's doing pretty good" (thinking how she's not trained at night yet) and the woman was like "PRETTY good?!  If she is wearing underwear out of the house and telling you when she needs to go at 20 months, then she is doing AMAZING!"  I realized she's right and I really need to stop comparing her to Venily as much!

Took a nap with underwear on and woke up dry!

And was super great in the house, as she has been all week!!

An AMAZING week it has been!  I think I can say that she will not be wearing diapers any more ever except for at night! (she hasn't woken up dry yet, so we've been doing pull-ups at night).

DAY 8!!

Okay, I think I will stop writing about potty training each day now, lol, unless something big happens.  BUT.... today I took Haven out in big girl underwear to the park for 2.5 hours, then to Pizza Hut and then to the bank and she didn't have any accidents at all (she peed once in the porta-potty at the park and once at the bank, lol)!!!!!

  

Soooooo super proud of her!! ♥  Way to go Haven and thank you for making it so easy on me! :)

Potty Training- Day 6!

Haven did awesome in the house- as she has been doing all week! :)

We went to Wheatland to fill out yet more papers for Venily to go to school and Walmart to pick up pictures and Haven wore a pull-up and kept it dry.

Nap today I put her in underwear and she kept them dry the whole time!  Woke up and peed in the potty right away!

Went to the library with Haven in underwear and she kept them dry. Yay!!!  I left the underwear on her after we got home to see what would happen and she told me when she had to use the potty so I could help her take them off and she peed and pooped in the potty!

She has been insisting more and more that she use the BIG POTTY as opposed to her little potty which we have set up in the living room! :)

I cut off her liquids at 7:30pm tonight to see if maybe she will wake up dry tomorrow (I am trying to work up to cutting her off earlier).  I put her to bed at 8:15pm in a pull-up and she woke up crying after 5 minutes.  I put her on the potty and she peed again (she had gone right before bed as well).  Hopefully she wakes up with a dry diaper tomorrow morning *fingers crossed*.  Also hoping a wet pull up doesn't wake her up in the middle of the night, lol, we'll see!  (Venily still wasn't STTN at this point and was still getting up once a night to pee until she was 2.5 years old so I'm guessing it might take a bit longer for Haven to get the whole over night potty training thing... we'll see!) 

Potty Training Day 4 & 5

Day 4
Another good day!  I stopped counting after she peed in the potty 7 times and pooped once! ;)


Underwear didn't go so well, however.  We were outside all morning with a potty seat out there.  The 2 times I tried underwear on her, she peed in them.  I thought maybe it was just the fact that we were outside and she was having a lot of fun, however, when she was running around naked she peed in her potty twice!


On a great note, though, I put a pull-up on her when we went hiking in the evening.  We went through the drive through at Culver's to get dinner and Haven said she had to go in the potty.  I ran her inside and she peed in the bathroom there!  (Though while hiking I tried to get her to pee in the grass a few times and she wouldn't and ended up peeing in her pull-up).


Day 5
Took Haven out for several hours today in a pull-up and she left it dry the WHOLE time.  Yay!  I was too scared for underwear, but I will try very soon!  We went to Venily's tumbling class, grocery shopping at Walmart, and the library.  I sat her on the toilet 2 times, but she didn't go (but at least she didn't go in her pull-up either!).


I put her in underwear and plastic covers for nap time.  About 5 minutes after I laid her down, she woke up crying "Pee in big girl underwear!  Pee in big girl underwear!  Big girl underwear all dirty!"  She was very upset about it!  (But the plastic pants worked awesome- not a drop in her bed!  They never seemed to work w/ Venily!)  So I got them off of her and washed her up quick and put new underwear and plastic pants on her again and she woke up dry and peed in the potty right away.


We were outside for Matt's birthday party and she peed in her underwear again (though she left them dry for quite some time).


Then we left the house again for a kids' activity hour in Burlington and I put a pull up on her.  She left it dry the whole time and we played outside again as soon as we got home and she told me when she had to go on the potty and peed and pooped on it and her pull up was still dry.


Sooooo..... potty training at home w/ no underwear is still going amazing.  We are still working on underwear, but pull-ups are going pretty well for out of the house!  Hopefully we make some progress on the underwear!

Haven Potty Training- Day 3!

Haven peed on the potty 10 times today and pooped once!  She did great for Jason while I was gone!!  And ZERO accidents today!!!!!!!  Hurray!!  However, he did have her in a diaper while he brought her to the park for a while.  Tomorrow I am going to try underwear instead of being naked.  And underwear for nap time.  And maybe a trip to the store and library with no diapers.  There has to be a first time for everything, right?!   Gotta keep it interesting! ;)

Day 2 of Officially Potty Training! :)

No diapers at all again today!!  She woke up almost dry this morning and 100% dry from nap as well.  Yay!!!

She peed on the potty 10 different times today and pooped 2 times! :)  We had 2 small pee accidents.  One was b/c I put underwear on her when she asked for it (I've been leaving her naked from the waste down usually).  So I will have to add "underwear train at home" to my list of things I need to do!

Oh, and I am no longer giving rewards for going in the potty.  She is happy enough with me telling her how proud I am and letting her flush the toilet! ;)

One time today I was in my bathroom getting ready for the day when Haven started yelling "poop potty!  poop potty!".  I thought she had to go, so I ran out real fast to take her to her potty seat and when I looked inside there was poop in it.  She was just telling me that she had already gone! :)

I am super excited about her progress so far!  Tomorrow Jason is going to be watching her by himself for a while, so I'm a little nervous about how that is going to go.  Monday we have nothing going on, but Tuesday we have a TON of things going on so I'm going to have to see if she'll be up for a diaper-free run out of the house at that time!  Yikes, lol! :)

Haven is amazing! Potty training totally clicked today!! ♥

Haven had an amazing potty training day today!!  She only wore a diaper for nap time and only had one pee accident!  Other than that, she peed and pooped on the potty ALL DAY TODAY for a total of 7 times (6 pee, 1 poop)!!!!  She just tells me when she has to go, runs to her potty seat and goes!!  I'm so happy! ♥  I think I can honestly say that I won't ever put a diaper on her again while in the house except for sleeping!

Here's how our day went...

* woke up with wet diaper (though 1st thing in the morning she came in by me and told me she had to pee in the potty, but I was too tired to get up, lol.... oops!  Promise I won't do it again!)

* Peed in potty!

* Pee accident (Daddy was watching her while I was in the shower... :( )

* Peed in potty!

(diaper for nap- woke up with a few drops of pee in it, but mostly dry)

* Peed in potty!

* Peed in potty! 

* Peed in potty!

* Pooped in potty!

* Peed in potty!

Next on our agenda after a few more days potty training in the house:

* Only using the big potty at home (no more potty seat)

* Wearing big girl underwear out of the house

* No diapers for nap time

* No diapers for bed time

and then we can officially say good-bye to diapers FOREVER!!!!!  YAY!!!!

Potty training update!!

Haven has been diaper-less or in underwear (with plastic covers) most of the time at home for the last several days!!  She is doing great!!!  Definitely not as easy as Venily was, however!  Venily hardly ever had accidents while potty training (and none at this age) and Haven still has several a day, but I think they are helping her learn and she seems to be getting better and better!  Things are starting to click!!

She is learning how to hold her pee in for long periods of time.  And sometimes she'll just go a few drops and then stop herself until she gets to the potty.

She gets upset if she pees or poops in her "princess diapers" (which she now calls all diapers, lol) or on the floor.  And HATES wearing diapers!!

Today I think she finally learned how to "try to pee"!!!  This is an awesome accomplishment and one I hope she retains for tomorrow and on! :)  Up to this point, she would know that she had to pee, would sit down and have to wait for the urge to hit her again (which would sometimes take quite a while)!

She seems to like the real toilet and her potty seat equally. (of which I am glad)

Resolution review- May!

5 months down, 7 more to go!

RESOLUTION #1: read 100 books this year.  So far I've read:

January- 11 books

February- 5 books

March- 10 books

April- 8 books 

May-  10.5 books

TOTAL: 44.5 books (to stay on track, I should have 41 2/3 books read so far)

STATUS: Still doing great!  This month I read the newest book from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series (I've loved every book!), book 4-12 in the Anita Blake series (love them too... so glad it goes up to 20, lol!), and the first book in the Hunger Games trilogy (LOVED it and can't wait to read the next 2!)!!! :)

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RESOLUTION #2:

I will work out for at least 30 minutes 2x a week
I will work out at least 5x per week!

STATUS: HA!!  If I have the choice to read or workout, I pick read!  I've been slacking a lot!

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RESOLUTION #3:

I WILL donate blood this year. 

STATUS:  Completed 2/17.  Still need to schedule my next time!


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RESOLUTION #4:

Getting boudoir pictures taken of myself. 

STATUS:  So busy, I haven't gotten them done yet!


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RESOLUTION #5:

DRINK 25oz of water a day!! (working up to 52)

Doing okay.  Some days I do really well, others I don't! :(

*** I slacked off on resolutions a bit this last month, but that will probably be the case for most of the summer, lol!

 

New resolutions this month:

 

RESOLUTION #6: Plan out a summer home-schooling curriculum for Venily and stick to it!

 

RESOLUTION #7:  Paint a picture of my girls to hang up in my house.  (This is something that I've wanted to do for a very long time and I know will be very time demanding, but it's something I really want to do!) 

Haven is 20 months old!

(a few days late!).

20 months is a lot older than 19 months.  I don't know why, it just is.  It makes me think so much closer to 24 months which = 2 years old and I can hardly take that!  She promised me she wasn't going to grow up! :(

I've been insanely busy the last month so I will just write down a few observations about my sweet little princess!

POTTY TRAINING:

We are still working on it!!  Venily was 100% potty trained at this point (days, naps, nights, out of the house, etc.) but I am finding it harder to give her the one-on-one attention she needs to completely potty train her between Venily and the other children I watch!!  We have had a few awesome days though where she'd pee and poop on the potty quite a bit!  She also tells me whenever she pees in her diaper now (which she hadn't been doing before- she would only tell me when she pooped).  I've mostly been having her running around playing out on the deck with the potty seat out there and she'll just run over and go when she needs to go and then get right up and play without saying anything, lol! :)  She also tells me constantly that she wants to wear "big girl underwear" and continues to throw a fit every time I put a diaper on her!  Hopefully it won't take too long (definitely before she turns 2).... Venily potty trained so fast and so easily it's hard for me not to compare, but I know that's not fair!  A few days ago we had another awesome break through!!!  We were out of the house all day for memorial day and she refused to poop in her diaper.  I brought her to the bathrooms and she pooped!!!  This was the first time she's ever gone out of the house!!!  Yay!!!!

SIZES: Haven is such a big girl!!!  She is now in a LOT of 3T clothes.  Pajamas, shirts, and dresses usually fit better in 3T.  Some of her 2T pants are starting to get a little short as well!  Venily is in a 4T so maybe they will be sharing clothes next year, lol?!  Also, I've had to move her up a size in shoes!!  She's now in a 7!!  Venily is in a 9/10.

SLEEP:

This has been such a good month for us as far as sleep goes!!!  Back to putting herself to sleep in her own bed for nap time and bedtime and sleeping through the night again.  Our 2 months of sleep-hell are over!!  Her bedtime has been pushed back a bit for summer usually 8:45- 9:00ish now.  Which means sometimes she sleeps in until 7:30am (though 6:00am wake-ups are not uncommon still)!!

EATING:

Still eats pretty good, but she is starting to turn down a lot of things that she LOVED last year.  She's becoming pickier with what she wants, but I can NOT say that she's picky b/c I have known children who are picky eaters, and she is definitely not one of them, lol!  Watermelon is her favorite thing in the universe, however, that and suckers and tomatoes!  :)

PLAYING:

I must say that her slide is still her favorite toy that she owns!!  She loves slides at parks as well.  She also loves playing in water (or anything and everything outside).

FAVORITES:

Dora, Tinkerbell, Princesses, anything with hearts, flowers, stars, or crescent moons on them she loves!!!