Potty Training

Maddison had no interest in potty training for the longest time. Ever since her second birthday we have read books on potty training, Talking about being a big girl, wearing big girl panties, and finally one day it clicked. On January 5 after I changed her diaper, she wanted to run around the house naked.

I told her she can't pee pee on the floor and if she didn't wear a diaper she had to go potty on the toilet. She said "ok mommy"! Thirty minutes later I was getting nervous and told her mommy had to go potty and asked of she wanted to sit on her potty seat and go too.

We both sat down and to my surprise she went pee pee in her toilet! After I cleaned her, we washed hands and I picked her up butt naked, ran around the house screaming in excitement! She was laughing and I kept telling her I was so proud of her. We called her dad and left him a video message. Trevor was out of town and sent her a video message back. She watched it at least a half a dozen times.

I didn't want to pressure her, and she wanted to our a diaper in after that but the next day she went potty in the toilet 2 times. I knew she was ready to be potty trained. Later that night, we went to the dollar store and together we filled a basket of goodies to be her prizes. Maddison loved filling her own basket!

When we got home, i explained to her about her potty chart, and if she went potty she would get to pick a prize. She was so excited, and at that moment wanted to start. So she went potty and Earned her first prize.

The next morning she woke up and immediately put panties on. She had no accidents until after her nap. She ended up pooping on her pants. Trevor explained to her that she can poop in the toilet and that she can't in her pants. Later that day she ended up pooping two more times in the toilet!

The next day, Sunday, she stayed dry the entire day, and of course has gained a new confidence! She now will go into the bathroom by herself and turn the light on, take off her clothes, sit on her toilet and potty. We don't let her clean herself, although she wants to, then she will wash her hands.

Maddie prefers going potty baked. She takes off all her clothes in order to go the bathroom. Even though we tell her she can just pull down her panties, she only gets comfortable when she is completely naked. That is why she always looks naked in her potty pics. Trevor and I have to redress her all day! But it is worth it.

After she fills up her potty charts she gets to go to chuck e cheese. It only takes a week to complete. So, that is another motivator for her. I can't believe how easy this has been. I love how proud she is of herself! She tells everyone she is a big girl! We are so incredibly proud of her!

She loves tattoos!

Mason is 5 months old- January 5th.

On January 5th, Mason hit his 5 month mark. He is rolling over extremely fast and has started to scoot by pulling the blanket and carpet to pull himself. He also uses his head as a weight. His head will be down on the ground and he will put his little butt in the air and push with his legs to scoot. It is so funny. Poor little guys head is heavy for him so he put it down to rest...

He also loves to pull hair. My hair is basically up in a ponytail everyday because he likes to not only pull it, but eat it. I am constantly untangling Maddison's hair because as soon as she gets near him, that is the first thing he grabs.

Along with pulling hair, he also is interested  in whatever I am eating or drinking. He is quick too, so I have to watch my coffee cup. We let him try mashed potatoes, even though he is not old enough for food. He is definitely an Irish boy! Loves potatoes!

We are very blessed mason is a happy, easy going baby. He has found his little vocal box and occasionally gets loud, but it is a cute surprise when he does "talk". Otherwise he is pretty quiet and content. I can't believe how fast he is growing and developing.

Right now he is in 6 month clothing, a size 2 diaper and weighs about 14-15 lbs.  He wakes up 1-2 times in the middle of the night to eat. His hair is coming back in  but you can still find a bald spot on the back of his head. 

He has had a rash for two weeks all over his back. We put Benadryl cream all over it but at night and early in the morning it was back. I thought maybe it was the laundry detergent, so i rewashed all of his clothes in dreft. Then thought maybe a soap allergy, or reaction to eating potatoes. I was wrong.We had a nurse look at it and  It was heat rash! He slept with no shirt for two nights, and his rash was completely gone. He can no longer wear footsie pajamas because he runs too hot in those, so I just cut off the feet. His rash is gone and he is comfortable sleeping...

Our sweet boy loves to laugh, play peek a boo, and eating his toes. He just found them. Instead of sucking on his fist, he sucks on his toes. But if he has sock on, he just found his thumb as well. I make sure to take it out of his mouth as soon as he starts sucking on his thumb. That habit could lead to so many problems later.

With so much going on, 3 kids keep me busy, but enjoying every minute of it. I know they will only be small for so long and before I know it, they will be grown up :(

Christmas the season of giving

Our children have been and always are extremely blessed! They are loved by so many and I hope one day they understand that is the greatest gift of all. To Love others and be loved! But since they are still small, they think about the presents! And believe me, they were SPOILED!!! Between all their grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends, you can say these kids were not short on presents. A HUGE gift our family received this year... we were able to spend Christmas with our entire family!

December 16- I went down to San Jose to go bridesmaid dress shopping with my sister and her wedding party, but while I was there, I spent some time with my Dad and his wife Connie. Mason finally met him! The other two kids were at home with Dad. So it was just me and the baby! My Dad couldn't stop holding him. We had dinner and a gift exchange. I was glad they were able to finally meet!

December 21-  Grandma Mimi's Christmas

Our Family, along with Trevor's sister and her family met at Carole's (Grandma Mimi's) where we celebrated Christmas together. She made homemade tortilla soup and Tiffany made a delicious (that is an understatement) cornbread (to DIE FOR- better statement). We spent the evening letting the kids play and us adults had a glass of wine and just chatted. The kids opened up their gifts and Grandma Mimi opened hers. It was nice and quiet, but definitely a lot of memories made. We were so excited to be able to see Tiffany, Travis, Alyssa and Ayden a lot on their visit to California!

Christmas Eve: Trevor and I opened our home and hosted Christmas dinner with my side of the family. All my siblings, their significant others and My cousins and Aunt came! Since we had 15 people at the house, all adults with the exception of my 3 kids ( Matt thinks he is an adult), we played minute- to -win-it games! Every person playing had to bring a $5 gift card to wherever. If you could not only pass the minute to win it game, but also had the fastest time, you won a gift card. Some people won a few and others went home empty handed. I think I had too many games, because after an hour, some adults got bored, and decided to play drinking games instead. ( Maybe it is just their age though too) I have to say, I almost peed in my pants from laughing so hard! Some of the games you needed a partner.

One game we played was called the holiday kiss. Each team had to hang 5 ornaments on a string, using only their mouths. If you touched the ornament with your hands you were disqualified. The winners were my cousins Austin and Rachelle. These two were big winners that night!

Brad and Janna

Brady and Megan

Rachelle and Austin

Brianne and Brittany



Debra and Donna ( Grammy and Granty)



The funniest ones to watch were my mom and my aunt Doo. (Granty to the kids). For one of the games called stack a cup, it was like watching in slow motion. (they think they are moving fast) My siblings, cousins and I couldn't help but make fun of them. Of course it was all innocent and in good humor.

 

 

 

 

  Lastly, Christmas! We spent Christmas morning with my siblings and my Mom, as well as with the two new additions coming into our family in June and September! ( Janna and Mikey) We sat around eating candy from our stocking, watching the kids open TONS of presents and eating the cheese balls Matt got from his Uncle Brad and Auntie Janna.

Maddison had so many presents she ended up getting tired of opening presents. And when she did open presents, she wanted to play with it immediately. She was quite entertaining and we loved seeing the look on her face when she opened presents she absolutely loved. (you could tell she wasn't so excited about clothes)

 

Later that afternoon, we packed up and went to Pa and Grandma's house (Trevor's Dad John and Deb's)

The kids, once again spoiled! This was Mason's first time meeting his Aunt Becca (who is expecting her first in June) and Uncle Jason. We Loved that the entire family was all together.

Maddison was obsessed with her Aunt TT. After getting to spend the week with Tiffany and the family, Maddison now knows new dance poses, as well as how you get a monkey out of a tree (You shake the tree!)

 

Our









Christmas was eventful, but absolutely wonderful! We were so happy we were able to have these memories created and our so fortunate to have such a wonderful family to spend the holiday's with.

Time does fly... The December update.

Where did December go? I had sat down at the computer at least a dozen times to blog and had many challenges. Our Internet connection acts up, one of the kids wakes up from a nap, preparing meals, baking, cleaning, laundry... the list goes on and on. I have so many reasons I didn't blog, but decided this is a new year, so lots of new posts to come. I have tons to share, so here is what happened in December.

Right down the street from our house, a brand new park just opened up! We have definitely taken advantage of this nice California weather, and have played a lot at the park this month. Maddison just loves the swings and Mason likes watching her. He laughs every time I push her and she is right in his face.

 

Mason... Mason started to roll over! We were at his 4 month wellness check up, and while laying on the doctors table, he decided to roll over. I was so excited and when the doctor came in, she asked if he was rolling yet, and I said he just started literally. As for our little guy, as of December 19th, he is 26 1/2 inches long (75%) weighs 13 1/2 lbs (10% in weight). He is a long and skinny boy. Yet, he eats ALL day! If he is not eating you can find him sucking on his hand. He always has to have something in his mouth.

Maddison this month went to Matthew's school Skate night and was allowed to Skate. We had her skates tightened so she could only walk in them. She was not too happy about that, so she went up to the man who gives out the skates, and told him her skates were broken. He loosened them up a bit, so now they could roll. I was a little nervous, so we held her hand. of course my little miss independent, had to do it herself! She was in the center of the skating rink, slowly walking/rolling. She was so proud of herself. After nearly 2 hours of being on the skating rink, she was one tired little girl! We can't wait to go in February again.

Matthew was counting down the days til his Winter break! He couldn't wait to be out of school. While on break he hung out with his friends often. Trevor and I took the boys to the first Kings game this season. We told Matt he could bring a friend, so he asked his buddy Cameron. We first went to Applebee's and ordered appetizers and dinner, but of course at the game we had to splurge a bit too and get cokes and popcorn and cotton candy. While at the game, Maddison stayed with her Grandma Mimi. She had a spa night/ dance party with her and her cousin Alyssa. Maddison had an absolute blast, and didn't miss us one bit.

The kids had a fun outing with Grandma Mimi as well! She took all her grand babies to the movies and we saw Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 shipwrecked. Mason slept nearly the entire movie. Maddison had to sit on her Mimi's lap! Ayden wanted to sit by Matthew and Alyssa wanted to sit by Grandma as well. Maddison had never sat thru an entire movie at the theatres and she did great! She wanted to talk sometimes, but her cousin Alyssa reminded her to whisper. It was really cute!

Alyssa and Ayden (the cousins)