Monday, February 25, 2013

Potty + Training = Success


I honestly can’t believe I can say my 2.5 year old little boy is potty trained! I am one proud Mama!

Let’s rewind a little… while on maternity leave for Little Miss, I thought it would be a great idea to try potty training Brayden.  Just what I had time for, right?? So we tried, I took him to the store so he could pick out his “big boy” undies (he excitedly picked Toy Story with having no clue what I was about to do to him) The next day we took off the diaper and put on the undies, then proceeded to ask about 1000 times a day, “Do you have to go potty?” Our hope was he would pee his pants a few times and not like that feeling of it dripping down his legs and then he would get it – seems so simple! Ha! Joke was on us! He happily peed in his pants over and over again and the best part, he wouldn’t even tell us.  One time he was out in the sandbox and I went to check on him and he had peed, he didn’t even care his pants were soaked. Next time, he peed on the couch while watching tv. Next time he ran to his room after I had just asked if he had to go pee pee and peed on his bed.  The poor kid just wasn’t getting it.  I soon realized we I had pushed this a tad too early.  We decided to back off and re-visit at a later unknown date.  My hopes would be summer 2013.

Then comes January 23rd (Yes I remember the exact date!), Rick, Grandma Deb, Brayden, Ella and I were out to lunch at Portillo’s.  While were eating, Brayden told me, “Mama, I’m going pee pee in my diaper.”  It was the very first time he had told me when he was peeing.  He has been telling us when he had to poop for months now, but never pee.  In that moment, I knew he was ready to try potty training again.  Literally that day we started.  Smack dab in the middle of the work week – crazy, right? I told the hubs this was it, no turning back, he was ready and so were we.  This time we had the same approach, take away the diapers and put on the undies!  We didn’t ask 1000 times if he had to go potty this time, we just kind of felt him out and would occasionally ask.  We stuck him on the potty when we thought he would need to go.  In the beginning days, he would hold his pee for hours, we couldn’t believe he could hold it so long.  Then there were the accidents, but this time, not so many.  Then there were the moments he would actually pee in his little potty – the tiniest amount of pee and I would literally jump up and down screaming and cheering for him (hey, it’s a BIG deal!) He would get so happy when we would cheer for him.  In the days to follow it was the same thing, accident here, pee a little there, and I kept thinking, "this is hard, this is going to take a loooong time."  I was coming home from work and spending pretty much all night in the bathroom with him trying to get him to go.  Then one night we were eating dinner – I’d say this was after a full week of training – and he said, “I have to go pee pee!!” So we jumped down from the table and ran into the bathroom and he peed, a full pee! This time I took my psychotic crazy jumping and screaming to another level, I was so happy that it had finally clicked to tell me first, then go pee, instead of the opposite.  That night, he continued to tell me he had to go pee pee every time.  I was beyond impressed.  The next day he continued letting us know each time before he had to go.  We seriously could not believe our ears and eyes, it was happening, he really got this whole concept.  It has been almost 4 weeks and he has been doing amazing, only 1 accident since that day he started letting us know he had to go. 


He still wears a diaper/pull up when he sleeps but that is another bridge we will cross at a later time.  He also is still not pooping in the potty – everything I have read and also the information given from the dr says this is extremely normal.  He waits until bedtime when he has the diaper on to go.  I hope at some point this stops and he is confident enough to try to go on the potty, but for now, we are just so happy that he is fully trained during the day and we can go out and about and no matter where we are, he will tell us when has to go.





We could not be more proud of our little boy!!

Friday, February 22, 2013

Healthier Pizza My Toddler Will Eat!

Being a working mom, I am usually flying by the seat of my pants once I get home from work.  I have really been trying to meal plan lately but sometimes I don't.  I made these for dinner the other week and it was so quick and easy but best of all, Brayden actually loved it! Yes - even the zucchini pizzas!
 

Crescent Roll Pizzas
 


I originally saw this recipe on a Pilsbury commercial

You will need:

  • Any brand of crescent rolls
  • Pizza sauce
  • mozeralla cheese
 Just add the ingredients to the crescents and roll up and bake as the crescent roll can indicates - I believe it's 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes
After I made these, I realized I can sneak in veggies without Brayden  knowing (hopefully!) Next time, I'll try adding some onion or mushrooms.
For more really easy recipes using crescent rolls just go here
 Mini Zucchini Pizzas
I saw this recipe on FB from a page I follow - MOMables - she sometimes posts recipes and they always look good - if you are looking for good healthy kid recipes, check her page out and like it!
You will need:
  • Zucchini
  • Mozeralla cheese
  • Pizza sauce
Wash and cut your zucchini into cirlces or whatever thickness you like - add pizza sauce and mozzeralla cheese.  I just throw these in with the crescents and bake for about 7-8 minutes (but keep checking)



I was so happy this was a hit with Brayden, he has become quite the picky eater lately!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Bye Bye Binki

We have been wanting to break the paci habit with Brayden for some time (he only uses it for naps and sleeping) but between moving him into a big boy bed, moving houses, and recently potty training (more on that soon!!) we kept putting it off. Then my friend put a post on FB about moving her daughter to a big girl bed and weaning the paci and someone wrote about taking their kid to Build A Bear and putting the paci inside. I thought this was GENIUS!!

The hubs was on board and has been preparing Brayden for putting his paci in a teddy bear. Brayden has been very excited about this (I'm sure he really didn't comprehend what was going to happen). This weekend we finally had time to go to Build A Bear, it was such a fun experience! It was so cute watching Brayden pick out his bear, add his paci and a heart inside, wash him and dress him. When we were done, Rick said it almost brought a tear to his eye watching our little man build his bear.


The lady who stuffed his bear made sure to put the paci in his foot so Brayden can always feel it.





He was in love instantly




Waiting patiently :)


There goes the paci!




Adding the heart


Giving Ralph a bath






Registering


Our newest addition- Ralph!




It's been 2 nights without the paci and honestly it hasn't been too bad so far - I really hope it continues.  He asked for it the first night but we just reminded him that his paci is now inside Ralph and made him feel his foot and he said "Oh, there's my paci!" and really that was the end of it.  

I am so proud of my little man for being so great through this process - he continues to amaze me every day!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Ella's First Giggles

I have been waiting for the baby giggles to come from Little Miss - I can clearly remember the first time I heard Brayden giggle - we were watching Dancing with the Stars and I put him in the recliner during a commercial and started to dance in front of him and out of no where the biggest chuckle came out of his tiny body, I will never forget that moment (Thankfully it's here now in case I do!)

I knew with Ella being a preemie that the laughs/giggles/etc would all come a little later so I really had no clue when she would start to giggle.  I would tell the hubs that I thought it was coming and that I hope he would be the first to hear/see them since I was the first with Brayden.  Then today the 4 of us were hanging out on our bed just messing around and Brayden started to make raspberries and out of no where Little Miss did it - she chuckled so loud and could barely contain her excitement! Brayden did it a few more times and each time she would burst out with the giggles! The hubs and I just looked at eachother in amazement - it literally brought tears to my eyes that we were all there to witness her first giggle and that her big brother is the one who got it out of her.

What a great way to end our already fantastic weekend!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Little Miss Moves Rooms



Little Miss finally moved to her own room last weekend! I was very sad about it but it was long overdue.  We had Brayden sleep in our room (in a bassinet) until he was 8 weeks, Ella is 5 1/2 months so she got to stay extra long :)  With her being a preemie I just wanted her close to me for as long as possible.  The move has been going great so far (knocking on wood as I write this) for all of us – I am not constantly waking up to every little noise she makes (and vise versa) and I can actually walk around our room after 8pm instead of tip toeing in the dark.  Getting ready for work in the morning is much easier too.   



I miss her being right next to me but this is for the better. 


Friday, February 15, 2013

Valentine Goodies

I know Valentine's Day is over but just today is when I gave the kiddos and the hubs their gifts.  I was going to leave it on the table yesterday before I left for work but I wanted to be there when Brayden saw his.

For Brayden and Ella I got these adorable buckets from the Target 1$ spot last month - Brayden loves these little buckets.  I thought about not getting one for Ella because she has no clue what's going on, but I just couldn't do it.  Of course she doesn't have nearly as much in hers and Brayden does.

Both got little tins filled with money.  I added heart stickers to them for a cute touch.  Brayden also got some chocolate hearts, a cake pop, bubbles, stickers and miniature elephant.  My SIL turned me on to these animals and Brayden loves collecting them.  This one is from Michaels - they have a great selection.


I added a personalized tag and of course the kiddos have no appreciation for anything personalized yet, but it still makes me happy.






Brayden made some cookies for Daddy and the kids also got a Valentine Madagascar movie





I think it's safe to say Brayden's favorite thing in his bucket was the elephant, he has been carrying it ever since and is napping with him right now :)





 It was a great Valentine's Day!


Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day and I love that my hubby has finally realized it :) This morning I woke up to this and it couldn't make me happier! I am one lucky girl! All smiles today and so looking forward to dinner with the hubs!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The Never-ending Mommy Guilt

I think all Moms have Mommy guilt– It just comes with the job.  I have had my fair share of Mommy guilt – leaving my kids everyday to go to work, yelling when I shouldn’t have, leaving them for work trips, forgetting bath time, the list can go on and on.  I know this is normal feeling and when other Mommy’s are having this guilt I make sure to let them know they are not alone and it’s not their fault, yet when it comes to my own Mommy guilt, I cannot take my own advice – isn’t this the case with everyone though?? (I’m hoping I’m not alone here!)

This post will focus on my guilt to stop breastfeeding Little Miss – well technically she never breastfed; I have pumped exclusively since the day she was born.  Since she was a preemie and stayed at the hospital for 3 weeks, actual nursing never worked for us.  I spent my entire maternity leave once she came home trying to get it to work, once I finally came to my senses and realized it just wasn’t in the cards for us, I decided to exclusively pump (another example of my mommy guilt!)

A couple of weeks ago I started noticing small amounts of blood in Ella’s stool – I called the dr and they said to call back if it continued…which it did.  The dr then told me to cut dairy out of my diet 100% thinking it could be she is lactose intolerant. We made an appt to go see him in a week.  I did the unthinkable and cut out dairy (I am obsessed with all things dairy!). The day before her appt I still noticed the blood in her stool so I took a picture so I could show the dr.  His thoughts are she may have a milk allergy and that even though I cut out dairy, small amounts could still be sneaking in. He recommended to put her on a hypoallergenic formula exclusively for a week and then to call back.  It has been a few days on this new formula and we haven’t seen any blood! Yay!! This formula is also suppose to help with colic.  Looking back she may have always been a little colicky – there were many nights where she would just cry and scream for long periods of time– I thought this was just normal cranky baby stuff and didn’t make a big deal out of it, not wanting to sound like a complainer – all babies cry and scream right? Here’s more Mommy guilt – if I would have brought her in for this screaming/crying months ago, we may have discovered this milk allergy sooner and my poor baby wouldn’t have been so uncomfortable this entire time. 

The hubs and I talked and we decided if this formula continues to work, we should just keep her on this 100% of the time.  It makes sense and all I want is her to be OK, but part of me feels like a failure that I can’t commit to completely cut dairy out 100% and continue to be the sole provider for my baby.  But I need to stop beating myself up – I did try and did cut out dairy what I thought was 100% and it just didn’t work.  I need to just be happy I was able to make it 5 months with pumping.

And so the Mommy Guilt continues and probably always will, but I have to do what is best for my daughter (and me).

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Valentine's Cookies

Brayden is my little helper in the kitchen – every time I am going to cook something, he pulls up a kitchen chair and says “I help you!” It is so cute and very hard to say no to.  Most of the time I will let him help in some way but usually I make sure to set aside time on the weekends for us to do cooking/baking together.  He absolutely loves this time we spend together (and so do I!)

Since it's now February, I thought it was time to make something yummy for Valentine's Day.  I found this easy and cute Valentine cookie recipe on Pinterest (my second home!) and thought this would be perfect to do with the little man.



His trains had to join us :)





The little stinker kept stealing licks from the bowl



I think he did a pretty good job! :)

Friday, February 8, 2013

Snow Day!

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE the snow.  Given that we haven't had much this winter, I was ecstatic when I woke up last weekend to the entire ground covered and still snowing! My mom called me in the morning and asked what my plans were for the day to which I answered “Playing outside with Brayden of course!” She laughed and said that’s what she figured and asked to come join us – we had so.much.fun.

Between pulling the sled around (Brayden had to be the one who pulled), attempting to build a fort, catching snowflakes on our tongues, making snow angels (against the 2 years olds will), spending time with Grandma, and Mommy and Daddy having a snow fight – this was one of the best weekends and I will cherish the memories made forever.



Our sad attempt at a fort :)


Daddy and Brayden wrestling in the snow

Throughout the morning, (I think we were outside for almost 3 hours!), Brayden kept saying how much fun he was having and would say to me randomly, “I love you Mommy, big hug.” 

This little boy could not make me any happier if he tried. 




Max had fun in the snow too!

We of course then had to come inside and enjoy some hot chocolate!



Thursday, February 7, 2013

Here We Go!



Here we go! I’m excited to start this blog and document my life – I may not have any followers and that's OK! I know years later I will be so happy I did this.  I hope family and friends (and whoever else) enjoy stopping by to see what’s going on with us!


*** Disclaimer ***
 
This blog will talk ALOT about my kids, if you aren't interested in that feel free to leave now, I will not be offended


 
BLOG TEMPLATE BY DESIGNER BLOGS