Potty Training X 2

Well, it has been 8 days and counting since we've seen a DIAPER in this house! I finally got the nerve up to face my fears and dive into the whole potty-training experience. Let me tell you...it's been an experience, but surprisingly not nearly as bad as I had envisioned it being. I had been letting them use their potties for about the last 2 or 3 months but still putting them in diapers, mainly because I just wasn't ready to face all the messy situations yet. So one night last week I decided it was time to take the next step, and I'm really glad I did.

Saturday before last was the big day, and I made sure Kevin was off that day so I could have lots of help. I had decided that we just needed to stay home and make a weekend out of it, and was fully stocked with lots of undies, wipes, timer, potty books, and of course the elmo potty movie. I had read somewhere to get a timer and set it where they can hear so they know that when it goes off, it's time to go. The first two days, we literally took them every 20-30 minutes to go, which was really fun and exciting the first 10 times, but got to be very exhausting after that. The timer really helped out though, we ended the day with only 1 or 2 accidents each, which is way less than what I was expecting. We had our first diaper-free dining experience at Applebee's this past Friday...we managed to eat a nice lunch and then go to the pet store with no accidents, they LOVE going to the restrooms now in public places, which is good I know, but still sooo germy. I was feeling so proud and good about everything until we turned onto our road on the way home and Hunter started yelling he needed to pee-pee....we tried to make it in time, but didn't...oh well, still not too bad. Today was their first time to go to church in their underwear. When we dropped them off they put big potty training stickers on their backs, and we made sure to let their teachers know that they for sure needed to take them pretty soon. Well, when we picked them up I asked the teacher how everything went and she said she kept asking them but they told her they didn't need to go.....I was fully expecting to take them and find them soaked, but were shocked to find them totally dry. They actually went 2 1/2 hours with no problems! I still have been too scared to let them wear them while they are sleeping, so for now the are wearing a pull-up for their nap and bedtime...we'll worry about that later I figure.

So I won't go into any more details, other than to say that this has been by far the most challenging thing I think I've done in a long time. It was definitely not easy, and we still have a lot of ground to cover, but at least we have made it this far and it's a start! I'm so proud of them for being such good troopers, I hope they can keep it up I have such a new appreciation and respect for all the other mothers that are going through or have been through the same things, and I can not wait until this phase is past us and our lives can return to normal again! Wish us luck!!

Here's some pics of two silly kids who are seriously proud to be wearing their underwear:

this was actually their first time putting their undies on...I told them to show them off, Hunter is screaming "underwear" if you're wondering

Hannah's First Haircut

I am unfortunately REALLY behind on my blogging lately, so I will attempt to re-cap the month of January with a few in a row....
Hannah got her very first haircut a few weeks ago. I had been going back and forth over whether or not to cut it because I knew it was getting pretty scraggly. My decision was made when I dropped them off at school one morning and their sweet teacher greeted us by giving Hannah a big hug, and telling me how much she loved Hannah's cute little mullet, and that Hannah always lets her play with the "back of it"!! So, I called Pam to come over with her sheers and she got her first trim....she sat still the whole time, and was posing for us the rest of the night!

before

after

Christmas 2009

I'm trying to keep up with my blogs, so here are a ton of pics of the kids from Christmas weekend. We had a wonderful time, and I was again reminded just how blessed that we are. I have a wonderful, caring husband who knows me inside and out and does so much for me....I have TWO beautiful children who amaze me everyday at how they are growing, and make me laugh at the hilarious stuff they come up with....we have good jobs, food to eat, and a more than adequate roof over our heads....those things alone leave me so content. I have to remind myself constantly that we would have none of these things if God had not decided to bless us so much...he takes such good care of us, and I am so grateful for that!

Christmas Eve we spent at the house with my mom. We had a great time opening all our gifts, the kids big gifts from her were their tricycles...they can't quite reach the pedals to go by themselves, but are really close!

Christmas morning Kevin's parents and his Grandma Hutchins came over early before the kids got up so they could see them open presents. Our big gift to them was a play kitchen, which they absolutely love. I had been researching kitchens for them for months, and actually found the one I wanted on craigs list (of course), it turned out to be in amazing condition and barely used. It came with two huge boxes of play food and dishes...the past few days they have been in total "pretend" mode-Hunter will get his little plate and load it up with whatever he feels like and then will go sit down at his table with it to snack on, Hannah's favorite thing to do now is pretend to make Kevin and I coffee....we had about 20 cups this morning. Kevin's parents gave them motorized four-wheelers-they took a little bit to figure them out, but were a huge hit! (although our cabinets are taking a beating, because they haven't learned to steer yet)

Later on on Christmas day we headed over to my dad and Kims for lunch. We had a great time over there, and the kids did really well for skipping their nap. As soon as we left my dads house the kids fell asleep in the car, so we decided to just keep driving for a while and took a mini sightseeing trip through Sam Houston State Park. It was a such a beautiful drive, and there was not a soul in sight....so peaceful. I ended up falling asleep too, so we got a good nap in (except Kevin). After recharging, we headed back over to Kevin's parents to eat leftovers before going back home. Needless to say, we were all exhausted-but it was one of the best Christmases that I can ever remember! On New Year's day we are heading down to Houston for Kevin's extended family's Christmas get together, so we're not quite done yet! Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and has a great New Year's-Love, Mandy

Hannah posing in front of the "baby bed" (my mom found this in her attic-it was mine when I was a little girl)

Hutner saying cheese and eagerly awaiting his presents

Hunter's "surprised" face

still all smiles-so handsome!

Hannah on her tricycle...pink of course!

Hunter in his Christmas jammies-my mom got them matching jammies...Hunter will NEVER wear a hat for me, and he put this one on himself and wore it until bedtime!

short pause for a milk break

playing with their kitchen on Christmas morning...they look like little jailbirds to me in their striped jammies!

riding his new four-wheeler from Gammy and Pa-pa

making circles around the house

opening gifts at Dads house

passed out on the way home...

can you tell we had a busy day?

Christmas Party and Santa Pics

This past weekend I had my office Christmas party, it was a lot of fun...always a good excuse for Kevin and I to have a night out, and a nice dinner. I felt brave that night and volunteered to flambe the bananas foster-very yummy! Yesterday we took the kids to do Santa pictures. They were pretty much as I expected they would be. The second we started walking towards him to put them in his lap they screamed like they were being abandoned. I had been trying to get them ready for the moment by talking about Santa Claus all week and even showing them their last years picture, but it still didn't work. I am predicting 2 more years of bad santa pictures, them maybe they will come around:) I put the new picture up on the fridge next to the santa picture from last year...this morning while I was making their breakfast Hannah pointed to the picture and said "Mommy, mommy, Santa Claus", to which I said "yep, that Santa Claus". Then she said "Hannah's crying!" Then they both proceeded to crack up laughing like it was the funniest thing they've ever seen....gotta love a two year old's sense of humor!

Elmo has competition

That's right folks, a new obsession with a well known big purple dinosaur has begun at our house......BARNEY.

I remember when I was in junior high, flipping through the channels on the tv and seeing Barney on the PBS. I would quickly change the channel and think to myself "whatever happens when I grow up....my kids will not ever watch that show". Well, it's happened. Funny how things change like that when you have kids. For the past year or so, Hunter and Hannah have been completely obsessed with Elmo or anything Sesame Street. A few months ago when I started turn on the tv for our 9am Sesame Street ritual, they started screaming "no, no, Barney!" Keep in mind they are two year olds, and their speech is not always distinguishable. So, of course to me it sounded like they were saying "no, no, running", to which I said"no...no running we're going to watch Sesame Street". (Don't ask me how I confused "Barney" and "running") This dialogue went back and forth several times for a few days, which ended up with them totally frustrated and me totally confused. The next week, when I walked into their classroom to pick them up from school, they ran up to me and started saying the same thing and pointing at the tv. Evidently, when they moved up to the 2 year old classroom, they also began watching Barney. Man, did I feel like a fool. I'm sure they were thinking "yeah mom, duh! We've been telling you we want to watch Barney for a week now!"

So....that's how it happened. I will try to get a video of them when the intro to the show starts....they run around and start dancing like wild little monkeys! Hunter is now perfecting his rendition of the famous "I love u, u love me" song. He sang it at the top of his lungs at Kohl's and TJ Maxx yesterday. It was so cute, I didn't have the heart to tell him to lower his voice. A few weeks ago we went to the annual Children's festival in The Woodlands to see Barney live. We all had a lot of fun, and they LOVED it. I guess Barney isn't so bad after all...