Terrible Twos Kind Of Day

Today was a rough day for my Courtney. I didn't want to go anywhere because I wanted Caylee to get her full naps since she is sick. So we were home all day (except for our walk) and Courtney was so bad. She was testing me all day and no discipline was working. I tried everything. We had a pretty good morning. I took out this DVD set that the church gave us and Courtney loved it. She was having so much fun. We did our walk after I fed the baby, I had brought food for Courtney since we would be gone thru lunch. We met our friends for the walk and the whole time she did everything she knew she shouldn't. I had to discipline her several times. When we got home she got a time out and was sent straight to bed.

I headed down to relax and opened the fridge to make my lunch and look down to see ampair of little feet. I close the door to see Courtney standing next to me. She has NEVER done that before. So I take her up to her room and tell her if she gets out again she will get a spanking. Within a minute she got out again, and again each time resulting in a spanking. The worst part was the smile on her face each time she came out her door. Then after the spankings were obviously not doing the trick I took away all the toys and books in her bed. She screamed and cried. I thought I had finally gotten to her. Nope! She was out again. So I put her blanky and lamby in time out. At this time all she had was her bink. Again she was out, so I took that away too. Now she had nothing. She proceeded to scream at me, push over her gate and get out over and over again. I just camped out by her door. Meanwhile, Caylee woke up in all the commotion, she was screaming and not feeling well. I did get her to fall asleep in the swing between Courtney escapes. I felt like I was in an episode of "The Nanny". This went in for 2 hours and 40 min. Then I went in and made her put her nose in the corner for 5 min. I let her go potty and gave her back her 3 favorite sleep items. I put her back in bed, warned her and she went to sleep. My goodness! She ended up sleeping so long that I woke her for dinner.

She continued to act out all night. I played dress up with her and gave her lots of attention. Nothing worked. I needed to put Caylee to bed and feed her. Caylee's temp keeps going up, my poor little love bug was just miserable today.

I made Courtney a sticker chart while she was napping, hoping it would help with incentive. So I put Courtney to bed as normal. Within 2 min she was out of bed! So the whole process started again. She obviously didn't learn. So I did the same thing, this time I skipped a few steps and did the nose in the corner a bit faster. But it worked for some reason.

I am so tired of this. Why today? Was she just testing me? Is this fun for her? Does she need more of my attention? Would it have helped if I had taken her to playgroup this morning.

Tomorrow is a new day. I hope the stickers/pennies will help give her incentive to behave.

Barney in Bed

Ahh! A good way to spend a Saturday. We wanted to do something fun and relaxing as a family this morning, so on Ben's way home from the gym he grabbed coffee and muffins from Mimi's. I laid out a blanket on the bed and the whole family ate muffins in bed while watching movies. It was so nice to relax and cuddle with the girls. Courtney and I got the chance to just play this morning, it was a nice break from our usual routine. I put Courtney down early because we had a showed to go to.

Courtney woke up early from her nap because I put her in a sleeveless dress and the blanket she was on gave her a rash all over. She was not happy! So I quickly finished getting ready and we left early for the shower. The shower was at the Spectrum, Courtney needs new shirts so I quickly fed Caylee in the car and all we had time for was one store. No luck. So we headed to the babyshower at Cheesecake Factory. Courtney did really well, it was 2 1/2 hours and she was so good. Fortunately there were several of my friends who are so sweet to her to entertain her. It was nice to sit and visit with everyone. I felt a little distracted because of Courtney. I wanted to make sure she was behaving. Towards the end she was getting really antsy and she asked to go poopie, so I took her (I didn't bring her potty) and she didn't go, so I took her back to the table. She asked again, so I took her. No luck. She asked again and I told her "No" so she pooped in her chair. Argh! We will get this down someday.

Afer the shower we went to Old Navy quickly and I just got her a couple shirts there. I wanted to look around but we were out if time. I wanted to get home to feed Caylee and put her to bed with some medicine. Both girls seemed like they were getting sick at the shower. So I gave them both medicine and hopefully I won't wake up to sick kids.

Finally somewhat of a Normal Day

This week has been all out of sorts. Between new bible studies, doctor appointments and visitors we have had a normal day. Today was almost normal. I changed Caylee's schedule (one her pediatrician recommended) and it hasn't had a chance to pan out. Right now I'm not on board with it. If she doesn't sleep well tonight. I might switch her back. She hasn't slept thru the night since I switched and she was doing so well.

The dreaded errands were today. But they went really well for a change. I thought we were in for it when Caylee screamed bloody murder for about 20 min before we left. So we left 20 min late. But it helped that Courtney is more dependable with the potty, and I brought music and snacks again. My goal was to leave as early as possible. We only had to go to Target, that helped too. When we got to Target I had Courtney look at all toys in the $1 section. She picked a Minnie Mouse book. This is her reward for pooping on the potty, she is still not 100% successful with that so we need some more motivation. We did our shopping and we headed to the car. I asked Courtney to try and potty in the car, on her little potty, while I loaded the baby. It's a great way to keep her busy while I am busy. I reminded her about the "Minnie Mouse" Book. As I was returning the cart I kept her in my side view and saw her get up. She yelled "Poopie Mama!". So I ran over and sure enough she had poopied in her potty. We did a poopie and dance and celebrated. She immediately asked for the Minnie Mouse book. I got it out for her, she was so proud of herself. So what do you do with a toddler potty full of poop. There was no trash can that I could easily get to, so we drove the poopie home and I threw it out at home.

For the first time we were able to do errands without me getting completely frustrated. It felt good, like I finally accomplished something. I am getting this stuff down, I finally figured out today, that if I have Courtney walk from the car to the house, I can load her side of the stroller with groceries. This way I was able to get all the groceries in one trip. Usually I have to make 2-3 trips. Once we got home and I got the cold stuff put away,and Courtney got her "Orange" popscicle for her poopie. I fed Caylee and then we were able to even go on a run before lunch. We brought Romo and he was so excited to get out of the house. Poor guy is really missing Wrigley.

The girls went down for naps at their normal times and both slept great. I was able to get cleaning and some decluttering done and put all the groceries away. Courtney woke up a little early from her nap. I heard her in the monitor crying and saying, "Uh oh mommy!", "Owie!", "Ewie, sticky!", "Mommy!". So I ran up to discover she had thrown up in her bed. Poor baby! So I grabbed her out and held her and she was super hot. I took her temp and she was 101. Great, just in time for the weekend of lots of activities.

I let Courtney watch Barney in our bed and I put clothes away in the girls room and tried to do some organization. Their room is always so messy with clothes. I feel like clothes are always in and out with both of them growing so fast. We get hand me downs and we give them away, so clothes are constantly being organized.

I am training Caylee to sleep in her crib, I have been having her take a few naps in there and I think with this new schedule she will be able to take her 3rd nap in there everyday. She did great today, her best in the crib yet. I think she slept 1 1/2 hours which is all I could have asked for.

Courtney seemed to be better by bedtime. She was definitely tired and looked like she didn't feel well but her temp went down to 99 and she wasn't complaining about her tummy. We will see what tonight brings or tomorrow morning.

A Bitter Sweet Goodbye

We have been deciding for a few months now if we should give away our second dog Wrigley. It's gotten to a point since Caylee's been born that it's just gotten difficult for me to take care of the two girls and the two dogs. I take the blame, but it's hard for me to take him on walks everyday, he sheds a lot so it's a ton of maintenance, and he need way more attention than I can give. If I have an extra 5 min, I'm going to take a shower not hold Wrigley. So we really wanted to find him a good home, someone who we know would give him what we couldn't. We found a great new owner. She is a single retired woman and she is really sweet. She's going to take him on lots of walks and will spend lots of time with him. He is also going to get to see my parent's dog Syrah a lot.

Some of my best memories with Wrigley are:
-Taking him camping and hiking. He was in his element.
-He was a great guard dog for me when Ben started on call
-He got me back into running 3 years ago
-He has kept me in shape
-He was so tiny when we picked him up at LAX
-When he ate my whole kitchen one day while I was at work (not all good memories)
-The way he used to guard Courtney as a baby, if anyone came to visit he didn't leave her side
-Snuggling with him on the couch.
-As a puppy he would sit in his bowl when he wanted to eat

"O Happy Day" Not!

We started out with such good intentions this morning. Courtney woke up singing "O Happy Day", she was in a good mood. The day just felt good. Ben asked us to visit him at work. So I fed the girls early and planned to head out. But everything took so long. I kept forgetting things, Courtney had to potty, she didn't like what I picked for her to wear, then we got to the car and I had no gas. So we stopped for gas. We get to his work, I unload the girls, and realize we went to his wrong work. So I put the girls back in the car and drive to the outpatient facility, Caylee screamed the whole way. I get there and unload the car again and Caylee had a super bad poop that exploaded everywhere. So I had to clean that up. By the time we got to the office it had been 3 1/2 hours since I had woken up to get ready! So we walk into Ben's work just as he got super busy. We went out to their little cafe to get a snack to see if the patient load would die down and Caylee was screaming the whole time. One of those instances where everyone is looking at you because they feel bad for you. Just then Courtney peed her pants in the stroller. And Ben said there was no way we would be able to visit him that day, he had gotten too busy. Ooh! I had about had it. I grabbed both girls and we headed for the car. Courtney finished peeing on her potty, and Ben came out to get his lunch, and Caylee was still screaming. I was in tears by this time. I just took the girls home, I wasn't in the mood to change our plans at that point. I really need to figure out how to move us along quicker!

Since the day was already crappy, I figured why not make it worse and for the first time I put the girls asleep in the same room. It worked for about 45 min, until Courtney had a poop and couldn't sleep. So I went in to change her and just moved Caylee back to her bed. I'll keep trying. But Courtney was sad that I took Caylee out. She is really getting attached to her. Fortunately, both girls fell asleep and I was able to get some stuff done.

We ended the day with our first "Financial Peace" biblestudy. It's really nice that they have childcare so we are able to bring the girls. I'm excited about the study. It's going to be tough. It was also really hard to get Courtney to sleep after that. She was beyond tired and beyond a reasoning level.

Caylee's 4 month appointment

Today we had Caylee's 4 Month doctor appointment. I can't believe she is already 4 months. She just keeps getting sweeter and fatter by the month. I love it! The girl's doctor is by the Laguna Hills Mall, so to change things up a bit, I did our morning walk around the mall. Caylee threw me off this morning because she woke up super early, so I also had to feed her before the appointment. So we left extra early, walked around the mall (the mall is kind of small so I'm not sure how productive it was), got a tea at Coffee Bean and I fed Caylee. It was actually a fun and relaxing way to spend the morning. Then we headed off to the doctor. Courtney was so excited to go to the doctor, it was funny. She always acts so crazy in there that it is tough for me to get all my questions in.

But Caylee weighed in at 15 lbs and she was 23 inches (I think). She was in the 50th percentile for height and 75th for weight. She's so chunky! She checked out good and was right on target. We aren't doing shots for the girls so it's usually pretty smooth.

We headed home after that. It feels good that things went so smooth. I got all my afternoon cleaning done for Monday and made yummy Chicken Tortilla Soup for dinner. I gave the girls a bath. They were both so smelly and needed it. Courtney was being bad tonight though. She was not listening and I was getting frustrated because she was doing dangerous things and wouldn't listen. It felt good to get her down.

Dr. Natori suggested letting Caylee wake up and start her day earlier. I'm going to try it tomorrow. It throws off my new schedule, but I guess I haven't gotten used to it yet. Bedtime will be tricky. Both girls will need to go down at the same time. So I'll need to figure out what to do with Courtney while I put the baby to bed.

We had such a busy weekend. Friday night we thought it would be fun to go out to dinner. Ben and I don't get to see each other much during the week. He wakes up at 4 am and usually gets home at a descent time, but both kids are usually awake and it is crazyness. I start the bedtime routine at about 7:15 and once I am done with Courtney, then it is time to feed Caylee about 8. Ben goes to sleep about 8 because he wakes up so early. So that leaves us with no time to chat. So we decided to do dinner out, every place was so crowded and it was not relaxing like we wanted. We barely had two minutes to chat. On my way home, I got a text from a friend who needed me to come over, so I came home and quickly put the girls to bed, but by the time I got to my friend's house it was 9:45.

Saturday was good, Ben had to play at a funeral so the girls and I stayed home. It was good to finally have a morning home with nothing to do. However, I didn't get anything done really because both girls were awake and nothing much happens. But I did get to play with Courtney a bunch. We had fun. I had plans to get my hair done and then go to a baby shower, but then I found out from a friend that I had the wrong date for the shower. So I just got my hair done. I'm glad the shower was a different day, because they took forever on my hair. But the girl did a good job. I just love getting my hair done. I love the head massage and it look so good. All clean and light. Ben stayed home with Courtney and I took Caylee. Since Caylee won't take the bottle, I am stuck taking her. But she was so good. I sang to her in the car as we arrived and rocked her in the carseat and she slept for 2 1/2 hours so I could get my hair done. So nice! We wanted to do something fun as a family so we went to Benihana, where they cook in front of you, there was an 1 1/2 hour wait. We didn't feel like getting back into the car to find something else so we just ate in the bar. Courtney was being so bad, I had to take her out of the restaurant like 3 times and Caylee was fussy. So between the 2 I had to scarf down my food and be on guard for choas. All the way home, Courtney was yelling and screaming and Caylee cried. Our stress levels were thru the roof. After trying to talk to each other all night and not being able to, Ben made one last attempt, I said "Just text it to me!". It's sad but that is the only way we can communicate sometimes.

On Sunday, Ben had worship at church and then we went to some friend's house afterwards. They have a little girl Courtney's age and a great backyard, so Courtney had a blast. But she accidently pooped on their daughter's floor! Whoops! She has been pooping at naptime, so when she skipped her nap that day I forgot that it would possibly happen. After the kids played, it was back to church for 415. Courtney loves this time. All the families get together to worship, eat and there is a little lesson for the kids. Courtney sings and does the motions and plays with all the girls afterwards. It's so funny because all the little 8-10 year old girls play so well with her and she loves the attention.

All in all it was a busy, yet good weekend.

Busy Busy Day

Today was so busy. We started the day watching Courtney's friend Haley. The girls just played for a while and Erica was back shortly. We did our usual walk to Starbucks and the park. We had to cut our park time short because I had to go to a lunch. Courtney is having a hard time stopping playing to use the bathroom. We have been battling all day, she is literally kicking and screaming. I'm trying to now bribe her to just sit on the potty. I still can't trust her, now she is also doing the fake, "Potty Mama" and then nothing.

After the park we went to a brunch with the mom's group, it was at a friend's house. Courtney had fun, they have tins of toys so she was busy playing and was sad to leave.

Next on our list was Daddy's work. We went for just a bit. He had a slow day and so he wanted us to come and visit. He didn't see Courtney much last night or tonight, so she was in need of daddy hugs.

Poor Caylee's naps were all interrupted today so she was screaming by the time we got home. She cried for an hour. I finally got her to sleep in the swing and I was able to get some cleaning done and make my banana bread. I didn't get to make it last night.

New Schedule

I'm working at transitioning Caylee to a four hour eating schedule. I was going to wait a few weeks, but the last few days she has seemed more ready. So today definitely felt off. Her naps are longer. Wake times longer and one less nap a day. I'm hoping she continues to sleep well tonight. I made one mistake by not waking her earlier before bedtime.

We finally made it back to park days with my mom's group. I look forward to going to those and so does Courtney. We got there early soni could walk. Courtney was excited because several of her fiends were there. She did have her first accident in 5 days. I asked if if she wanted to potty and she said No, I turned around and she peed. Bummer! She also had another accident this afternoon. I think I'm getting too laxed with her.

Ben has highschool group tonight, so it's just me and the girls. I made our favorite meal, we played and now it's time to make banana bread.

31

It's official! I'm 31! Yikes! We had fun plans for today that we had been planning for weeks. Ben was going to take me snowboarding for the day and we had child care and everything. Then all the plans began to fall apart. The biggest glitch in our plan was that Caylee has decided not to take the bottle anymore. I've tried 3 different bottles and nipples, different ways to feed and she is stubborn. So we couldn't go. I was disappointed, but its good we didn't go.

Instead, I had a mandatory unemployment meeting this morning. I was really bummed to go. I was stressed and on my birthday. But the meeting went really well. It was a good start to what I didn't expect. Ben had an appointment at the same time, so I was stressing about dropping the girls off at two different places and making it in time. So Ben cancelled his appointment and stayed home with the girls. The morning went so much better. It was his first time watching both girls and he did awesome.

Courtney was being needy and whiny all morning so we sent her to nap early, but she didn't sleep. Ben took my car in for a full detail. It looks so good. Courtney and I hung out and I gave her a bath. I started her using our toilet, with her special lid. It works great. She still hasn't had an accident!

When Ben got home we headed to Disneyland. We haven't been in a while. Courtney was so excited. We actually let her walk down Main Street. She really liked that. She really wanted to go on Small World, but we got there and it was closed. She was super sad, but we re-routed her disappointment and Ben took her on the Matterhorn for the first time. She loved it! We went on a few other rides including the teacups. Caylee got so scared on them, she screamed and then cried the rest of the ride. We didn't stay too long before heading out to Disney walk to grab dinner.

Courtney still hadn't peed while we were there so when she said she had to go, I hurried her to the bathroom, except she got away fro
Me and ran straight into the kitchen. I was screaming at her saying "Stop!" and she was laughing saying "Poo Poo" so not funny at the time. We did make it to the bathroom eventually and she went. While we were finishing up our meal the manager came over and Courtney was talking to the manager if the restaurant. The lady just fell in love with her and brought he over a pizza pan and some dough and showed her how to make pizza. Coco get so much attention while we are out. Her personality just shines to others.

We headed home (took an hour there was so much traffic) and then I went out with my mom's group. It's so nice to be able to get away. I took Caylee of course, but she is so easy.

Ahhh, Monday. Monday is cleaning day at the McKinsey house. Well I clean everyday, but Monday I do my weekly home blessing which is all the basic stuff: trash, mop, sheets, laundry, Vacuume, table, windows, dust, etc.). However, we were I. Great need of several things since I didn't do any grocery shopping last week.
Ever since Caylee has been born, I hate errands! With a passion. I used to love it, but now I start in a good mood and end in a horrible mood. So I made some changes this time. I left with tons of patience, I brought Coco snacks, and her potty, I didn't go for a walk so we would have more time between feedings, got myself a Starbucks, and I played Courtney's music the whole time.
Courtney was super good (usually the problem). She was completely entertained at Target. She sang at the top of her lungs, we played games and I tried including her the best I could. She told me a few times that she had to poo poo (she means pee though). I asked her if she had to go and she acted silly and said No. She is pretty goofy, so I wasn't sure. But as we were standing in the check out line the checker was a sweet old man and was taking his time. I slipped in the fact that we were potty training and Coco's eyes were getting bigger and she said "poo poo!!". Ive never been checked out of target so quickly. We ran to the car and sure enough, she went pee. I was so proud of her. She got her prize, a pair of pink ballet slippers. We still had more errands to do, but as long as I kept the music going she was happy and so was mama. Each time she had to pee today, she told me. Even tonight, she was in bed and i thought she was just getting out of having to go to sleep, but sure enough, she peed. I think tomorrow I can trust her a little bit more and I won't have to nag so much.
Once we got home I unpacked the groceries and then the girls and I actually got to play for a bit. I had a bunch to do, but I knew we all needed playtime instead.
During naptime, I rushed around to do my weekly home blessing and got stuff ready for my "unemployment" interview tomorrow. I'm super stressed about this thing. For one, it's on my birthday, what a way to spend it. Another the outcome is big for us. That income is really nice to have and I can't find my Social Security card. My mind is baffled where it could be. I'm always so hard on Ben to give his back to me and here I am losing mine. So, I hope they accept what I bring. Ben has the day off so he will be watching the girls for the first time. I hope he does well or that they are nice to him.

Caylee Dedication/Ben's 1st Worship Leading

Today was a big day at the McKinsey house. Ben has been working with the worship leader at our church for the last year. He has been teaching him to be a worship leader. Ben has been dedicated and practicing like crazy, especially the last 8 months. So today was the first day that he led the church in Sunday worship. He did so good. You'd never guess it was his first time leading. He is so talented, natural and just fits the part so well. The Lord knew he was mean to worship this way.

The other special part of today was our little Caylee Love was dedicated to the Lord today. We picked Col 3:1-2 as her life verse. We had friends of ours come to share this special day with us. None of our family could make it, but we gave such good friends that they all feel like family at times like this.

After church we went out to lunch with Joe and Laura, their daughter and her friend. Sundays are hard because we like to go out but the girl's schedules get so messed up. So Courtney was a bit of a monster, but she did good in that situation. She had been doing so good potty training, but then she pooped in her underwear at the restaurant. Not so fun to clean. Let's just say, I tossed those underwear right in the trash.

There was a big concert going on right near our house, so we let the girls sleep, invited our neighbors (the Miers) and all walked over. We got there just as they were cleaning up. So they all came back to our place where we played Rock Band for a few hours. We are so lucky to have such good friends as neighbors. It's fun we live so close, and we all get along so well.

No potty accidents today!

We finally did it! Not a single accident today!

We had a good, much needed, family day. Ben got "called in" at 5:30 this morning. But it was an easy call back for him and he was home by 7 with a Starbucks in hand. A happy wife I was. We hung out for the first part o the morning and then went to the Spectrum to shop around and have lunch. Ben got me a few things for my birthday next week. It was kind of stressful because I was worried Courtney would have an accident and Caylee was being kind of fussy.

We came home to put the girls down and watch the football game. But for the 2nd day in a row Courtney didn't take her nap. She fell asleep in the car and it was enough to give her a little cat nap. So she played in her bed for 3 hours. At least it gave Ben and I time to relax together.

We had fun tonight as a family. Courtney always says she want to have fun, "Coco fun" is what she says. So I try to make everything fun. Tonight, once again she said, "mommy fun, daddy fun". So we dropped what we were doing and we all rough housed together. Well the house got thrashed, stuff everywhere (which stresses us both out) and then Caylee woke up early again and she only wanted to be held, I needed to get dinner ready and we still needed to go to Target. So Ben headed to target and I stayed to feed the girls. Instead of cleaning up, like I should have I added to the chaos by making a bigger mess. So when Ben got home to crazy Courtney, fussy Caylee and stressed mommy it lead to craziness! Thankfully Ben put Courtney to bed, which she loved and I tried to clean as I consoled our fussy one. She is never fussy like this. I'm wondering if she is teething. It's way early, but she kept chewing on her bunk all evening long.

Everyone was in bed asleep by 8:00 tonight. I spent the evening cleaning up and I put the brownies in the oven (that Courtney and I made last minute), I took the dogs out and ran into our neighbors and stood and talked for about 20 min. Whoops! The brownies! Oh well, I think the center might be still good.

Good day, but looking forward to tomorrow. I can't wait to hear and see Brn lead worship. This has been a dream of his for a long time.

Potty Training Day 5

Today was a good day. I think we are done training and now have to create habits and keep reinforcing. There is no turning back now.

I told Courtney when she woke up, that if she peed in the potty this morning we would go to story time at the library. She peed not once but 3 times! And not a single accident. So I loaded up our stuff. Two extra pairs of pants, two panties, 2 garbage bags to protect the car seat and stroller, towels for seats, candies, snacks for motivation, oh and two kiddos. I tried a new incentive to stay on the potty. She can play on my phone or watch Barney on my phone only if she is sitting on the potty. It works wonders. This girl is more addicted to the iPhone than her daddy.

We went to story time and she loved it, then we checked out her first book at the library (another reward for peeing on the potty) and afterwards we even hit up the Taco Bell drive thru and not a single accident. She did amazing.

Apparently though, she felt she didn't need a nap today. But she just played in her bed for about 3 hours. At least she had quiet time. We did bubbles outside, her next reward for peeing in the potty. All was well until daddy came home from work. Courtney just adores daddy sonmuch that she gets distracted, so she had her first accident of the day (it was just a little one) in her high chair at dinner. She did so good though. I'm really proud of her.

Nothing big at the McKinsey house tonight. Daddy's on call and we are just hanging out.

Potty Training Day 4

I see the light at the end of the tunnel! We had a pretty good day. Only 2 accidents and both were this morning. And Caylee slept 11 1/2 hours! Did I figure her out? We will see tomorrow. No dream feed again, tonight.

Thursdays are our scheduled playdate with Courtney's friend Haley and I get to chat with her mom Erica. We did our usual. Walk to Starbucks and then to the park. The girls hadn't seen each other in over a month so they were happy to play. Courtney kept hugging Haley and holding her hand. They are so cute together.

Other than that, our day was pretty normal. Lunch, naps, clean, dinner, baths, bed.

Ben was just home for a bit. He had worship practice tonight.

Tomorrow I think we will attempt storytime at the library. Hmmm might be a good reward.

Potty Training Day 3

I feel as though today was one of those take 2 steps forward and 1 step back kind of days. Courtney did really well. She had less accidents than yesterday, but still far too many than I thought day 3 would give us. It is so unpredictable! Each accident today was within minutes of taking her off the potty. I'm not sure if I need to keep her on longer or what. She still doesn't have that "urge". But I have to give her credit. I do see her really trying. One of her rewards today if she went pee in the potty was she could take her doll out in her stroller for a walk. So right after she went we celebrated and went on a walk. We hadn't gotten too far when she stopped, looked a little nervous, and started to grunt. I said, "Do you have to poo poo?" she said, "Uh huh". I said," ok let's hurry home so you can poo poo on the potty and get a prize!" we ran all the way home. I quickly put her on the potty and nothing. So we went back out and the same thing happened. We ran back home and nothing.

I was actually able to get a mini run/walk this morning. I didn't want us to be gone too long because I still don't trust her. She will hold it for 2 hours, the 20 min or maybe an hour.

I made no progress with Caylee and her night time sleeping. It's frustrating that she was doing so well and then in the last 12 days she has only had 3 days of sleeping 10 hr, the rest have been 6-8. So tonight I'm trying my next strategy. I've been checking a website for ideas. Tonight, I'm dropping the dream feed. I've been wanting to do this for awhile. So we will see.

I can't wait for our days to be back to normal. I've been adding in a few things here and there. But I feel like I need to be around Courtney constantly. So our schedule is messed up and I know she's getting bored. Tomorrow her friend Haley comes to play, so that will be big fun for her. At least I have been vetting some good cleaning during nap time. That's a huge blessing. She's been taking awesome naps this week.

I'm ready for tomorrow. We will be dragging out potty, several pairs of underwear, several pants and socks all on our walk to the park.

Potty Training Day 2

If I had written this blog at 10:30 this morning, there would have been a much different tone to it. The day started out great. I woke up early got some cleaning done and got ready for the day. I even spent time with the Lord.

We had no accidents for the first hour. Ben was off today and went and grabbed me a Starbucks venti coffee. Coco had to go potty, so she sat on the potty and I sat back to feed Caylee and enjoy my coffee. I reached back to grab it and knocked it over instead. The entire coffee, minus the
one sip i had taken went on coffee table, wall, couch and in every crevasse possible. I quickly unlatched the baby, jumped up and grabbed a towel. It was everywhere! I was bummed, disappointed, frustrated and annoyed. I tried to keep Coco on the potty and cleaned up some of the mess, Courtney had peed, so we celebrated, though I was clearly distracted and finished feeding the baby. Meanwhile, I began the rest of the clean up, it seemed like every time I grabbed a rag and cleaning solution to clean my mess, Courtney would have an accident. I saw her grunting I ran to grab her and I put down her underwear in time to get some of the poop in the potty. But some fell on the floor and I turned around to find our dog Romo snacking away on it. Argh! I was mad, I literally kicked him out to the patio.I was beyond frustrated, not with her, but with myself. I knew I was not paying enough attention to her to catch her dry or needing to potty. Once I had the coffee cleaned up, load of laundry going (filled with coffee towels, pee pee towels, and wet underwear), I paid complete attention to Courtney. We played games, watched TV and even took a very short walk to the neighbor's house to return something. No accidents!

She went all evening with no accidents and several success pee pees. I did discover that she would try and pee and just a little would come out. We would celebrate, but I discovered, if I gave her the reward "big candy" and had her eat it while sitting on the potty she would most likely pee a little more. This happened at least 3 xs.

I had a possible break through with Caylee too. She has intermittently been sleeping thru the night and usually waking up at after 7 hours, so I tried tricking her and I fed her at midnight last night instead of 10:30. She started to fuss and wake up but since I didn't pick her up she went back to sleep. I ended waking her after 8 1/2 hours because it was time for her to wake. I hope I broke her pattern, we'll see tonight.

Another exhausting experience, she still has no idea about the urge to pee and doesn't tell me, but I know that will come with time.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Potty Training : Day 1

I'm exhausted, but so happy that Day 1 is over. Hopefully this is the hardest day and I'm expecting tomorrow to be almost as hard. Courtney definitely got the concept of potty training, but she doesn't know when she needs to go.

We started the day with breakfast and then jumped right in. We had a bunny and we put underwear on the bunny and I told her she was going to teach the bunny how to go potty. So we brought he bunny into the bathroom (as I turned around Coco had already dunked the bunny in the big potty), I rescused the bunny and she only got a paw wet. So we had her feel the bunny's pants and they were dry so the bunny got a treat, then we put the bunny on the potty (I poured water in and turned on the water). Bunny got two treats for going pee in the potty. Then it was Coco's turn. She did it, but no pee. I set out all her favorite snacks and gave her lots of drinks. I set the timer and every time it went off we checked her underwear for dryness and had her go potty. She finally did! We celebrated big time. We had lots of accidents. I had to do a load of towels and underwear by 9 am. I kept a good attitude and we kept trucking.

Then she was sitting on the potty and she got a scared look on her face. I could tell she had to poop. After a bit of encouragement she did it! I was so excited! We even called Daddy at work and she wanted to tell his friend Eric too. She got to pick a prize out of the basket. The whole experience was a little shocking to her.

It was definitely challenging feeding Caylee today. She was as good as she needed to be though. I brought her bed down to our stair landing so it was easier to get her down. She napped as normal. Boy am I lucky. It got a little crazy for a bit, this evening; Courtney had about 4 accidents in a 20 min span and Caylee woke up from her nap screaming. I got kind of frustrated but remembered my patience.

At the end of the evening, Courtney really wanted a "big" candy. I told her the only way she gets candy is if she stays dry or goes pee in the potty. She she kept sitting on the potty voluntarily trying to pee. I even let her stay up an extra 20 min but she couldn't go. She had a
complete melt down because she wanted another "big" candy or a prize. I reassured her that we get to do it all again tomorrow and that
seemed to help. At least I know the motivators are working.

All in all it went better than I expected. Tomorrow is a new day.

Potty Training Tomorrow!

We are all geared up and ready to start potty training tomorrow. I think the key is going to be my attitude tomorrow. I need patience, patience patience! It will also be difficult with breastfeeding Caylee. Fortunately Caylee is such a good eater and is so chill that she should be good.

Ben got called in again this morning, so it was just me and the girls for church. I was really wanting Starbucks so we had to leave extra early. Let's just say church starts at 11 and we live about 2 miles from it, my goal was to leave the house by 10. I think we got there about 15 min early. Everything takes so long with the two! I told Courtney if she didn't love going to church so much, I'd probably not go when Ben wasn't there with us to help.

But this girl just loves church. She asks me almost every day if we can go. She loves her class, all the people, the music and Jesus of course. After church we didn't do much. The girls slept and I cleaned. Still looking for the mystery smell and have yet to find it.

Tonight I gave both the girls a bath at the same time. It worked really well. I put Caylee's baby tub in the bug tub and Coco beside it. Courtney was so sweet to Caylee. She was trying to share all her toys and help bathe her. So cute! She is really starting to enjoy having a baby sister. I just love my girls.

Courtney's been having a tough time going to sleep lately. She really avoids it because she wants to play. She says "No bed! Coco fun!". Once she is in and we shut the door she is ok. But she tries to pull the "Water?" "Blankie?" "Lights?". I always feel so bad, but she has to learn.

Ben is "on call" this weekend. Every third weekend he is on call. So before our eyes opened this morning his pager went off. So off to work he went and since he was gone I decided to treat today like any other day. After breakfast we headed out for our morning walk, but my stomach detoured us to Jamba Juice. I just love their oatmeal! And it's only $1 when you purchase something. Courtney was really wanting to hit the park so we stopped there for a bit and then headed home to feed Caylee. I can't wait til Caylee is eating every 4 hours. It will make getting stuff done so much easier. We needed to go to Target so I loaded the girls up for a Target run. This trip had a dual purpose. This was Courtney's trip to pick out special snacks, drinks and prizes for "potty training Monday". She seems to be really excited about it.

I spent the afternoon cleaning and doing laundry. Our room smells funky so I'm set to change that and am washing all the blankets and clothes to get rid of the smell. Our poor room gets neglected a bit I always focus on downstairs.

I have been craving Marie Callendars for months. Ben doesn't like that place, so I don't ever bother suggesting it. I had decided this morning If Ben got called in, I'd take the girls there tonight. Then out of the blue Ben sends me a text asking if I wanted to go to dinner at Marie Callendars. I was so excited! So the girls and I met him there. As we were driving into the parking lot, Courtney saw Petco. We have taken her there a few times to see the animals, but it had been months since we had our last fieldtrip there. So I pulled in and Courtney starts shouting "meow! Puppy!". I couldn't believe she remembered.

Courtney was great at dinner. I gave her a bribe of getting a cookie at home if she was good. It worked. Right now she will do almost anything for a cookie.

We ended the night with some family worship before she went to bed.

Ben wanted to go to bed early and I tried putting Caylee to sleep in our room and she kept crying. So I put her in the pack n play downstairs while I worked on chores. She slept for a while. I'm slowly getting her used to sleeping other places. It's hard because I don't want to give up a good nap to try other places. I was so good with Courtney, this time it's a little harder.

We are home!

No matter where we go and for any length of time it always feels so good to be home. Just getting off our exit feels good. I love Irvine. It is the greatest place we have ever lived. It is so clean and nice, everything is new. I really appreciate it when I'm gone and come back. We had fun today, we met up with my friend Amy who happens to be the girl's god parent. We stopped at Starbucks and took Courtney to the park, because I had to feed the baby. Then we went on a walk along the promenade in Ventura. We ended with lunch at CPK. Courtney had fun, she loves Amy and Amy is so good with her. I wanted to time feeding the baby with driving. So I quickly fed Caylee while Courtney played at the playground at the mall. It seems like Caylee is having a harder time feeding out in public. I don't like that. I need to get her used to eating in chaos. We headed home after that and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Both girls fell asleep and we beat traffic. We made it home in time to see Ben before he took off. Courtney was so excited to see him.

We had fun surprises when we got home too. More Christmas presents from Gak Gak and Mimi and a clean house. I'm so lucky to have a man who cares about he house and cleans up.

I'm exhausted from being gone and I think I'm going to call it a night.

Four more days til potty training!

Home? Home?

"Home? Home?" , these are the words coming out of my overly tired 2 year old tonight before bed. I think she definitely misses her daddy and her comfy bed, probably her puppies too.

We had another good day today. We met my friend Amy at Starbucks in Ventura and Courtney was being a typical two year old and didn't want to sit still, so eventually our conversation led us to meandering aimlessly wound the strip mall chatting away. Caylee is such a sweety and just slept as she usually does. I knew Courtney would need to get her wiggles out so we met my parents at the park near their house. Courtney met a new friend and loved sliding down the slide holding hands with Nana. She did mention to each child that came that this was "my park!". We are still working on sharing. Caylee rode in the swing fir the first time and loved it. She almost fell asleep it relaxed her so much.

We headed off to a quick lunch after the park and then home for Courtney's nap. While she slept, my mom and I hit a few thrift stores. We found a few good finds and I'm really excited about a gift I got for Ben.

We came home and just relaxed. My parents made dinner and a friend if theirs came by to visit. Courtney showed off her singing tricks. And the evening came to a close with the girls going to bed easily and the adults chatting away.

Mommy and Daughters Trip

Today we began a bit of a last minute, yet long overdue, trip to visit Nana and Bop Bop (my parents). It's our first trip without Daddy since Caylee's been born. Now that we have the second car, these little trips can happen a few times a year. It's good for the girls to see their grandparents, fun for me to get away and even better for Ben to finally have some peace and quiet. All us girls can cause any guy a headache.

Last night Ben had to park the car pretty far away, so the first challenge of the day was to get both girls and all our stuff out to the car in one load. Thanks to my "double BOB" and my creative mind, it happened. No walking out to the car and back a few times with the girls in tow just to load the car.

Next challenge was the drive. Both girls did awesome! We just listened to music and talked. It's so much fun he conversations I can have with Courtney now. She understands so much. We must have listened to her 2 favorite songs 20 times each ("Our God" and "How he loves"). I just love to hear her sing those songs. She belts them out like no other. She loves to sing, it's adorable. Besides, mass traffic we made it up no problem. Courtney asked to take a nap once we got here and I had some time to visit with my parents and relax. It's so nice not to spend my waking minutes cleaning.

Once Coco woke, we went to visit my sister. Courtney had been asking to go to "Goldie's house" and I just couldn't turn her down. The girls are cute together. Courtney just looks up to Goldie (5) so much. We hung out there for a bit and just headed back to my parents. Relaxing and easy. But we miss our daddy. There is an empty spot in the bed next to me, I never sleep well by myself. I worry too much about him.

Eyes are shutting! Night!

It's a new year!

Well it's a new year and it's been a really long time since I have updated about our family. Instead of going backwards I'm just going to start with the present. But I will add one thing: Our baby girl is here, she's already 3 months! Now for the present.

I always love the new year, it's a great chance to reboot and start over. Now that Caylee is 3 months we have finally gotten our schedule down and I'm taking advantage of the new year to define our schedule even more and schedule in specific activities for Courtney. Today it was raining and we were packing for our trip to Nana and BopBop's, so it was a little different. But we started our first letter today "A". Courtney loved it! I drew the "A" and she colored it, we talked about it and drew pictures. I plan to do a new letter each week. We'll see!

Mondays are my big cleaning day so I clean and did some of the packing. Ben got off work early so once I finished feeding the baby we headed out to dinner at "Buffalo Wild Wings". Caylee screamed the whole way there and Courtney told us repeatedly that "baby crying". Not quite the peaceful family night out we were wanting. But once we got there Caylee settled in and Courtney played their "fishy game". Both the girls were great and Courtney even earned a Popsicle when we got home.

Good day. Now it's time to finish my packing for Ventura.