Jeremy's a genius

I have to give credit where credit is due and Gracie I believe is finally potty trained all thanks to her daddy. you know in some ways it's frustrating that I've been working with her and working with her to get her do this and all he has to do is say 1 little phrase and bingo she's done. What is that magically phrase? (chuckling) "Gracie if you don't stop going pee pee and poo poo in your britches I'm going to suck your butt up into the vacuum cleaner." First of all yes we really do say britches...no comments from the peanut gallery. This might also not make sense to you but if you knew how scared of the vacuum she is you would understand. I'm not really sure either why she's so freaked out about it but hey it helped with potty training and that's all I really care about. So there, that's how we at the Andrews' house potty train our kids!! :)

What a great day!!!

Can I just tell you how proud I am of my daughter? Yes I can!! I have pretty much slacked off on the potty training thing because she just wasn't doing it. I would ask her if she needed to go, she would say "no" and then turn around and pee in her pants. Well not today! She woke with a dry Pull-up, told me when she had to go potty, and actually stayed dry ALL day! Yippee! On our way home from the ballpark she said that she had to go and we just kept telling her to hold it. to our surprise when we got home she was dry, went in and went pee pee AND poo poo on the potty. Looks like I need to be checking into MDO for her since I promised she could go to school when she started going on the potty like a big girl. I pray that this really is IT and not just a fluke!

Long Weekend

This past weekend was one of our busiest all year. To start, Friday was Jeremy and my anniversary (5 years!) so he took off of work and we spent the day together. We started off just getting things done at the house and spending time with the girls. Then we packed up and all 4 of us went to B F Myers to look for a new bedroom suite. Jeremy's parents were gracious enough to give us one when we got married but we both agree it is time to get one we can call all our own. Unfortunately we didn't find one that we fell in love with but we did learn a valuable lesson...DON"T TAKE KIDS FURNITURE SHOPPING!! It's not that they didn't behave, it's just that we didn't get to spend the time looking like we wanted. once we left there we drove around a little, still house hunting, and eventually took the girls to Jeremy's parents house where they ended up spending the night! Thank you Harold and Cindy for doing that for us!!

Afterwards we went by American Signature to see what they had. At one time they had a set that I LOVED but it has since been discontinued and I've had a really tough time trying to find anything else that I like. Needless to say we didn't find anything there so off the went to eat at Olive Garden. I was almost a year to the date that Jeremy and I ate there together so it was nice. The evening finally ended with more driving around, a stop at Marble Slab, a stop at The Movie Gallery, and then home....I know we're real romantic!! :)

Saturday we got up, got the house together and then went back over to Jeremy's parents house to get the girls and go to a family reunion with his family. It is in Burwood (do you know where that is?) about 1 1/2 from us. It's a great facility with building, playground, ball field, and even mules next door! The girls had a great time playing and seeing those family members we only see at the family reunion. This was Carleigh's first family reunion as she was born the day of the reunion last year.

After the reunion we went back once again to Jeremy's parents house to kill the couple of hours between getting back and Jeremy's make up softball games that night. We didn't get home until about 9ish that night and the girls were worn out.

Sunday was Carleigh's first birthday!! We didn't really do anything because we are having her party this coming weekend. It was pretty much spent going to church and relaxing. I'm sure this next weekend won't be the same!

Whew did I get it all in? September always seems so busy for us...it'll be October before I know it!

New blog

not a new blog that I'm typing but a new blog that I am reading!! for anyone who knows me, knows that I love to read blogs. It's my way of keeping up with friends without having to spend hours and hours on the phone. So last night at church I found out that my Pastor is now blogging. He started a new Wednesday night series called "Have you ever wondered?" and he will be discussing touchy topics that often come up such as...should Christians drink alcohol, suicide, can you lose your salvation, and many more. I know not everyone can make it on Wednesdays however they are also supposed to have access to them on the website and then there should be good discussion on Brother David blog. If you get a chance check it out....I've added a link on my page as well so you can check back from time to time. I'd love to hear what you think!!

Naps...part 2

Wow! Thank you to everyone who sent me suggestions...i am taking several of them an tweaking them to fit our family. First I should confess and say that part of the problem is that i just wasn't ready for her to give up her morning nap. Yes she's 2 1/2 but i just wasn't ready. i enjoyed that time of day when both of my girls were napping and I had some peace and quiet all to myself. So now I am bowing down, letting her stay up more, and only asking for 1 nap a day. It seems to be working. Carleigh still has 2 naps (YIPPEE!) so once she gets up from her morning nap we are having lunch, the girls play some, and then I lay both of them down for an afternoon nap. Carleigh goes to sleep easily most of the time but I have also incorporated it being "quiet time" for Gracie instead of nap time. I set a timer on the stove for her and tell her that she has to lay down until the timer goes off. Before I know it she's off to sleep and yes I turn the timer off so it doesn't wake her up. Even if she doesn't sleep at least she's had some time to rest and chill out some....this is normally when I eat lunch!!!

I should probably also get some gates for during the day use. with the layout of our house it is very hard for me to get anything done without one of the girls being under my feet. Hence the need for nap time!

Naps

why is that it takes my 2 year old 3 hours to fall asleep for a hopefully 2 hour but more realistic 1 hour nap? I start out trying to be understanding...maybe she does have to go pee pee (even though this is the only time of day it even crosses her mind), ok so she has to blow her nose, and get a baby, and another baby, and so on and so on. She can get very creative and honestly I start feeling like all I've done all day is spank her. Oh and yes, I did even try laying down with her but she's so squirmy that I get tired of having her feet ALL over my body. Any suggestions??