potty training 101

oohhhhhhhh, potty training. i was soooooo dreading it!

soooo many people have told me to train olive when she showed signs that she was ready. um, that never happened. we would read books together, pretend play that her dolls would pee in the toilet. she sat on the potty a few times and sometimes asked to sit on it, with more of a self interest behind it {she wanted to watch cartoons on the iPad and sit on the toilet}. ha! after months of me thinking about potty training her, i thought…forget it! signs or no signs, i was going to do it! i tried to potty train olive a few months ago…around the end of july, early august and that was a disaster!!!

she.was.not.ready. and let me tell ya…training a toddler with a newborn was a killer combination to cause me to go to the mental house. olive pee’d and poop’d all over the place. she did the typical toddler action of hiding behind the couch or hid in a corner and would just do it. yes, she would pee on the floor, poop in her underwear; i would walk away for 30 seconds and that gave her enough time to constantly go in her pants. i almost went insane! i would then have to clean her up, clean up the mess, do another load of laundry, take care of a crying newborn, etc. after a couple days of that, i said nooooo way! i was going to lose my mind so i stopped and little olive was soooo relieved!

well, fast forward to october, i thought – this is it. i am doing this. nothing is going to stop me now! i was determined. olive between then and now showed a bit of interest in it. not much but just a wee bit. by no means did she do a 180 and showed me signs of wanting to potty train…she still did not. we read the same books, played the same way with her dolls, and she rarely asked to sit on the toilet but i knew, in my gut, that it was time. i mentally prepared myself for a week and then bit the bullet.

i cleared out my calendar for 5 days. that was my magic number. 5 days of just sitting around the house and potty training my girl. i also mentally prepared olive and told her for days that we were giving up diapers. i had also gathered a few things that were critical to training her.

1.underwear: i bought a whole bunch. you never know how many you will go through so it’s good that you have quite a few on hand unless you want to do laundry alllllll the time. i probably bought an excessive amount {are 21 underpants too many?!} but i would rather be safe than sorry!

2.a few waterproof pads. i used these on the couch, on her chairs, anywhere she sat to protect whatever furniture you wanted to keep dry and safe.

3.the ipad. it’s a lifesaver when your child is sitting on the toilet f o r e v e rrrrrrrr.

4.the baby bjorn seat cover. ergonomically perfect for my daughter’s bum. it is simple, clean, and portable.

5.i included this potty book because it’s an easy read and really pushes the message through on potty training.

and no, i never rewarded her with candy for actually going pee or poo. she always got a ‘great job’ or high five but never a treat. i never liked the idea of giving your child a treat, like a dog, for doing something she should be doing.

day 1: i would not let olive wear any bottoms. no underwear, no pants. yes, she was naked from the waist down. i turned up the heat a bit so she would be comfortable. i didn’t want her to have the feeling of anything on her bum to remind her of a diaper. we sat around all day. mostly in the kitchen because it was a safe area…no rugs, no couch, just wood chairs and a hardwood floor = easy clean up! we had a few accidents…and that was ok. let me tell you peeps, you have to watch your child like a hawk. no joke. i had to sit next to olive the entire day. i rarely left her side, because if i did, she most likely would  pee if i wasn’t around. i also found that 30-45 minutes was the perfect interval time for us. some folks might find that every 20 minutes is good or longer but for us, 30-45 minutes was a perfect cycle for me to put olive on the toilet to ‘pee’. so all day long, every 30-45 minutes, i would put olive on the toilet whether she had to pee or not. i didn’t ask her, i demanded it, “olive, let’s go to the bathroom” and she would follow me to the bathroom. also, i am not a fan of the potty training toilets that they sell in the stores. if a kid is going to use the toilet, let her use the real toilet. not a plastic toilet that you can move anywhere in the house.

day 2: we did the same routine. she woke up in the morning and i took off her diaper and she ran around naked. we sat mostly in the kitchen again. she had a few accidents but it was much less than the day before, which was an awesome sign!

day 3: we did the same but this day, she wanted to sit on the couch which was risky business. i let her and we had an accident. she became too comfortable, she kept refusing to use the toilet, and i gave in and didn’t make her {with much regret and i learned my lesson to not have her dictate it and stick within my time interval of putting her on the toilet}. i used the waterproof pad and had placed it underneath her but the pee ran down the pad and onto our rug. ugh. well at least the couch was untouched! other than that, it was a pretty successful day! i truly believe that if i had made olive go sit on the toilet within the time interval, she wouldn’t have peed on the couch!

day 4: we did the same routine and we had no accidents! she was totally getting it and i was super excited and proud of her! btw, olive still needs naps but i didn’t give her any naps during this time. i was too afraid to put a diaper on her during the day {i was nervous it would confuse her}, so instead we did earlier bedtimes to make up for it. after her potty training success, we resumed with the naps.

day 5: my sisters wanted us to meet them out at the mall and go shopping. i was very hesitant. olive wasn’t a pro yet but i also wanted to try an outing with her. i wasn’t prepared, so i made hc go to the store and pick up some pull up’s {which i am not a fan of either…it’s too much like a diaper but it was better than nothing!} and my sister picked up toilet seat covers for us. i made olive go the bathroom before we left and when we got there, we all wanted to eat lunch. olive decided to slam a huge lemonade and i thought oh dang, this girl is going to pee in her pants! after lunch, i insisted that she go to the bathroom and she refused. she absolutely hates public toilets but who really loves them?! she freaked out and would not go to the bathroom…um, that made me nervous! i tried 2 more times and each time, she almost had a meltdown. after being at the mall for a bit, i told my sisters that i was going to go home. they understood and off we went, me praying that olive wouldn’t pee in the car! we safely arrived home and this girl didn’t wet her pants once! we were out for 2.5 hours!!! i was sooooo proud of her! we ran inside and she peed on the toilet in the comfort of her own home.

after the 5 straight days of potty training at home, we had total success! olive was a pro after that. she had some nervous accidents after the fact but she has pretty much been on point with peeing and pooping in the toilet!

my next battle to tackle was going to be night training…i was so dreading that. from what i had read, it was pretty much the idea of having a newborn again. it was suggested that you get up a couple times a night and wake your child to use the toilet. whaaaaa?! are you kidding me? ugh. no thank you. well, the most fabulous news i can share is that olive pretty much self-taught herself how to not pee in the bed at night. how awesome was that?! seriously! i put olive in a diaper at night, every night, right before bed. like the minute she was about to lay down, a diaper went on. after about {less than} two weeks of her being potty trained, she pretty much stopped wetting her diaper at night! i couldn’t believe it. morning after morning, she would wake up with a dry diaper. not flick of wetness and would pee in the toilet once she woke up. then soon, she didn’t want to wear a diaper at night and only her underwear! no accidents! i was amazed and so proud!

so, there ya go my friends. my potty training adventure with my sweet girl! i was so proud of her and was so happy that she kicked it this time around. i honestly thought we would never get to this point! it seemed like i wasn’t going to get it and either would olive but we did it! it took a lot of patience, tenacity, and determination but resulted in success! she is now diaper free and we couldn’t be more excited or more proud of her!

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[essentials: a waterproof pad, ipad, the potty book, bjorn potty seat, and fun undies]

xoxo

happy four months ellie!

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[pics taken on 11.15.16]

height: 24.25″

weight: 13 lbs 10 oz

this babe is the best. the best! she is just sooooo darn sweet, happy, chunky and fun! i love hanging out with her and seeing her beautiful face look at me with always a big smile!

it seems like the amount of milk she consumes has decreased, sadly. she still nurses every 2-3 hours when she’s with me. she has become so distracted and more interested in the environment around her than nursing. i now find that i have to feed her in a quiet room with minimal noise and no t.v. on. if olive is around, forget it! she wants to watch olive rather than feed and try not having your toddler in your face and not excitedly jumping, screaming around you! that’s the impossible! if i go into another room, this little gremlin will come find me! well, it is what it is…ellie is still chunking up quite nicely, so no complaints on those chubby thighs of hers or fatty cheeks!

she’s super solid with her night sleeping but not so much with her naps. i really think ellie sleeps less than everyone in this house! she typically goes down around 9-10pm and will wake up once {maybe twice during a growth spurt} for a feeding. sometimes she will wake at 3am or 5am…it depends on how’s she feeling and then again around 6am or 7am. i am hoping she breaks that one nightly feeding she is so strongly clinging on to. she nurses for maybe 5-7 minutes in the middle of the night and falls back asleep…so, i am like, “girl, why do you bother to eat…you can barely keep your eyes open?!!! haha!} so, she’ll sleep for 8-9 hours at nigt and maybe, maybe nap for 2-3 hours during the day. sometimes she doesn’t nap much at all. olive did and definitely sleeps more than this babe! it’s amazing how much ellie doesn’t sleep for a little baby but i am most thankful that she is quite the solid sleeper at night. no complaints here! as long as she keeps up those long nightly stretches, we are super happy in this house!

she is completely aware of her surroundings. she will lock eyes with me from across the room. she will perk up and coo when she hears my voice. she just started to giggle in the last few weeks and it’s the most darling sound i currently hear. she recently discovered her toes! she loves to grab at them! she loves to lay around and observe, she especially loves to look at olive. she can watch her for hours. plus, the sweet smiles that ellie gives is priceless! she loves to smile, smile, smile. she’s such a happy baby! seeing her beautiful grins completely brightens my mornings, days, and nights. i love this smiley babe so much!!

she’s been pretty true to size but oh is she chunky! i love her fat little cheeks and chubby, chubby thighs. those rolls get me every time. she’s balding in the back of her head and i blame it on the fact that i have a toddler and don’t hold ellie as much, so she is always laying on her back. olive didn’t get a bald spot because we held her allllllll the time! so poor ellie…she’s has a big circle patch of hairlessness going on back there.

she is such a happy, calm baby. i am soaking in every moment, every second of this baby stage. i can’t get enough. she’s so sweet, loving, precious, and oh so squeezable! i love holding her, nursing her, playing with her, and spending all my days with this darling babe. i love you to pieces oh baby ellie…you are such a light in my life.

xoxo

happy halloween

oh, i was sooooo excited for halloween!

i couldn’t wait to match the girls! i was so stumped for quite awhile on what i was going to dress them as. i hemmed and hawed over so many ideas but alas, i chose fairies. olive loves tinker bell, so i thought it was fitting for her to be a fairy princess and ellie as well!

i ended up curating their costume pieces. i shopped only small {meaning small businesses that were handmade} and quickly put together their sweet, whimsical costumes. i loved every single piece i purchased. the best part? olive can and still wears all the pieces after halloween! it ended up being her most favorite outfit to date!

we dressed up both girls and went outside to take pictures {the weather was amazing!! not cold or rainy! it typically is every year!}. that was a complete debacle. olive couldn’t hold ellie upright {her costume was too slippery} and by the time i decided to lay both girls down on the blanket on top of the grass, they were both in sour moods and wouldn’t stop crying. seriously?! fml trying to take a decent picture! ha!

after pics {i needed a shower because these girls stress me out sometimes!}, we started our trick or treat journey. it was the cuuuuuuutest thing to watch olive! i did a few a examples for her but after that, she got it! i loved watching her be so independent and sweet! she would quietly knock on people’s doors and not move so it was difficult for them to open the door. ha! she would quietly say, ‘twick o tweet’ and ‘dank you!’ to every person who gave her candy. man did she get brownie points for her cuteness…so many folks gave in and would dump candy into her basket or give extra because they say ellie. olive made out like a bandit for only hitting a few houses!

as we walked along the block, we chit chatted with neighbors and got to know quite a few people on my parent’s street. olive did such a great job and really enjoyed the whole process! after a eight houses {which probably took more than a half hour}, we asked if she wasted to go home and she said, “yes! go home!” and go home we did!

once we arrived home, olive loved checking out all the trick or treaters at the door. she’s finally starting to break out of her shy shell. granted, she still doesn’t really talk around others but she was quite brave with the strangers while trick or treating and loved peeking at all the kids coming to the door and would actually walk downstairs to say hi!

we waited for the trick or treating curfew to end and then packed up our stuff to go home. we tried to get olive’s costume off and that turned out to be the biggest debacle of all time. i mean major meltdown…she flipped out. how dare we tell her to take off her wings and skirt?! we were the devil in her eyes. she screamed and cried and went completely bonker hysterical on us. that was a loooooooooong process that we soooo regretted. ugh.

anyhoo, once we got the little bugger into the car…we finally made it home. phew! that was a knock down dragged out fight but we kind of won. hc stuffed her into the car seat with the compromise of her holding her wings instead of sitting with them on. oy.

overall, it was an awesome halloween. the weather was so fantastic, soooo many people complimented her on the costume, and she had the best time! i love halloween, i always have but now i love it more with our kids in it! it’s so fun and delightful to see such joy in her eyes!

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[such a beautiful fairy princess]

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[i looooooooved their costumes]

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[walking house to house, trick or treating!]

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[her trick or treat bag…collecting goodies]

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[me and my girl]

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[walking towards the cool halloween house]

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[soooooo pretty]

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[hitting up a house for candy…knocking on the door. oh how i loved watching her do this!]

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[her loot]

xoxo

hb fiona!

we were so excited to attend fiona’s birthday party at olivia’s parent’s house.

her sister, claire, flew into town to host the party but she’s currently living in san diego. so, it was definitely a special occasion with them coming into town to celebrate! olivia’s parents live about an hour and 15 minutes away from us, so it was quite a trip to head up north for the party. my kids are pretty fortunate to not travel so much or so long in the car but they both did well. olive stayed awake the whole time and ellie took a little nap.

we were so late. like an hour late but when we arrived, there were only a few cars by the house and it looked like they were the homeowner’s cars. i said to hc…i don’t think anyone is here! hahaha! and we were right! olivia came out to greet us and told us that only one person was here and it was aaron’s mom! oh my goodness!

well, i didn’t feel so bad being so darn late! we walked inside and we were greeted by olivia’s parents, pam and jim, her sister claire, aaron, her brother henry, and aaron’s mom. soon more people came, friends, cousins, etc. and we slowly caught up with everyone throughout the party.

olivia’s dad jim made a killer chili and there were a lot of appetizers and snacks to munch on. it was very relaxed and low key. fiona was napping and when she woke, it took her a bit to ‘wake’ up. trust me…olive is the same way, so i totally understand how grumpy threenagers can be! once she adjusted, we introduced olive and fiona and they instantly became besties!!! it was the cutes thing to watch! fiona led the way and olive followed. it was soooooo fun to see them interact with one another. fiona’s imagination is wild! she created so many stories, she was so animated, and olive loved every second of it. they walked all around the yard, hid behind bushes and played, sat underneath trees and whispered stories to one another. it was so sweet to watch!

after a few hours of hanging out, we decided to head out. we really had a great time. i love hanging out with olivia and her family! they are such sweet, eclectic people and they are so easy and fun to talk to!

we said our goodbyes…i was a bit sad to leave because i really enjoyed everyone’s company but i mostly enjoyed watching olive and fiona play together! it was a happy day indeed!

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[love these babes]

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[grandma and ben]

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[rich, ellie, and arron]

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[these two got along so well! it was sooooo stinkin’ cute!]

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[the cuuuuuuuutest girls[

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[they were both into the horse]

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[toddler besties]

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[family]

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[they loved hiding behind the trees and bushes]

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[she loved fiona’s horse]

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[olivia and aaron]

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[their secret hiding spot]

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xoxo

matt + panda

we finally had guncle johann and matt come visit ellie + famille!

we had a date set up over a month ago but those plans fell through and we were finally able to meet up! it was going to be a real relaxed casual night. the cubs game was on and we were too busy to put the effort in to cooking a gourmet meal.

hc and i {leading up to johann and matt arriving} were running around like crazy to get last minute things done. it’s always such a challenge when you have multiple young kids! one person has to watch the baby {especially if she’s fussy} and it’s like playing hot potato! pass the baby, pass the baby, you got the baby? can you take the baby? can you hold her for just five minutes while i quickly do something? hahaha!!!!

once matt and johann arrived, we just relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company. matt is always hilarious and johann always cracks me up with his take on things…i love hanging out with these two fun dudes. they walked through our door with so many presents. it was like christmas for the babes! there were presents from matt’s mom & the guncles. olive was being so shy {ellie was sleeping} and didn’t want to open her presents so i decided to do it for her!

after presents, libations were flowing, and dinner was on the grill. i love our conversations. they are always lively, animated, and full of laughter. time really flies when were hanging out with these two! after we ate dinner, we settled into the living room to watch the game. johann is strongly a sox fan, matt is neutral, and hc and i are the biggest cubs fan! it was quite the intense game but the cubs did it! they made it into the world series! we were sooooooo elated! what a fantastic night! great company and the cubs did it!

after hours of eating, drinking, and lounging – matt and johann decided to call it quits and head home. it was so fabulous to have had them over and finally meet miss ellie baby! oh, she’s just the best! johann is such a natural with babies…oh he’ll be a great dad someday! well, we said our goodbyes to matt and johann and wished them safe travels and then did a dance of joy that the cubs won the pennant and were headed to the world series!

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[ellie, johann, and matt]

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[it was like christmas]

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[the cutest little card and box of panda socks!]

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[oh these two…johann is so good with kids!]

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[glazed pumpkin cake]

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[the boys watching the game]

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[ellie saying, “go cubs go!!!!”]

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[yasssssssssss!]

xoxo

cubs, pumpkin carving, and cookies

we had invited my family over one night for pumpkin carving, watching the cubs game, and decorating cookies. we tend to do that…mix occasions and everything together!

it was a lovely day out…not too cold, not too hot. an typical fall day of weather. we decided to do burgers and simple side salads for dinner. we pulled out everything cubs that we had…napkins, cheese plate, coasters, wine, we carved a cubs pumpkin, and my sister brought over cubs dessert! woo hooooooo! we were ready!

everyone just did their own thing…the kids were playing, us gals were talking, and the boys were talking, grilling, and watching the game. it’s so interesting how we congregate with like species with similar interests! hahaha!

these are the days that i really enjoy! afternoons where you just go with the flow, relax with family, eat, have fun, and chill. we started our pumpkin carving excursion outside but the mosquitos were in full force so we relocated the artwork inside. the carving attempts were a bit competitive but honestly, mine was the best. ha! i was so carefree with my carving that i got slack for it…whatevs! i win with my perfect cat carving! meow!

after we carved our pumpkins, the kids decorated pumpkin cookies – well, they pretty much ate their cookies whilst decorating! i don’t blame them, they were oh so yummy. i am a sucker for sugar cookies. a total weakness!

we had such a great time with everyone. the cubs won against the giants and we were super happy!!! it was a great evening indeed! go cubs go!!!!!

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[i love ellie’s expression]

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[go chicago cubs!]

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[chicago cubs napkins & cheese plate]

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[reagan loving his cousin ellie]

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[oh bennett… that face]

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[we’re looking like a bit of a hot mess…let’s just say it was a very casual evening]

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[dan working on his craft]

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[hi bennett…how many family members does it take to carve one pumpkin? ha!]

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[these kiddos and their iPads]

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[pumpkin cookie decorating]

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[hey olive, you’re suppose to decorate…not just eat the cookies!]

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[bennett hard at work]

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[sweetest smile]

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[yummmmmmm]

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[potty training requires interesting outfits]

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[my spooky cat carving]

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[i love carving pumpkins! so fun and spooky!]

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[c for chicago cubs!]

xoxo