We did it....

Henry is now potty trained! I can't even remember when I started. A month or so a go I guess. I just looked at him and decided it was time. I also decided it was time to paint the outside of the house so I knew I was going to be home for awhile. We went for it and he did awesome. He sleeps through the night and takes naps in his underwear. We go to the store or the office and he let's me know. He just does it himself all day long and let's me know if he needs wiped. It is such a strange thing to not have a baby in diapers anymore. He has an occassional accident but for the most part we are good to go. We are all grown up around here. I am so glad I stopped potty training the first time. When I think about how easy it was this time around I know I made the best choice for the both of us.

Great job Henry. You are growing up so fast and we are so proud of you. Now we just have to figure out how to keep you pants up without the big diaper padding!

What's in a name?

We call her Ginn-Ginn or Ginny, she calls herself Gwyneth. I love that. She loves that she has special nick names that her sister and brother gave her, but she know who she is. She is Gwyneth, she can handle her big name!

OUCH!!

While playing at a friends house today, Taya snagged her knee on a nail and tore her skin back pretty seriously. It tore in three separate, very jagged, pieces. We went to the doctor where he was able to put several special strip bandages on it and then she had to have two shots. Fortunately, Taya is going to be just fine.

The thing that amazes me about her is that when it comes to "serious" injury/illness she has been able to handle things pretty well. When she looked down at her knee, she knew it was bad. She never went crazy or lost control. She cried a little but she stayed calm and let me clean it up. When the doctor needed to put it back together she toughed it out. She even took the shots like a champ. About a year ago she cut cut the back of her head and needed a couple of staples. She did great. When Taya had chicken pox she never scratched them, never. It just blew me away that she never even touched them!

Taya, I am so proud of you. You showed considerable self-control today and that is something that I am pleased to watch developing in you. It is an area you show strength in and I pray it continues to grow in you. I am so blessed to be your mother. You are an amazing, tough, funny, loving, kind, spunky, loving kid. I love you.

Breakfast

Sitting at the tables, with all the kids, eating breakfast. Oatmeal is on the menu. Taya takes hers with honey-a little extra honey. Gwyneth likes her with honey, frozen blueberries, cinnamon sugar and peanut butter. Henry likes his with honey and blueberry. Me, just honey. I love breakfast together. This is one of those simple mornings we enjoy most of the time. Nothing special or out of the ordinary. These are the kind of mornings I am afraid I will soon forget about. Will I always remember just how the kids use to take there oatmeal? Time is flying by.

Nevermind

on the potty training. I did it for about 3 days and stopped. He did fine but I found myself panicking about getting him trained so I could go back to the office the following week and I realized I was headed towards a not so good potty training experience. I put the breaks on it for now. I am a firm believer in all in and don't turn back. I guess I have turned back a little but I will swallow my pride and do what is best for Henry. Potty training, in my opinion, is 90% parents attitued and consitency and 10% child skill. Henry is a smart kid and can learn new things quickly. When I set things up for him in the right learning environment he can grasp quickly and master. I was NOT setting potting training up right this time around. I found myself uneasy about it and stressed he would have accidents at work and just an all around not ready mode I guess. So I had a talk with him and told him we would do it when mommy was ready. He seemed just fine with that. We have enjoyed having jelly beans around the house though!

Potty Training-Third Times The Charm

We started potty training Henry today. This is my third time to do this. I am an all in kinda of potty trainer. We are in underwear from now on out. No turning back. (With the expection of night time for now) My previous potty training experiences have been fine. It is work but the kids always seem to get it just fine. So here we go again. Just another step in no longer being my little baby. He is slowly turning into that big strong man we tell him he is. Why does he have to do it so fast?

Re-Organizing.......AGAIN!

It is time to re-organize the house again. We have only lived here 2 years and yet it seems like I keep changing things again and again. I love to find a new way to put things away or find a pile of stuff to get rid of or repurpose something I thought I was done with. All of that is so exciting...yet frustraing. I have now come up with an idea of how to get an office and bookcases in my living room but can't find the furniture to make it happen. I came up with an idea to store some of my kitchen appliances but now I have to wait for my husband to bring back the screw gun from work. So until I can get it all done, I finish what I can, and then continue to shop on-line. Ugh, so boring! I want to be putting new furniture in now!!!

What can I say....

I took a break I guess. Got tired of blogging. Was too busy. I don't know, you pick. For whatever reason I have not blogged in amlost a year. Things have changed a ton around here. We opened our own practice. I traded in my sweat pants and sandles for business casual. The kids and I have gone to work! It has been fun, hard, a learning experience to say the least. However,I am so grateful that we get to be a part of Daddy's work and spend more time with him.

We also started homeschooling. Taya went to about 20 days of public school and then we took her out. I am so grateful for the oppritunity to watch her learn and grow like this. She has done a great job. We have finished math for the year and will continue to work on English through the summer. We took a little break from it while we had to work full time with Daddy. Just in the short time off I can see how she has matured and is ready to take it on.

Henry,obviously, is now a walker. He is such a fun little guy. He wants to keep up with his big sisters and he loves them so much. He chatters all day long and loves to sing. We also turned his bed into a big boy bed several months ago and in a few weeks we will potty train. Big changes around here for sure!

Gwyneth is changing before my eyes. Taya's hand me down's go straight from her closet to Gwyneth's. She is shy, yet daring, loud and quiet all at the same time. She loves to swing, which she has been able to do on her own for 6 months. She is my little side kick and is so sweet. She is learning and changing faster than I can keep up with.

So much has happened and don't know where to start but here I go again. Back to the blogging world. Let's see if I can keep up. No promises!