It's Potty Time!

Saturday we began our official potty training with Lily. She's been asking to go to the potty on occasion and often peed or pooped on the potty after making the request. So, although she is only 19 months old, Joey and I felt that she was more than ready...and we were more than ready to be done with diapers! :)

Saturday went surprisingly well with only 3 accidents and 10 successful trips to the potty. Although she did have an accident in the night, we were very excited about her progress. Sunday Joey was alone with the girls most of the day while I worked at the Kids Exchange Sale as a volunteer. Lily had more accidents than the day before, but made it through the night clean and dry. And then came Monday...

Lily spent Monday peeing all over the house. She knew she had to go and would ask 3-4 times in the space of about 10 minutes to go to the potty, but when on the potty she would play around for a minute, get bored, and want to get down without ever going to the bathroom. And then after all that effort, she'd pee on the floor...or on me while I was holding her! Anyway, by the end of the day I wanted to run screaming from the house (it didn't help that Joey had a long day and did not get home until after 7:00 p.m.).

After such a long day I vowed to escape the house one way or another, so Tuesday morning I packed up the potty seat and an extra change of clothes and after dropping Cassidy off at preschool Lily and I headed to storytime. Monday must have been the low point in the process because she was like a different kid on Tuesday. She had no accidents and even peed at the library! She did wet the bed in the night last night, but has used the potty twice this morning. I think it's safe to say we're diaper-free! HOORAY!!!

Funny story - Although she has pooped on the potty multiple times, Lily still seems a little hesitant and I think sometimes holds it in. When she finally pooped a couple of days ago, I made a big deal and even took pictures (yes, of the poop...I know...gross!) to reinforce how proud I was of her. She didn't poop at all on Tuesday and this morning with no fanfare or tears she finally pooped. I was heaping on the praise when she suddenly started calling Cassidy to come and take a picture of her poop (with her toy camera)! I think I may have started a rather disgusting habit! :)

Happy Birthday, Aunt Jennifer!

Cassidy and Lily wanted to send a special birthday message to MY baby sister, Aunt Jennifer! Happy 26th Birthday, Sister! We love you!

Working Up an Appetite

A glimpse into the girls' pre-dinner workout. :) Lily is so smart - she quickly realized she couldn't keep up with Cassidy well enough to catch her, so she'd stop and lie quietly in wait for Cassidy to round the corner and then jump out and surprise her! Too funny!

Frosty

Joey and Cassidy managed to make a small snowman, named Frosty, on Wednesday. Cassidy was thrilled!

Oops! His head fell off!

Fixing Frosty

Cassidy and her favorite frozen friend

Our Frosty wears Pirate Purple and Gold!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Tuesday morning Cassidy finally had her wish come true. We woke up to snow falling fast and furious and by the time all was said and done, we had about 6 inches of fluffy, white beauty covering the ground. It was the girls' first real snow day and boy did we have fun!

The world looked so peaceful when we woke up Tuesday morning.

Watching the snow fall all morning was almost as much fun as playing in it!

Our house covered in a blanket of beautiful snow.

Like Lily's gloves? We didn't have any her size, so she's wearing mine! :)

The girls LOVED throwing, kicking, and laying in the snow...until they got wet and cold! Lily lasted about 15 minutes...when the snow is up to your knees, it doesn't take long to get soaked! :)

Daddy and Cassidy attempting to make a snowman. The snow was just too fluffy to make a snowball, much less a snowman...which is unusual for NC where snow is usually more like ice!

Sticker Crazy!

This is what happens when Daddy thinks it would be fun to hold Mommy down and let the girls put stickers all over my face! Mommy - the human sticker book! :)

New Year, New Look

I needed a cheery look for the blog to help combat the yucky, cold weather, so I gave the blog a little facelift.

Lily went to the doctor this morning and she has strep throat. We'll know by the end of the week if Cassidy is going to get it. We are praying for a swift recovery for Lily who has not been eating or drinking much the past couple of days.

Christmas 2008

We had a fabulous 2-week vacation from the real world in the form of the Christmas holiday. As always, the time went by too fast! Here are some of my favorite pictures of all the fun!

OK, this picture has nothing to do with the holidays. Lily just insisted on wearing her tobogan in the house and we thought it was hilarious!

Cassidy and Daddy making pizza dough for Christmas Eve dinner. Instead of the traditional holiday fare, we made gourmet pizzas including spinach and pesto, BBQ chicken, steak and blue cheese, Buffalo shrimp and blue cheese, italian sausage with mushrooms, bacon and onion, and pepperoni and green pepper. We totally made WAY too much pizza, but it sure was tasty!

Cassidy and one of the Flying J's (Aunt Jennifer)

Cassidy and Aunt Heather

Happy and Full

Jennifer and Mom

Lily - all smiles on Christmas morning

One of the highlights of Christmas morning were the "Bear in the Big Blue House" stuffed animals the girls received. They have recently fallen in love with this old Disney show. It's no longer on the air, so finding books, stuffed animals, etc. is a challenge. Joey had mentioned this in passing to a colleague at school and on the Friday before Christmas break she brought him a bag of "Bear in the Big Blue House" stuffed animals. She used to work at the Disney Store and would buy things on clearance when they were discontinuing merchandise. She said these toys had been sitting in her closet for about 5 years and she wanted to give them to our girls. What an amazing blessing and what a wonderful friend! The girls were beside themselves when they saw their "Bear" toys...and they are sleeping with them at night as well as dragging them all over the house during the day. (Cassidy is pictured above with Bear.)

Lily with Ojo and Snowbear (Ojo just happens to be her favorite character.)
The other highlight of the day...dress-up clothes. The girls got dress-up shoes as well as some costumes.

Cassidy in her Cinderella dress
OK, why did Joey think these PJs were a good choice? If we ignore for just a moment that they are in no way flattering (note the wide horizontal lines), let's ponder what will happen when I wake up in the night and need to pee. There is no trap door in the rear, so my only option is to frantically undo about 20 buttons in a race against my bladder! (Needless to say, these have already been returned, but everyone got a good laugh at my expense Christmas morning.)
Our nephew, Jeremy, and Joey - we gave Jeremy the coast guard dog tag around his neck. He was so excited...he LOVES the coast guard.

The Cousins (minus Jamie)

Front Row: Kimmie, Jon-Jon, Whitney, Jarrett, Jeremy

Back Row: Brittany, Lily, Hunter, Connor, Cassidy, Katy, Adrien, Katie

We spent a few days after Christmas in BSL with Grandma and Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Aunt Shirley and Uncle Dick were visiting from Texas so it was a special treat to see them too...they immediately bonded with the girls and it was like having an extra set of grandparents in the house. :) (Cassidy is pictured here making play-doh with Grandma.)

In other news, Lily and Cassidy are both in new beds. We moved Cassidy's toddler bed into Lily's room and she has been sleeping in it for the past two weeks. Although initially she seemed to prefer sleeping on the floor beside her door, she is now very comfortable in her big girl bed. Cassidy is now sleeping in the "Super Duper Big Girl Bed," her daybed. Lily has peed and pooped on the potty several times and we play to go through the 3-day potty training process with her in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned - we're about to be a diaper-free household for the first time in 3 1/2 years! :)