My little helpers.

Finally. I have some children who WANT to help around the house. To bad it's not always HELPful. :) Their favorite, emptying the dishwasher. "I put the thing in?" Gabby always asks. (the thing is the dish detergent packet)

A Golden 9th Birthday

My neice Klaire turned 9 today..... it is her golden birthday. Happy Birthday Klaire! Last year she mentioned she wanted to get her ears peirced. I told her if she really wanted to, I would take her. So...on Sunday I took her to the mall and got them done for her! I also let her pick out some cute new earrings. She did super great and looks so cute!

Before

Watching from the sidelines

Marking the dots

Second ear, Almost done!

You did great Klaire!!

After: So pretty!

The STAR of the party!

We had Gabby's birthday party this past weekend. It turned out to be a great day..... great weather, well behaved kids and lots of fun had by all!

A Super Star Cake

Sparkly Star Cookies

Ready for the party! Waiting for my friends to come!

Make a Wish!

This is Benny. Benny had a scary day on Friday. He got lost at Walmart. He and Gabby were both so sad, so I made a second trip to Walmart and luckily....I found him. He was laying on a shelf in the baby section next to some underwear. Poor Benny!

Some of our friends and family

Tiffy eating some cake! Yum!

Presents!!

Amber, Will and Max

Time to open presents!

Nolan wants to play with the toys

A helmet for my new bike!

Checking out the My Little Pony baby

"OH!"
Got some Twizzlers! Funny!

I HAD A GREAT DAY! THANKS FOR COMING EVERYBODY! BEING 3 IS FUN!

Gabbitude

Happy Birthday to my sweet little big Angel!!

When Gabby was just a baby, our neighbors, the Bauers, came up with this nickname: "Gabbitude" Boy, what a perfect fit for this girl! To this day, I still use that nickname, but it has mostly been shorten to "Tudes" or "Tuders"

I can't believe she is 3 already! Time goes by so fast! And I have to say that I am so proud of my "little" girl for doing so great with her potty training, just in time for her birthday!! Hip Hip Horray!

Today Gabby discovered that having a birthday is fun! Lots of attention! She brought treats to daycare to share and came home with presents! She got a musical book and coloring book from Kim and a blue stuffed cow from her friends Devin and Clara! Thank you so much everyone!! The cow has been named Benny and went to bed with Gabby tonight. "I not cry tonight," she said, "I hold Benny tight." She also received a special phone call from her cousins Erica and Morgan tonight, they called to sing Happy Birthday! So cute!

How old are you Gabby?

For her b-day this year, Gabby got a new big girl bike! She was very excited! The first few trys were a little drama filled, (she kept pushing the peddles backward instead of forward). She told me she wanted a different bike. You just have to keep trying I told her! She did....and within a few hours she was biking round the driveway all on her own! Yeah!!

Big Girl Bike

It's not working

{gabbitude}

A little help to get started

Gabby also got some fishies of her very own! The tank has special color changing bulbs, so it is really cool she says! The fishies have been named "Gum" and "Goldfish".

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone! Gabby is super excited about her party on Saturday! (thanks uncle Wayne for sharing your birthday and letting Gabby have her party that day)

This is where we hang

This is usually where we spend most of our evening. As soon as we are done with dinner, Gabby and Nolan are ready to go out! They also spend a lot of time on the trampoline :)

Swingin'

whee

cute girl

A picture of me & Kody, taken by Gabby

serious conversations happen on these swings

big boys swing too

Here I come sissy

Let me help you Nolie

Hey, get outta the way

Going up the wrong way

another picture by Gabby

Climbing on up

"What??"

Hair gel?

Nolan loves to eat and he likes to get creative with his food. One of his favorites is using his food as hair gel. His favorite kind? Ketchup, pudding and ranch dressing.

"I have to go potty."

Ok Potty, lets do this. You and me. We can do this.

Since Gabby is almost 3, I decided it was time to really enforce the potty. She has been partially trained for quite a while. She does really well at daycare, telling her when she has to go, and staying dry in her pull up all day at times. But at home, she just likes to go in her diaper. She doesn't want anything to do with the potty. She has gone a few times for me, but we can never get her to be consistant with it.

I decided July 23rd was going to be it. I told Gabby for a few days before hand that on Saturday she was going to wear underwear like a big girl and that she would use the potty like a big girl. No more pull-ups. Mommy is not buying anymore.

She said ok. Said she wanted to wear underwear like mommy and like Erica and Morgan. (yeah right, I thought to myself)

So, Saturday morning when we got up we ditched the pull-ups and she wore underwear. She did ok most of the morning. I kept asking her if she had to go, and to tell me when she had to go. She did ok that day. Four successes on the potty and about 3 accidents. I figured this was ok for our first day.

Sunday seemed to go backward. She peed on the floor right away, and continued to have more accidents. I think she had about two successes and more like 5-6 accidents. (Good thing we have hard wood floors)...URGH!

On Monday I told her she had to go to daycare with underwear. I sent along 4 extra pairs of shorts and undies and fully expected to pick her up wearing different clothes. Boy was I shocked when I got there at pick up and she was wearing the same clothes. "She did great!" Kim said. :) She told her (or Clara, a friend at daycare) everytime she had to go. They even walked to the park, played and walked home and Gabby held it the whole time!! YAY! I thought! She is going to do this nice and easy.

Not.

"Do you have to go potty?" That night, she had four accidents between 5:30 and 7:30. "Do you have to go potty?" Each time peeing on the floor in the house and then she started thinking it was funny. "Do you have to go potty?" Running around, laughing about it. Bryan and I did not think it was so amusing. "Do you have to go potty?" (annoying yet? I think Gabby thought so)

The next day, she did great at daycare again. This is good at least, I think. At least she is not peeing on Kim's floor.
That night, we decide to try a different tactic. We will not ask her if she has to go. We will not talk about it. We will not remind her every 15 minute that she should go. We do not talk about it. AT ALL.

She does great. (WHAT??).... She tells me at dinner she has to go. Then before we go outside to play I say "I have to go potty before I go out." and she says "Me Too!!" So we go, and thats it.

She has continued to do great since. She did have an accident Thursday night when her friend Will was over to play, but I think that is just because they were busy playing and she forgot.

Hoping this is it! So proud of my girl!!!
And happy that I don't have to buy pull-ups all the time anymore. She still wears them at night, but that's ok!

Goodbye pull-ups!!

Hello underwear!!

Such a big girl now!