Accidental Potty Training?

***WARNING*** - this got longer than I planned. I'm mainly writing this down for my sake, so feel free to skip it :)

We've been gearing up for potty training with Ari for a while now. We've talked about it with him and tried to make it sound fun and exciting. We've had a potty for him for a long time as well as a couple of books. Over the past few months he's definitely been more interested in it, but still not ready for a variety of reasons. I had planned on "hitting it hard" over spring break while he was out of school and thought we'd skip the Y to devote the week to it. In the weeks leading up to that I had planned to have him start sitting on the potty before nap and bed times. The first day he had a meltdown after I took off his pants. I scrapped my plans and decided the summer would be a better time.

Fast forward to yesterday. I have been trying to have some one-on-one Ari-Mommy time on Saturdays. It was too cold to go to the park so we went to Target to kill two birds with one stone (I needed to make an exchange and Ari enjoys Target). I thought I'd let him pick out his big boy undies while we were there, just the two of us. That way he'd know about them, know they were in the house for when he was ready. He picked out Thomas the Train and was so excited to show Daddy when we got home. So much so he wanted to try them on. We told him he needed to tell us when he needed to go and practiced sitting on the potty a few times. During dinner he said he needed to go and did! A while later he announced "I spilled pee pee down my leg" with his first accident. I changed him into a pull-up and told him they were the same as his Thomas undies. He told us again he needed to go and did! After being in bed about 30 minutes that night he started crying because he had felt himself go in his diaper. He went to church in a diaper this morning, but wanted to get back in his undies after we were home. He went potty before his nap and even slept in his undies. It was downhill after he woke up with 2 accidents in his Thomas undies and going in his pull-up at dinner (we ended up going out to eat on a whim). Oh well.

We're still letting him go at his own pace at this point. I plan to let his teachers know when I drop him off for school in the morning, though. I know he's comforatble enough there that he just might do it. I'm definely am not ready to deem him "potty trained" yet and know this will be a process with ups and downs. Who knew buying him his first real undies would get the ball rolling? I sure didn't :)

While the Cat's Away...

...the mouse will play! Ari and Keenan went to visit our neighbor one evening and Keira had a ball playing with big brother's toys without interruption!

Kansas Roaches

Three weeks ago (yes, I'm still that behind!) Yia Yia and Papa came for a weekend visit. Ari had so much fun playing with them and helping put up the courtyard fence. Yia Yia brought a cool bubble gun and Ari enjoyed wearing Papa's hat around the house. It was a chilly weekend, but we bundled the kids up for a few quick pictures. The pictures of the courtyard were taken a couple weeks later after Keenan had painted it and planted some new bushes. As usual, Ari was a big help :)

Who Says Strap Wrenches Are Useless?

Daddy's Shoes

Ahhhh...a sweet, brief moment of quiet and time to catch up! Here is the first of at least a few posts I've been holding on to. Enjoy!

Playing Catch Up

I am so behind on everything right now! Without going into detail, we've spent the past month helping support some friends through a really tough time. I'm definitely not complaining, but we've spent much of our "free time" (bed/nap times, weekends, etc.) with or for them and therefore my to-do list has been neglected. I was hoping to get caught up this week, but I forgot that it is spring break (i.e. Ari is not in school) and I need to get the house ready for my parents and sister to visit tomorrow. Who knew cleaning with two little ones would be about impossible!

So basically I'm trying to say, we're still here, still alive and well, just behind. Hopefully I'll get some new and exciting posts up soon. I did manage to get some pictures taken in the past month - just not uploaded.

Stay tuned! :)

Menu Blog

Food is definitely a big part of my day. It's in my blood. At every breakfast with my grandma (and now with my mom) we would be asked "What should we have for dinner?" It's a joke between my sister and me, but now as I manage my own house I can't help thinking "What's for dinner?" as I eat my waffle and drink my coffee. I set out to use this blog to give our family and friends a frequent glimpse into our lives. While menu planning is definitely a part of that it just seems, well, boring!

So it is with great pleasure I launch my Menu Mommy blog soley dedicated to weekly menus. I'm also hoping (big emphasis on hoping) to post more recipes for those without links. Please be sure to add this blog to your following list and keep the comments coming with your own menus and recipes! :)

Ari's Prayer

Keenan was putting Ari to bed tonight and just reported to me that Ari prayed for the first time! Here's what he added to Keenan's prayer:

"And help Al. And help Al's jellybeans. And help the big jellybeans and the little jellybeans. And help Mommy and Daddy and Keira. And help the helicopter."

Explanations:

Al is our 81 year old next door neighbor whom Ari loves. Every time Ari goes over there with Keenan, Al gives him jellybeans. The "big jellybeans" are actually Mike 'n Ike's and the "little jellybeans" are Jellybelly's. Keenan and Ari were playing with Keenan's RC helicopter tonight after dinner. I tried to fly it a few times and crashed it every time. :)

Menu Plan Monday

We had a very nice visit with Papa and Yia Yia (Keenan's parents) this weekend! Ari and Keira had so much fun with them and they helped us get our fence up for our new courtyard in front of the house. I'll get up some pictures and more details later this week.

I cooked up a pot of beans and a double-batch of creamy tomato sauce while they were here so we'll be enjoying leftovers this week (I'll be enjoying not cooking as much and we'll all enjoy eating them again!).

Monday - Simple Salmon Supper (salmon is finally on sale again!)

Tuesday - Jambalaya

Wednesday - Fettucine with Creamy Tomato Sauce and Italian Sausage

Thursday - Beans and Cornbread

Friday - Oriental Chicken Wraps

Saturday - Meatballs (from the freezer) with either sweet and sour sauce or BBQ sauce, rice and veggies

Sunday - Hamburger Helper and veggies