Potty Training Day 1

Well I finally broke down and started potty training little lamb. I honestly didn't feel he was ready but he's proving me wrong. He's sat on the potty 4 times today. The first time nothing but he really tried. The second time he tried hard again, really concentrating and he went # 1. The third time around he went #1 and #2!! I was amazed and very proud. And the fourth...nada. It hasn't been perfect. He's gone in his diaper many times today but I'm still proud he's trying. He knows exactly what the potty is for and he wants to use it. The knowledge and the drive is there but we will see how well each day goes. Justin thinks he will be potty trained by the end of the week. I laughed at him because its an unrealistic expectation.  Yes Lanie potty trained fast but every kid is different and Liam's been through a lot. I give him a month and he will he using the potty more than a diaper during the day. I don't expect him to be perfect. I expect accidents, maybe a few melt downs over said accidents. He's a smart boy so he will figure it out in his own time. 

To help Liam stay on the potty longer without getting bored and wanting off Justin suggested giving him a magazine. Normally I'd give him a book because that's why worked with Lanie. Only Liam's attention span is shorter so he uses his kindle to do puzzles during potty time. Hey it works!

Lanie's Birthday Day

We didn't do much the day of Lanie's birthday but she said it was the best birthday yet.

For breakfast she got whatever she wanted.

She started off with a chocolate doughnut and chocolate milk..

Followed by pancakes and beacon.

Hello Kitty shaped pancakes.

See the theme?

She LOVES Hello Kitty.

We took the cake over her Grandma's.

Can't be a birthday without cake in the face!

Then opened GrandParents gifts

See that look of "aww"?

Thats over the matching nightgowns she got for her and her doll Mollie!

Yep she loves that doll that much!

Then at the end of the day,

after getting home,

we let her and Mollie open up presents from us.

YES WE GOT MOLLIE PRESENTS!

Lanie says they have the same birthday,

so I figured it couldn't hurt.

Mollie got her very own Boxer puppy.

Lanie and Mollie got matching hair bows.

Lanie got a cute butterfly sweater and this beautiful dress perfect for Easter.

Along with hair bows to match both.

She got several coloring books,

sticker books,

and other little things.

And...

A salon chair for Mollie so Lanie can do her hair.

Birthday Park Playday

Lanie had a blast for her 6th birthday.

Saturday the 8th she got to visit with Aunt Rose, Uncle Cliff,

Stephanie and Tyler.

They took her to Mc Donald and the park.

Litte Miss Birthday Girl

Liam loving the swings

She said she was too high and didn't like looking down

but put on a brave face for the camera.

Liam had a blast climbing the jungle gym all by himself.

The look of pure joy

Trying to see who can swing higher

Oh and the most amazing of all!!!

Once a Daddies girl,

Always a Daddie's girl.

Right before I snapped both these pictures Lanie begged

"Daddy swing me please, daddy swing me"

I love it!

Baby You're Sick

I should have known better than to think that Liam would escape Cold/Flu/RSV

season unscathed. It started about a week and a half ago with his allergies. At that time I increased his benedryl from just at night to every 6 hours to help combat the symptoms. I also tried keeping him inside. Problem was every time I turned around big sister or daddy had let him outside. Still he seemed fine.

But of course he had to go to a doctors office where I am sure he must have

caught something on top of his allergies. That or he caught it when we had to run out to the store. We've tried not to take him out of the house for this very reason. I know some of you probably are thinking that you can't keep a kid sheltered and secluded inside the house for that many months. Which we usually do from late September to at least April. We've tried very hard and you're right. It is pretty darn impossible to NEVER take him out somewhere along the way but we try. And we do this for his own health.

It seems to never fail. A soon as Liam gains some weight back, he gets sick, stops

tollerating full feeds and looses all the weight it took 6 months to gain. We are very blessed that he hasn't ended up in the hospital over this yet. This time last year, a cold landed him admitted in the hospital for at least 5 days minimum. Thanks to the synagis shot protecting him from RSV, when he caught RSV in January 2013 he was able to fight it off at home. Too bad they don't have something that works that great against colds.

I'm assuming he caught a cold but with Liam when his allergies get severe enough he has the same symptoms so it's very hard to tell. I know the last two night, last night more than the night before, was pretty bad on him. Last night he was up every hour on the hour. He ran a low grade fever and coughed the whole night. He was miserable. I gave him Motrin at bedtime, then again at 3 am and that kept the low grade fever away. Milk of Magnesia helped his upset tummy but not his diaper. I had to continue to change his diaper every few hours last night because it gave him the runs. Good news is it helped him tolerate 45 mls an hour of feeds. His normal rate is 80 mls per hour so you can be sure he's loosing weight as each hour passes. If I can just get that cough to subside he would be able to tolerate more.

Unfortunately he's not the only one in the house not feeling 100%. Big sister Lanie Bug is having allergy issues of her own. She has been very hard to keep inside. It's been a fight. She hates being inside, especially when someone is outside. Daddy has been outside all weekend working on the car and she wanted to be right there playing the entire weekend. Even though she felt worse that night from it. I told her this morning there was no way she could go outside today because she had school tomarow. That if she did she would get worse and not be able to go to school. Her eyes got huge and she agreed to stay inside. She hates missing school. If only it was that easy to keep Liam wrangled lol.

On top of no going outside, all doors are staying shut today so allergens don't come inside.
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate allergies. I too have been suffering. I finally figured out why my face kept breaking out. I am allergic to the concealer I was using. It's been a few days since I've worn any and my face it clearing up now. My nose and throat are suffering from the pollen and dust in the air. It's winter yet the last few days have felt like late spring/early summer. We had some rain last week but it wasn't enough to clean out the nasty air. I swear socal is the worst place for any with allergies or asthma to live. It's time again for the air purifiers to come out.
 
Of course with two "sick" kiddos, I've been on germ patrol. Lysol
everything. And in doing the sanitizing and cleaning everyday for the last week I've realized how very small our house is. With the kids getting bigger the place seems to be getting smaller. I thought as they got older it would be easier to keep the place clean and everything in its place but I was so very wrong. Instead the kids make more messes and getting them to clean up is a headache. Every little mess seems huge because this place is so small. This weekend I felt like the walls were closing in on me. I thought maybe we had too much stuff and started trying to figure out what we could get rid of. Then I realized that it's because we have no storage in this house. What I need is a professional organizer to come in and revamp everything or lots of money to do it myself lol. Our house didn't feel this small when we moved in.

Oh well, like in all things, I'll find a way to make it work.

In other news:
Liam is ready for a big  boy bed!!
Yep, you read that right.
Liam is ready for a big boy bed!!
hehehe
I love saying that.
My task today is to tackle Liam's room and organize it.We need to get it ready for a toddler bed,
and toys need to be picked up and put up.
Justin and I have to decide now if we're going to go buy him a character toddler bed from say Walmart or Target or if we just want to build a short base to put his mattress on so it's low to the ground for him and to just make it last until he is ready to be moved to a twin bed. To put a twin bed in his room would be difficult with all his medical supplies. I would have to store them somewhere else and we've already tackled the fact that this house is really small so there really is no where else to put them.

Anyhow,
I'm exhausted from lack of sleep.
Waiting for my coffee to kick in.

<3 aubin="" p="">

Ninja Mommy

I am a firm believer every mom needs some sort of ninja training.

Why?

Who wants to wake up the sleeping baby? The only real peace and quiet we get when our kids are young are either when they are asleep or when they are not home. 

We also need ninja stealth to sneak away from the kids to use the bathroom without one attached to our leg. 

All joking aside, we do need to know how to sneak around the house at times. If I don't sneak to the bathroom, I have a 2 1/2 year old monkey boy following me and staring at me as I use the toilet. He even brings toys and makes himself comfortable. I swear if he had one of those kid couches he would drag it in there!! It a little disturbing. He even flushes he toilet for me. It may come in handy when he's ready to potty train, and it may not. Liam does this because he ha an attachment disorder. From the minute he wakes up to the minute he alls asleep this boy wants me in his sights every minute. If he does 5 minutes without seeing me, he runs through the house yelling "mom...mom...mooooom!!!". 

I do have I share that one day he followed me in there about a week, week and a half ago and had his trains. He looked up at me out of the blue and says "mom". I said "what baby?". His brown eyes get bigger and he says "love you mom". At that point in time I stopped doing my hair and makeup and sat there and just held him in a right hug. 2 1/2 years and my baby boy finally told me he loves me. My heart melted. 

So how is Liam doing? 

Well since December he has gained 1 1/2 pounds. He's become extremely active and hyper. He can run pretty fast. In fact yesterday when we were outside playing he started running so fast that he fell and bounced off the ground back up into a standing position and resumed running. I laughed so hard.  He thought he was amazing. He's also talking up a storm, repeating just about everything and saying sentences. He went to help his daddy work on the car yesterday and just ran circles around the car lol. 

And Lanie?

She turned 6 last weekend. 6!!! Where did those 6 years go? They flew by so fast. She's doing great in school. Her teacher keeps telling me what a joy she is to have in class. She's reading!! That amazes me. She brings home a new book every day and reads it to Liam and I. Lanie is very creative. She's made enough pictures in one week to cover her entire room once over. 

Being a stay at home mom again took about a week to adjust to and about a month before I stopped trying to escape the house. Still living cramped in this small house can be a toll with a growing family. As the kids get older they require more room and acquire more stuff. I swear one day the house will burst open lol ;) Our boxer "puppy" took over the laundry room as his bedroom. I've received my eviction notice and need to move all my craft stuff out and back into the cramped closet. I don't mind so much. He's a good dog. The kids love him and he's helped Liam with his texture issues. 

Well off for now. Liam is demanding my attention 

On the verge of 6

Well tomarrow my baby girl turns 6 :,( She's growing up way to fast. I still remember the day he was born, getting to hold her for the first time and spending her first night with just the two of us cuddles together. She was so tiny and beautiful. She still is beautiful. And so very smart. 

Today we are celebrating with strawberry cupcakes topped with purple frosting and sixletts. Aunt Rose and Uncle cliff are surprising Lanie and bringing Tyler and Stephanie and taking her to lunch at her favorite place... McDonalds lol. She is going to have a blast.