Potty Training-Fun. Fun. :p

So, all my girls have always given me this "1 week window" to potty train. My twins showed extreme readiness around 18 months. I had nothing else to do really, so...2 potty seats were bought, and in a week..viola, potty trained twins. Well. Not that easy. But you get the idea ;) Audrey, my third born, she also hit that 1 week window at around 18 months...but because she had a baby sister who was 4 months old, and I was breastfeeding like a mad woman, I just didn't want to take on potty training! After that 1 week window, she lost all interest in running to the toilet with mommy, and getting new undies. It had lost it's appeal. She is 2.5 now, and although she is somewhat potty trained...it's still a 50/50 chance of her making it to the toilet. I know lil ones will have accidents, but she has just no desire to even make it to the toilet :p SOOO, Alexis, who will be 18 months soon, is in her 1 week window of readiness! She beams with excitement when I say "oh hurry, mommy has to go potty, lets go!!"....she is in love with her undies and her potty seat. Yesterday was day 1...which consisted of her running around nakey butt, and me watching that lil bare bottom like a hawk...just waiting for leaks to spring haha Everytime she peed, I would rush the toilet to her "potty, potty, seeeee, potty". So, this morning, diaper came off, and I reminded her, potty goes in toilet. That child has a bladder like no other girl I know though...I kept offering liquids (more liquid, means...more pee...means...more opportunities!). So...she stayed dry, ALL morning! And just as I thought, "I need to make lunch", she pees. Ug. So...we cleaned up the "mess, oh no, mess". And I start up the liquid routine again. Still. nothing. 5pm. Time for dinner....and...yep...missed it AGAIN! Just as I was thinking, maybe she's not ready (I think this everytime too haha), she grabs herself, grunts....and sits on the potty seat. And yay. our first success of the day! haha Poor thing, she wasn't as ecstatic as I was about showing her poo in a bowl to everyone in the house, making them clap haha.

So, tomorrow is Day 3. Having done this 3x before, I have almost a detailed chart of what will happen next. Day 3 and 4 are usually bad and messy. I just have to stick it out til that Day 5 when it clicks! HOWever, non of my kids have pooped on day 2..always day 4, lol so maybe ...we will be lucky this time? :)

Well...my kiddos want to go outside...to I'm off to the great outdoors....carrying my potty seat with me. :p

I'm picking up the ole' blogging again :)

Soooo....been awhile! I could write an epic on my new business, how it got started, plans, dreams, etc. But ...don't want to hehe. This is my "mommy place" =)
So, to recap...the twins are 7 now, little Audrey, is not so little wearing 4-5T clothes and will be turning 3 in September! And my baby, my sweet last lil baby, is now almost 18 months soon! I am VERY proud of myself (and her!) that we made it to 15 months breastfeeding! Was hoping to make it to two, but she was done...I wasn't. lol I cried like a baby the first 2 weeks :( There are so many books about "how to wean baby" and make it "easier for baby"...but there aren't any that I'm aware of that talk about babies weaning their mommies off of the cuddle time! Yes...I have become quite the softy with each kiddo!
We are finishing up 2nd grade with K12, and if all continues to go as planned, will be done end of May! Then going to start Abeka Video Academy this fall- cannot believe the girls will start THIRD grade! It's so strange to have daughters this age. I remember having boyfriends at 7...I remember all my friends! What I enjoyed playing, the "crazy talk" me and my sisters had. It's just...neat, to hear those two whisper stories to eachother all the time, and a lil scary that half the time it IS about boys and "when I get boobs like mommy" haha! Sometimes, I feel like all I do, all day long, is get on to them about back talking, not picking up, and aggravating their sisters...but at the end of the day, and in the bigger picture, I have some wonderful young ladies that have incredible personalities! It's what I console myself with at the end of the day anyway :p

We (well, Michael) plowed up our garden plot for this summer...so yes, the "Dreaded" gardening process has begun! I love gardening...I loved having fresh, organic produce from our garden in our freezer all winter....but a large garden is like a newborn baby. You love them...but it's the day to day work involved that gets tiring! So, we will be spending the weekend ...planting those little seeds! I'm excited that this year, Alexis is a "toddler" now, and can entertain herself playing in the dirt. Last year it was difficult to garden with a 6 mo old...who..wanted to just eat the dirt.

That's pretty much it for now! I am really hoping to get back into the groove of updating this =)

What's goin' on!?

So, been awhile :) I don't plan to write on this blog everyday hehe, as it could get verrrry boring really quick! Nothing out of the ordinary going on! Been working on our massive garden all summer, and I'm pleased to see some plants finally dying off! It's almost a revengeful feeling. I see the 100+ bushes of beans, starting to brown and fade away, and I feel like I have in some way conquered them all! "mwaahahaa, take THAT you beans! You did not defeat me!" Yea. been spending way too much time in the kitchen! But we sure have put up a bunch of food in the freezer anyway! Probably about 200 ears of corn, 15 gallons of green beans, 15+gallons of pumpkin (most of which has been pureed into babyfood), 5 gallons of sliced bell peppers (Great for Bratwurst later!), 5 or so gallons of zucchini slices, 15 qts of grated zucchini (for bread! mmm!) and a few bags of yellow squash. But the war is not over yet! LOL I have only triumphed over the corn and green beans. We still have cucumbers, tomatoes, and PUMPKINS coming out our ears! I am cooking 2 pumpkins in the oven right now...and still have 2 more on the table staring at me...and another 2 to be picked in the garden. UG and to think they sell these things for $5-$10 a shot come Halloween time! Highway robbery that is!

Let's see what else. The girls school supplies arrived last week! I can't believe they'll be starting 2nd grade! I remember 2nd grade being SUPER fun when I was little! So hoping it will be the same for them :) Audrey is officially completely potty trained...another big thing! Alexis...I started her on cloth diapers about 3 weeks ago, and LOVING it! I wish I had started this way back when! It's so easy, and SO much cheaper! I feel a little on the weird side though...organic garden growing, homemade babyfood, cloth diapers, breastfeeding LOL what's my life coming to? haha. There is a sense of pride though, this feeling of independence from the grocery stores! Now...if I start making my own deodorants, come konk me on the head! :p

That's about it! If any of you moms have any questions for me, email me! I'll answer them on here (I need topics! :) mkaaw@bellsouth.net


I took this pic the other day, turned out SO well! I don't make a habit of taking breastfeeding pics and posting them on the web hehe, but I figured this one is pretty "Safe".

It's summer time!

So now that school is out, I have 3 months with my kids home, and I don't know what to do with them. HA. no. I guess one advantage to homeschooling is you aren't thrown into that "what do I do with them" feeling! I have that feeling aLOT actually :p I do want to make summertime fun for them though....summertime..is summertime for every kid! It's been hard to come up with things to do without having a car here at home, but I did manage to fill up their little calendar of June with things to do! Autymn informed me today that "Tomorrow is sorbet making day" :) So, I'm glad she is looking forward to it!

Summer time also means..GARDENING! I was really apprehensive about starting a garden this year with having 2 lil ones already taking up lots of time and energy, but I'm glad Michael talked me into it! It is so rewarding to go out and grab a huge bundle of fresh green beans for dinner, or pick a few zucchinis to make some bread! The corn and pumpkins are almost ready too! Yes. I said pumpkins lol WAY too early for those things to be popping up, lol I haven't decided if I'm going to make a jack-o-lantern for July 4 yet or not! haha Hey, I'll start a new tradition. Be kinda cool actually. A bunch of pumpkins carved with a flag on em, and fireworks going off in the distance! Very patriotic I think. Who knows, maybe we'll grow pumpkins year round...carve a heart and put it on the porch for your valentine! HAHA

So that's been my life lately :) Audrey has been potty trained for a week now, SO glad that is over! and we are saving a good $50 a month on diapers now! And having just one in diapers again..is nice :)


"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." (Deuteronomy 31:8)

It's JUNE...already!?

I really don't know where the time goes sometimes! Weird how, time never changes, but how we feel towards it... does! You can throw yourself in the most emarrassing situation, and time suddenly STOPS lol It's like everyone is goingin slo-mo! You have time to critique every little detail, on everyone's faces, you see yourself doing whatever it was you were doing and it's like WHOA..this is weird. haha. I bet though that would be a great way to live life! (without the embarrassing part!)What if before you said anything you were able to anaylze everyone's faces, and how you said it. Better yet, what if you did that when you were having a bad day! Speaking of bad days and lessons learned! We hit the beach this past weekend, and although the kids did great, Alexis still had a hard time adjusting to the hotel room and her new surroundings. I don't blame her, I can't sleep hardly at all in a new place. Anyway, she had me up pretty much all night. I always feel bad at hotels, lol I just know the entire hotel guests are down in the lobby, threatening the family with the baby in room 203 "that baby kept me up allll night" "me too!" "let's ban her and the baby from staying at this hotel..ever!" ha. right. But for some reason, i feel it my duty to not let the baby make more than a peep! SO, Sunday morning finally comes around, and I'm dead dog tired, LOOOK dead dog tired...and when I'm ready to pass the baby off to Michael so I can catch some z's...that's when the other 3 kiddos jump awake "we going swimming now!?" Now, 2 yrs ago, I believed the saying "if Momma's ain't happy, ain't nobody happy". I would have been quite upset "I don't KNOW if we are going swimming, mommy was up ALL night, and needs a coffee and a nap to half function!" Followed with the usual snaps throughout the day, all under the excuse of "I didn't sleep lastnight". Something I have learned though is, to take a step back, and look at everyone in the family...they are ALL happy and excited, and I'm the ONLY one who didn't get sleep, the ONLY one grouchy. So if I can just fix my attitude lol, and pretend the horrible night of sleep didn't happen..then we can actually have a terrific vacation day! So, I just applied a bit more concealer under my baggy eyes, sipped a coffee...oh wait, no, no coffee..forgot we couldn't find a coffee place. (yes, it added to my woe is me deep down feeling!) haha. But any rate, we had a good time! and it could have been worlds worse if I had been a grumpy ole goat in the corner! haha

Been awhile :)

So it's been a few days since I last wrote :) The girls finally got over all their ailments...Autymn had pink eye, I kept her quaranteened in her room for 4 days! I was surprised though at how quick a certain lil home remedy worked though! Day 1 her eyes were SO red and swollen, looked creepy! Day 2, I was told to try "breastmilk drops" in her eyes. I figured..ah, why not! By the end of day 2, her eyes were just pink and puffy. Morning of day 3, just pink on the bottoms of her eyes. By evening, NO pink! By day 4, NO signs of pink eye! So yea, if you happen to be lactating the same time you kids get pink eye..there's the tried n true trick! Sadly, during that time of boobie drops in the eyes...Alexis came down with a 103 fever, then Audrey (who also added puking to that), then Ashleigh..so I was quite busy. The celebration for letting Autymn out of her room, quickly ended the next day, when SHE got sick! I was just glad to get it ALL through everyone's systems! Poor Alexis was quite cranky, she had that virus AND cut her first tooth same day!

This past saturday, I threw my first (and successful at that!) surprise party for Michael! It was a pretty good turn out! I had invited about 30 or so people, and about 20 made it. I was slightly agitated that some people never RSVP'd...WHO doesn't RSVP when all it requires is a simple email back. But anyway. lol I survived :p Michael was totally surprised...we had air horns and all! hehe. Which brings me back to TODAY...his REAL birthday. And, I totally forgot to plan :( I have no dessert to make..no special dinner, and no plans. Poor guy. But..he is a guy. So..shouldn't be TOO hard. hehe

Let's see what else in my crazy hectic life. Finished up school last week (yay!) The girls have their lil graduation June 1, they are siked about that! And since I finished school, I decided it would be a great time to get Audrey out of diapers and into the big girl world of Elmo and Dora underwear! I started this past Monday, and I'm so glad it's going really well! Monday was hopeless it seemed. Tuesday, we made some progress, but only because I was watching her naked butt the entire day and running her to the toilet. Wednesday, she cried with her wet underwear. And today! She has been dry all day! SO happy! It will be reallllly nice to not have to buy 2 large boxes of diapers twice a month!

That's all the news here! Wishing we had big travel plans for Memorial Day weekend...Michael is off sat-mon! oh well...lazy day at the pool I guess ;)

Wasn't it just last week..?

It almost feels like DeJavu with the kids being sick and me not having any sleep! Maybe. This is just real mommy life! So here I be, listening to the quiet whales (vs. the loud ones hehe) of a feverish baby...who is also teething, but not sure if the fever is JUST her teeth or more than that. It doesnt' really matter though. I have a sick, cranky baby, who has refused to sleep hardly a minute today...so you would THINK, she would have hit that crib hard and been fast asleep...yea. not happening. Then I have my toddler, in a playpen..in OUR closet...because. Autymn, who has been confined to the girls bedroom all week..has pink eye. Poor Ashleigh is laying next to me on the living room floor. I guess I should count my blessings though..nobody else has pink eye..so my hard endeavors to keep Autymn secluded..just might be paying off. I do however have this attitude of "I wouldn't be surprised if everyone wakes up with fevers and oozing pink eye in the morning!".

I sure am ready for this phase of life to kinda wrap it up. I WILL miss my lil cuddly babies, but oh to have a solid night of rest! I miss the days when it was just the twins, who at 4 yrs old could do pretty much everything we did..and have fun too! We could just hop in the car and head to the beach at 9pm on a Friday! Play all weekend, sleep in..we ALL enjoyed it! Now..we actually thought about hitting the beach this weekend, but the thought of actually having to DO something, is tiring! You know you are exhausted when going to the BEACH is tiring! We have both talked about how the thought of packing up everything, and toting the 2 lil ones at night, and keeping everyone happy at the beach for more than an hour..just sounds...exhausting!
So this is just our phase! I know next year we will be living it up!!! FUN times!

ANyway..on a more, not so mundane note! I did make the time in my crazy day to play with Ashleigh and Audrey, funny how if you just force yourself to have fun with them..you end up actually having fun! They had this ball with a handle (meant for like 3-5 yr olds to hold on and bounce on) Well...lol lets just say a mommy on one of those things..makes for some pretty hard laughes! That and I scared the daylights out of Audrey by hiding behind the piano and jumping out at her, ...it was HILARIOUS...but...I'm hoping it doesn't come back to bite me when she wakes up from nightmares LOL ...ah, oh well, I'll be up anyway!