Intense weekend.....with great progress

This was our intense potty training weekend....we kicked off the 3 day potty training method on Saturday morning. There are lots of little details about this method, but the main points would be to push as much liquid as possible, dress your child only in a t-shirt and underwear and then attach yourself to the child to get them to the bathroom as quickly as possible. Paul has been potty training using PullUps for several months - he knows what to do, but seems to be stubborn and didn't want to be consistent....hence the need for us to step up our game.

The first of many juice boxes of the weekend - this is quite a treat for Paul as we have never bought them. He doesn't typically drink much juice and when he does, it is pretty watered down. We needed things to keep him engaged in the pushing of the liquids part of the process.

We spent lots of time in the kitchen since it is a hard surface and easier to clean up any accidents. This was the first of many art projects - markers and stickers and big sheets of paper!

Then it was onto the Shrinkie Dinks.....such a flash back to my childhood. Paul colored a robot and his name and then enjoyed watching them shrink in the oven.

We figured out other ways to keep the liquid flowing.....with frozen fruit bars!

We kept a potty chart - Paul got to put a sticker on the potty chart each time he went to the bathroom. He was pretty proud.

With all of this progress being made, Paul got a special surprise.....a 3 foot long Percy puzzle.

Today he got a set of Cars stampers. We raided the dollar store for lots of fun and cheap things to do.

This morning we decided to make some cupcakes....Paul was my sous-chef and did a great job. He put the cupcake liners into the pan.....with quite a look of concentration.

After dumping the mix in the bowl, he got to pour the water.......

.....and then the egg whites.......

And after the cupcakes baked and cooled (and Paul took his nap), he got to help decorate them. In the end, they are adorned with sprinkles and chocolate chips and M&Ms. We both had lots of fun.

Paul made SO much progress this weekend. By Saturday afternoon (a mere 5 hours in) he was accident free. We went full speed with this method which meant he was wearing underwear for his overnight - and he had 2 accidents during the night which meant we all had to get up.....LONG night and EARLY morning. He made it through this morning with only 1 small accident. It was a great day! He took a nap and stayed dry the whole time.

Overall, we feel the weekend was quite successful. It was a bit brutal to stay in the house for the weekend but we made such great progress. Here's hoping the week continues on this roll....

Date night!

So when I arrived home from work today, I found my loving husband splayed on the couch looking a bit like death......and Paul was happy as a clam watching some tv and running around without pants on. Hubs was feeling pretty rough and Paul was certainly taking advantage of the situation. I sent Jason up to lay down in bed and Paul and I hung out for a while before getting fully dressed and heading out for an impromptu date night.

Paul got to pick and he wanted a cheeseburger so we headed to Culvers. Paul was on great behavior and really enjoyed his one on one time with momma.


BIG drink of milk!
And a french fry.....no pic of the cheeseburger.

And of course ice cream to wrap it up!

Paul has been potty training for a LONG time....still not consistent and doesn't seem to matter if he poops or pees in his PullUp. We haven't really pushed it as we assumed he would decide on his own when he was really ready. Well.....we have now decided that WE are really ready. The boy is 3-1/2 years old and still very inconsistent. So, we are going to try the 3 day potty training method after hearing that it worked like a champ for several of our friends. We have both read the program and will read it again a few times to make sure we are ready. One of the planning steps is to allow your child to pick out his own big boy underwear. Even though we had bought underwear a while back, this time he got to pick it out and really be in control of that part of the process. Mommy and Paul headed to the store and he got to pick out 3 packages of underwear....he picked Spiderman, Thomas and Lightening McQueen. No surprises there. We already had a package of Thomas and Lightening, so we will add to the mix. Saturday morning will be day 1 of the program and based on what we have heard, this will be rather intense.

Proud little man with his new undies!

I feel bad that our date night was a result of daddy being sick, but I must admit that we had a fun time tonight. Let's hope daddy gets to feeling better quickly and this weekend of intense potty training goes smoothly...no pressure!

Go Bears!

Today was the second Bears game of the season....and to our chagrin, it wasn't going to be aired on our local Fox station (darn Green Bay Packers were on). We refuse to pay the huge bucks associated with the Sunday Ticket but we did look into the cost of buying just today's game - it was $45! So instead, we decided to teach Paul the art of watching the Bears in your local sports bar. Yeah, I was concerned that this might look like poor parenting, but in our defense it is a restaurant/bar. So we all put on our best Bears gear, packed a backpack filled with things for Paul to do and headed out in the rain to catch the game. They were showing it on the big, big screen and we got great seats in the midst of lots of other Bears fans. We ordered our lunch and chowed down while watching the game.

Paul kept cheering GO BEARS! Too cute.....


Of course we included the iPad in the backpack and Paul had lots of fun with his Thomas games and Angry Birds. Check out the look of concentration.

We stayed until nearly the end of the third quarter and then decided it was getting a little rowdy and it was time to leave.....the beer had been flowing at the tables around us and the Bears weren't looking very good which meant the quality of the language was slowly going downhill.

Here's the best part....as we jumped into the car to head home, Jason made a very astute observation. We ended up spending $38 on lunch, snacks and drinks.....and we could have stayed home in our comfy clothes for just $7 more. I laughed hysterically since we were so adamant that we wouldn't pay that much to watch the game....and then we did! No worries, we all had fun and ate yummy nachos and chicken wings.

We knew it was a risk to move West and not be assured that the Bears would be televised in our market.......and it is disappointing when it happens.....but we have confirmation that next week will be televised and you know that we will be watching!

Fun with Kingston!

In an effort to make progress towards moving Paul into his new big boy room, I spent several hours this morning going through multiple tubs of his old clothes. I have saved just about every single piece of clothing that Paul has had in the last 2-1/2 years.....and let me just tell you how extensive his wardrobe was when you see it all laid out in one place. I went through every single shirt, pair of pants and pair of pajamas....and as I went through it, I went for a walk down memory lane. This was the shirt that Paul wore the first time we took him to our church or my coworker Sue gave him this shirt.....it was so much fun to go back through lots of memories that are attached to each piece of clothing. And then my OCD tendencies kicked in and everything quickly got sorted by size and type.

In the end, I had 2 garbage bags filled with donations for Goodwill and another 15 grocery sacks sorted and labeled and stuffed full of clothes. Another bag filled with shoes and a stack of 4 winter coats, 2 pairs of snow pants and a few lighter jackets. We hauled the pile of grocery sacks over to my coworker's house for her little man. He is about 9 months old and will put all of these clothes to great use.....oh, and it gave us a great excuse to go visit the little man! So after dinner tonight, we stopped over to drop off the clothes and spend some time with Kingston. Paul was thrilled!

Hey Paul, maybe you should grab Kingston a little lower...he looks concerned that you might strangle him! (no children were harmed during the taking of these pictures)
Okay momma, how about I move my hands down here? Kingston looks much happier now.

Everyone say cheese!

Can't wait to see Kingston sporting some of Paul's cool threads....although I was a little sad to get rid of so many of Paul's clothes. Weird, I know, but I guess I am a bit sentimental. However, now that the clothes are sorted and gone, we will focus on the toys and books and getting his new room into good shape to start the painting....and then we'll order his new furniture...and then...and then......it's a bit overwhelming, but one thing at a time.

Catching up - Labor Day and then some

Jason packed up his tent, grabbed a buddy and went camping for Labor Day weekend....well, that was the plan anyway but more on that later. GranJo came up for a visit while Big Daddy was gone. On Saturday, we decided to take Paul to Pump It Up again since he loved it so much last time and has been talking about it non-stop ever since. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day and lots of other kids chose to go at the same time. They were actually full so we were going to have to wait about an hour before we could get into the next play session. To kill time, we grabbed some ice cream and play time at a nearby McDonalds. Paul decided to steal a lick from GranJo's ice cream cone!
He had fun playing in the nasty play place (I cannot stand those places, but sometimes desperation allows you to do things you wouldn't normally do). We wiped down with disinfecting wipes and headed back to Pump It Up.....and even though this picture is a little funny, I had to prove what a good sport GranJo was to actually climb into a bounce house and play with Paul.

The weather did not cooperate with Jason's camping plans, so he came home on Saturday instead of Sunday.....defective tent was to blame coupled with some rainy weather. He was pretty disappointed but maybe he will try again soon.

On Monday, the weather was SO beautiful and it was the last game for our local minor league baseball team....so we headed to the stadium along with LOTS of other people - the stadium was packed! We started strong - hot dogs and popcorn. Man this kid loves popcorn.

Then Paul got a little weird - very clingy and acting pretty tired and snuggly.....

And then he got a little squirmy and giggly....but eventually pooped back out on our laps. Turns out he had a little virus and was running a fever - we stayed until the 8th inning and then headed for home. He was fine, but I think likely explains his strange behavior.

I think my kid is obsessed with strawberries...he could eat an entire container if we let him. He just loves his strawberries!

And summer is not summer without a root beer float...another special treat and favorite in the house.

We are sitting here watching the first Bears game of the season while Paul should be napping (but isn't). Hard to believe it is the end of summer and the beginning of football season.

It is the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and the day has been an emotional one. It's hard to believe it has been 10 years and while I hope that we never have to deal with another national tragedy like this, I am realistic enough to know that we probably will. It's a scary world and I know that I cannot protect my kids from what might happen....I can only teach them tolerance and compassion. I can teach them to be thankful for our freedom and for those that serve to protect it. I can teach them to love each other and never take family for granted. While I can only hug one of them right now, the other has been in my thoughts a lot lately. We are creeping towards her first birthday which brings mixed emotions for me. I am hopeful that next year at this time, we will have 4 Bears fans cheering for our team instead of just 3.

Cousins Rule!

Paul has 2 of the best cousins a boy could ask for....they love to dote on him and are so generous to let him play with their electronics and show him how to play games (Fruit Ninja was the newest obsession). They came for a quick visit a few weeks back and the kids had so much fun together.

Jake and Paul waiting for their burgers at Red Robin.....
The boys took turns riding next to Paul in the backseat - it was Jon's turn and they clearly had a good time.

Telling secrets while waiting for our fro-yo.

Home for a little t-ball......I think the boys were surprised to see how far Paul could hit the ball.

Sweet boys at breakfast....

CHEERS....with bananas!

We were so thankful even though this was a quick trip - we don't get to see the boys as often as we would like so we we definitely make the most of every chance we get.