PT Day 6! Written by Daddy

Shayna had a “girls day” with Heather, so Kierra and I got to spend some quality time together!  I woke up feeling worried that Kierra wouldn’t be as good for me as she is with Shayna, but like normal, she exceeded all expectations!  She was a perfect little angel!

First of all, she woke up with a dry pull-up!  That made me a bit more confident!  She told me right away that she needed to potty, so off we went!  Kiki is definitely getting the hang of this, because she pees right away praising herself by saying “yaaay!” and clapping her hands.  I gave her a hug and kiss and showered her with praises.  Right after polishing off a bowl of oatmeal, she told me she needed to poop.  She barely sat on the seat when I heard a little splash!  I was soo proud of her!!

The rest of the morning went great!  She pooped again about 30 minutes after the first, and peed every 20 minutes or so.  She was drinking quite a lot of milk so I expected many trips to the potty.  I was geared up for at least one accident, but to my surprise, there weren’t any!  Well not until we went to the pool.

We decided to head to the Martinsville city pool for a quick splash in the water before heading to nana and papas.  We had no problems there, except she fell and got an owwy on her knee.  After that, she didn’t want anything else on do with the place, so we left.  We walked there, well I walked and she rode in her wagon… on the walk back she did have a very small accident in her swimming diaper, but I attribute that to the stress of scraping her knee.  Poor thing!

Kierra is soo perfect!  Everything we try to teach her, she learns very quickly.  But she’s also growing up waaaaaaay to fast.  I don’t miss the diapers, but I do miss doing everything for her.  She will always be my baby, no matter how big she gets!

It’s not hard to see we are both extremely proud of our little girl!

PT Day 5

So I'm thinking that 5 is our lucky number! I know tomorrow could be a different story, but my girl had ZERO...that's right ZERO accidents today!!!!!!! Holy moly is this mommy so proud of her little angel!! Not only did she not have any accidents but she actually POOPED in the potty!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't you think 5 is our lucky number?! I told you!  I must mention that we were out and about ALL day too. I was nervous she would have an accident in the car because sometimes she would say she had to potty, but she held it until we got into a store. AMAZINGGGGG!!!!!!!

This morning I was awaken by Kiki yelling, "potttyyyyyy!" I rush in her room to get her,  put her on the toilet, and she pee's right away! Wow.. I was impressed! A few minutes after breakfast she said she had to go potty again. I thought that was strange since she had just pee'd quite a bit 30 minutes prior.  My first thought was that she had to poop since she didn't at all yesterday.  I remembered some advice a friend gave me about having her read a book or look through a magazine. I thought this would be the perfect time to try so I grabbed a magazine (parenting of course). Kiki started looking at all the pictures and absolutely loved it. Before I knew it she had sat there about 10 minutes and then started grunting. I wondered if this was really going to happen!!!!! Was the girl seriously gonna finally poop!? Well...she got scared and jumped off the potty and ran into the other room saying, "pottyyyyyy!" I brought her back to the toilet real quick and she started grunting again and that's when it happened! She started to poop and was crazy happy with herself! Let me tell you... she didn't just poop, but she pooped, and pooped and pooped some more! Whew...what a relief!!!! For both of us! I'm sure her belly felt much better and I felt reassured that we were actually doing this PT business right! :) I promise we had a small party in the bathroom over this! Yes, if you are wondering, I did take pictures!  Seriously...what an achievement for the big girl! Loved this day and love seeing my girl so happy about her progress. I always ask her if she is happy after she potties and she says yes and then runs around for a few minutes singing the word happy over and over again.  So darling! I love these moments! :) 

Until next time, 

A proud proud mommy! 

Here is the photo of the day! Of course I cropped out the poop so you wouldn't be too grossed out! :) In this photo Kiki is telling me that she pooped!! BIG GIRL!

PT Day 4

I can't even begin to express how thrilled I am with Kiki's progress! We went to nana & papa's today and practiced going on the potty over there and she did fantastic! She did have an accident as soon as we got there, but after that she pee'd 3 times during the afternoon! I think I've mentioned before I give her a lot of extra fluids so she has more opportunities throughout the day to pee. Consequently, the girls gotta pee a lot!

We had to go to the mall and I didn't put a pull up on her this time while on the road. We made it there with no accidents! I was impressed. When we got to the mall, after about 30 minutes,  she started to pee and freaked out so I took her to the restroom and she finished out her pee in there. Such a smart girl she is! I have no clue how she could hold all that in after peeing a little in her pants. That takes talent and definitely not something I could do!!

She does get scared about using unfamiliar bathrooms, but she is definitely understanding more that it's okay to use them. She will tend to say, "I can't!" She is very proud of herself after she does though and I give her lots of praise telling her that she can do it!

The only thing I'm concerned about is that she isn't pooping on the potty. She didn't poop today (we weren't in the pool so she didn't get a chance to poop in there!) so I know she's holding it in. I'm going to try a couple new things tomorrow that were suggested and hopefully they'll help.

I  am happy to report that Kiki pee'd right before going night night!! Ty and I were ecstatic!  Previous nights she would just sit there and not doing anything, but she went a whooooole lot tonight. I love love love the progress!! We have a busy day planned tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing how that goes!

Until next time,

Thrilled and not so worn out mommy!

Here the big girl is clapping for herself for peeing right before bed :)

PT Day 3

Day 3 wasn't too bad. We had to get up super early and head to my dr's appointment so that meant Kiki would have a pull up on! She pee'd on the way to greenwood.  We had her sit on the potty when we got to the office, but she wouldn't go. When we got back home she did VERY well! She told me every time she had to potty and would go in the bathroom and pee! :) She did that three times. We went outside to play in the pool and she ended up pooping in her swim suit. She didn't tell me she had to potty, so I think she's scared to poop in the potty still. Maybe the end of this week she will get there.

In the evening we took a walk to nana and papa's and she ended up having 2 accidents there. She will have to get used to other people's toilets! That's the next step in the potty training process I suppose. She was out of her regular routine and was a little confused.  After Kiki pee'd Ty took off her clothes in the kitchen and the panty liner (yes, a panty liner) fell out of Kiki's panties!! We all laughed and laughed. Nana thought it was hilarious. The reason behind the panty liner, which is pretty genius, is that when Kiki doesn't make it to the potty in time she will dribble a little. This saves her "cute pan-e's" from getting a little wet! (AND saves on laundry, so that's a bonus!)  :) Pretty nifty, right? I thought so!

Overall, I'm super proud of the progress she has made in 3 days!!! I know she isn't completely potty trained and may be no where near it, but I am thrilled at how things have gone. She is definitely getting the hang of it!  As long as we don't regress back to day 1 it will be "all good!" :)

Until next time,

Happy mommy!

And last but not least a pic of the sweet girl before bedtime! Day 3 complete! YIPEEEE!

PT Day 2

What a difference a day makes..that can be said for a lot, especially in the potty training aspect! We only had a couple of accidents today!!! WOO to the HOO!! She would tell me every time she had to pee. She is doing this thing where she will just dribble a little bit and then have to run back in to potty every 3 seconds, but hey at least she's getting the hang of it! Baby steps, right!? 

For nap time she refused to put on a pull up, so she went night night in her panties. She woke up an hour later crying saying that she had pee'd. I got her out of bed, cleaned her up, put a pull up on her and put her back to bed. She went right back to sleep. She didn't wake up dry though. I thought for sure she would because she had used the potty right before going to sleep. We were outside for a while and she drank quite a bit of water, so that's probably why!

I am soooooo ecstatic with how today went. I told Kiki when she first woke up this morning that all mommy wanted was for her to pee pee once in the potty and she exceeded my expectations by quite a bit! I'm excited to see how day 3 is going to play out. I have an early dr's appointment and thankfully Ty will be going with me so he can run her to the bathroom if need be. I'm thinking about having her wear a pull up since it's only the 3rd day and we haven't been out of the house yet during this potty training experience. 

Can't wait to write tomorrow to let you all know how she does! 

 Until next time, 

One proud mommy!!!!

Last but not least here is a pic of the happy girl on the potty right before bed!!!

Potty training...

There should be some type of parenting class that prepares parents for this phase in our child's life! We started potty training yesterday. Kierra for several months has been taking off her diaper and saying she needs to pee or poop. One day last week she actually took her diaper off and did pee in the potty!  Articles have said that when kids start doing that they are ready for potty training. They've also stated they aren't ready until they wake up dry from bed time. That is not something we are at yet, but we are using pull ups at nap time and night time.  She did wake up dry after her nap yesterday! I gave her lots of praise for that.

She loves wearing her big girl panties! She will look down and say, " awww cute pan-e's"  However, she doesn't quite understand the concept yet of you're not supposed to wet your panties. She did say "uh-oh" today when she pee'd in them so maybe she is catching on. This is day 2 of PT and I feel a lot better about it than yesterday. Yesterday completely wore me out. I definitely needed some "me" time ( which included a trip to walmart...yipee!)  when tyler got home for work. After 2 hours of being home he was completely exhausted from potty training! 2 HOURS!!! How in the world do us moms do it?!?

Regarding yesterday, we had no success. Well, she sat on the potty after her nap time so that was a step in the right direction. Before nap time she wanted nothing to do with the toilet, which is weird because last week she loved sitting on the toilet, of course she would do that the day we actually started potty training. She would arch her back and scream every time I sat her on the potty. Today she isn't doing that at all so that's a bonus! I've learned so far that this potty training business is rough....it takes LOTS of patience, staying strong, being positive when you want to scream your head off and loving your child through it all!! Whenever I feel completely overwhelmed I think to myself that pretty much everyone has gone through this and they lived through it, so we will too!

There's no turning back now! Pray for us all. :)

She just told me she had to go potty and went in the bathroom and sat on the toilet all by herself, so I am happy with that!! YAY!

Here is a picture from yesterday right before bed time.  Can't get much cuter than this!

Exciting News & Life Updates!

That's right! We are expecting, again! :) :) :) Kierra and her little sibling will be 23 months apart. Just to inform you, after Kierra was born we said she would be our only child. However, after seeing Kierra interact with other babies and kids even at a very young age, we knew she had to have a sibling and we wanted them about 2 years apart. Perfect timing, right? Kierra has such a sweet personality. She is a wonderful perfect loving little girl and a joy to everyone around her. She is very independent. She can sit and play with her toys for hours all by herself. My mom told me that's exactly how I was as a child! I hear Tyler was a pretty good baby too. We are blessed to have such an amazing little girl, that's for sure! Our 2nd one better be just as good. ;) Anyway, we know that she will be an amazing big sister. We can't wait for our little one to get here! I forgot to mention we aren't going to find out the baby's sex this time! It's going to be a SURPRISE!! Yes, me who does not like surprises at all. The sex of my baby is going to be a big surprise. I am scared, but know it will be so exciting. I can't plan ahead like I did with Kierra, but I know it will be worth it when the little baby comes out and we find out then :) I'm so looking forward to it! All the decorating and buying gender specific clothes will come later. Since the baby will be in our room for a while, I'm not too concerned about the room! We will have plenty of time to get it together. Oh, I am 16 weeks preggers and feel like I'm 40 weeks. I had NO clue how different pregnancies could be. Wowsers. Maybe I'll save the differences for another post all by itself. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but being a mother is one of the greatest joys i have ever experienced! God chose me to be a mother to Kierra (and baby #2) and that is one of biggest blessings ever in my life besides allowing me to be a wife to Tyler! :)

Everything is going great! We moved into a home in Martinsville (no comment) last month. I have to say I liked living in Greenwood much better, but am very thankful to have a home where the kids will be able to play in the backyard and call it their home, instead of an apartment. There isn't much to do here. No malls 5 minutes down the road. Lame story times at the library. Sirens that blast by our house every 3 minutes..morning, noon, and night. Yeah, our house faces the main street in Martinsville, so it's pretty crazy. If we want to get out and do anything we have to head north or south. We do have a park a few blocks away, so that's a good thing! :) It's taking a while to get used to...that is for SURE! We are definitely further away from our church, which is kinda a bummer. I loved being a 2 minute walk away from church. If you didn't know, we attend Emmanuel Church of Greenwood! You should definitely check it out sometime! Our senior pastor is Danny Anderson. He is a amazing christian and challenges us every single week to be a better follower of Christ. He is a true example of how a christian should be. What you see is what you get and I really appreciate that. Admitting when you sin is never easy, admitting it to over 2500 people has to be extremely difficult. But, Danny admits his sins to everyone and how to wipe that sin away and not do it again, which is what the bible says we should do, confess our sins to one another. No one is perfect, we are all sinners, so that is a very important step to becoming more Christ like. When is the last time you told someone you are a sinner? Very hard to do, right? Danny had us verbally say last week, "My name is _____ and I am a sinner." Who wants to say that out loud? It was an eye opener, that's for sure! Just like every week!

Speaking of church, God has really dealt with us (my hubby and I- which I think he needs to start a blog!) and made us look deeper at our relationship with Him this past year (2011). When we are far from our Father He has a way to get us on the path he wants us to be. God uses our trials to grow our faith, that's for sure! 2010 was a rocky year, but God had a plan for us that we didn't understand at the time. I wouldn't trade it for anything now though, along with all my other trials throughout my life! Going through a rough time is never fun, but there is always a reason for it! And we must give God all the glory for what He does for us. I realize I don't get him enough praise for everything He has done, and I am working on that! I am so happy that I am now living my life for Him and not others! For so long, I put other first without realizing how wrong I was. I would go days, weeks, months, and not even consider my relationship with God. Even though I claimed I lived for Him, I was so far away it was scary! It's funny how people aren't concerned when they should be, and are too concerned when they shouldn't be! God has to be #1 in our lives. We must be God-centered, not self-centered. Nothing else matters but believing in Christ. 1 John 3:23. It's one of the greatest commandments! I'm just so thankful for everything God has done for me and my family. Just a side note: I'm thankful that every service I want to get up out of bed and get ready and am excited about it! That is a big change for me, and I have to admit I love it! I've been through a lot and God deserves all the glory, because without Him, I know I wouldn't be here today! Remember- God has a reason for EVERYTHING! Not our will..but God's will be done in all of our lives!

Until next time,


Prego!

P.S. Here are a couple of pics from Kiki's 1 year photos! She will be 18 months on the 14th. Can't believe it!!