Trip to Anaheim – The Rental Car and The Hotel

The Rental Car

When we went to get our rental car, they said to just pick any car in the row and drive to the front.  The only problem is that all the cars already had customers.  So we stood there with the two kids, the bags, the two car seats that the rental company gave us and a huge side of frustrated exhaustion waiting for a vehicle. 

Finally as they were about to give us a Dodge Charger, they pulled up an SUV, a Buick Enclave, and gave us that.  It’s brand new (about 400 miles).  I’ve affectionately named it the bus as it is so much bigger than what I’m accustomed to, but it has been kind of nice to have all that space and I could get used to it. 

Features that I love:   

The side mirrors have lighted indicators if someone is in your blind spot.   It has a rear back up cam that shows your projected path and that indicates if you are getting too close to obstacles and that flashes if someone is coming down the row toward you.  I love the 60/40 split 3^rd row and the roominess of the “trunk” – we could just put the stroller up there without even collapsing it and still have plenty of space for groceries.   I loved that the back seat has there own a/c – that just doesn’t happen in a compact car, so my kids usually just roast.   The front console and the interior finishes were really nice.  It has leather, heated seats (back only which can be therapeutic or back and bum for cold weather).  It seemed to accelerate and turn pretty well which is saying a lot for someone who has a very small and therefore maneuverable car.  Oh, it seemed to have a Bluetooth link up to the phone, though I didn't test that out.  I have that in my current vehicle and have now deemed it an essential in the next one; it's totally awesome.  I’m guessing that there were a ton of other features that I haven’t even gotten to yet.  Not sure of the price point on this thing, but if you’re in the market, you may want to check it out. 

*Note – when I returned home, I was a little sad to get into my tiny car.  I also noted how much smoother the Enclave was on the road. 

The Hotel

Our hotel was determined by Brian’s company as it was a business trip and all Dell people stayed in the same place but it worked really well for us and it was a pretty nice hotel.  I believe it was once an Embassy Suites.  Our room had a spacious bathroom, a little living area and a bedroom.  They provided us with two pack n’ plays for the girls that we put in the living area.  It was nice to be able to close the door between them and us in the evenings after we put them down.  The night of our arrival they had free fajitas so that was a treat and they were good.  They also have a yummy breakfast buffet.  Brian got it for free everyday and we just joined him on the weekend.  They also have a good, little fitness center and two pools (one indoor and one outdoor).  If you are looking for a quality, off-Disney-Property hotel that is still close to the park, this is a good one. 

Trip to Anaheim – The Flight Out

**Yes, it deserves its own post.  Read on to see why.  I'm sorry that this is so long, but here it goes.  

We took an impromptu trip to Anaheim.  I didn’t really say anything about it on Facebook or my blog because I don’t like to advertise when we are out of town for security reasons.  Brian had to go out there for work so we decided that the kids and I would tag along.  I’m going to break the vacation posts into several small posts, so here goes. 

The flight out was a doozy and when reading this you may not know whether to laugh or cry on my behalf.  We learned a lot of lessons and I’ll share those with you as I go along so that you can fair better than I when flying with your tots (if you happen to have them). 

First we picked a stupid flight time – 8:00 am – what were we thinking?  To get there an hour early we would need to wake the kids up no later than about 5:30 and pray that they were cooperative.  Well, they were fairly cooperative and we were grateful.  We got out the door about 15 minutes later than we meant to, but oh well.  If only we knew…

The drive was uneventful.  Naomi was even cheerfully singing in the backseat.  We got to where the airport exit is and they have re-done it and we miss our exit.  We loop around and get back on track.  It only cost us five minutes, so we figure it’s all good.  If only we knew…

We pull into the parking at the terminal.  We circle and circle and circle and finally find parking at the very top of the parking structure.  Sheesh!  We gather up kids and bags and empty sippy cups and trek into the terminal.  We also notice that Olivia smells like she has a poopy diaper – guess we’ll deal with that once we get through security.  I’m sure the vision of us muddling our way down the steps with all of our crap and an umbrella stroller was quite comical.  We wonder why we didn’t have Brian drop me off with the kids at the door.  That would have been good. 

We finally get to check in and low and behold it’s about 42 minutes before our flight.  Doh!  Translation – you can’t get your check in bag on this flight it will have to go on the 9:00 and the agent informs Brian that we’ll be lucky to make our flight at all.  In fact, I think she even changes his ticket to be on the 9:00.  Gak!  Where did all the time go?  We thought we had this well planned.  Guess Brian and I won’t be grabbing any kind of breakfast. 

We head through airport security and this is where the crazy really amps up.  The guy sends us through the first class line (I assume because we have little ones).  This does help a lot so thankful for that.  I explain to N that her beloved Trunki will have to go on the belt for a little while but she’ll get it back.  She seems okay with this.  She gets distracted with the trolley that holds the bag tubs and is trying to push it around.  Brian and I divvy up bags and start trying to get them on the belt.  It’s time to move forward in line, so we let Naomi know that she has to stop playing with the trolley and come with us.  Cue GIANT 2 YEAR OLD TANTRUM!  I put it in all caps because she was most certainly in all caps, 500 point font, bold typeface with a ton of exclamation points at the end, on the floor kicking and screaming.  If I had the time I would have videoed it for posterity (and probably handled it better), but alas.  Eventually, other passengers help move our bags through the cue, Brian takes Olivia out of the stroller and through security and I pick up Naomi for the same.  To add to the complete chaos of this moment Naomi chooses the very moment that we are walking through the metal detector to arch her back and throw her head straight back – WHACK! – right into the metal detector.  This of course causes the metal detector to go off so we have to go back through it again.  Oh and she is screaming even louder now.  I take her immediately to a bench to try to calm her down while Brian waits for our bags.  There seems to be quite a bit of hubbub around our bags in the scanner, they grab several different ones to search.  Turns out Brian forgot to pull my little netbook out in addition to his laptop and the lady couldn’t figure out which bag she saw it in.  Oddly enough, they searched every bag but the one that actually had the netbook.  Oh well. 

We finally finish and head directly across to our gate which was on final boarding call.  We get Brian’s ticket fixed, but she can’t do anything about the fact that none of us are sitting together.  Yep, you heard it right – Naomi, Brian and I are all sitting in separate seats.  So, we are the next to last people on the plane.  We gate check the stroller.  We haul all of our stuff (3 carry-ons and 4 personal items) and our kiddos onto the plane.  We negotiate seat trades to get all of us together.  We settle into our seats (with a bit of effort and a bit of help from the flight attendant who notes that we have a lot of stuff).  Whew!

Oh, and pee-eew – Olivia still has that dirty diaper and it seems to have developed a bit of a containment issue.  So, I hold her so that Brian’s work pants don’t get dirty as he’ll have to go into work that afternoon.  Which reminds me, I’ve really needed a pit stop myself ever since we got out of the car.  Oh well.  Off we go! 

Both girls did great with the take off!  I was so pleased and blessed about that part.  Naomi wanted to watch the safety video again.  I guess it was fascinating to her.  Nobody cried a bit.  Olivia sucked on her paci and Naomi just chilled. 

Once we were in the air for a bit, I noticed a couple people get up to use the restroom even though the fasten seat belt sign was still on.  I decided to go for it.  I slipped in and out unnoticed and felt much better.  Then I grabbed Olivia and her diaper bag and slipped back in to take care of her.  If you’ve ever changed a baby in an airplane, you know that it’s challenging.  Add in a clothing change and some turbulence and it’s a lovely bit of fun.  As I was slipping back out, I ran into the flight attendant who was quite surprised that anyone was out of there seat.  I apologize and mutter, “We had a containment issue” and scamper back to my seat.  A few minutes later the captain makes an announcement about the fasten seat belt sign and not getting up to go to the restroom yet.  Related?  Probably.  Do I care?  Not one bit.  I have a baby that doesn’t smell like a sewage treatment facility so I am much happier. 

The flight itself was really pretty good.  It was challenging for me and Brian, and we noted several times that we had no idea how I was going to manage the return flight solo.  Having a squirmy lap child and an active toddler on a four hour flight is a lot.  At one point, we let Naomi take off her seat belt and sort of let a little crazy out within the confines of our row.  There was a bit of a struggle to get her back into her seat belt but oh well. 

The landing was also uneventful.  Both girls did great!  Olivia made friends all over the plane with her grins.  We waited for everyone to get off the plane and then rolled our crew out.  We finally grabbed some breakfast at the airport McDonald’s along with some Starbucks while we waited for our baggage to arrive on the next flight.  Oh, and we tried to get Naomi to go potty.  The girl is not a fan of public potties even though I brought a little potty seat for her.  Basically, she kept saying she needed to go potty but would patently refuse once she got into the restroom.  Finally she broke down and had an accident when Brian took her (our 3^rd attempt).  I changed her in the terminal and all was well again.  She has had a really hard time with the potty thing on this trip which we pretty much expected, but I feel bad for her. 

Anyway, by the time we got all that done, it was time to go get our bag and the rental car… story continues. 

BUT not before I give you some travel tips for traveling by plane with little ones about the age of mine (2 ½ and 11 months) should you choose to brave that adventure:

1. Have as few carry-ons as possible.  I had read this in a travel blog, but in my efforts to save money, ignored it and paid the price of my sanity (so not worth it) – I’m pretty sure the blog even warned me of this.  Your kids may be allotted a carry on, but don’t use it.  They are a carry on item in and of themselves.  I’m guessing once they are school age, they carry stuff, but at this age it’s unlikely.  Even if they start off being cooperative, the journey through the airport can be a long and very distracting one, so it’s unlikely that they will remain interested in “helping” you with the luggage and even if they do, it will take way too long to travel through the airport at their dawdling speed.  
2. Use a cheap umbrella stroller.  It’s lightweight and you won’t care if the airline kills it.  If you have two adults and two kids on both flights, then use two or use a cheap, no frills double umbrella (I don’t think I really ever found one, so feel free to chime in if you know of one that’s actually cheap).  Knowing that I was returning solo, that wasn’t really an option. 
3. Bring plenty of entertainment.  Let me clarify, the entertainment is for the kids not you.  You will be plenty “entertained” enough keeping up with the kids. 
4. Think twice when the beverage cart comes around.  Between a very grabby lap baby, a toddler who wants to sip everything you have, and the limited space, enjoying that beverage is difficult at best.  We managed with two, but I may not bother on the solo return flight. 
5. Plan to get there two hours early rather than the one required.  With the kids, you will probably still only make it there an hour and a half early and that extra half hour will magically disappear somewhere before you get to your gate.  This will also allow you time to do last minute potty trips and diaper changes before boarding. 
6. Pray, pray and pray.  I’m adding this one as I’m sitting back at my home desk.  After the flight out, I began covering my return flight in prayer.  Praying for my kids to be at ease with things, praying for me to be the loving, patient mom that I needed to be and most importantly praying that God would place kind and helpful people in my path.  

 Happy and Safe Travels!  (Sorry, no pics.  We had our hands full.)

Naomi - 2.5 Years!

Stats?
Weight: 28 lbs (?%)
Height: ? (?%)
Diapers: NONE!  :)
Clothes: 2T, but her shirts are close to not meeting her skirts, so we'll see

How is she sleeping?
She goes to bed around 7:30 or 8:00.  
She wakes up anytime between 6:30 and 7:30.  
She naps from about 1:00ish to 3:00ish.  
She's still in the crib for now, but that will probably change soon, before the holidays.  
She still gets her pacis in the crib, but that will also be going away soon; we're just trying to figure out when...ugh.   

How is she eating?
She eats like a toddler - one day she'll eat something and the next she won't.  Mostly though, she's open to lots of food and if I ever want her to try something, I just put it on my plate and not on hers.  Works great!  :)  "Want a bite?" "Another bite please."  She loves to dip things like most toddlers - ketchup, salsa, ranch... so far, she loves all of it (she's her daddy's daughter). 

Doctor Visit
We don't go again until 3 years old - it's really weird to only go once a year. 

What new tricks does she do?
Physically she's just gotten better at running, tip-toeing, and climbing.  She can now climb up her playset and correctly sit down and go down the slide.  
Most new things seem to be in language development for her these days - vocabulary, comprehension, sentence structure, etc.  If she hears a word now, she pretty much knows it.  She has possessives figured out (Mommy's glasses, Daddy's coffee, Naomi's cup, Baby's paci, etc.) and usually has the personal pronouns correct now. 
She knows her shapes (circle, square, rectangle, star, heart, octagon, pentagon, triangle, cone, diamond, and oval at least).  We're now working on cube, pyramid, sphere, etc. 
She definitely knows her colors now.  Yay! 
She knows the alphabet song and knows all her letters and will gladly sing for you. 
She knows her numbers and can count to about 20 (although I haven't heard her do it in a while).  
She can sing a handful of little songs (Twinkle Twinkle, Row Your Boat, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, the BIBLE, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song, etc).
She loves giving her prayer requests for bedtime prayers - "Pray for Mickey" "Pray for owl" "Pray for kitty"
The pretend play has gotten even better. She got into watching "Doc McStuffins" in the last few months, so she gets her toys, says, "Time for a check up" and "I have a diagnosis".  It's seriously cute.  Her diapers were ending up all over the place as she gave everyone diaper changes and a stack of receiving blankets will be instantly spread over the house as she covers all her toys up and tucks them in.  She also will grab squares of paper towel or toilet paper and use them as bandages. 
We're still going to swim lessons and she has done well in the pool without us. 
I guess that's it really.  
She can climb up into her car seat on her own and buckle the chest buckle of her the harness.  She loves the independence.  

General Observations?
It's so much fun watching her turn into a little person. 
She has definitely embraced the world of 2 year old tantrums, so we are working through that.  It's a fun mix of prevention, distraction, ignoring, and enduring while I do my best to keep my calm.  
She has shown herself to be both sensitive and protective.  If you're upset, she's upset.  She has negative reactions to negative people.  And, if you mess with me or her baby sister, she sorta loses it.  If somebody gets too close to her baby sister when talking to her or holds her in certain situations, she gets upset.  I feel bad for anyone who messes with her kid down the road.  This girl's going to be one heck of a momma bear! 

Mmm...can't think of anything else, but that's plenty, so...

Until next time... Enjoy!

Naomi's First Ballet Class

Naomi had her first ballet class today and it was so cute!  They have a camera in the studio so I got to watch the class on a monitor in the lobby.  I giggled and laughed so much.  

Here are some pics of Naomi after class (her teacher gave her a little sucker). 

Our Potty Training Journey

I'll start with saying, "Woohoo!  Naomi is basically potty-trained!  We are down to one kiddo in diapers.  Whew..." 

I'm writing this post to share my experience - some of this may be comical and some of this may be helpful for other moms with wee ones, but all of it will be real and authentic and candid.  If you find all discussions of parents' potty training and diaper diaries to be over-shares, I definitely get that and feel free to stop reading here.  :)  If you want a little chuckle and a little more detail, keep on reading. 

The Method
There are lots of training methods out there, so I'll start with the method I chose and why.  We chose a 3 day method that can be found here.  Why did I pick a 3 day method?  Because the idea of 1 day seemed completely unrealistic and the idea of not having a light at the end of a tunnel seemed unbearable.  Why did I pick this particular one?  I liked that it emphasized the child being responsible for telling you when she needs to go potty.  Naomi likes to have control and constantly says, "let me do it", so I figured this would work better than me trying to force her to sit on the potty on regular intervals.  Also, while I initially had thought that we would use diapers or pull ups at night/nap times, I actually liked the logic for why this method does not do this (such as, avoids the confusion of sometimes I can go in my pants and sometimes I can't).  So, both hubby and I read the 40 page e-book at least once each, gathered our supplies (potty, lots of panties, lots of crib sheets, stickers, potty/sticker chart, marshmallows, basket of rewards, etc), blocked out 4 days (just in case) and prepared to hunker down and get it done! 

The Results
We did it!  BUT, the 3 day method turned into more of a 7 or 8 day method.  Some of this was missteps we took along the way and some of this was a little tweaking and adjusting the method for our particular kiddo using some of the suggestions in the book's FAQs coupled with our own knowledge of what makes our kid tick.  I'm going to do a little day by day picture of how this went with some little lessons learned along the way and some concluding thoughts. 

Day 1 - Friday
We put her in her uniform for the weekend - panties and a t-shirt.  We took all of her old diapers and wipes and put them in baby sister's closet.  We talked to her about being a big girl, about keeping her panties clean and dry, about telling us when she needs to go, about her awesome sticker chart and about the prizes that await her (showing her the basket of course).  She seems ready and excited and so are we.  All day we remind her to tell us when she needs to go potty.  She has accidents all over the carpet.  We try to catch her in the act and rush her to the potty like we are supposed to do.  We change panties.  We clean up pee.  We stay positive.  We cheer for her every time she sits on that potty after every accident.  If even a speck of pee gets in that potty, we give her a sticker and cheer for getting pee in the potty.  She seems to have pretty good bladder control - although every release was an accident, we only had about 6 accidents including nap time.  At the end of day 1, we feel like things are going as expected and we have hope for tomorrow.  

Day 2 - Saturday
We start with fresh panties, fresh shirt, and a change of sheets.  Things seem like they are going to go okay, but we start to realize that this is not the case at all.  Naomi's stubborn streak is starting to show through.  She is digging in her heels.  She holds her pee for hours at a time, clearly not wanting to wet her panties, but refuses to pee in the potty.  Then, she just gets to a point where she can't hold it any longer. We're learning her cues and we're having some training opportunities to rush her to the bathroom.  We notice she's not drinking as much... is this a strategy?  Mmm... we think so.  Also once we get her into the bathroom, she now refuses to sit on the potty.  We follow the book and don't force it, but if she sits on the potty, we reward her (this was really a misstep).  We even whip out the marshmallows (another misstep). 

A family member messages me and asks how potty training is going.  My reply: "It's going... sometimes so is she... in the potty... on the potty... on the carpet... on the sheets... but she is trying so hard. She gets so upset when she has an accident no matter how positive we are."  We stay positive.  We put her to bed mildly discouraged, but reminding ourselves that many kids don't "get it" until the end of day 3.  We are exhausted, but we will get it tomorrow!

Day 3 - Sunday
This was to be the day, but due to what we felt were missteps on our part on Day 2, we were fully prepared to go into Monday.  Long and short of it, we did.  Today we only rewarded actually peeing or pooping on the potty.  We probably should have been this hard on her from the get go, but we were trying to encourage steps toward the goal (who knows, it may work with other kids and it may not have made any difference).  Consequently we had several tantrums over stickers and marshmallows, but we stuck to our guns.  Naomi peed and pooped in the potty one time before nap, but had accidents the rest of the day.  She even had an accident while playing in the fluffy pillows on our bed (a favorite activity).  I clean a lot of pee and wash a lot of laundry.  I'm tired.  We feel hopeful for our one success and figure that she'll get it tomorrow. 

Day 4 - Monday
Repeat yesterday.  Naomi again pees and poops one time.  We notice that she clearly doesn't want to poop in her panties and only goes for that.  Go figure, my kid does the opposite of many other kids her age.  :)  Otherwise, we feel completely defeated.  I'm dreading tomorrow when I actually have to go out with her to teach my Jazzercise class.  We read through the book's FAQs (again) and discuss  trying the reward system that is suggested specifically for kids that hold their pee a long time and then have accidents like Naomi.  But, something about the once a day trip to the potty left us feeling like we were on the verge and we don't want to mess up again, so we wait.  

Day 5 - Tuesday
Mostly, repeat yesterday.  I take Naomi to Jazzercise for my 9:35 class.  She hasn't peed all morning.  I know the accident is coming.  She has it while I'm teaching and does get upset with herself again.  Glad I was fully prepared with two changes of panties and bottoms.  We get out to the car.  She climbs in to stand on the floorboard, I close the door, go start to put Olivia in her car seat and I hear Naomi softly mention the potty right before it all runs down her little legs onto the floorboard.  Doh!  I thank Naomi for telling me and apologize for not having a potty in the car, blah blah blah, more positive stuff... I like to think I'm a pretty encouraging person, but even I am running out of gas on that front. At the end of the day, we drink a bottle of wine... each.  ;)

Day 6 - Wednesday
Mostly, repeat yesterday.  Again, we go to Jazzercise for my 10:40 class.  Again, she hasn't peed all morning.  She gets out of the car and is upset and clinging - one of her telltale signs that the pee is making her really uncomfortable.  Just as I was about to give up and try to juggle carrying both kids and our bags, she has her accident in the parking lot.  She clearly felt much better and then walked in just fine.  I even heaved a silent sigh of relief that the accident was done and that it was in a parking lot.  :)  Potty training can make you thankful for the weirdest things.   We went in changed clothes and went about our day.  We went to swim lessons where no one but me even noticed her accidents.  Oddly, when we stopped for gas, she asked to go to the potty.  I unbuckled her and marched her into the QT, put her on the potty and she declared she was done (without actually doing anything).  We walked back out to the car.  I guess she was just running a test of the Emergency Pee Alert System. 

Day 7 - Thursday (Happy 4th of July)
Mostly, repeat yesterday.  We deployed the new reward system (details farther down).  I took Olivia to Jazzercise with me and Naomi got her daddy all to herself.  :)  We got our car/travel potty yesterday so we took that with us to my uncle's house.  She asked to use it once and again was off as quickly as she was on.  She had accidents all over the place but was in her swimsuit a lot again, so at least there was that.  We continued to feel completely defeated and at the end of our ropes.  At this point, we felt that we had done everything we could, that she was very capable of doing it, that she knew what to do, and that she just needed to decide to do that.  I'm sure a lot of people were thinking that I should just wait, that she wasn't ready, etc.  But we stuck to it.  We left her in panties 24/7.  I knew she was ready and that she was just being stubborn (she comes by it honestly). 

Day 8 - Friday
I don't know what was special about this day, but it was THE day that it clicked and that Naomi decided it was time to use the potty.  She had accidents in the crib at nap and bedtime, but otherwise everything else went in the potty.  There was one initial tantrum about the reward, but it stopped when we reiterated what she needed to do to get it and stuck to our guns.  Hallelujah!  PTL!

Sunday - She proudly told her friend at church that she goes pee in the potty.  After her nap, she got her reward and we re-stocked the store with a new one.  

Monday and Tuesday - She has been repeating, "We don't pee in the bed; we pee in the potty".  I think it must be her way of trying to hammer it into her sub-conscious.  She's woken up dry from nap time the past two days.  Yay!  Someday we'll have a dry overnight and I'll praise her so loudly.  


The Winning Reward System
The book suggested having them fill a jar full of marbles to get their prize, but we opted for a round Tupperware container full of Styrofoam packing peanuts (availability and safety reasons).  So, she got one packing peanut for peeing in the potty and one packing peanut for pooping.  She quickly figured out that doing both nets 3 peanuts and tried for both at each opportunity.  She saved up to "buy" a little flashlight projector that I got at the Dollar Spot at Target.  We told her she could use it in the Midnight Zone (an Octonauts tv show reference).  She was excited.  She loves her crappy little flashlight.  Seriously, it's the biggest hunk of junk.  It says it can project around 3 feet away - the light barely escapes the flashlight itself.  But she doesn't care, she loves it and is so proud of earning it.  :)  She is currently working her way toward a Mickey Mouse bubble wand and I've got a whole basket of stuff (that gets less exciting as you go on) to work our way through.  We recently added a bonus peanut for staying dry during nap time. 

Lessons Learned / Concluding Thoughts
I wish we had tried to train Naomi earlier.  She peed and pooped in the potty several times on her own when we first brought Olivia home, but we figured we shouldn't try with a newborn.  I wish we had... we were already home 24/7 and she was deciding to do it and we held her back.  Over time I really feel that she discovered the convenience of just going in your diaper whenever and wherever and was a little too set in her ways when we finally started.  The book seems to indicate that about 22 months is a great age, so I'm thinking we may try for around that time with Olivia.  
Be firm and consistent... no matter what.  Make clear the expectations and don't deviate (not for tantrums, not to try to just get them to sit on the potty, etc.).  Praise efforts and encourage constantly, but only reward successful completion.  
Make sure you and your spouse (or whoever else is participating) are on the same page, constantly.  Regroup and discuss if you feel at any point that one of you is drifting off course.  Also, whichever one of you is the softy (there is usually one), should not be the primary trainer.  
And, next time I'll start with that reward system.  I initially started with a sticker chart and a similar idea with the bucket of prizes, but Naomi just played with the stickers and kept peeling them off the chart, so that just didn't really work.  Plus, narrowing it down to one prize at a time seemed to focus her a bit more.  Also, in this system, she "buys" her prize.  This is a more tangible concept for a toddler (than earning) and it is familiar to her since Pete always makes Mickey and his pals buy stuff on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.   
And lastly, my kid is just has stubborn as me.   
AND - she's just as proud of herself as we are of her.   :)

If you are still reading, you are either family or getting ready to potty train your own kiddo.  So, if you're friends or family, thank you for your support.  If you're gearing up for your own potty training adventure, good luck, I hope this was helpful and I hope you have a very successful endeavor.  

*Note: I'm not a professional; I'm just sharing my experience and giving my two cents (there's a reason I'm not charging you for the eBook that is this post).  At the end of the day, we all do what we think is best for our kids.  If you've got judgement, keep it to yourself.  If you want to support, encourage, share what worked for you... feel free to comment for others to see.  :)  

The Fourth of July

Happy 4th of July! 

There was not a single photo that had everyone smiling, looking at the camera, and with eyes open.  This was the best one as at least Brian and I managed to do all 3.  I think the girls were more interested in getting in the pool.