I am about to give up.........

She does NOT like to use the potty. I don't know what to do. Maybe she isn't fully ready? My others were so easy, but I knew they were ready.

She now says "scared" whenever we talk about it. Yes, before it was "ROAR" she now learned the word "scared" to talk about the potty.

She does not care if she pees herself. She will wear undies at home, but could care less if she has an accident.

She doesn't care if she gets M&M's anymore.

She is 2 1/2, it isn't like she is 4 and needs to be trained.

I need some sort of support group.

NO MORE SIPPIES!

Seeing we are potty training, I thought I would torture myself even more and get rid of sippy cups. Tommy uses a straw cup and Katie a sippy.

I hate them

I hate cleaning them

I hate finding them in places they shouldn't be (especially a few days later with milk in them!)

So from now on NO MORE SIPPIES!

I Love Mondays!

Yup, you heard me! I love Mondays! I get my life back.

Big kids are off to school at 7am.

Tommy has school in the afternoon.

Husband left for work at 7:00.

I can sit and read my emails, blogs and news without feeling guilty.

Ahhh..............

GGRRRRR..............

She just wanted the stinken doll. She has peed 2 times in her pants since then. **ripping hair out**

Oh No She Didn't!

All weekend we struggled getting Katie "go" on the potty. No luck.

This afternoon I told her she could get a new baby if she peed on the potty. She was excited. When she napped I went to Target and picked one up. She was awake when I got home. I excitedly showed her the baby.

Right away she said "Go potty!"

I say "OK, but you have to let your pee out on the potty to get the baby" I am thinking the baby will be sitting on the counter torturing her for days!

What does she do? She sits on it and PEES! she immediately says "NEW BABY!"

So CONGRATULATIONS to my last born. It was bittersweet.

DAY 2

Day 2 of potty training.

Chris let me sleep in this morning. I gave him instructions that when Kate woke up he was to immediately take off her diaper and put her on the potty. She will pee within 10 minutes of being up. Apparently he tried and she screamed. He said it wasn't worth the battle at 6:00 AM. So I got up at 8:00 (Yes, I slept until then! Awesome!) to her in a "Soggy Doggy" diaper. She was totally fine when I asked her to take it off.

Yesterday she sat, and sat, and sat some more. Not doing anything on the potty. But, she did sit. I know it was all for that 1 M&M she gets.


We even tried the buddy system!

She even took her animals to sit on it. Then asked for an M&M for them. I quickly caught on to this game. She realized if she gave them one, she could eat it.


I am not stepping up my "A" game. I am headed out to Target to buy a prize to use if she goes.
I will let her see it, feel, touch it......she will not get it unless she pees! Torture Tactics? Probably.....maybe it will work!

It Is Going.....Sorta

She has yet to "use" the potty. But she is sitting on it without being scared. That is a huge step forward.

M&M's are a big helper. She gets one (I know, it isn't much!) every time she sits on it.
She will sit on it every time we ask her to. Which is about every 15-30 minutes. But it is so she can have an M&M.

Isn't she cute as ever? Baby is trying out the potty! She even got an M&M!


Stay Tuned!

And So It Begins!

OPERATION POTTY TRAINING is in full swing. She was not a happy camper when I took off her diaper and had her put underwear on this morning.

Here she is crying "DIAPER" trying to get one. What you don't see is the puddle that formed under her feet while crying.

Operation Potty Training!

We are kicking it up into high gear this weekend. You think after 3 kids, #4 would be a breeze.

It is not.

I am afraid.

I hate potty training.

Chris and I have decided we are doing it "for real" this weekend. Katie tells us every time she needs to be changed. Hmmmm...I think that is a sure sign.

She just will NOT go near her potty, she says "ROAR" which means she is scared. She even picked it out!

Well no more Mrs. Nice Guy! It is all or nothing this weekend! Please pray for us! =)

Wordless Wednesday- Semi

My children hiding from Ms. Nancy. We saw her at the mall again. This time she added a splash of color to her skirt.

3 Republicans + 1 Democrat = TROUBLE!

I have a very close circle of girlfriends. All our husbands are friends, a few grew up together. This is how we have come together and became SUPER friends for many years.

We had a Mom's Night out Saturday. Margaret (in good fun) was trying to tell us her little Obama speech and like to say how Palin is the devil in disguise. So we decided to have fun with her.

Last night, on the eve of the Election, we went and "McCain'd" her car. **tee hee hee**
We taped pictures on her windows and also wrote, with window marker, things like "Palin is my BFF" & "I love John"

The start of the mission. We taped them to us so we could get in and out of there.



MISSION COMPLETE!


She was such a good sport. She emailed us already today. Thank goodness her husband is a cop in our town. He knew we were doing it!

Hey guys-

Vandals trashed my car last night. I have reported the crime to police but so far they don't have any leads. Tell everyone you know in *** to be careful and watch out for suspicious activity.

Check out the damage.

Isn't she so lucky to have friends like us?

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary! I joke to Chris that is took him 7 years and 1 child to marry me.

We married at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. I have always wanted to go there and the girls were excited to go somewhere that Mary Kate and Ashley made a movie! Here they are, as they put it, sitting in the exact same spot the Olsen Twins were! They were SUPER excited!

When we arrived we went to our room. I looked out the window and all I saw was a brick wall and the hotel employees going in and out a side door. I was crushed. It was not what I had envisioned. I went to the front desk bawling my eyes out. It also helped that I was so tired from flying with the kids, taking 2 different flights and we had to left Boston early that morning.
After trying to plead with them to change my room, while sobbing telling them I was getting married on their property in 2 days, they agreed and moved us to the classier part of the hotel! You know the infamous arches of the hotel that you see in the advertisements? Yup, that is where they put us! This was the view from our balcony! It was breathtaking.
We got married a few days later. It was a small gathering. Just us, the kids and some family. The girls were 9 and 11, Tommy was 1. My parents, Chris's parents, my sister Tracey and his parents good friends came.

Here I am just about ready to head down! Budweiser and all!
Walking down the "Isle"



Exchanging of the rings

A special part of the ceremony was when we gave each girl a necklace. I really wanted them to feel like they were special and that not only was Chris making a commitment to me, but to them also. They were both VERY surprised. Sam started crying the second she realized what was going on.
Chris, being their new Step Dad, made the presentation. He told them how much he loved them and me. How he was excited to officially become part of us. Then he put the necklace on each girl. That man won over my heart once again after that. It was beautiful.


Our happy family!
This is everyone at the wedding.

I love my husband more and more each day. I can't wait to spend many more years to come!

Since I Got a Great Compliment.......

Since telling Chris I was a "Rockin Hot Chick," Tommy and I went to the bookstore and into Starbucks. He was treated to a chocolate cupcake!

See, it pays to compliment Momma, even if you are only 5!

The Ultimate Compliment!

My 5 year old son just told his Daddy that "Mom is a Rockin Hot Chick!"

It doesn't get any better than that!

Halloweenie (as Tommy calls it!)

We had a great time Trick Or Treating. We go every year with our friends. This year we hit our neighborhood.

Daddy packed a bag full of beers and loaded the wagon up!

There are no pictures of the big kids. Sam had a football game to cheer at and Casey wouldn't be caught dead with us.


Katie was trying, as always, to copy her brother.


Katie and her buddy, Julia.

Tommy and his BFF, Aidan.



Lauren got tired.........I have no idea where Julia is, who should be riding in the stroller!

Ash made the crayon costumes. They came out great. She made Jason wear it. He was such a good sport (with the promise he was "getting some" later)

Before you ask, yes, he wore it all through the neighborhood!