Dinner with the Ladies

Tuesday night was such a fun night to enjoy a nice dinner with some of my favorite people! It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen these ladies. We all met at one of the tastiest restaurants in town, Agave. We munched on their yummy guacamole and sipped their delicious margaritas. It was so nice to chit chat with these ladies. We don’t do it enough!

L-R: Michele, Me, Courtney, and Cassie (we missed you Ashley).

Preschool Carpool is going great!

This was on Wednesday while waiting in the carpool line. We have made progress. There hasn’t been a cat and mouse game since the last incident. Hopefully it will stay like this!

Cat & Mouse game. . . .

Wednesday, 9.9.11:

Lexie and I are still getting adjusted to this preschool carpool line. The school has sent out so many emails and flyers saying you CANNOT get out of your car, talk on the phone, nor pass anyone once you are in line. The child is to be unbuckled and seated in the left side of the car (behind the driver), then a teacher will come up to your car and escort your child into the building (I know that they do all of this for the sake of child safety and to keep the line moving). Once Lexie and I got in the school’s parking garage, I pulled over and unbuckled her and told her to sit behind me. She was doing so good until we had to wait in line. She suddenly became inpatient. Finally when we arrived to the curbside drop off, Lexie runs to the back of the Denali. I told the teacher where she was and the teacher was happy to go to the back of the car to get her. Once the teacher opened the back door, Lexie ran back to the back seat. The teacher closes the back door and came to the side door, Lexie then jumps in my lap. Finally two teachers helped grab Lexie and pull her through the driver’s window. Did I mention that she took her shoes off in the midst of this game?? Granted it was only the second day of school, it will probably take some time for Lexie to adjust. She does not like “strangers.” Still, I was completely horrified that I couldn’t control my child.

Today, I took my car instead of the truck. It worked a lot better because I definitely had more control of Lexie’s whereabouts in the car. She actually did great this morning.

We are still doing well at school with potty training. I have dropped her off and picked her up wearing the same clothes – meaning no accidents. Yay!

We even went to school this morning without “blankie.” Dave and I felt sorry for her teachers when we talked about not letting her bring her blankie to school anymore. The teachers sent out an email to all the parents today saying that there were no tears from any child this morning upon arrival! All the kids went directly into play-mode! Whew!

Lexie is becoming such a big girl! We are so proud of her (besides the defiant part)!

First day of Preschool!

Wednesday (September 7) was Lexie’s first day of Preschool! We had previously me her teachers last week. She seemed to love Mrs. Julie and Mrs. Kelly along with the adorable cute classroom.

When Lexie woke up on Wednesday morning, she kept asking for her teachers. So I knew that she understood where she was going that day. She was so excited and was running around jumping up and down (it was hard to get a picture).

The entire way to school she kept laughing/giggling. She couldn’t wait to see her new friends and teachers.

The downside. . . .It was “recommended” that parents don’t come inside to drop their child off. They want everyone to drop their child off in the carpool lane. 1. Dave and I were bummed that we couldn’t get a picture with Lexie in her classroom. 2. They have teachers lined up for each car. We just had to have Lexie unbuckled from her car seat, then a teacher will come to the left side of the car and grab your child. Lexie HATED that. She is pretty particular when it comes to people she is comfortable with. I’d be a little traumatized too if some random lady came and grabbed me out of the car. By the time Dave and I got down the hill of the line, we still could see Lexie and she was fine. She quit crying.

I picked her up with a little surprise. . . .MINNIE was waiting for her! It was a perfect way to end her first day of preschool!

I’m thrilled for Lexie. I think that she is going to have a wonderful time this year. I just hope that this carpool thing gets easier. . . . .

Sassy pants

Yay school!

One tired baby but happy to see Minnie!

A Day I will never forget. . . . .

I remember exactly what I was doing on this morning 10 years ago. Do you? I was still in college at Auburn. I remember it being a beautiful Tuesday morning hardly a cloud in the sky. My roommate, Scarlotte came flying into my bedroom as I was just waking up. She grabbed the remote and turned my TV on. “She said look at this!” I remember thinking it was some type of advertisement for an action type Hollywood movie. It was a live picture of the north tower (trade center) on fire. For a while the TV announcers were thinking it was a small plane that must have lost control of the plane. No one was exactly sure what was going on. As Scarlotte and I were glued to the TV watching the flames ignite the building, we saw the second plane hit the south tower at 9:03. From that moment Scarlotte and I knew that our country was under attack. The morning kept getting worse. At 9:37 AM a third plane hit the Pentagon. At 10:03 AM the news reported that a fourth plane had crashed in Shanksville, PA. Later it was revealed that the amazing and courageous crew and passengers tried to seize the plane from the hijackers who’s intended target was the Capitol or the White House.

Still to this day, I can’t seem to find words to describe those moments as I then watched the Twin Towers collapse.

I remember driving home to my parents house that day trying to take in what had really just happened. I remember passing all the gas stations on the way home that were so crowded that AUPD had to direct traffic to get into the  gas staion. I along with probably the rest of the country was thinking the world was coming to an end. I remember being glued to the TV for the next days to come mourning and grieving as if I just lost great friends.

Nearly 3,000 total people died that day. Innocent people who set out to do their daily routines/jobs lost their lives due to such a demonic, hateful, and vicious attack on our AMERICAN soil with OUR AMERICAN planes! It was comforting to hear our then leader, President George W. Bush offer these comforting words on that September night:

Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages of Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for YOU are with me.” President George W. Bush September 11, 2001.

He then stated these words a few weeks later:

“Our enemies have made the mistake that America’s enemies always make. They saw liberty and thought they saw weakness. And now, they see defeat. Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew.”

- President George W. Bush

So many lives were forever changed. I am so grateful for the brave souls of that day. Some of whom that lost their lives being courageous. I’m grateful for those brave souls that survived that day and the days that came afterward; the ones who spent tiring days and sleepless nights searching for survivors. I love the fact that in such a horrific time, our country came together in unison. Democrat or Republican – it didn’t matter. We were AMERICANS pulling together finding strength in each other. God bless those lives that were lost. God bless those families that had to endure that loss. God Bless the US Military for going to the front lines and continuing to fight for our freedom. God Bless our Amazing Country. . . . .U-S-A!! We will never forget!

Rainy Day activities

What to do on a rainy day??
We painted for a good while and made some beautiful masterpieces. After Lexie got bored with that, she wanted to play with play-doh. I'm not sure what happened to all our play-doh. We only had one tiny can left. Lexie wanted more to play with. So we decided to make our own!

Sweet hand prints

The foot prints didn't turn out quite as well as her hand prints.

To Make homemade playdough. . . .

Recipe:

2 C flour

1 C salt

4 t cream of tartar

2 C water

3 T oil

food coloring of choice

Place all ingredients in a large pot. Mix and heat on medium or medium high. Stir constantly. Add food coloring. Stir. Cool. Place in sealed plastic bag after completely cooled.

My sweet helper

Since Lexie isn't wearing diapers, she loves to run around in her panties. . . . .

I asked Lexie what color she wanted to make her playdough. She requested blue (maybe because she loves her AU Tigers).

The ingredients are starting to clump together.

Here is our homemade playdough! Just waiting for it to cool.

"So fun Mommy!"

Being Silly.

Even though we were stuck in the house, it turned out to be a fun, rainy day!

Labor Day weekend

What a fun weekend we had! My inlaws were able to come down for a few days. I'm so glad that they got to see in person how well Lexie is doing with her potty training skills. The weather wasn't the greatest but we had a nice, relaxing time watching football and eating way too much.

My pledge sister, hubby & kids came over to help celebrate AU's victory.
Lexie loves to fly like Tinkerbell (Lexie runs into Dave's arms and he throws her in the air).

Thanks so much for playing with me G'pops & G'ma! I had so much fun - especially our fun tea parties! I love yall!

Potty Training Boot Camp

As of last week Lexie had no desire to use the potty. If I was smart, I should have began the potty training process back in January when she was very interested. She would go every night before bath time and even pooped in the potty then. She was only 21 months. I guess I didn't want to push her.
On Monday (August 29) I put Lexie into potty training boot camp as myself being the drill sergeant. Since she is about to start preschool on Wednesday (sept 7), I just thought it might be a good time to do this. Plus, I always heard that once kids are 2 1/2 and older, it's harder to train them since they are stuck in their ways. Lexie isn't quite 2 1/2, so we went ahead and jumped on the potty training wagon. I covered all the furniture with towels. I had the potty seats & stools ready to go in two bathrooms along with a jar of "teeing on the pott" treats. Not to mention, I was mentally prepared for a long week of training. And thanks to my dear sweet friend, Scarlotte for her awesome suggestions! I truly appreciate it!
DAY ONE: When I went in Lexie's room to get her, I told her that I had a surprise for her. I made a HUGE deal about big girl panties that had princesses on them. I even put them in a princess bag that she could carry around. I told her that only babies wear diapers and big girls wear panties. Lexie was thrilled to pick out her choice of panties (I had bought nearly 30 pair just to be prepared). We have Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Snow White, Beauty & the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Minnie & Daisy panties. Lexie started off the morning in heaven as well as cold turkey with no diapers.
Once we put on her big girl panties, we went downstairs to throw away all the "baby" diapers (my friends had told me to have her throw away the diapers to make sure she understood what was going on. And I also didn't actually throw away the diapers, I plan to donate them).
I let her down as much box drinks as she wanted (this was recommended in order for constant urination). Once she had an accident, I would pick her up and run her to the potty. After A LOT of accidents within a short amount of time I was getting extremely frustrated but never let Lexie see that. But at 12:25 PM, she peed on the potty! I felt very encouraged. I kept praising her and telling how proud of her I was. She got to pick out her choice of a treat. After a while she started to grasp the concept.
When it came around to bedtime, I refused to put a pull up on just because I thought that that would be two steps back. She went to sleep with big girl panties on.
DAY 2 (Tuesday):
Lexie woke up dry! That is huge! I was so impressed!! She told me she had to go potty when she got out of bed. We only had two accidents that day. One at 9:24 AM and one at 5:29 PM. She went to bed with big girl panties on again.
DAY 3 (Wednesday):
Again, Lexie woke up dry for the second time. I was so so proud of my sweet pea. She didn't have a single accident the entire day. To make things even better, she pooped on the potty! So many of my friends have said that getting kids to poop on the potty is quite difficult. Since Lexie did that, I gave her a double dose of skittles. . . . :)
DAY 4 (Thursday):
I sent Lexie to MMO with only big girl panties on. No diapers nor pull ups were packed in her bag (just a few extra pair of panties). The teachers were so pleased. She didn't have an accident. We then went to Meet & Greet (same church) to meet Lexie's preschool teachers. She did great! She loved her classroom, teachers, and friends. And still no accidents!
DAY 5 (Friday):
Still no accidents! We ran errands all morning long and came home to pee on the potty.
DAY 6 (Saturday):
Dave's parents came into town to spend Labor Day with us. I think there was so much distraction with Lexie running around and playing with her G'Pops & G'ma that she wet herself twice. Though I thought she was still doing great and even pooped on the potty! However I broke the cardinal rule and put a pull up on Lexie for bedtime due to all the excitement of the grandparents being in town.
DAY 7 (Sunday):
Again, only two accidents but pooped on the potty!

We are on the road of being nearly potty trained. The hardest part is over. I couldn't be more proud of Lexie. The first 3 days of boot camp were tiring but so well worth it. Who knew that it would be so exhausting for me.
My biggest advice is positive reinforcement. Yes, there will be a lot of accidents which is to be expected. Don't reprimand, scold, or say "no, bad." Believe me, it was so hard especially when Lexie was peeing all over the place on Monday. I still encouraged her and told her to please let Mommy know when she needed to go to the potty. I was constantly saying that since her attention span is so short. But we are getting it!!!

Lexie's bag of big girl panties

The throne. . . .
If Lexie pees or poops on the potty, these are her choice of treats.

Day 1: These new panties are fun!

Day 2: Enjoying "craft time" with big girl panties on.

Day 3: Look at that cute diaper-less tush!

Day 3 - dancing with SuSu, Mickey, and Minnie

Going night night with no diapers on!!

Big Girl Room

****This is a very late post.
Back in February Lexie decided she no longer wanted to sleep in a crib. Yes, she was climbing out of it. So we bit the bullet and said good bye to the baby room and hello to a big girl room. I was hoping she'd stay in the crib a bit longer because I knew that it might be a little challenge to keep her in her bed for nap time or bed time. We had a few battles but Lexie did well with the transition. She LOVES her big girl room!