Henry Goes Potty!

This little guy FINALLY started going potty on the big boy potty this past January (maybe it was around Christmas, not quite sure, but I know for a fact he was completely daytime potty trained by February, 2014).

We started trying to get him to go last Fall, though, after Jacob started school full time.  I figured since I had his undivided attention and it was just the two of us all day long that I'd go ahead and start.  Well .. he was just not ready or something because he'd pee everywhere BUT the toilet.  We would go for about a week in undies and many accidents before I'd get annoyed and put him back in diapers full time. Then a few weeks later we'd try again, but nada.  This went on for quite awhile.

FINALLY, right after Christmas I said enough was enough, put him in undies and we literally didn't look back.  He got an "Elmo Goes Potty" doll for Christmas, that I truly think helped the situation out greatly.  He put Elmo and Elmo's potty chair in our powder room next to the big potty, so every time he had to go, so did Elmo.  There was a sticker reward chart that came with it, and we did use it for awhile, but eventually he stopped asking and I stopped offering.  Lol  

Another thing that I think helped him out tremendously was being naked.  It gave him the freedom he needed to be able to just walk in the bathroom and go if he needed to without worrying about pulling underwear/pants down in addition.  He was naked for quite some time pretty much from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to bed.  Days and days, weeks and weeks .. people would come by the house and he was NAKED.  Eventually I got him to at least wear UNDERWEAR during the day.  So, he was still pretty naked, but at least there was something on his bum.  Lol.  Keep in mind that it was WINTER out.  And we had a lot of snow last winter, so yeah .. it was cold and he still insisted on being practically naked.

Putting potty training off until he was a little past his third birthday ended up being a very good decision.  He was just ready at that point and it was not really a headache at all.  He was slightly older than Jacob was when he potty trained (Jacob was 2.5), but Henry has always done things a little bit later then Jacob.  I mean, he didn't walk until he was 15 months old after all!  He just likes to take his time and get to it when he gets to it, I guess. And, ya know .. whatever works, right?!  I will say that I was really worried about potty training Henry.  I worried it would be really difficult and frustrating because Jacob was so easy.  I figured I couldn't get that lucky twice.  Well, I was wrong.  I just tried too early with Henry at first.  Once we got the right timing, it was really pretty simple. :)

New Year, New Me!!!

Each New Year I make a list of goals for the coming year.  Not resolutions, mind you, but simply goals I'd like to achieve or work up to throughout the coming year.  This year I had the bright idea to do 14 goals for 2014.  It was a little difficult to come up with that many, but I did it!!  Here is my list:

14 Goals for 2014:

1) Make more time for my husband/more date nights/make more of an effort to put him first above all else.
2) Limit computer time to nap/rest time and after bed.
3) Do more crafts with the kids.
4) Try to have more patience and to let the little things go.
5) Get back in to couponing and being more frugal overall.
6) Put together a cleaning schedule and stick to it.
7) De-clutter the house using the "52 Weeks to an Organized home" challenge.
8) Fit in 30 minutes of exercise per day.
9) Read 1 book per month.
10) Blog more often; at least one post per week.
11) Learn to can (salsa, spaghetti sauce, pickles, grape jelly, etc.)
12) Get caught up on my sewing projects.
13) Finish painting (powder room, hall bathroom and kitchen)
14) Join a church.

Now that the year is half over and i'm just now blogging about this, I can say that I've already put a great dent in this list.  I need to work on my sewing and limiting my computer time, though, but .. Rome wasn't built in a day! :)

Christmas ~ 2013

Christmas is one of the reasons why I wish we had a larger family.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my family.  But, I'm always wishing for more members of it.  Or, at least I wish our entire family all lived in the same town.  That would be really nice.  I love entertaining so much, but it's always just the four of us and my parents.  One of these days we're going to have a huge Christmas Eve party!

Anyway, last Christmas we had my parents over as usual on Christmas Eve for dinner, to hang out, open a few presents and Pap read the boys The Night Before Christmas.  It's our little family's tradition. :)

 

Each year we get the boys matching Christmas jammies that they get to open on Christmas Eve and they wear that night (this is so I can get some cute pictures of them in them on Christmas morning, lol) and my parents always get them each an ornament that they also get to open on Christmas Eve.  Last year Jacob was complaining of not having any footie pajamas like his brother, so I made sure the pair I chose for him had the feet in them.  It's definitely safe to say that he LOVED them!

 

 

 

 

Just before they went to bed to wait for Santa, I tried to take a good shot of them in front of the tree with the lights glowing (like I had seen on Pinterest).  I didn't have a good enough lens, though, at the time.  I've since bought a 50mm lens for my camera, so next year I should be able to get a much better shot.

 

They also put out some cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the Reindeer.  After all, they're working their tails off all night long.  Gotta give them a little snack. ;)

 

 

 

The next morning they were up and early (of course!).  I snuck down to get a picture of what Santa left before they wandered down the stairs, and then I was lucky enough to catch a photo of them each coming down the stairs.  So precious!

 

 

 

 

 

These are two very lucky, very loved, very SPOILED little boys!

 

Over the next couple of hours the boys tore in to all their new toys, checking everything out.  I think they were quite pleased what the big guy brought them!

 

 

Jacob knew he would be playing soccer in the Spring, so Santa brought him a new net and ball.  After they were done opening their gifts, we took the net outside and let him kick around the ball a little bit.  It was so cold, but that didn't seem to bother either of the boys!  They went out in their footie jammies!  haha 

 

 

 













Later on in the day, my parents arrived with round two (see what I mean about them being spoiled).  It was as much, if not more, then the first round!  So, they spent another hour or so opening gifts ...

 

That little Elmo in the picture above is solely responsible for Henry potty training, by the way.  I'll write another blog post about that at a later date, though.

 

My parents got each other personalized jerseys for their favorite teams (Steelers for my mom and Packers for Rick).  Pretty cool!

 

My parents got me another awesome Santa to add to my collection!  And, my mom fulfilled one of my childhood dreams of owning an American Girl doll!  I had always wanted one, but never got it.  Now that I have two boys and will never buy one for anyone, *I* am the proud owner of Rebecca. :)

 

Anyway, back to our day ... we spent the rest of the day hanging out, watching TV/football and playing games.  Jacob got a new Cars Monopoly game for Christmas, so he played that with Gee and Pap quite a bit. 

 

 

We had a yummy dinner and enjoyed each other's company!  A totally awesome Christmas was had by all!

 



Thanksgiving Weekend

Last Thanksgiving we were just trying to get through each day, so we didn't even bother cooking.  We went out to a Chinese buffet ... not very Thanksgiving-ish, but ehh .. what can you?

So, this year we got back in to the swing of things some.  I made dinner at our house and had my parents over like normal.  We hung out, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, football and ate a LOT.  Our menu consisted of turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and croissants.  Pretty typical Thanksgiving Day food.

I did just a very SMALL amount of Black Friday shopping last year.  I'm not sure why, I guess I just wasn't feeling it?  Black Friday shopping was something I had done with my sister the past few years, so it's a little hard for me to do now.

The boys got an early Christmas gift from their Uncle Jay and Aunt Jamie.  These awesome matching Puma track suits.  They fit them so well over the entire winter that I'm hoping, hoping, hoping they'll still fit this coming fall and winter. 

The next day, on Saturday, we pulled out all our boxes to decorate for Christmas!  This is truly my favorite time of year.  I have to get our decorations up no later than the weekend after Thanksgiving and they stay up until after the New Year. 

Each year we get a new family ornament.  This year we got this awesome ball ornament!

 

 

And, of course I had my two best helpers decorating right beside me.

 

 

Our tree is all done and looks so beautiful!

 

 

Here are some of our other Christmas decorations.  I started collecting Santas several years ago.  Here are just a few of the ones I have.  I love them all! Even this creepy Santa.  Lol

 

And, last, take a look at my growing village.  Some day I will have a huge Christmas village!