The Heaven's Have Opened Just for Me!!!

This morning I decided it was time to potty train Anya once and for all. For those of you who do not know, Anya has NEVER urinated in the toilet. Oh, she has sat on many occasions, once for as long as 45 minutes. We run water, I push on her bladder, offered M&Ms, stickers, etc. Nothing!

I usually try til about lunch and then give up, and don't try again for a month, so it is somewhat my fault. But today, I decided come hell or high water, she was going to pee on the potty.

After breakfast, around 7:30, I took off her diaper, put on the first pair of panties, and told her the deal. We were going to drink a lot, set the timer for 20 minutes, and when the timer went off go sit on the potty. I told her if she went on the potty, her daddy would take her on an ice cream date when he got home from work.

Before the 20 minutes were even up, she looked at me and said "I pooped!" I could have cried, but I actually stayed pretty calm. We placed the contents in the toilet where they belong, cleaned up, washed hands, and put on our second pair of panties. We reset the timer.

The timer had not even gone again when she ran from the kitchen into the living room saying she had urinated. I put her on her potty, went to mop up the mess, cleaned her up, put on pair 3! Reset the timer!

I can't remember if the timer went off or not, but Steven was in his crib while was doing something and Anya was playing in their room. She runs to the toilet saying something about peeing. She has another wet set of underwear (I swear, you can't make this stuff up!!), but at least she knew to run to the potty.

By this time it is almost 9. We have already dirtied 3 pairs of panties in 1 1/2 hours, I am sweating, exhausted and frazzled. It is almost time for Steven's nap and I want nothing more than a good shower. I put him down, give Anya some water and a few books, and tell her that while I am in the shower, she is going to sit on the potty. She wasn't excited about the idea, but did as she was told.

When I got out, I was very doubtful that anything had happened. I had her lean up so I could see, and there was some beautiful yellow liquid!!! (I know, that is gross, but any mom who has potty trained will understand my excitement!). I jumped up and down, gave her big hugs and kisses, praised God, high fived her, constantly yelling "You did it!!! You tee-teed on the potty!!" I don't think she quite got it at first, but she caught on to my excitement! We called daddy, both grandmas and nanny. I gave her an M&M, and told her after Steven woke up from his nap we would put a sticker on the potty chart I made around Hurricane Gustav!

We set the timer again. We have pretty much tried every 20 minutes, and she has gone again since. Another big cheering session, another sticker, and another M&M.

Right now is nap time, so she is in her pull up. I pray the rest of the day will continue to go well. Of course, I only have 2 more pair of dry panties, but I am hopeful they last the rest of the day!!

Happy Mardi Gras!!

Today Chris, Anya, Olivia, and I headed to New Roads for the Mardi Gras festivities! We left Steven at home with GiGi after he screamed so much at Southdowns. We parked at my mom's parent's house and walked into town to my cousin's house which is on the parade route.

The girls seemed to really enjoy it. They not only caught tons of beads, but tons of stuffed animals, like we don't have enough. That's okay, she will forget about them by tomorrow and we can donate them. Anya was very tired by the end of the parade and Chris let her ride in the wagon on the way back. There were a few times I thought she was going to fall asleep sitting up!

Yes, I know, it's a really big bow in her hair, but it was $10 and to get my moneys worth she will need to wear it for a few years, especially because you only wear mardi gras colors a few days a year! And I know I'm not the big bow type, but the trend is growing on me!!

It was time for a haircut!

For the last week or so Chris and I have been discussing the need for Anya to get a haircut. She fights us every time we wash, brush, and fix her hair. Easiest solution: chop it all off. When she is old enough to fix her own hair, she can have it as long as she wishes (within reason obviously), but as long as it is mom and dad's responsibility, short it will remain.
So yesterday while Chris was doing outdoor chores, the kids and I headed to Pigtails and Crewcuts.
I have been cutting Steven's hair, but never really felt comfortable trimming around the ears, so I had the girl trim the back and around the ears, just to make it look neater. Of course it is absolutely ridiculous that they charged the same for Anya and Steven. His took all of three minutes, hers took about 15.
Anya had no desire to have her hair cut. She kept yelling at me and the girl "But I don't want a hair cut!!" She got a dum-dum, which I wasn't too thrilled about, but whatever works! She remained apprehensive until she had done a few snips, then Anya realized that it didn't hurt and it was never really her choice to get a haircut or not! Of course after it was all done she realized how cute it was. When we got home and showed Daddy and Aunt Amanda she kept saying "I got my haircut, isn't it cute?"

Oh, and silly me remembered to bring my camera, but when I took it out, I realized the memory card was left at home so the two pictures of them getting their hair cut was taken by the crapy phone camera!

I think the new cut is cute, and it looks ever so much neater!! It wasn't a fight this morning to brush it or fix it. (cue the Alleluia chorus!!)

Southdowns Mardi Gras Parade

Now that we basically live one block off of the Southdowns Parade route, I have decided that it would be fun to have a big party every year. I'm not crazy about cleaning the house and all the prep work for a party (but who is) but I love having people over! This year we had about 30 people. I did nothing exciting, just some finger foods, and of course king cake! After hanging out at the house for an hour and a half or so, we walked a block down Hyacinth and watched the parade.

I love that the parade is fairly short and family oriented. They are not the beautiful New Orleans style floats (very home-made), but loads of fun!

Anya loved it. Steven was another story. He screamed most of the time from the noise, and the fact that it was WAY past his bedtime(the parade didn't get to us til 8:30, so it was about 9:30 before he got to bed). Plus he had a diaper rash that was very uncomfortable!!

A friend from college, Nicole, and her family slept over after the parade. It's always fun to catch up after all the party people leave and we had some quiet time.

Hopefully it's just because she's 2!!

The picture above was taken last night (Sunday Feb 15) at about 10:30pm. Chris and I had put the kids to bed by 7:30. I stayed downstairs for a while watching TV, Chris went up to play on his playstation, and I later went up to play on the computer.
When we went down to bed around 10:30, I headed towards their room for my nightly check on them before I go to bed. I found this. Her blanket. This is not the first time she has done it. Once she came in our room left it by our bed, and went back to her bed, she has left it at the foot of the stairs when we were up watching a movie, but usually she will simply open her door, drop her blanket, close her door, and go back to bed without saying a word.
We are very perplexed by these events! Why does she do this? What is she thinking? Does she need some sort of psych consult or is it simply: she's two?!?!?

Valentine's Day

Saturday, of course, was V-Day. Now that Anya is old enough to really participate in things, I had a lot of things planned. First, I had bought some cute plastic plates and cups at Target with hearts on them. We used them for all our meals. We got the kids a little stuffed animal and a heart shaped box of chocolates, and of course everyone got a card.

For breakfast I cooked heart-shaped pink pancakes. Of course cooking them turned the outside brown so Anya later told someone we had brown pancakes!

After breakfast Ms. Gail came over to bring the kids their gifts: a book to share and a stuffed animal for each of them.

Chris did yard work most of the day. We haven't been to crazy about the landscaping of our yard since we moved in. There are a lot of things that we like (I have hydrangea bushes which I never had before, 2 Japanese Magnolias, camellias, azaleas, and some irises), but there is more that we hate. The bushes in the front (of which I have commented on before) were way overgrown. Last year about this time Chris trimmed them back, but 6 months later they were already in need of another trim. Well, Chris borrowed Dad's tiller (which he actually enjoyed using!! Boys and their power tools!!) and now most of the bushes in front of the house are gone. Also, on the side of the house that faces Myrtledale there is landscaping that is about 5 feet thick from the house. There are nandinas (which we both hate) and tons of ferns. Chris obliterated about 1/3 of it. We are going to plant some smaller bushes in those two places, and I want some irises, lilies of the Nile, and daylilies. We want things that won't need more attending than once a year.

After naps, Anya and I made pink heart shaped cupcakes. In the picture I was showing Anya how to get eye level with the measuring cup. She was doing it with me. A future cook!!! After I made the icing, I had her help me do one, but she wasn't very interested and just wanted to eat it.

Ms. Gail and Olivia came and watched the kids so Chris and I could go to the LSU Basketball game. I know, it doesn't sound like much of a V-Day date, but we had gone to Juban's last week for a early V-Day dinner. We hate going out on Valentine's Day, and Juban's has become our traditional V-Day date. We also have decided to not do gifts; we would much rather spend the money on a great dinner and time alone with each other.

Chris's 25 list

I blog. Chris now does Facebook. He is trying to get me to do it too, but I blog, try to scrapbook, and chase around the 2 kids. Plus the computer is upstairs, which is why I haven't been good at blogging lately. Anyway, there is a thing on Facebook where you make a list of 25 things about yourself. Chris said I could post it. I didn't learn anything, but was impressed at what he included.
1. I am an extreme introvert, which for some reason surprises people who know me.

2. I married a Catholic girl from Morganza. I will probably convert soon. We are members at St. Aloysius in Baton Rouge.

3. My most content moments are when I'm at home with just the wife and kids.

4. I am a techno-geek. I love to have the latest and greatest electronics. But strangely enough, I didn’t get my first IPOD until Christmas 2008. (I already have 40 GB of songs though)

5. Like everyone I have regrets. I would love to go back and do things differently, but only if I could guarantee that it would lead me to same place I am now (with perhaps a little more money).

6. My Dad died when I was 29. It saddens me when I think that my kids will never know him.

7. Most people who know me probably think I live a boring life. I go to work, pay my bills, and spend time with my family. Not a lot of drama.

8. I had a goal of seeing all 50 states by age 40. I have 2 years left and 17 states to go. I don't think I'm going to make it.

9. I spent 4 years in the Air Force. I am very proud to call myself a veteran.

10. I am a die-hard LSU fan. I have season tickets to both football and basketball, yet I went to school at La Tech. Go figure.

11. Golf is my primary hobby. My handicap got as low as a 6 when I was single. I got married and went to an 8, had the 1st kid and dropped to a 10, 2nd kid dropped to a 12 which is about what I play to today. If you don't golf, I'm sure you have no idea what I'm talking about.

12. I used to hunt and fish, but not since my dad died.

13. I am not convinced that global warming is man-made. Read the book "State of Fear".

14. Part of me can't wait for my children to grow to see what they become, and part of me wishes I could freeze them like they are now forever.

15. I really enjoy a glass of wine or a cold beer, but I don't think I've been actually drunk in at least 7 years.

16. I am old-fashioned in every way. I find purity more attractive than exoticness. I'm not a big fan of tattoos and body piercings.

17. I am a conflict avoider to the max.

18. I think cell phones are turning us into an attention deficit disordered society. It annoys me to see someone texting at a restaurant table.

19. I lived away from Baton Rouge for 9 years after high school. My hometowns were in order San Antonio, TX; Denver, CO; Spangdahlem, Germany; Shreveport, LA; Ruston, LA; Cleveland, OH; Nashville, TN

20. My dream vacation is an Ireland golf get-away.

21. Politically and socially I am very conservative, but I make a conscious effort to understand the other point of views.

22. My sense of humor is very dry, which often causes people take me seriously when I'm really joking.

23. At age 38, I still love roller coasters and video games. My favorite PS3 games are Call of Duty, NCAA football, NBA 2K9, and of course Rock Band.

24. It's not that I don't like to dance; it’s just that I don't have any rhythm and I really suck at it.

25. I think my modesty is what makes me great (see item 22).

I'm not lost!

I know, I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks and I have been fussed at.
Well, the porch is done, complete with swing!! I think I'm going to buy some wicker furniture, and this weekend Chris is planning on working on the flower beds in the front (those big leaf bush-things will be gone!!), but the porch itself is done!!
We have been sitting out there almost daily. The kids love sitting on the swing. Chris and I have always wanted a swing with a front porch, and now we have it!!


Anya had her Valentine's Day party at school yesterday. I made (Let's Make) Whoppie Pies. I found the recipe on Parents.com. They are basicly homemade moonpies and you put some food coloring in the marshmellow filling to make it pink. Don't know how much the kids at school liked them, but Anya, my dad, and I devoured the extras!! No, I did not count them in my points for the day, which is probably a factor in the fact that I have only lost 4 pounds in the last month!


Last Saturday we went to Denham Springs for Ms. Gail's birthday dinner at Angela's house. I got a pretty good picture of GiGi with her babies. I needed one, I can't remember the last time we had gotten one.

32/365

Sunday Feb 1

Super Bowl Sunday. Chris and I decided to go to 11 am mass because we had stayed up late watching a movie. We usually go to 9am Mass, mostly because 7 am is way to early on a Sunday, and if you go to 11am, half your day is gone once you get home.

I went to Target while the kids were napping. Big mistake. The shelves were not stocked well and there were way to many people!!

After I got home, Chris was painting the rocking chairs green to match the shutters and banisters. I went for a nap!

When I got up at 4:20, the kids were still sleeping (shocker!!) so we got them up and went to GiGi's to watch the game and eat dinner.

31/365

Last night Ashley and Matt slept over (as well as Amanda, but she sleeps over at least 3 nights a week, so that's not unusual), so we just hung out today. Chris and Matt went to the LSU basketball game, and then brought home Vodoo BBQ for dinner. YUM! I got Anya the kids pulled pork sandwich with mac and cheese for her side and there was almost nothing left. She hardly talked during dinner!! Sometimes I have to feed her myself if I am to get any food down her, but lately she has been eating very well. Must be a growth spurt! Of course, who can resist some yummy BBQ??