"Why the Long Face?"

Uh...the title is a knockoff of my father-in-law's favorite joke...
"A horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks him.....why the long face?"
Yup, gotta love his jokes.  HAHA

Anywho, we attended a friend of Taylor's 4th birthday party this past weekend and boy did we have fun. Not only did Daddy watch Cooper so mommy and Taylor could have special time (I love special time with Taylor), but there were horses involved.....well, ponies...same thing. 

Taylor was a natural. She rode 3 times!!!  And I was so proud. She wasnt afraid, she petted and talked to the horses the whole time and looked great on a horse!  Proud mom right here, I cant wait til she's old enough to go on trail rides with me!

On Cheyenne...Cheyenne had a very smooth walk...great first ride!

On TyTy....Taylor said TyTy was her favorite

On Camanche, mommy's favorite :)

And of course, trying to cool off after riding in 100 degree heat!

And digging into some cake! 

1 down, 1 to go

........I've been dying to post this, but I wanted to wait until I knew we were officially in the clear......and it's been 10 whole days now......

TAYLOR IS FINALLLLLLLLY POTTY TRAINED!

You parents can understand my excitement! 

A few months ago, I realized that it was time to start potty training Taylor. We had been putting her on the potty here and there and she'd gone a few times, but nothing serious.  So we ran out, bought a potty chair, some undies and tried the switch.  She was NOT having it. She was not interested in sitting on her little potty at all.  She'd sat a few times here and there, but did not like it.  When I put undies on her, she'd just pee in em and keep playing like nothing ever happened.  And for the life of me, putting her on the potty every 20 minutes was not working like most parents say it does.  I tried everything!!  Sticker charts, candy incentives, time-outs (this worked for the poop), timed potty breaks, letting her run naked.  Everything.  We even went back to the store, bought a Dora potty seat that sits on the big toilet. And NOTHING was working.  So I just figured I'd be one of the few who has a 3 year old in diapers.....ugh. So we put away the potty chair and undies and continued our journey through her birthday in diapers.  Then I vowed to her teachers that my goal for the summer was to get her potty trained. I was planning to devote the entire summer to it.....even if it killed me.  I dont care if she was ready or not, I was not letting her start 3 year old class next year in diapers. 

                                    

So on the first day of summer, May 13, I decided to start our potty training adventure.  All it took was a brief talk about not peeing in her undies, how important it was to pee in the potty, etc etc important potty business etc etc....put her in some big girl undies ...and she started going!  And better yet, TELLING ME SHE HAD TO GO!   It's been 10 days and we've only had maybe a handful of accidents and most being in the beginning of the 10 days.  And in those 10 days she's also converted from using the Dora seat to now using the normal toilet.  Taylor's been able to poop on the potty for about a month now (I know, she backwards potty trained....who'd have thunk it).  But now, we are officially out of diapers (except the pullup to bed routine....we'll worry about the night time business later, baby steps people, baby steps!). Right now, she still needs to tell us she has to go, and we still go in the bathroom with her and wipe her.  But its waaaaaay less time/hassle to do that than change a diaper! And she even does well in public!!

So that's 1 down.......1 to go (yes, he's only 6 months old, but I'm counting down til he's potty trained).....

This makes it all better....

Each day I begin sleep deprived, mentally and physically exhausted and in extreme pain.  And each day I complain about the lack of sleep, the needyness of my kids, my horrible trapezius muscles causing me migraines, and things such as that.

And then something like this happens....

And makes it all worth while! 

6 months!

It's been 6 months since our little man entered this world (well technically 6 months and 5 days now).  Today we saw his new doctor.  Besides being absolutely traumatized by his 4 shots, the eczema (just like his sister), the reflux (still, but not as bad) and uh, the revised circumcision (we wont get into it...poor guy), he is a healthy boy!

23.9 pounds!

28 inches!

(that's exactly the same height but 2 pounds heavier than what his sister was at 6 months)

And yes, I carry this around all day...I have a feeling I'm gonna have some great guns when this is all said and done....or a bad back.

Sleep? What's that?

I keep wondering when we're going to hit that stage where BOTH my kids sleep through the night......I just hope I make it til then.  I mean, they are born from two people who love sleep.  Tim, though he stays up all night loves sleep...and can sleep through a freaking hurricane or tornado if it came down to it.  And me, holy crap...I NEED my sleep or I'm the biggest, crankiest person known to man.

Think I'm just whining? THIS was my night below......

8:15 pm---Lay Cooper in bed, try the Ferber method. After 30 minutes he's asleep!  (thanks Sarah and Christina for referring it, I'm going to keep at it)
8:30 pm---Go lay Taylor down.  She screams, cries and throws a fit like every night we put her to sleep. 
9:00 pm---Daddy goes and lays with Taylor since he's a big pushover.
10:30 pm---went to bed
11:00 pm (ish)----Daddy comes to bed.  Of course, if I was sleeping at this point, I'm not anymore.
...until 2:00 am----Mommy tosses and turns all night, yes we've already established I have insomnia.  But my dr said to only take my meds once a week she doesnt want me to get addicted to them, so I take them on the weekends.
2:00 am---Taylor wakes up screaming "Mommy".  In fear that she'd wake up Cooper, I went and laid in her bed til she fell back asleep. 
2:15 am---Mommy back to bed 
2:30 am---Taylor wakes up screaming again for "mommy". Cooper starts to stir. Mommy lays in bed with Taylor.  Taylor falls asleep but wakes up again within 10 min and starts crying. 
3:00 am---Mommy takes Taylor to mom and dad's bed. She passes out....literally on top of me.
3:30 am---Mommy decides to go sleep on the couch....cant sleep, getting kicked, elbowed and even headbutted once. 
 **I swear these kids have mommy magnet in them or something. Everytime I lay them in bed with me, they end up curled up in my side or on top of me, leaving me literally 2 inches of my Eastern King Sized Bed.  Ugh
4:00 am---Cooper wakes up and starts to cry. Mom does the "paci dance" every 10-30 minutes until he finally falls asleep at 6am. (during this time, Taylor keeps wimpering in her sleep for mommy while Daddy sleeps deeply next to her)
6:00 am---Mommy lays back down on the couch and begins to fall asleep.
6:10 am---Daddy's alarm goes off.  He hits snooze every 10 minutes until he finally gets up at 7:15 am! 
7:30 am---both kids up.  Mommy's day begins with 3 crappy hours of sleep.

And this was a tame night where Cooper actually slept for a big chunk of it, normally he's up ALL night. 
But seriously, I need to hire a night nanny or start drugging my kids so they sleep (I'm kidding of course). 

3 years already?!

My baby girl is 3 years old today!  This time, May 4, 2008 (3 years ago), my water broke....9 hours later, I fell in love for the first time in my life! 

May 4, 2008

Birth

May 4, 2009

1 year old

May 4, 2010

2 years old

May 4, 2011

3 years old



The past 3 years have been fun, enjoyable, interesting, nerve wracking, stressful, and a blast.  But there's no other 3 year old I'd rather share my life with :) 

Happy Birthday My Taylor Tot!  Mommy loves you more and more each day!

Been a while....

Yes, it's been a while....it's hard to keep up with a blog with 2 rugrats continually consuming your time. 
Plus, I gave up my computer for lent, which was dumb. But I did it...and made it through. Though I'll never do it again.

We have a lot to catch up on.....and it'll prolly take some time....

in the meantime, I leave you with an OVERLOAD of cuteness....ENJOY