Happy 1st Birthday Sabrina!!

I'm falling behind in my posting.

Between working extra days and Avery at school, I feel like my time is limited to be sitting here writing when I should be cleaning my house or something!

About 10 days ago we went to Buffalo to celebrate a special little lady's first birthday!  Sabrina turned 1 just the other day so we made the trip in for her party.  It's hard to believe she's a year old already and soon will be running around with my girls (which they will LOVE by the way)!

She's sporting Cassie's birthday tutu-love it!

We got there and the kids played awhile and then we had a delicious BBQ lunch.  Then it was time for presents! Avery was front and center the entire time, just like she is at every party. Girlfriend loves seeing what the birthday girl/boy gets!

After presents, it was time for cake! And it was so pretty:

Swiper, no swiping!

Sabrina wasn't really "feeling" the cake at all. She didn't take a good nap so she was pretty tired at this point. She stuck her hands in it and that's about it-she just cried at the cake! I wish I had that problem!

Happy 1st Birthday Sabrina!! We hope you had a fun day!

Potty Training the Little One

Two weeks ago I decided it was time to get Cassandra on the potty train.

Avery was just over the age of 2 when we started training her. I wanted to do it over the summer with Cassandra, but we never had a few days in a row at home with nothing planned. So it just kept getting pushed back.

Two weeks ago, we had a relatively free weekend and nothing to do on Friday so I decided to go for it.

She was all excited to wear undies Friday morning. I was trying to pump her with fluids, but she wasn't really into drinking much. We were using the same method we did with Avery-put them right in undies and anytime they have an accident, you rush them to the bathroom immediately. If they get anything in the toilet, it's all about praising them.

Friday and Saturday pretty much panned out the same-she had 2 accidents both days. She peed in a diaper at naptime and then the 2 accidents and that was it. I was getting nervous because at this point she hadn't gotten anything in the toilet yet.  Not a drop! 

Sunday morning she was acting like she had to go and while I was getting ready for the day, she ran in and told me she went on the potty! YAY!! She had a treat, we were so happy for her, etc.

After nap on Sunday, we went to Gabe's parents' house for dinner and she wanted to wear her undies there. Around 6pm, she looked like she had to go. Every 2mins she said she had to pee and we took her to the bathroom and nothing. We left their house around 7:30 and she still hadn't gone. We got home and by this point she wanted to be carried everywhere and was crying about having to pee. I took her up to get ready for bed and again she was in the bathroom every 2min with nothing happening. I got her diaper and PJs on and again she had to go-stripped everything off and nothing. This happened at least 10 times over the course of the next hour!  Keep in mind, she's still crying because she had to go but just wouldn't go anywhere! We even dragged out the kid potty for her and she wouldn't go on that either. Finally around 9:15 or so she was running to the bathroom screaming "I GOTTA GO!" and she got half in the diaper and half on the toilet. 

Unfortunately, this became the norm from Mon-Thurs. She would hold it all morning, pee in her diaper at nap, then hold it all evening and would go through this crazy production at bedtime. I've heard of kids holding their poop, but not their pee. And I was really worried she would end up with a UTI and then we'd be really screwed because then it would hurt for her to go. 

So....we had to give in. Diapers went back on for good on Friday. She asked a few times that day to wear underwear so we did put them on her. As soon as she had to pee, she asked for a diaper on. I have no idea what is going on with her. Avery was so much easier-by day 3 she was on the potty most of the time. Cassandra is just holding it and holding it!  I don't know if it's a control thing for her (like since we're telling her to do it, she won't?) or if she's scared for some reason (she sits on the potty just fine though). So I'm sort of putting this back into her hands-when she's ready, I guess she'll be ready to do it on her own. I'm just out of ideas and don't know how to get her to release and let it out!  Crazy child! And they say the second one is usually easier to train! Not for us!

I guess we'll see where this goes over the next few months. Stay tuned!

First Day of Kindergarten!

It was the day we were waiting for....the first day of Kindergarten!

I was a little nervous as to how it would go. For the past 10 days or so, Avery was having a meltdown at bedtime about not wanting to go to school. I think part of the reason was that we hadn't been to the school or met the teacher until Wednesday of this week (with school starting Thursday). So here we were counting down the days and getting excited, and she had no idea what she was excited for. 

Wednesday I left work early to do the teacher meet and greet and to drop off her supplies. It went really well-her teacher had a scavenger hunt set up around the classroom and an activity for them to do. After we finished, I took her around the building to show her the gym, cafeteria, library, etc. I honestly think this helped calm her fears.

I also had to work on her first day of school, but was lucky enough to be able to go in late and leave early to get her on/off the bus that day. I woke her up around 7:15 and she was very excited and happy!  We got her dressed, she ate breakfast, brushed teeth, and I did her hair. Gabe's parents showed up a little after 8 to come see her as well, which was really nice.

Outside we went for a few photos:

Cassie, Mommy, Avery, Daddy

Then we headed to our corner to wait for the bus!

When the bus came, Avery bolted on it and sat right down! We had to have the driver grab her so we could get a picture of her on the bus! haha! At least she was excited!

Once she left, I went to work. And of course I was worried about her all day....would she find her teacher? Would she ask for help? Would she meet some friends? Who would she eat lunch with? Would she make it to the right bus to come home?  It was the longest few hours, I swear!

I got home around 3:30 or so in time to see her come home!  I couldn't wait to hear how her day was!

Looks happy right?!  She was! And she had a wonderful day! Of course I didn't get much out of her, but she loved her teacher, went to gym, ate (some) lunch, and saw a friend of hers from daycare (who happens to be in her class!).  And she was ready to go back the next day! Phew...a sigh of relief!