Yea!! Oh no... NO!

I have been trying to get Taylor excited about the potty.  No, I am not officially potty-training her yet.  I just don't want her to be scared of the potty like a certain little red-head.  Before bath, I get her undressed and sit her up on the potty.  She was nervous at first but we got the princess seat out and all of a sudden, it became pretty cool!

Sunday night (a couple of weeks ago) was pretty crazy at our house.  Mike and I had gone to Indy on Saturday while the girls stayed at my parents' house.  We had just got home from the grocery store and were getting all of the bags unpacked as I was getting the girls ready for a bath.  I stripped Taylor and tossed her up onto the potty seat.  I went to throw some things into Taylor's diaper bag and came back into the bathroom.  Taylor was pointing and grunting (because she STILL isn't talking... much) to the bath.  I asked if she was done and she smiled and nodded.  As with each time, I just picked her up and put her into the bath.  To my surprise, the potty water was yellow!!  I got super excited and was clapping and whooping and getting Taylor super excited too!  J was in at this point and she was super excited about Taylor's accomplishment too!

The girls were busy playing in the bath while I ran in and out, putting things away.  Pretty soon, J starts yelling, "MOM!  MOM!  THERE'S POOP IN THE BATH!  TAYLOR POOPED!"  Ugh...

One step forward, two steps back...

**UPDATE:  This is one of those posts that I compose because I don't want to forget about it but leave it as a draft until a time where I don't have time to post something else...  Monday evening, we were in the family room and Taylor started grabbing her diaper and pointing in the direction of the bathroom.  I asked her if she had to go potty and she nodded.  We trotted off to the bathroom and I put her up on the potty.  A few seconds later, she pottied!!  We all got super excited :o) 

Jaden the OFFICIAL Big Girl!

For quite a while now, we've been trying to get Jaden to sit on the big potty without her princess potty seat.  She has had no problem doing so at the babysitter's house, but at home, forget it!  Being the wonderful parents that we are, Mike and  started to bribe her a little.  We told her that as soon as she could do it, we would take her to the BIG toy store (Toys R Us) and she could buy any toy she wanted in the whole store!  Well... a few nights ago at 9:45 pm, J comes out to the family room and says she has to go potty.  Mike goes to help her... they take a while.  Mike finally comes out and says that Jaden is ready to sit on the big potty.  HOT DOG!  I go in there and she said she only wanted to "practice," meaning she wanted to sit on the potty with her PJs on.  Hey, it's a step!  Oh, and just so you know, the reason she was scared of the potty is because one of her boyfriends at the sitter's left the seat up once and she about fell in.  SO, she lifted the lid and sat right up there like a big girl!  I was so proud :o)  I told her that the next day, we would go to the BIG toy store and she could buy any toy she wanted.  Her request: the slinky dog from Toy Story.  Well...

Welcome, Mr. Slinky Dog!

Then, while we were at the store, she said she had to go potty.  I told her I didn't bring her seat because she was a big girl.  We got in the restroom and she was a little nervous because the potty was much bigger.  But, she did it!!  Since her little bootie is so tiny, she has to hold onto the toilet seat so she doesn't fall in.  We made sure to wash our hands about three times before leaving the restroom!  She ran out and announced to the whole store her dad that she DID potty!  He was holding a Toy Story Seek and Find book and told her she could get it for being a big girl!

Such a proud big girl!

Good job, J!!  We are so proud of you :o)

"Good job! I am so proud!"

I didn't say it, Jaden did.  To me.  With many other people around.  In a public restroom!

We all went to Barnes and Noble last night and were just starting to play with the trains when Jaden decided that she had to go potty.  We always bring her potty seat with us so it wasn't a big deal at all.  I took her into the restroom and we both went into the handicap stall (one, because it is the only one big enough for two people, and two because all of the other stalls were occupied).  I hoisted her up onto the potty and waited to hear a little tinkle, after which I whispered, "good job, Miss."  Well, you know how it is... hearing all of the other people peeing, running water, etc. made me have to go potty so I took J's seat off and proceeded to do my business.  When I had finished, my oh-so-loud almost three-year-old starts clapping and shouts, "You peed, Mom!  Good job!  I am so proud!"  Then she hugs my legs and (still very loudly) says, "Aww, I love you, Mom!"  Yeah.  Definitely filing this away in the "things to remember for revenge when she's older" bin in my brain.

Ramblings...

I was looking over my blog yesterday and realized that it had been a while since I posted anything about my cuties! I'm hoping to get caught up on Taylor's weekly updates very soon, but until then, enjoy this video! --- ugh... My video was 101MB and Blogger only allows a max of 100MB. I'll post it on Facebook later so find me over there and check it out. It is so worth "being my friend" for.

Jaden is my little entertainer :o) She has a new obsession with music. I need to be really up on song titles too because when we are in the car, she asks me, "Mom, what's this one?" whenever a new song comes on. Her favorites right now are 1-2-3 I Love You and Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T's, Fireflies by Owl City, Hey Soul Sister by Train and This Kiss by Faith Hill. When these songs come on at home, she busts out her song and dance routine... always including a drum solo :o) I got them downloaded to her MP3 player yesterday so she could rock out any time her little heart feels like it! I'm so excited to get her started in dance lessons in the fall. I think she will do really well.

Speaking of new obsessions, I am LOVING Diet Mountain Dew! I went to get a pop out of the machine at work yesterday and since I only drink diet, Diet Pepsi is my one and only option. BUT, the Mountain Dew button caught my eye and made my mouth water so I went to Walgreen's and got a DIET Mountain Dew...mmmm SO good!

OH! Big news! I'm proud to say that my little Miss J is officially POTTY TRAINED!! Yippee! Going potty has become a reason to celebrate and eat chocolate in the McClure household... maybe that's why I'm loving the Mountain Dew! She is doing great! She hasn't had an accident in... I can't even remember... weeks! She is doing it all on her own, too. She can pull her pants up and down, wipe, wash her hands... all by HERSELF! We're very proud of her :o) Next thing to tackle is the bed/nap time paci habit. Ugh... this is gonna be a toughie. Has anyone experienced this? What worked for you?

I have been sewing up a storm lately! I'm trying to get lots of goodies made to (hopefully) sell at Bisque It this Saturday and at the Home and Garden Show at the end of the month. By the way, if you live in or within driving distance to Bisque It Pottery Painting Studio, they are having their 5th Birthday Celebration this Saturday! You should definitely stop in and paint something! You could make your sweetie something fun for Valentine's Day! I'm sure the girls and I will be there! Anyway, you can see my creations in my Etsy store AND order anything with FREE shipping by putting my button on your blog! Can't get better than that. I will do custom orders too, so if you are wanting something that isn't shown (different colors, patterns, for a boy, etc.), just let me know and I'll make a special listing for you :o)

As you probably already know, I'm a TV junkie. **I love me some Grey's!** There has been a lot of talk going around about NBC and the whole Leno/Conan situation. Growing up, I was a Letterman fan. Hands down. It wasn't until Mike and I started dating that I even was remotely interested in Leno. Then he got me hooked with the Headlines and Jay Walking. I made the switch and never looked back... sorry Davie. During the summer, when the days are longer, I occasionally made it through an entire episode of Leno and got o see a little bit of Conan. I admit that I have never really liked him. (sorry Amanda...) I used to think he was so annoying and was a little disturbed by his big floppy hair. BUT, he grew on me as Jay did and I not only started to enjoy him, but would TRY to stay up to watch his monologue. Then, when Jay got his 10:00 show and Conan was moved up, I was so excited! I didn't watch Jay as much as I used to but still would tune in every now and then (especially on Mondays for the Headlines). Now I'm sad. My late night friends are fighting. I hope Conan gets a show on another network (has he already signed with Fox or is that just a rumor?) because I was really liking him. If you ask me, I think they should have left Conan at 11:30 and moved Jay to the spot after him. I don't know... either way we are still PRO-NBC and ANTI-LETTERMAN... nothing personal, I just don't think he's that funny. I also realized the other night that I used to watch a lot of comedies; Friends, Will and Grace, shows like those! Mike was obsessed with Seinfeld. Now, we watch ZERO comedies. Are there any good ones on now? Has my taste in TV changed or have the funny standards dropped? PLEASE don't tell me to watch The Office either because I have tried and IT.IS.NOT.FUNNY.AT.ALL. It seems like when I get into one, it gets cancelled. One thing I will for sure be watching this weekend is the Superbowl... GO COLTS!!

Have a great day :o)

18 Weeks

Taylor Maxine - 18 Weeks Old

January 13, 2010

Taylor (left -- Notice the shirt, Lala?) and Jaden (right)

Can I just say that I love Blogger's new editing screen?  Now I can post my beauties side-by-side without hassle!  Now, if only I could find the spell check tool...

ANYWAY, 18 weeks old!  Taylor started eating cereal this week!  She's pretty sloppy and honestly, not too sure about it.  She does a little better with each feeding though. 

She has become a pro at rolling over and is starting to push herself up with her arms.  I have a feeling she is going to be a crawler!  Unfortunately, she is still waking us up once in the night for a bottle.  HOPEFULLY she will cut that out soon!  Jaden loves making Taylor laugh!  They adore each other!!  I can already tell that they will be best buds :o)

Speaking of Jaden, I just want to say that I am SO PROUD of my little sweetie!!  She is wearing cotton underpants now!  Her babysitter told be this morning that she is really impressed with her progress and has never seen a kid catch on so quickly!  Way to go, Miss J!!

*Merry Christmas Eve!! ;o)

Lots Going On!!

Just a reminder of my birthday party tomorrow...

So, on Wednesday, Jaden just says, "Mom, I want to go potty on the big girl potty." Huh? What?!?! I was on the phone talking to Mom about Project Life (I'll get to that in a sec) and immediately told her I had to go and hung up. I ran to the bathroom, realized Jaden was still in the family room, went and got her, and waited excitedly for her to pee!! I waited... and waited... smile started to fade... waited some more... and nothing. "Oh well," I told her, "We'll try later."

About 10 minutes later: "Mom, I want to go potty on the big girl potty." Again, equally excited, I grabbed J and ran to the bathroom, stripped her diaper off and waited with another huge grin and clenched fists!! I waited... and waited... and waited... Jaden then informs me, "It's stuck. I want to try later." Great.

About 5 minutes after that: (see above) Still nothing.

Ok, dinner time came. She still had a dry diaper. We ate dinner and I asked her if she wanted to try again. She did! And....... not a drop.

5 minutes later: "Mom, I want to try again." By now, I'm not quite as excited as I was the first hundred times. I take her in, get the diaper off, give her a book and left the room. I was in the middle of doing dishes. Pretty soon I hear, "MOM! DADDY! I DID PEE IN THE BIG GIRL POTTY!!!" Mike and I both rush in there and sure enough, that little potty was filled!! Jaden was so excited and SO stinkin' cute!! Her voice got all shrilly and high and she was running around the house announcing that she DID pee in the big girl potty! Of course she was rewarded:

A trip to the BIG chocolate store :o) Oh, and she hasn't wet in her diaper SINCE then either... I'm for sure a proud mama! I KNEW her stubbornness would come in handy one of these days!!

Ok, Project Life. I am SO excited about this! Project Life is a scrapbook kit that you basically take a picture a day for a whole year and put it all together... I really sucked at describing that!!

Mom and I are doing this... I'm so excited to get my first week put together!! I think I'm going to pick a theme for each month or week. This week, seeing as it is my birthday week, is all about things that made me smile on that particular day :o)

Another thing I am pretty pumped about is my fireplace. I FINALLY decided (I think) what I want to do with it!! Here are a couple of inspiration pictures:

I'm going to try to combine those with my own personal touch and make something really cool! Don't worry, I'll take before and after pics!!

That's about all for now... Don't forget to visit my blog tomorrow for my birthday party!! Also, I should be adding some more things to my Etsy store soon so check that out too. Happy Friday!!

Heading Home!

I'm a little behind on posting.... I wonder why?

Here are some pictures from Day 1 and the journey home!
You KNOW we had to get that Day 1 hand print!

Jaden brought me some very pretty flowers. She picked them out all by herself!!

She has been a GREAT big sister! I love my girls :o)

Of course Gramma J fell in love all over again.

Time to go home!!

She is SO tiny!

Jaden loves her little sis...

...and just wants to play with her!

Seriously, does it get any better than this? I don't think so!

Grampa Max's heart definitely doubled in size!

Life is pretty much perfect right now! Both girls are great and we are all getting along fine. Last night, Taylor slept all night! I actually woke up before she did to check on her. She is such a good baby. Jaden got a "Baby Taylor" doll from Kelly and changes her diaper like I do to my baby Taylor. Just as I thought, she is an adorable mini-mom.

I "officially" started potty training Jaden today. She likes to sit... and sit... and sit... and sit (for seriously like 20 minutes) on the potty but doesn't go. I got a lot of good suggestions from some friends on Facebook and am going to try other ways. I'm planning on getting the training pants (and floor cleaners) out next week and trying that. I'm also going to make a Cookie Cottage reward chart in hopes that we make some progress. We'll see! I'm definitely not going to push her or pressure her if she is not ready, but I truly believe that she is and will catch on fast. Only time will tell! Any advice? I'm open to anything!

I also "officially" started a diet plan today to drop the extra baby weight. I gained 35 pounds during my pregnancy and was down 13 pounds when I left the hospital. My goal is to drop the remaining 22 pounds plus an additional 14.5 pounds. That would leave me at the weight I was on our wedding day. I have total faith in myself and know that I can do this. My goal is to shed these 36.5 pounds by Matt & Kelly's wedding next summer (thanks for the incentive, Kel!) Maybe I should make myself a Cookie Cottage reward chart too ;o)

Have I ever mentioned how wonderful my husband is? Sure, he can get a little smart from time to time but seriously, he is the best! He has been working his butt off doing dishes, washing bottles, doing laundry, and cleaning the bathrooms. He even took Jaden and went and did all of the grocery shopping. On top of it all, he remembered that I had mentioned how I wanted the new Dymo label maker for Christmas and went and got it for me! He gets up with me each time in the night to feed and change Taylor. He isn't entirely comfortable doing it on his own yet... he said she is just too fragile still, but wants to help me out in any way he can. He has been great... the girls and I are so lucky to have him :o)

Speaking of the girls, I should go fix dinner now!

This, That, and the Other

Yes, I'm still pregnant. I had a Dr. appointment on Tuesday and he said I am 2 cm, 50% thinned out, so the contractions I've been having AREN'T just a pain in the you-know-what! TMI alert: I lost my M.P. in the shower last night (sorry, Mom... don't ask, Shane). I won't go into details on that one... you're welcome. Dr. said that IF I am still pregnant at my next appointment (next Tuesday), we can make an appointment to get this kid outta me! My last day of work is tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited! Wish me luck... the day is quickly approaching!!

Jaden is SO ready to be potty trained! We have put this off for this long only because she is going to 5 different places, 5 days a week. I figured it would be hard for her and not consistent so have held off until I can get her into a routine. We have been having her sit on her potty before she gets in the bath but up until Tuesday night, she had only went once. On Tuesday, she refused to get off the potty. She kept saying she had to pee. I sat there and waited... and waited... and waited... and FINALLY heard a tinkling sound! Mike just happened to be standing in the doorway at that moment and naturally, we both got super excited for her! We were clapping, cheering, offering high fives, and what does little miss modest do??? She yelled "STOP!" and started to cry! Apparently she was a little embarrassed :o) She was excited to dump it in the big potty though. Last night, she told us again that she had to pee. She sat on the potty for, not joking, 20 minutes!! Not a drop. I finally convinced her to get up and get a diaper on because it was definitely bed time. About a half hour later, she called us in her room and was in a fit of tears, "I pee! I pee!" I get her up and take her to the potty only to find she went in her diaper already. She still insisted on sitting there. So, we've realized that she is definitely ready to give it a serious try. I've got the Pull-Ups. I've got the Baby Legs (thanks again, Amanda!). I've definitely got the time! Time to catch the train :o)

I read on AOL last night that my man, Danny Gokey, has signed a country recording deal?!?! Country, really? I'm a little bummed but have high hopes that he'll be more Rascal Flatts-country and less twangy-sob-story-country. What he SHOULD do is remake some great classics in a country style. His version of Endless Love (that I have been known to repeatedly listen to on my iPod for hours at a time) STILL gives me goose bumps! Either way, I'll definitely be buying his CD!

I love my house right now. The best thing that has come from this pregnancy (so far... obviously the best thing is still waiting to show her pretty face!) is this funny little thing called nesting! I have transformed two of my least favorite rooms into GREAT living spaces (still have a foosball table for sale), turned a closet that WAS a room, back into a room, and made a ton of super crafty, not to mention SUPER useful little projects to make life a little easier! I LOVE IT! If it wasn't for the whole crappy feelings, getting bigger, and of course, producing a child, I'd want to get pregnant again!! Not a chance though :o) I still have pictures to post but time just seems to be getting away from me...

One last thing... HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY JUDE (and Lucy)!!! I'll have birthday party pictures to post at a later date :o)

Have a safe holiday weekend, everyone! Baby pics are coming soon, I PROMISE!!!

Lots Going On Over Here!

My obsession over Grey's Anatomy has paid off! I performed brain surgery the other day... well, not exactly REAL brain surgery, but I think should the occasion arise, I'll be fully prepared to take matters into my own hands! As you know, I had planted some flowers in pots on my patio. Well, I noticed that one pot in particular was looking a little wilty. Mom told me I needed to make sure there was a hole in the bottom to let the drainage out. I checked the next day and sure enough, there was a little circle that said punch out or drill for drainage. I tried punching it out but since the pot was already filled with wet dirt, it was a little heavy. I got my trusty drill out and thought of Meredith drilliong into George's head... I drilled and the water came rushing out! I saved my little plant's life! It was quite a rush. Maybe instead of being a veggie farmer, I'll be a brain surgeon!


Jaden has some big news too! She is NOT afraid of her big girl potty anymore! She has been "practicing" a lot! The first time, she insisted on taking ALL of her clothes off to go potty. We've gotten past that though... thank goodness :o) She will sit, bare-bottom, on her potty and SAY she is going potty, then she will get TP and wipe... one problem: she has yet to actually GO potty. We went to Meijer last night and got a little princess potty seat to travel with her to Bisque It and Gramma Ina's. She sat on it last night at Karen's (after bribing her with M&Ms) and liked it... but didn't pee. Someday! I'm not going to pressure her though. She'll go eventually! Actually, I think the first Gramma to actually get her to pee should get a prize... unless she does it for us first :o) On Sunday, I was telling Mike what he needed to take to Bisque It for her the next day and he says, "Let me get this straight... You want me to go in carrying a Tinkerbell backpack and lunch bag, a princess toilet seat, and a Finding Nemo DVD? How am I supposed to get chicks that way?" Luckily the only "chick" he will be picking up is a red-headed 2-year-old! Wait til he sees that the movie he gets to take today is Tinkerbell!

Mike and I got a lot of yard work done over the weekend. We are going to Lowes this week to get mulch for the landscaping. You know, our yard might not be the best looking on the block, but we are doing it ourselves and having a great time working together! This will be our third summer at our house and the first time we've really done anything outside. The first year, we moved in at the end of June so there really wasn't much to do. It already looked halfway decent. Then, the next summer Jaden was only an infant. It was harder to get anything done. This summer, she LOVES to be outside and I'm loving the opportunity to get out and get moving. You hear of so many people who use their pregnancy as an excuse to not do anything or to be lazy. I personally find that I have MORE energy if I'm more active. Plus, being outside knocks me out at night and I sleep REALLY well!!

Tree trimming is at the top of our week's To-Do List. Do you know of anyone that does it? We didn't want to go with a big name company and pay the high prices. We are really just looking for some guy that does it on the side or something. We have two trees that look REALLY bad from the ice storm last winter. The limbs hanging off of them are not only an eye sore, but also a little dangerous. We hope to book someone this week to come and trim early next week, so let me know if you have any names for me!!

That's about it... DWTS finale is tonight. I'm hoping for Tony and Melissa to win but I think Gilles and Cheryl will win. Actually I likes Shawn and Mark's freestyle the best. Part one of Idol is tonight too. I'm so bummed that Danny is out but have heard he already has a recording contract. Can't wait to buy his CD!! I'm rooting for Kris now. I can't stand "The Screamer" and feel like I'm going to puke every time he sticks his nasty tongue out.... yuck!

Have a good week!!