Accidental Potty Training

Ellie is 2 years and almost 4 months.

We have attempted potty training off and on for about four months now.

I ask her to sit on the potty, she screams no and poops under the dining room table.

We've had a success here or there.

Especially after she sees either her sister, cousin or a friend use the potty.

Other than that, she has not cared at all.

Until Friday.

While getting dressed for the day, at around 10 (don't judge, that was earlier than some days!) I noticed her diaper from her early morning change was still dry.

So, I asked...and she said, "Yes!"

So she went to the kitchen to sit down.

Sidenote: I have a couple friends who have a potty chair in their living room because it is easily accessible and I thought that was a great idea. Our open floorplan lands it in the kitchen. I'm sure its sanitary (remember its never really successfully been used!)

She sat, and sat, and sat...(sound like Prudence to anyone? :) and then she stood up and proclaimed, "I did it!"

Yes. She. Did.

Maggie and I then proceeded to do the potty dance. You know, the wiggle your hips and arms at the same time while chanting, "Pee pee in the potty! Pee pee in the potty!"

Ellie beamed. Especially after she was given not one, but two starburst jelly beans! (Fellow mommy's do you give your older kids a little treat when the younger one is learning? We have, and its been helpful because Maggie encourages Ellie to go try so she can get her own treat too. I'm just not sure if its appropriate or not.)

We set our timer and every hour prompted her to sit on the potty to try. No harm no foul, and she did so well!

All in all Friday she had six pees and one poo, and 2 wet diapers.

Today, we are on a roll again with 7 pees (2 of which she told us on her own it was potty time), 1 poo and 3 wet diapers. We are also rewarding with jelly beans for pee and chocolate for poos.

She is doing so well that we tried on some panties, and then celebrated the recent success with a swinging session.

I didn't mean to go into potty training mode this weekend, and I know accidents will happen, but I guess like they say, when they are ready they are ready! I'm so proud of her!

Morty

Remember that one time when I last posted a blog post?

Yeah, me neither.

It's been a busy month, but I will try to make up for it in the next couple of days.

Starting first with our newest addition.

Introducing, Morty Lusk, our 8 week miniature schnauzer puppy.

A few months before the big move we realized that our girls had an unhealthy fear of dogs.

As in, they refused to even walk on the ground if there was a dog in the same room. Screams, terror, fits etc. Not pretty. I understand not being a dog person, but their fear just didn't seem right.

So we began talking about getting a puppy of our own.

We believed that if the girls had a dog of their own, who they were around all the time and was very small that they would learn to like them and wouldn't be so afraid.

Scott and Maggie took a weekend and headed down to Boaz, AL to pick up our newest member. Maggie held it together very well while meeting our newest pup.

Until, he licked her finger. This is the face she made when he had the audacity to lick her.

Obviously we had some work to do.

For about two days she refused to walk on the ground. Running from table, to couch, to bed and back. We encouraged and challenged, sweet talked and tried to bribe and she slowly started coming around.

Then there was Ellie. She's such a tough no-fear kind of girl. 

She was a little nervous for a few hours, probably feeding off of her big sister's actions and then she was in love. Much to Morty's chagrin.

We have to remind her at least twice a day to quit picking him up...especially by his head. 

He has been a nice addition to our home. He is doing well with house breaking and can sit upon command. We are working on the stay command and are working on walking on the leash. 

I have the greatest helper too. 

While she won't hold him still, Maggie plays with him, runs with him, takes him outside. She even feeds him and keeps him from chewing on anything left in the floor.

Overall, it was a good idea. They are even warming up some to our new neighbor dog too. I'm proud of them and the growing they are doing.

Family Photo Session

Back in December, before we moved I asked our wonderful friend/babysitter Hailee Webb if she could take a few photos of our family.

Now that we are in our home, our family photo wall is filled with these photos. Just thought I'd share what a great job she did. Friends in Huntsville, give her a chance, she did great work!

Obviously, I had a hard time picking just a few.

Nap Time

Nap time is my favorite time of day. Followed closely by my second favorite, bed time.

I kid, I kid.

Kind of.

Anyway, for the last several months Maggie has been making it clear that she is almost done with nap times. She stays awake in bed while Ellie is napping peacefully, and then falls asleep only a few minutes before Ellie wakes up.

I fight with her every nap time because I know that just before dinner time melt downs tend to ensue pretty frequently and with great fervor. So, nap times are still an important part of our day.

Not to mention mommy needs the rest time too.

The girls are now sharing a room for the first time ever, as well as the fact that Ellie is now in a twin bed instead of a crib.

The extra freedom has caused Ellie to go a little crazy at nap time. She is up and down about a million times. in her dresser drawers and the dress up clothes cabinet in their closet.

Scott walked in the other day to find her jumping on Maggie's bed, while Maggie looked on in fear with her sister jumping on top of her. Maggie knew the consequences. Ellie, not so much.

I am understanding that these girls have been through a lot of transition in the last several months, with more on the horizon for Ellie. Potty training is being introduced very soon.

However, naps will remain on our schedule for the indefinite future. They will learn how to share a room, transitions don't last forever.

Maggie's Gym Class

We've been looking for different ways to get involved here in our new home town.

We've found a great church and Sunday School class, and by that we came across a gym class for 3-5 year olds.

A sweet couple from our class offers a class each Thursday through the end of May that allows the kids to run off some steam while learning some pretty important skills.

Maggie's first week was actually the classes second week, so she was a bit behind.

She also decided to be SUPER shy.

The shyness comes in waves, but this first class it came out in spades. She showed her shyness by walking instead of running and chewing on her hand.

She's never chewed on her hand, so I'm not sure where that came from.

She warmed up some by the end of the class.

They learn how to stand in a line, one behind the other and side by side. They play red light/green light. Kick ball, they throw and catch balls and Maggie's favorite the obstacle course.

It's funny, I didn't really realize that standing in line was a skill that needed to be taught. Something so innocuous, Maggie didn't know how to do. I don't ask the girls to line up for their dinner, so not knowing how makes sense. I just thought that was interesting.

There are only two more classes left and she has done much better. It takes her a few minutes to remember that she enjoys the class and is usually the caboose of running children, but then she remembers and tries her best.  She has done well following the directions and after each class when asked what she liked the best her answer is always, "Everything!"

While this class has been great for her, I've enjoyed the chance to visit with a few of the other kid's moms. We are enjoying getting plugged in here, and are excited to see the opportunities God is providing.

PS. Sorry for the terrible pictures, distance and camera phones aren't a good pair.

Let the Good Times Roll

My dad turned 55 last week, and in typical Wilson fashion we celebrated for a week.

But nothing was as big as the surprise murder mystery dinner party that my mom had planned.

The initial plan to throw him off the surprise was to have his birthday dinner at our new home.

So we did.

Our first guests in our new home.

And I didn't even have to do the dishes. Thanks mom!

While enjoying our yummy cake, after pretend blowing out fake fire on the candles, we strategically planned to orchestrate the parents to take our girls to a movie on Saturday.

The carefully thought out script to get my dad out of the house Saturday afternoon, felt so obvious. And while my dad may have wondered why on earth my mom committed to taking three young girls three and under to the movies, he didn't ask any questions. Thankfully.

So, Saturday afternoon while Poppy and GG were watching a flick, my sisters, husband and I were decorating and preparing food for our Mardi Gras Murder Mystery.

The title of the show was "As the Bead Turns" and was written in three rounds. Each guest was given a character and a set of information about their character. They were directed certain things to say or do at certain times and to certain other characters.

The evening was broken into three rounds.

Round 1: Appetizers and general introductions.
Round 2: Dinner and a Murder
Round 3: Dessert and the Accusations/Big Reveal

Between each round there were a couple of games the guests played, including at the end a dance competition where each team was given a different type of dance (80's, waltz, robot etc.) and were asked to come up with a choreographed routine to a popular zydeco song.

It was a hoot!

All of the guests really played their parts well and were in great characters! With only a hitch or two, the killer was revealed and the party came to an end.

We had a great time, and it was a lot of fun to dress up.

There were so many different murder mystery scripts to choose from, I'm sure I'll have to host my own someday.