Potty Training Continues. . . .

So our little Mallory has been potty training for almost three weeks now. It seems like she is too little to be such a big girl! Potty training Mallory has come with many successes, but also a few mishaps. It started with her taste testing the toilet water. Which obviously didn't taste that great because she hasn't attempted to drink it again. Either that or I invoked enough fear in her that if she did it again. . . . hmmm, I don't remember what I threatened her with - (use your imagination)! We were in Target the other night as a family and Mallory pipes up and says, "I need to go potty." Of course we were on the other side of the store from where the bathrooms were so I grabbed her hand and we started running (she was sprinting, I was jogging) across the store. Every 10 seconds I was parroting to her, "Don't go in your panties, don't go in your panties." We made it to the bathroom and she went like a champ! I was so proud of her! I also realized I had to go to the bathroom too. She was in the stall with me, I used the restroom, and she says, "Mama, you go pee-pee! Good job!" Next I expected to hear, "You get a candy!" Wow! She has my lines memorized! I also ask her every couple of hours throughout the day if she needs to go poop. (We're still working on that one.) So we're walking back to where Craig and the boys are in the store and I'm telling Mallory what a big girl she is and that she did such a good job and Mallory starts asking me, "Mom you got poops?" "No Mallory, I don't have poops." A few aisles later, "Mom, you got poops?" "No, Mallory. . . " After she asks me three times and after getting a weird look from a man covered in tattoos - who had obviously overheard our little conversation - I finally told her to quit asking me if I had to go number two in public! Is there any privacy with children?!

This afternoon I had to wake Mallory up from her nap so we could take Chase to his karate class. I got her out of bed and had her sit on the potty upstairs before we left. As usual, I was running behind, so I left her sitting up there by herself (big mistake, I know) while I ran downstairs to get Chase in his karate uniform. I got him in his uniform, gave him his shoes and socks to put on, and ran back upstairs to see if Mallory had gone to the bathroom yet. The bathroom is at the top of the stairs and the first thing I see is her little nakie behind bent over with her head in the cupboard under the sink.
Me: "Mallory, what are you doing?"
Mallory: "I'm getting more toilet paper."
Me: "Why do you need more toilet paper?"
Mallory: "Because it's just all gone."
Me: "Why is the toilet paper all gone? Did you go poo-poo?"
Mallory: "No."
I had reached the top of the stairs at this point and when I looked in the bathroom I realized what a big mistake I had made in leaving my two-year old alone on the potty - again! (You'd think I would have learned the first time!) The floor was covered in water! The toilet was overflowing, full of toilet paper, and water was drizzling down the sides of the toilet bowl. Lovely. Just lovely. "MALLORY!" I screamed! I told her she was no longer allowed to flush the potty. (yes, I know it was irrational.) I was soooo mad! And I was also in a big hurry - I didn't want Chase to be late to his first karate class! So I threw underwear and pants on her and decided to clean the water up when I got back from karate. The class is only a half an hour long. The mess could wait. Karate went great! Chase did so good and he looked so cute in his little uniform! We got home and I had completely forgotten about the mess in the bathroom. How? I don't know, but I did. (Kids kill brain cells). About 7:30 tonight - Craig and I are watching TV - Chase and Mallory come downstairs giggling and laughing and tell us, "We were swimming! We're all wet!" Craig says, "What do you mean you're swimming?" Chase says, "We're swimming in the pond upstairs!" Oh crap. Then I had to explain to Craig. . . .


I swear that child has a thing with toilet water! But regardless of the handful of "adventures" we've had, she's actually doing really well. She has an occasional accident, but she's learning very quickly. I on the other hand am a slower learner. . . . note to self: don't leave Mallory alone in the bathroom!

Baby Shower

This has been such a fun week! I spent it preparing for my friend's baby shower. I offered to throw Kasie a baby shower a few weeks ago and we just had it on Thursday. I have never thrown anyone a shower before so I was way excited to do this - a little nervous too, I guess. I was afraid I was going to forget something or what if there wasn't enough food? How many people were going to show up? Does my house smell like pee? (Yeah, potty training's a blast! You forget they pee on everything! Need I say more.) Anyway, Kasie's sister, Janeal, and her in-laws helped soooooo much! They took ALL of the food assignments. And the food was delicious! I usually don't like cheese balls, but Kasie's sister-in-law brought one and let me tell ya - it was amazing! Kasie had a lot of people come to support her. She got tons of clothes for her soon-to-be baby boy and lots of diapers. Good thing - we all know how expensive those are! The party was great, here's some pictures of the fun:

Gifts of Necessity




You can tell by the look on her face how excited she was to get a car seat! She gave her other one away and needed a new one. When she finished opening it she said, "Ok, I can have the baby now that we have something to take him home in!"


Babes from the Sarival Ward! Melissa, Kim, Amie, and Crystal.


The ladies who supplied the yummy food: Moira-Lyn, M'liss, Miche, Marni, Carla, and of course Kasie.


Me and Kasie. I think this picture would have turned out cute, but my camera was acting weird. Oh well, what can ya do?


Thank you to all you ladies who came and celebrated with Kasie!

Lady Godiva Is In The House

We started potty training Mallory on Monday this week. She has been more than ready for awhile now. But with the new baby and the holidays and my brother's wedding we just decided to wait until the new year to start. Monday and Tuesday were rough! I put her on the potty first thing in the morning to see if she would go. She sat there awhile and didn't go. So I got her off and put her in "big girl" panties. I then explained to her that she needed to put her pee-pee and poo-poos in the potty now. That she can't go in her panties. About 20 minutes later she peed all over the kitchen floor . . . . and tracked pee-pee footprints all the way across the kitchen floor to the bathroom. (Don't worry I have since mopped my floor - very, very well!) I was patient with her, after all it was only her first try. I put her on the potty and explained to her again that we can't pee in our panties we need to put it in the potty. I left her sitting there while I ran upstairs to get her a new pair of underwear. I came back down only to find her sticking her hand in the toilet water and slurping the water off of it into her mouth. I busted up laughing! My eyes started crying I was laughing so hard. (Now there's some parenting skills to be proud of!) I was thinking to myself "Sick Mallory! That's disgusting!" but was laughing so hard I couldn't bring myself to tell her that without peeing in my own pants! I left the bathroom so she wouldn't see me laughing. (I didn't want her thinking she was funny and then attempting to do it again) When I regained my composure a few minutes later I had to explain to her that we don't drink poo water!! Don't worry, there was nothing in the toilet. That was a positive. If my child is drinking toilet water I prefer there be nothing in it. Monday and Tuesday were hard. She peed through every pair of panties I put on her. On Wednesday I decided to try the naked approach. I heard that works with some kids to just leave them nakie-nakie from the waist down. So we've had our own little Lady Godiva running around the house - minus the horse :-) Yesterday and today she has done great! The naked thing seems to be working so far. Last night she went upstairs and used the bathroom all by herself without even telling me she had to go. She wiped and everything! And both times she went this morning all by herself again! I think she's catching on!

Our Christmas

Ok, so I know this posting is late, but I swore I would get all my Christmas stuff taken down and my house put back in order before I posted again. Craig just put the tree away last night. We usually don't leave it up quite that long, but our end of the year last year and beginning of the year this year has already been incredibly busy! This Christmas season was very fun for our family. We had our new baby Clark in our home this Christmas. There's something special about having a baby in your home around Christmas time. It helps you think more about Baby Jesus and the real reason for the season. Craig's sister and her husband came into town from Michigan. We don't get to see them very often so it was fun to have them here for a week. Also mingled in with Christmas festivities this year were preparations for my brother's wedding. Which I completely forgot my camera (yeah, dumb huh?!) So if you want to see pictures you can click on Jason and Natalie Davis' link in the "My Family" section on the right. Maybe I'll post some pics of the wedding when they get their professional ones back. Anyway, lots of excitement around here!! The kids got spoiled rotten this year. Between presents with Craig's family, my family, Santa Claus, and gifts from us they had sooooooo much to open. We opened presents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day between both sides of the family and our own little family. The kids didn't finish opening their gifts from us on Christmas Day so we were just going to have them open them the day after Christmas. I tried to get them to sit down to finish opening and Mallory says, "Mom, you just open it for me." Get a load of that! A child that doesn't want to open any more presents! So I opened what was left of Chase and Mallory's gifts. Now that I think about it I should have just hid them away until their birthdays later this year. They were so spoiled this year! Here's some pics from our Christmas adventures!

Clark with his Uncle Ben


Santa brought Clark a surfboard tummy time mat! (Thanks for the idea Jaci!)


Santa brought candy that barely fit in Mallory's mouth. It was a drooly chocolatey mess!


A new trike with a princess helmet and knee pads.


Santa brought Chase more pieces to his Thomas the Tank Engine railroad track set.



Chase loved to play in the stockings this year!