Potty training success!!!

Well it is day three of potty training...something I feel has been MONTHS in the making. Melia has been going potty on the toilet periodically for 6-8 months. We decided that 2008 would be the end of the Melia diaper Era. Potty training proved difficult while I was working, so I had to take advantage of being home for many days in a row without interruptions. It was too inconsistent for her...one day in diapers...one day in underwear while I was working. Sunday we bought pull-ups for night time only and Monday morning the no more diaper rule went into effect. She was not so sure about it when Monday morning came, she really wanted to keep her diapers. After the first few times of candy reward, she changed her mind. She has done fantastic. She has only had one accident in the first two days. We went out to do a couple returns and then to Chris's parents and at dinner had an accident.

She even woke up from nap yesterday dry. She still asks to keep her pull-up on after nap or in the morning, but them we pull out all the new underwear and remind her of the rewards and the underwear go on. I was determined to have her potty trained by 21/2 but her plans, schedules, and my lack of motivation at times kept us from that goal. She is three years old today and I can confidently say she is potty trained. There is no turning back. Yesterday we when we went out the diaper bag seemed so empty. Only having one in diapers will be nice (even for a little while).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Melly-lou. We love you and are so proud of you!!! You are an amazing, smart, independent, and loving child of God. I am proud to be your mom.

Nana and Poppy come to the rescue

***UPDATE - I woke up this morning feeling MUCH better. I got out of bed without feeling nauseous and feel like I am pretty much back to normal, bedsides a lingering headache (I can live with that) I am SO thankful that I have only had the flu like that a couple times in the 9 years I have been married, and we have never been that sick at the same time. I talked to my mom last night and Eva is still feeling a little under the weather. Hopefully she slept well and did not keep them up all night.

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas day. I was a little concerned with the girls being under the weather (Eva was not well on Wed). The girls slept great and even slept until almost 8 (late for them). We read the Christmas story with them , prayed, open presents and then packed the car to go to my parents. We had an exciting morning with 5 girls under 4 all opening presents at the same time. They had so much joy on their faces. We had a great breakfast and sweet family time. In the afternoon we went to Chris's parents (who live in the same subdivision) for more food, family and presents. Melia and Eva are the only grand kids, so they get pretty spoiled. My brother-in-law and his fiance bought them a 7 foot by 8 foot bounce house. They had a great time bouncing around. About half way through presents Chris was not feeling well. We packed up the car and headed home. About half way through our drive we had to make a road-side stop for him. No fun. We got the girls home and in bed and went to bed ourselves. He was up every hour after that. Around 1:30am the flu hit me like a ton of bricks. We spent the rest of the night taking turns in the bathroom, trying to care for one another. Morning came and I called my mom to see if there was any way they could keep the girls so we could get well and sleep. She drove over in the freezing rain and picked up our girls. They kept them for the day and even decided to keep them overnight. I am so thankful to them. They are the best parents anyone could ask for. They put their plans aside to serve us. Chris is feeling better and I am getting there. We spent the ENTIRE day in bed sleeping and trying to recover. Love you Mom and Dad. You're the best.

Picture time!!

Sunday night we had a Christmas program at our church. The girls were dressed in their Christmas outfits, so I thought I would try and get a few pictures of them. Here are my best attempts. As you can see in the last one, sister love was running short by the end of the night.

She had a pretzel in her mouth for this one. Melia gave it to her to try and get her to sit.

Melia showing off her new found skill...rolling her tongue

A hug turned bad

Missing socks...The washer ate them!

I think anyone doing laundry has had a sock come up missing. You swear all the matched pairs went in the wash together, but when you fold the laundry there is a mystery sock that does not have a match. The dog ate it, the washer ate it, you have heard and used all the excuses. Over the last week I have had A LOT of laundry to do, since my precious little one threw up in my bed, her bed, and on herself a number of times yesterday. (She is doing great by the way) Anyway, making the laundry situation even more complicated is an error message that the washer kept giving in the middle of the cycle. It would stop full of water, and would not drain. With much restarting and coaxing I could get through a load (two hours later). Chris decides to tackle the problem tonight. He goes through the manual and checks forums on the internet. Someone posted a message about having the same error, and said to check the filter in the front of the washer. Chris does so and finds four socks (Melia and Eva's), a thing for Chris's shirt collar, and a lot of lint all clogging the drain (it is not that big). The drain is now all cleaned out and the washer is working like a champ again. So next time you say "The washer ate the socks"...think twice, that may actually be the case.

Just in case you were wondering what it looked like :)

The last few weeks

Life has been busy and blogging has taken a back seat. In the last few weeks we have...

• made good progress in potty training
• had a snow day!!!!
• celebrated 9 years of marriage (more on that to come)
• Chris, Melia and I went to the dentist - Melia did great!! This was her second time going and she even sat through a fluoride treatment.
  
• I sang a solo in our Christmas program at church last night
• Eva is getting four molars (I have to say she has been a trooper)
• I am officially on Christmas vacation for two weeks!!!
• Finished wrapping all our gifts
• had a bow making party with Rebekah to finish up some hair bows for Christmas gifts
• had a game night with friends
  
• played in the snow with the girls
• and much more but those are the highlights...

A not so fun highlight...this morning Melia woke up at 5:00am crying. She came in bed with us and tossed and turned. She was kinda out of it, but it was 5am. At one point she says to me, "Its not nice to put sand on someones head in bed." Where do they come up with this stuff?? It has been months since we played in sand. Anyway, a few min later she starts rolling around, and without a word, throws up in our bed. Poor girl. She was laying down, when it happened, so it was down her face and in her hair. She had no idea what was happening to her body. This is the first time she has ever thrown up. She looks up when she is done and says, "Mama, I spit up ALOT!" a few mins. later says, "can we go downstairs, I am hungry?" I was able to talk her out of that one, but it took much convincing. We got her all cleaned up and removed the bedding, and tried to settle back down. About 6am she decided she wanted me to go lay in her bed with her. She is just about asleep at 6:30 when she sits up and throws up all over her sheets. Stripped her bed and back to my bed we went a bucket in hand. She threw up two more time over the nest couple hours, both times in the bucket, yeah for that. Chris stayed home a little bit and took care of Eva and got her down for her morning nap before he went in to work so I could lay in bed with Melia. She wanted to take a shower, so she took a nice long hot shower, put on some snuggly clothes and is now eating dry cheerios and watching TV. We'll see how that goes. She has been a trooper. We will spend the day watching movies, doing laundry (which there is alot of) and relaxing. The bright side...it is not Christmas day and we can get this out of the way before then.

Hot Pool

After a few months of fixing leaks, the hot tub is finally up and running. Melia was overjoyed yesterday, when Chris asked her to join him for a dip in the hot pool. She ran to her room, and immediately started looking for her swim diaper and swim suit. She was ready in a matter of seconds. She LOVES the water... even in the snow.