P.O.T.T.Y.T.R.A.I.N.E.D.

As I use that term, I'm a nervous wreck...I do believe in jinxing one's self, and if it's possible, that's what I'm doing...but it's been a successful couple of weeks, so I decided I didn't want to forget, so I'm going to capture it.

I decided over Christmas "break" that the girls were officially ready for official potty training...official panties, no more diapers.  Based on our doctor's advice, we have had a pair of potties in our house for about 9 months now...and while the girls surprised us right away with a few successful runs, we have been sporadic at best over the past months.  Since daycare doesn't start the training gig until the next class (which the girls will move into any day now), we realized that we were a bit helpless on really achieving "potty-trained" status, if they weren't expected to continue the routine for 8 hours of each weekday.  However, during my extended time with the girls, I finally decided it was TIME!!  I'll spare you the details, but after a couple of "busy" days...can you say bathroom breaks LITERALLY every 15 minutes...or there was a price to pay...I felt pretty good about taking them to daycare in pullups and just laying down the law.  Surprisingly, the teachers were AMAZING (why did I expect anything less from my fav teachers of all time?) and have worked with our girls on a very time-intensive schedule, even when the rest of the class is not ready for the commitment.  Last week was UNBELIEVABLY successful for Makayla.  Macy did great, but not perfect.  To spare the morale, we went ahead with the promised ice cream party, since I decided we had done "good enough" (again, GREAT for Makayla) The weekend was pretty darned good, and this week has been fantastic!  Our accident quotient is so surprisingly low, and tonight it was time to celebrate!  Again, we planned an "Ice Cream Party"...however, when I picked up my little popsicles who had been out on the playground in 39 degree weather, they quickly chose cupcakes over ice cream!!

While I know this seems like a ridiculously long post to talk about something like this, anyone who's a parent can understand the magnitude...we are SOOO excited.  Pampers may have to take out a few extra loans since we're no longer funding their corporate jets and employee benefits...Dora, Minnie, Daisy, and Hello Kitty panties, bring it on!!!

Christmas Encore

As exciting as our Christmas had already been, we didn’t have time to get too concerned with the fact that the actual day was over, especially since we woke up bright and early the next morning to head to Mimi’s! We loaded up in the airplane and were on our way…only to have some small mechanical issues, and a few hours’ delay, but we still made it to Gainesville by early afternoon…thank God for blessing us with air travel!!

We were all very happy to see not only Mimi, Papa, Aunt Miss, and Aunt Sheryl, but were so excited to also get to spend time with Ma and John and Aunt Sally from Missouri! The girls enjoyed their time at the center of attention for the evening, and were exhausted and happy to get in bed on time that night!

The next morning was just as good as the night before when Aunt Sabrina, Uncle Clayton, and Haley and Noah arrived! The kids played their hearts out, and had such a good time, but, unfortunately, Macy and I had to make a (LONG) trip to the Urgent Care when her ongoing cold seemed to be much worse, and we suspected (and later confirmed) pink eye! She was pretty pitiful, and, unfortunately ended up missing yet another nap due to the long wait, so by dinner, she was just completely beat. Despite the less-than-perfect mood, we went ahead and opened gifts, and the girls were again blessed with an amazing assortment of gifts…and MORE BABIES!!  We are definitely fully stocked with an entire nursery of dolls now, and not only did they get their own “Itty Bitty” American Girl babies, but they got the changing table and crib to match! Even though they have so many, it amazes me how they can love and track each and every one, and could not have a present that excites them more!

Makayla and Haley played as long as we let them that night, and Macy and Noah joined in for a little while, but unfortunately, Macy had to have an early bed time due to the fact that she was just sick and exhausted. Fortunately, however, the meds kicked in and she was feeling so much better by the next morning, and was able to enjoy a morning of play time with the family before we headed home!

As exhausting as the holidays can be, we are so lucky to have such a big and close family on both sides, and are SO GRATEFUL for all of our wonderful gifts and time spent with those who mean the most!!

Christmas Blessings

As I try to start this post, I’m not even sure how to put into words just how incredible this holiday season has been for us. We are SOO blessed!

We started the festivities on Friday morning when the girls woke up to find that their cousin, Emmy Cate, had come for a visit while they were sleeping! We all enjoyed a livermush breakfast (a favorite of my little southern belles!), then the adults took turns running errands while the girls played, ate, and napped. Mamaw and Papaw came down to complete the crew, and it was a fun day at home.

As soon as dusk came, we made a trip to Zootastic, a small little farm in Troutman that goes all out with a drive thru Christmas lights show, then finishes with a petting zoo and Santa. The girls had a great time and loved the lights and animals, but unfortunately, it was a little bit rushed since we had a lot on the agenda for the night. Afterwards, we headed back to Mamaw and Papaw’s house for dinner and our first round of PRESENTS!! The girls were delighted with their gifts, and I think the night’s favorites were a new baby, a singing microphone, and an adorable backpack that Makayla proceeded to stuff with all of her goodies…and didn't take it off for about 4 days!!

The next day was Christmas Eve, and we started the morning baking our cookies for Santa!

After the cookies were done, the girls made a trip to Lowe’s and to eat lunch with Daddy, then they caught a quick nap before we headed to the annual Christmas Eve celebration at Mamaw Eunice’s house! The girls had a wonderful time playing with their cousins, aunts, and uncles, as well as their Mamaws and Papaw, of course!

It was such a fun night and the girls got sweet gifts from the family!

The highlight, however, may have been just before time to change into jammies! Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and by the time the girls were able to answer it, there was no one to be found…however, we figured out that it must have been Santa himself, since there were two Santa boxes sitting on the doorstep!!

The girls were delighted to find Christmas Jammies in the boxes, and Macy got so excited that she forgot to put them on…instead, she did a couple of streaks around the house, and caught everyone’s attention!! Such a crazy girl!!

We ended the evening with another late night, but still had to get home and do our duties to prepare for Santa’s REAL visit! We put out our cookies, poured a glass of milk, and then it was time to take care of the reindeer! The girls had prepared some reindeer food at school the week before, and we complimented that with fresh carrots and went outside to sprinkle both on the sidewalk.

Thankfully, the excitement wasn’t enough to overtake the exhaustion from all of the festivities, and the girls were fast asleep before Santa even got close! It was a late night for Gary and I as we waited up on his arrival, but he finally came and we all squeezed in some sleep…and the girls even gave us an extra Christmas gift when they slept the latest EVER…7:40!!! (It’s the little things that sometimes mean the most!! :)

Christmas morning was about as magical as I could have imagined. The expressions on the girls faces was something I wish I could capture to hold in a bottle forever!

We spent about 2 hours just opening the simple little gifts that Santa left under the tree, and the girls loved that he followed through with their only request, a new baby and “baby doll toys”! The other favorite gift, I think, was the new Dora umbrellas. They’ve been asking for umbrellas for over a month now, and they couldn’t have been more pleased that their wish was finally granted…and those things come in handy for keeping us dry EVERYWHERE (living room included! :)

We saved the best surprise until all the inside gifts were opened and “tested”, and then it was time to see what might have been left in the garage! The girls were so surprised that it took them a few minutes to even comprehend that they were the proud owners of a new BOUNCE CASTLE!!! After they finally accepted it, the jumping was ON!! They didn’t care that it was cold, they didn’t care that lunch time came, they only cared about BOUNCING!!

They did take a quick break when I finished opening MY gift from Santa (a new Elliptical Machine which I am SOOO excited about) and realized how much fun this HUGE  box could be...but that didn't compare enough to last too long!)

Mamaw and Papaw came over to hang out for the afternoon too, and the girls loved showing off their new treasures, and then were as thrilled as Mommy to get their “main” gift from them as well…a keyboard! We sang a few tunes and played a few notes, and I selfishly enjoyed their gift for a while myself while they bounced around between all of their gifts.

We had a yummy dinner, and then closed out our day with a little birthday party for Baby Jesus!  The girls had a blast, and it was a nice way to bring home the real meaning for all of the joy!

As the evening closed, it was almost bittersweet as Gary and I spent some time thinking about how truly blessed we are! I could have never dreamed that it was possible to feel quite as happy as I did this Christmas.

(As much as I wrote here, this only covers half of our Christmas...another post on its way to go through the rest of the excitement!)