And Then Life Began...

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Kali turns TWO!!!!!

Can't believe our baby is TWO!!!
Since she's doing so well, and loving gymnastics, we decided to have her Birthday Party at Gymnastics Plus! It was so great because they provide all the plates, napkins, juice, and of course the whole gym. Kali had a blast, and I'm pretty sure all of her friends napped/slept great that night! I kept telling the parents that I paid for their kids to sleep! HAHA!

Kali had some wonderful friends come and help celebrate her birthday! She's a very lucky little girl!!!

Of course, it was a Bubble Guppies theme!

Thank goodness nickjr.com has lots of Bubble Guppies printables!

I was able to make the banner and cupcake toppers with card stock!

They turned out so cute!

Just a swingin'

Her favorite part is the "jump jump" a.k.a. the trampoline

And a blowup slide! Woo Hoo!

Bailey and Brantley!

Cutest little ones!

~Baby Dolls~

Ready to blow out her candle.

Happy TWO year old!

Present time!!!

And she got a bike from Mom and Dad!!!

Kali with all the kiddos

My little Birthday Girl!!!

Kali with Aunt Debbie!

She had a fantastic birthday! She also got a trampoline from all the girls!!! A big play kitchen from Aunt Trin, and more baby dolls than we can count. She loves them all!

Thank you to everyone who helped make her birthday so memorable!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Photo Dump

I have taken lots of pictures over the past few weeks. I figured it was time for a instagram/iphone photo dump! :-)

Kali was helping daddy "fix" the vacuum

We gave her an old gift card, and she was using it as a credit card in the crack of her house.

So cute...already learning how to use credit cards! LOL!

Bathtub Fun!

Gymnastics!

She loves to "jump, jump"

Aunt D letting her drive her car

Crazy Sock Day at school

Mmmmmm.....cupcakes

I had to sneak out of her classroom,

so I snuck this picture when I left of her playing with the teachers.

She really does love school!

JUNIOR!

He really wanted to go outside and I was teasing him.

Yea, he loves me!

Fun park day with Mommy

Kali got her first birthday present in the mail!

From Aunt Trin!!!

She loved it, but I haven't set it up just yet. She'll have to wait until her birthday!

But, she sure did love the box!!! :-)

Picture day at school.

Look at how adorable she was in her little pumpkin shirt!!! :-)

Lauren and Michael welcomed their precious little girl

Brelynn Elise

She's beautiful!! And came in at a whopping 9lb 14 oz!

Girls will be Girls!

Playing in my closet and trying on my shoes

Caught red handed...being adorable

"Look! Bunny!!!"

Opening her second birthday present in the mail!

Bubble Guppies coloring book!

And a potty book!

She loved the coloring book!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Potty Training 101

Since Kali has been interested in the potty since she was around 18 months old, I said that I wanted her to be potty trained by the time she was 2.

Well.....her birthday is right around the corner, and I haven't really been working on the potty training like I should. So, this weekend, since we didn't have anything on the agenda, I decided it was time to start the potty training. I honestly think it was ME holding back. Kali is good about going to the potty when we ask her (like after lunch or before a bath), but we're not very consistent in asking her to go.

I've been reading a lot of articles and blogs and asking friends about their techniques. So, I figured I would combine a few of those strategies together and see how it works. I started by making Kali a "Kali's Potty Treat" jar, and 2 special jars. I filled the treat jar with M&Ms and one of the other jars (labeled "Start") with 5 cotton balls, the other was labeled "End". I told her that every time she went pee or poop, she got 1 M&M and got to move 1 cotton ball from the start jar to the end jar. When the end jar was filled up, she will get a special treat!

Then, when we woke up I took off her wet diaper and let her go all natural. That way, if she had the urge, she hopefully wouldn't potty on my floor. I set the timer on my phone to go off every 15 minutes so that I would remember to ask her to go potty. This morning, she was a little resistant at first. So I loaded her up with juice. She loves Capri Suns, and we normally only let her have one or two a week (because we still water down her juice in her sippy cup). She thought it was a real treat to be able to drink 2 of them back to back...but momma was hoping this would make her have to go to the bathroom! :-)

For the first two hours, she kept saying that she didn't have to go potty. We played, read books, watched Bubble Guppies, and watched her "The Potty Book" movie (along with the book) by Alyssa Capucilli. Finally, at about 11:30am so was standing next to me in front of the couch, and she tinkled 3 little drops. She gasped and said "POTTY" and went running down the hallway to the bathroom. She went to the potty, and she got an M&M out of her Treat jar and got to move a cotton ball to the end jar.

At the end of lunch, she said "Potty", and went into the bathroom and went pee. She was so proud of herself!!! During nap, I put a pull up on her, but told her they were her special panties. After she woke up, I took her into the potty and she went. Then, I left the pull up off. Hopefully she is getting the hang of it. She will probably be going pants-less tomorrow as well. After a few days of no accidents, I'm going to take her to the store and let her pick out her very own panties.

Enjoying a Capri Sun while going potty!

And there is her special "Kali's Potty Treat" jar

Now, I just have to figure out how to make her understand that you don't play in the bathroom. She just wants to hang out in there all afternoon...

Growing up so fast!!!!!!

Monday, September 10, 2012

First Day of Preschool

I don't want to say it out loud...but........Kali start Preschool. And...she freaking loves it!

I didn't know how she was going to react to going to school, so we opted for 2 days a week instead of 3 or 5. But, from the second she walked into the classroom, she's been like "Bye Mom. Thanks for dropping me off." Which totally breaks my heart. I find myself jealous of those mothers with children clinging to their legs. But then, the other part of me is so thankful that Kali is independent and confident enough to walk into a room and feel comfortable and not need me to hold her hand the entire time.

Her teacher is Ms. Lori and she seems great! There is a play kitchen in her classroom, and apparently, Kali adores it! The teacher said that she'll put something in the "microwave" and push buttons like she's turning it on. She does a lot of pretend play now-a-days.

Kali on Orientation day.

She was so adorable! Gave me kissy faces, and stood there for me to take a picture!

Like a big girl....

She was so excited!

Kali on her FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Her name was even on the bulletin board out front of the classroom!

Kali was such a little stinker on her first day of school! The teacher had play dough on the table...well that was all she wrote! Kali sat down at the table without even taking off her back pack! I had to convince her to take her backpack off before she started playing!

When I went to pick her up after her first day, I asked the teacher how she did. Ms. Lori said, "She's...busy." LOL! Oh, she has NO idea just how "busy" Kali can be! But, she will learn! Soon enough! HAHAHA!!! Bless her heart. :-)

Look at those little hands!!!!!!!!!

I love this picture so much! Those little hands have a full grasp of my heart and I can't express enough how proud I am of her!

I've framed this print and it's in the living room. Kali will walk by it and say "My hands" and hold her hands up. It's adorable!

She is growing up so fast! I love and adore her. (I'm not sure I've said that enough!)

Instagram Picture Dump!

I guess it's time to do an Instagram Picture Dump!! I've had some great pictures posted on Instagram~

Kali with Aunt Debbie

Yes....that's my 2 year old driving a BMW!!

Aunt Debbie spoils her...often! :-)

Is it wrong to be a jealous of a 2 year old!?

I wanna drive the BMW too!!! HAHA

Bathtub Fun!

Her hair is finally getting long! Woo Hoo!!

Kali isn't afraid of ANYTHING!

She was jumping off the diving board!

I can't praise the Puddle Jumper enough!

It gives Kali the confidence she needs in the pool, while giving her freedom of having someone holding her. But she does get her face in the water, and knows how to kick her feet.

I can't wait to get back to swim lessons with her! She's such a water baby!!!