Half-Bath Update

I just wanted to post a couple of pictures of our half-bath update.  We had a leaky faucet and an ugly, rusty, and paint covered light fixture.  So, Matt has changed both of those out in the last couple of weeks.  I also hated the gold trim on the mirror.  Originally I wanted a new mirror with a beautiful wood frame around it.  For, now that is too much work and money.  So, as a temporary and much better fix for a mere $5 I painted over the gold.  I'm beginning to realize paint might be my new best friend in getting rid of little gold accents in the house.

Original light fixture with gold trim taped and ready to be painted.

Original leaky faucet.

New faucet with white painted over the gold.

New much better light fixture.

Ahhh...Much more satisfying to look at.
Next to go are the gold hinges and  doorknobs.

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for...

442. The zoo
443. Sunday afternoon nap
444. Tim and Amy's new baby M being born
445. Getting to visit and hold M when he was only a day old
446. Warm weather
447. Hand-me downs
448. Peace and quiet while the kids are sleeping

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for...

433. New double doors in piano room
434. Biaggi's Pronto pack
435. A church that supports it's people through prayer and concern
436. Free kid's meal at Steak and Shake
437. Staying under budget
438. New recipes (chili cheese fries, broccoli mac and cheese) which both involved delicious homemade cheesy sauces.
439. Snuggles with Grace
440. Time to finish a sewing project
441.  A couple of hours in the backyard and the anticipation of more of that this spring/summer

Thankful Thursday

The list is short this week because I've been consumed with potty training.  I have so much to be thankful for but didn't write a lot down.  So, it is with a grateful heart I give you my little list:) This week I am thankful for...

430. Success on the potty for Grace
431. Caleb's first steps
432. 3-day weekend

"Coming into a Big Girl"

Juice is the reward for going potty in an effort to encourage more potty time.

Grace has been telling us for weeks (probably months) that she is "coming into a big girl."  Most of the time she says it when we bring up the potty because she is not interested.  She kind of says it like someday she'll go potty but not now because she's not a big girl yet but she is becoming one.

A few times we tried putting Grace in underwear and having her sit on the potty but that quickly ended in wet pants and no interest in the potty.  So, when we tried again Saturday morning we didn't expect much.  However, Grace decided to poop and pee in the potty for the first time ever.  And she has just moved forward at a clipping pace.

The big picture is she has gone on the potty 21 times since Saturday and has had 10 accidents.  Most of the accidents were on Saturday or Sunday and all of this is during awake time.  We're still doing diapers at nap and bedtime.  She has also pooped 3 times on the potty.

At first she just spent a lot of time sitting on the potty waiting to go and now it has evolved into she notices when she has to go and sits on the potty and goes right away.  She isn't very good at holding it once she notices she has to go so I have to get her there quickly.  She also doesn't tell me she has to go potty but asks me to hold her so she doesn't wet her pants.  I want to get to the point where she just says, "I have to go potty."

This paints a pretty sunny picture of potty training that is definitely not the absolute truth.  I am happy with how it has been going overall.  But it is an emotional roller coaster for both Grace and me.  I can tell she's excited but worn out by it all.  I feel like I'm watching her like a hawk and not pausing for a second.  I'm also trying to be extra sensitive to her needs and not push it while at the same time challenging and encouraging her along the way.  It would have been nice if she would have been ready to be potty trained before Caleb was mobile too.  She loves wearing underwear so it is hard to convince her to wear a diaper when she's sleeping and I think it kind of upsets her when she goes potty in her diaper.

I think we are a ways from being completely potty trained but we are definitely at the point where we can't turn back.  I'm a little nervous about the first time we have to leave the house after all the progress we have made this week but we'll figure out a plan.  And if the plan fails we'll adapt:)

We are so proud of our "coming into a big girl" Grace!

Caleb - 11 Months Old

Standing on his own and getting ready to lunge for the camera.

Can we just freeze time for a moment?  Or maybe I should just take more videos so I remember what Caleb is like as a baby.  I can barely remember when Grace was 11 months old (and that was less than 2 years ago).  I'm beginning to forget what it was like last summer when Caleb was still fairly new and it's making me sad.

Sleeping: 2 naps, 12+ hours at night.  Need I say more.  I love my good sleeping baby.

Eating: Not many changes here.  I'm still nursing 4 times a day.  I have noticed that Caleb is drinking less and not super interested in one of his feedings everyday.  That might be the first one to be dropped/not offered when the time comes to wean.  I also gave Caleb cow's milk for the first time last week.  I wanted to see if he liked it and he did. I actually had to take his cup away because I didn't want him filling up on more than a couple ounces of milk.  Now he just has to wait until he's one until I start replacing my milk with cow's milk.  Still doing great with table foods and loving it all.


Signs/Speech:  This month Caleb added the word clap (mostly just the p sound but definitely a distinct word that always means the same thing and sort of sounds like clap) to his vocabulary.  He's also impressed me a few times by baaaing for sheep pictures.  Not really consistent with this though.  He's gotten really good at waving when someone says "hi" or "bye" and he sometimes signs "all done" and maybe even "milk/drink" when he wants his water bottle.  I'm still not sure about this one though.  I need to test it more.

Milestones:  Standing unsupported is Caleb's favorite new activity.  He loves to let go and just stand there.  He loves it when we put him on his feet and he just gets to stand in place.  He loves to hold on to toys with both hands while standing.  He can use a low toy to push himself up to standing but never just straight from the ground all by himself.  And then when he wants something he gracefully gets back to a crawl or he dives for it.  A few times he looked like he might take a step but hasn't done it yet.  I'm anxiously awaiting his first steps and trying not to compare to his sister who took steps the day before she turned 11 months old.  I have a feeling when he walks its going to be more like a run.  He loves to push his walking/push toy around too.

Teething:  Caleb cut his 6th tooth at the very beginning of this month.  It's on the top right.  So he now has 4 teeth on the top and 2 center teeth on the bottom.

Birthday Party:  I mentioned a couple of months ago I was getting excited to plan Caleb's party and we decided to do a family party for the whole day on Caleb's birthday.  I love that his birthday is on a Saturday!  I'm excited to host family and for the kids' cousins to come spend time at our house.  I'm starting to think about a menu plan that can be done mostly ahead of time (breakfast, lunch, and dinner and of course cake and ice cream).  I've also got some fun ideas on how to decorate the house and some craft projects for the older kids.

Thankful Thursday

I can't believe it but this is the 500th blog post on Pennyrile.  I would say my 500th blog post but we all know Matt did his part and posted about 5 of them back when we first started blogging. I wish I would have timed this better and hit #500 on my thankful list.  Anyway, this week I'm thankful for...

422. Snow
423. Homemade biscuits
424. A night out on the town by myself
425. Recovering from a cold
426. Visit from the in-laws
427. 2 naps in one day (Sunday)
428. Books from the library on my Kindle
429. Little voices through the monitor