Day 3 of Addison's potty training was a bit messier than days 1 and 2. She had 3 accidents today (2 of those occurred before 8:00 this morning), but she still did well otherwise.

Unfortunately, our day got off to a rough start. When I went into Fischer's room to get him, I discovered a big mess in his bed. It was gross. I was very mad. And tonight he has duct tape around his diaper. We'll see what tomorrow holds....

Not too much else has been going on. I had a Dentist appointment today, and Addison was very worried that I had to get a band-aid at the "tooth doctor." She is obsessed with band-aids!

Fischer also has a new friend - a robot that apparently hangs out in his room? Addison sees it too, and they like to play with it. It's pretty funny to watch their little imaginations go crazy sometimes.

And they are becoming quite the experts at stalling at bedtime. What's funny is Fischer has recently started using a lot of the same tactics as Addison, but he's never been in her room to see any of it. So, they are doing the same things, but on their own! Tonight's stalling tactic was to talk about random stuff. Addison wanted to talk about eyebrows and Fischer wanted to talk about tickling belly buttons.

Here is Addison during day 2 of potty training.

Here they are this morning... don't they look so sweet and innocent?!

Day 2 of Addison's potty training went well! She had one accident and I think that was probably my fault. It was during lunch and I went a little too long without checking in with her about going. She did stop, tell me she went, then run to her potty after I got her out of her booster seat and finished up! She then, of course, returned to the table to finish her lunch.

I am thinking I will start with Fischer's officially training tomorrow or Thursday. I am sort of dreading it though. It's going to well with Addison that I hate to add anything to the mix, but it needs to be done. And, he takes his shorts and diaper off on his own to go potty several times a day anyway, so I might as well start working with him too. I just hope my nerves can take it! :)

Even though it's going so well with Addison, I am exhausted. I think it's just mentally exhausting to keep up with the schedule the entire time, and to keep up with what Fischer is doing too. It will be worth it in the end though. I need to keep reminding myself that I won't have to change diapers anymore, which has become quite a chore lately.

Keep your fingers crossed that tomorrow goes well too!

What a day.

You might recall that I attempted to start potty training a couple of weekends ago and ended up stopping the same day I started. I just couldn't handle it! Since then, we've been letting the kids use their potties throughout the day if they felt like it, but we definitely weren't forcing it. As of yesterday, they were both going several times a day - both #1 and #2.

I felt like it was time to step it up. But this time, I decided to focus on Addison first. This morning after breakfast, I put her in her big girl "undies" and the fun began! Fischer asked for his big boy undies, but I told him his turn was coming and focused his attention on something else and he was fine for the rest of the day.

I must say, Addison did SOO great!! I am so proud of her! I asked/told her to go potty every 20-30 minutes, but a lot of the time she would go on her own before then. She got to flush each time, but sometimes she got an M&M as an extra reward. At one point, before naptime, I thought we were in trouble. She was refusing to put her undies back on and was on the verge of having a melt down. So, I offered her an M&M and that's all it took!

She only had 1 tiny accident the entire day and that was tonight when were were all playing before bath time.  She got so excited during her game of "open the closet door and yell surprise" that she peed a little bit. But that was it!

I think I will give it another day or 2 before I start with Fischer. I do think he's ready, but only time will tell.... he did go on the potty several times today even though he was wearing a diaper.

The hardest part is not being able to leave the house these first couple of days (and then again with Fischer's first couple of days). But, it'll be worth it to be done with diapers!

Here's hoping that tomorrow goes just as well!

Addison and Fischer turned 2 years, 5 months old yesterday. We are inching towards 2 1/2 years - 30 months!! WOW!!

I was looking through some old pictures recently and came across this one. I'd forgotten all about it but I think it's so funny! It was taken when they were around 5 months old.

We've had a busy few days!

Uncle Chris, Carly and Carter (my brother and his kids) came to visit for a couple of days.

It was so hot yesterday, so we went to McDonald's for an ice cream treat, then spent the rest of the afternoon in the shade playing in the pool. The kids had fun playing with their cousins, and Fischer especially loved having Carter as a pool buddy!

And, as usual, it's always nice to have some extra hands here. Scott was out of town so it was even more appreciate! Carly is 14 and so good with the kids - they especially loved listening to music on her iPod.

Then today, Scott and I had to go pick up his new car. We had to say goodbye to the Explorer, which was a little sad. But, we are really liking his new Avalanche so far - and Addison and Fischer have loved riding around in "Daddy's twuck."

In other news - the kids are using the potty SO well. I have lost track of how many times a day they are going. I am not forcing it at all and they are doing great! Addison will take off her own pants and diaper sometimes (which isn't always a good thing), and go all on her own! Yay progress!

Our streak continues!! Last night, Addison and Fischer both used the potty after taking their baths (and Fischer evened the score by going #2!) Not that it's a competition or anything.... :) And, Addison used hers yesterday morning too. Woohoo!  I'm definitely liking this more laid back approach for right now. It has become part of our bath time routine and that seems to be working well. I've tried making it part of our waking up and/or getting dressed routine but haven't had much luck yet. We'll keep working on it though.

Last night was a bit chaotic because Scott is out of town. So, I was doing baths on my own, and they both decided to use the potty at the same time. So, as Addison was going, Fischer announced he was pooping in his diaper and wanted to sit on the potty. So, I, of course, encouraged him to sit down!! As he was going, Addison finished and decided to go ahead and take her potty apart and carry it to the toilet so she could dump and flush (which is their reward). She happened to spill it along the way, just as Fischer freaked out that he had poop on his leg (gross, I know) and stuck his hand in it. Talk about messy, disgusting CHAOS!! But, I tried my best to stay calm kept reminding myself that they had just had potty success, which is our goal. So, I cheered them on and explained to them why it's gross to spill pee and touch poop.

Ugh.

Ok, enough about that!

It seems that as the potty business starts to get better, their sleeping is getting worse - especially for Addison. I don't know if it's related or just a coincidence. She has started finding every reason imaginable for us to stay in her room at night when we are tucking her in. Her routine is becoming longer and longer each night. And she's having a hard time falling asleep once we leave, and has been crying a lot. Once she is finally asleep, she eventually wakes up and cries some more. This has been going on for the past several nights and it's tiring!! I'm sure this is just another phase but I hope it passes quickly!

I've been bad about taking pictures lately! Here's one of Addison in one of her favorite pair of shoes (she doesn't care that they are too big). She is in love with shoes now, and is currently napping with a pair on. Whatever it takes, I guess!

Potty training. I really can't wait until I don't have to say those words ever again. :)

I decided to start officially potty training last Saturday. I got the big-girl and big-boy "undies" washed and ready to go. As soon as the kids got up Saturday, I took their diapers off and put their undies on. I made a huge deal about the potty (and had been for several days leading up to this), talked about how the undies needed to stay dry, offered rewards, etc.... I put (or attempted to put) them on the potty every 20-30 minutes. By noon I was worn out, completely frustrated and a little bit grossed out. I expected messes, but one in particular about sent me over the edge... I'll spare you the details.

So, I realized I was in way over my head. I thought I was mentally prepared but I clearly wasn't. I put their diapers on them for nap time and then just kept them in diapers the rest of the day. I felt like a quitter, but it just wasn't working. They had gone on the potty before, so I knew they were capable, but that morning, they just did not care about it. At all.

After a few days off from potty training, I decided to sort of ease back into it. And, I was thinking I would start doing Fischer first instead of doing them both at once. Starting Wednesday night, I started asking them to use the potty before baths. As of tonight, Fischer has gone 5 nights in a row, and Addison has gone 4 (and tonight, she went both #1 and #2!!). I've put them on the potty at other times of the day with no success, but bath time is going great. And, instead of rewarding them with M&Ms like I had planned to do, they are getting to flush the toilet whenever they go. I realized how many times a day I was having to tell Fischer not to flush the toilets, so I thought maybe he'd work towards getting to do it! And this seems to be motivating them much more than the M&Ms. Who would've thought flushing the toilet would be so exciting?! :)

So, I think I'll keep doing this routine for a few more days, and then decide what to do from there.  Thankfully their preschool that they are starting next month doesn't require them to be trained, so at least I don't have pressure from them!

Here are a few pictures from our potty training adventures.... I'm sure they will love looking at these one day :)