It's Happening.....

Well...just as I post my sarcastic anti-pottying post the other day...wouldn't you know it, but SOMEONE is doing it! I don't want to mention any names in hopes that I don't jinx the amazing progress that has been made in 3 short days...but some little girl that I know is pottying and doing #2 in the potty! (If that is TMI...then I am sorry!) I am just REALLY REALLY REALLY proud of my girl...I mean, the random girl that I am talking about! All of a sudden, things seemed to have clicked and she is doing fantastic. She is so excited about her big girl p*nties! She has Dora, Care Bears, all the princesses, and of course Mickey Mouse. This girl is also very smart and catching on VERY quickly! She knows that even if she goes potty just a few drops, then she gets 2 M&M's!!!! So...she may have cavities, juvenile diabetes, and even childhood obesity in her near future, but at least she won't need a diaper!!!! So...I will keep you posted on the continuing progress...but as of tonight, I would say we are about 85% there! We will worry about nighttime at a much later point! Yeah random girl!!!!! I am sure she was sad that her cousin Emmy...who is 4 months younger...was excelling at her potty training at an alarming rate and leaving her far behind with all the other babies still in diapers!


Here are some pictures of our pottying station...


The #2 reward basket...full of lots of good $1 spot Target treats!!!! The M&M's are for pottying. And of course wipes and hand sanitizer!



The Potty Chair and a basket of reading material to help her really focus!




My little girl EXTREMELY proud of herself! We immediately have to call Daddy, Aunt Summer, Mimi, (CC if she had any power in NWA!!!), and anyone else who will listen that we just pottied!




Daddy is making some major big promises! He promised Jillian a "big surprise" if she would actually potty. He followed up and brought home a new Barbie!




Jillian and her big surprise!

She Used the Potty...

...but it isn't what you think. Jillian still refuses to use the potty...my extremely smart 2 1/2 year old prefers diapers. Nice. But, at least we are getting some use out of the potty chair! Baby Jules has taking a big liking to pushing it around and walking behind it! At this rate, she may even potty train before big sister!


I caught you little girl!!!!



Maybe she will be walking soon! I can have her help me change Jillian's diapers!

Potty Training SUCKS Part II

First of all...let me just say that I am sorry for my blogging absence. I just can't seem to get into the groove of blogging in the new year! But, I promise to get over that really quick! I mean, I have a new camera, and I MUST use it. So Dad, Mom, and any other readers that might still be with me...I Will be posting on a more regular basis! So, back to our regularly scheduled blog...potty training.




Ok, now all I have to say is that potty training is for suckers! I mean, to sit here at the will (and STRONG will at that) of my 2 year old and beg her all day to keep her panties dry is a joke! Jillian is smart...she always has been...and now she is really trying to outsmart me with the pottying. I had her in panties all last week and she did not go potty on the potty once. ONCE people!!!! More importantly, she also did not have many accidents at all. We even went to the grocery store in panties and no accidents. Of course this did include me running like a mad woman through the store and asking Jillian if her panties were still dry about a hundred times, and rewarding her with marshmallows...but whose counting??? So, my conclusion is that she knows what she is doing, she is just trying to fight me on actually achieving what I want her to. I mean, the girl is making all of her dolls potty. She even knows to pull down their panties and then put them on the potty. So, I have decided that she can just do it when she is ready...which is some great advice from MANY people I have talked to. I will continue to try and put her in panties at home...but I am not going to push so hard...because she is pushing right back!




Here are some cute pictures of cousin Emerson and Jillian trying to potty together. They sat on their potties and watched the Elmo potty DVD together, but no luck. Em did have a little potty in her potty, and they both ended up going on my dining room chairs. It was hilarious...I had two potty trainers and a teether begging for my attention! What a combo!!!!!

Jillian and Emmy on their potties

Emmy still giving it the ole college try while Jillian has now shut the potty and is sitting on top.

LOVE. THIS. PICTURE!!!!! Jillian is watching as Emerson really seems to contemplate actually going in her potty! I feel like I should give her a newspaper or something!!!

Again...Emmy is hilarious! She looks like she is really pushing here, which was NOT the case...just a funny face!

I think what they are saying here is "WE GIVE UP!!!!"

Oh well, when all else fails, just have fun!

Potty Training SUCKS!!!!

that about sums it up

Jules is 8 months...Jillian is 2 1/2!!!!

Baby Jules turned 8 months old back on December 22...the same day that Big sister Jillian turned 2 1/2!!!! What a big day...too bad we spent it at the pediatrician for the 7th time in December...but I'm not bitter! :)

Here are pictures of the 2 at 8 months old. I didn't realize they had the same bow on!

Baby Jules at 8 months

Baby Jillian at 8 months (for comparison)

Baby Jules is getting bigger by the second! I can't believe that her first birthday is just right around the corner! Some of her 8 month milestones are:

• she can wave Bye-Bye
• she even repeats Bye-Bye when we say it, but I am sure she doesn't know what it means
• she says Da-Da...and definitely know what it means! She follows Seth around from the moment he walks in the door every day repeating Da-Da. She gets her feelings really hurt if he walks past her and doesn't pick her up...MAJOR Daddy's girl already! I have two of them!!! How did that happen?
• she is eating everything she can get her hands on! I still try to do baby food with her, but that is usually not good enough! She wants what we are having and with a quickness! Eating might be the one activity where Baby Jules looses her sweetness. When it comes to eating, she means business!
• she can feed herself...so she is getting lots of Puffs, cheerios, and frozen veggies these days. Jillian has also taking a liking again to Puffs! Gross...those things taste like stale Cheerios!
• she is crawling everywhere and has been for two months! She is not showing any real signs that she wants to walk yet. Most people say that is a good thing, but I figure if she is mobile anyway, I would rather have her up off the nasty floor!
• she still absolutely ADORES Tyson, our pug. She laughs every time she sees him like it is the first time! She crawls to him, pulls his ears, pulls up on him...and he lets her! I think they are good buddies! Poor Tyson...he deserves it since Big Sis Jillian likes to kick Tyson when she thinks I am not looking...nice.
• She still has two teeth on the bottom, but I think she is cutting something else right now...little fever, fussiness, and clingyness! I will be interested to see if something pops out very soon!
• Baby Jules prefers men! She really always goes towards the guy these days. Of course, Seth is her favorite over me, but she also reaches out for Uncle Layton and Papaw. Her Uncle Parrish came this past week, and Baby Jules had a big crush on him! B-Pa gets her this weekend, so "It's Raining Men" if you are Baby Jules!!!!

Here is my sweet girl on the move! She is EVERYWHERE!!!! I have already caught her on the second step of the stairs, so we had to put that lovely gate back up!

She still has those big baby blues! I think she will keep them...yeah! It is good that she has these great eyes, because it takes the attention of the hair! She is definitely going through a bad hair phase right now! :)

Now...on to Big Sis Jillian! Jillian is now 2 1/2 and turning into quite the big girl. Here are some things that Jillian is up to these days:

• Jillian talks nonstop! She repeats everything we say! Seth and I are amazed everyday how she will just pull a word out of nowhere and we had no idea that she knew it. She is also really good with plurals and knowing girl/boy possession. (I know there is an English term for this, but I have been out of school for WAY too long!) I am going to start writing her funny things down to keep track...they are really good.
• Her latest nonstop questions are, "What happened?", "Hear that momma?", "Where you going?"
• Jillian is also getting kind of bossy but not on purpose. She is just forgetting her pleases and thank yous that she had gotten so good at. I am constantly telling her to not be bossy...and now she will tell me, "I not bossy, mom"
• She is obsessed with whether it is nighttime or daytime. I think this goes along with her never wanting to nap. But she always is saying, "It's getting dark again" or "The sun came up again!"
• Her favorite show now is Blues Clues...she loves it. Seth and I miss Musca Mouse!
• She officially gave up the passy right before 2 1/2!!!!! I had dreaded this transition since her birth since she loved so many of them. But, she did great and has never looked back. She tries to tell us that passys are for babies, but she always says, "BABIES are for passies!!!!" And she is proud of that too!
• I have been talking about potty training for 6 months and decided that now was the time. So, this morning, I made her run around with no diaper or anything on. Nice, I know! Well, we sat on the potty 10-15 times for at least 5 minutes (yes, you do the math) and she didn't potty once! The good news is that she went about 3 hours with no pants on and only had one accident on the carpet. So, I have to think that she knows to hold it! I am just going to keep with it and see what I can get out of her...literally! I am so ready to have that diaper money in my pocket again!!!!! I will keep you posted on this...I am sure there will be many animated posts about this in my future!!!

Jillian finally smiles for the camera instead of hiding from it! YEAH!!!! She also quints her eyes when she smiles...just like her daddy!!!

Happy girl!



She loves Christmas, just like me! She made Christmas so fun this year!

My two girls together....


Before church on Sunday

They looked cute, but trying to get a picture is next to impossible these days!



I love this one...they are laughing at each other! They always laugh at eachother and interact very well! It makes me happier than anything else!!!!!