MIA

I haven't forgotten about beach pics, as promised.  I have been SUPER busy both at work and home.  They are coming, I promise!

First Day

I mentioned yesterday that Rory was starting 2 day per week MDO this week.  She was SO excited this morning, I had trouble getting pictures.  I got a few at home, but once we got there, forget it...she was too excited to be bothered.  She met one of her classmates in the lobby, and they immediately hit it off. The school provides the kids with the same bag.  Each class has it's own design...Rory's class was crayons, so when I spotted another crayon, I pointed Rory their way, and she and her new buddy were fast friends.

My big girl, getting excited to be going to big girl school!

 I am hoping to take a picture with this bunny on the last day of school too,  I know my big girl will look like such a baby compared to her end of the year picture.

 I have quite a few of these...very nice Rory!

 Little Miss Independant wanted to hold her lunch bag.  I have yet to get it embroidered...whatever, maybe this weekend.

 At school.  I was hoping for this cute, in front of the school pic...not so much.  She was so excited and just kept running around.  Oh well, this is our story, our first day experience and she was SO excited, and I am thrilled that the pics reflect that!

   She cried a bit when we left, but other than that, she did really well! 

She was glad that Kevin was there to pick her up, but she had a good time.  I asked her if she wanted to go back and she said 'Yes, but not today'

She refused a nap after school and then promptly fell asleep on the couch at 7:15.  I changed her to jammies, and tucked her into bed without waking her.  My sweet big girl!

Some posts on the beach are coming soon!

10 on Monday

This is a just a quickie post.  I am going to do a post (or 2) on our beach vacation this week. For now, here is a 10 on Monday.

1. We just got back from a week at the beach.  We stayed 4.5 days at a condo in Orange Beach and 2.5 days in Fairhope at The Grand Resort and Spa.
2. Rory packed her beach bag today and told her Daddy that she is going to the beach.  He told her no, that we would have to go another time.  She told him very firmly "I am asking you 1 more time, take me to the beach!"  Not much of a questions huh?
3. Because of the tropical storm that passed through the beach the previous weekend, there were TONS of shells on the beach...we brought home probably 60 or so...not kidding!
4. Rory starts preschool tomorrow.  I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  She is pretty excited too!
5. This past Friday was my Dad's birthday.  Loved spending it at the beach.  I don't know why, but I feel so much closer to heaven at the beach..is that weird?
6. I am back at work today...BOO!
7. I am going to the grocery store tonight to get stuff for Rory's lunch...do you know how hard it is to find a lunch box for a toddler?  They are all HUGE, I finally found 2...I got one of them and I am going to order the other one next week. Never hurts to have a spare.
8. We have had major regression on the potty training front.  Hopefully she will pick it back up soon!
9. I am having trouble thinking of 10...apparently my brain is still at the beach.
10. Yeah...read #9.

:)

Monday...Monday!

The weather has been SO pretty this weekend.  We have had a good time playing and enjoying being outside without nearly having a heat stroke.  I have a few pics to post, nothing major.

I got a call from the MDO program that we have had R on the wait list for this past Wednesday and they had a spot open for the 2 day a week program.  I am not going to post where she is going, for security purposes but I am SO excited!  I know that R is going to LOVE it!

I came home and told her and she got so excited about getting to make new friends.  We have orientation tonight and she has meet the teacher tomorrow.  She is going to LOVE it! 

This next pic has all kinds of issues, but it is so "Rory" right now.  She is sassy!
Yesterday, before church, we were ready a few mins early so I told her that I wanted to take a picture of her in her dress.  This was my 3rd Easter dress and I had yet to really get a good pic of her in it.  I did get a few good ones, but this is BY FAR my favorite picture.  Anyone who knew my Dad, should recognize this look (minus the finger in the mouth)

Here we go, this one is better! 

Well, that is all for now!  Hope that you guys have a good week! 

The Potty Training Post

 Ok, so this post is a long time in the making, and it may not help anyone, but whatever, I figured I would write it any way.


Prior to the actual potty training, I:

• stocked up on M&Ms
• Got a bunch of cheapo potty prizes for Rory to pick from when she went potty
• Got lots of cute toddler panties
• I also put an old shower curtain liner over the couch with a quilt over it
• Made sure that we had lots of clean towels  
• The froggy potty was in the middle of the living room in the middle of a few layers of beach towel
• Had a lot of high water content snacks and of course her regular 50/50 water/juice 

 

 (ignore my streaky mirror, this was taken the night before potty training bootcamp, the flash makes it look really bad!)

We talked up potty training all week.  Every time I would change her diaper, I would make a big deal about there only being a few diapers left.  On Thursday and Friday we counted down until her diapers were going to be all gone.  I told her (a lot) what a big girl she is and how little babies wear diapers, but now she is a big girl so she was going to get to wear big girl panties beginning Saturday.

We also bought a new toilet seat for the hall bathroom.  We were going to buy one anyway, but I found (at Home Depot) a toilet seat that has a toddler sized seat that flips down and stores in the lid.  It is awesome by the way!
DAY 1
Saturday Rory got up and we took her diaper off and put her in big girl undies.  I told her that when she needed to go potty, to tell me.  Then I gave her orange juice instead of milk for breakfast.  For the rest of the morning, I sat her on the Froggy Potty about every 15 minutes and had her sit there until she asked to get up. When she got up, I would reset the kitchen timer for 15 minutes.  This seems extreme I know, but I had to get her to go once on there so that we could make a big deal of it and she could get the 1st prize.  We had a lot of "HOLD IT! RUN RUN RUN..." moments, but finally, she peed.  I made a big deal of it, let her choose which M&M she wanted and pick out a prize. (Of course I took a pic...that's right, I took a pic of her sitting next to a potty with pee in it)

 After she went the first time, it seemed to register with her that she needed to go in the potty.  She did really well the rest of the day, we did have accidents, but she was trying, which was all that counts.
DAY 2
I had prepared myself for regression on Day 2.  It didn't prepare me though.  The morning of Day 2 was horrible.  You would have thought that it was the 1st and she had never heard of a potty.  This lasted for about a couple of hours or so and then she picked it up.
The rest of the day went pretty well.  She had some accidents, but nothing major and she decided that she didn't like the Froggy Potty and would rather use the big potty.  Fine with me!  I hated cleaning it out anyway!  We kept it in the living room anyway, just in case she wanted to use it, or she was near it and couldn't hold it to get to the big potty.  For the most part though, she went to the hall bathroom.
 

DAY 3
Day 3 was pretty good.  We even took a little trip to Target in big girl panties.  I figured that it was some place that R was comfortable, they have tile floors and we know where the bathrooms are.  I stressed the fact that if she went in her undies that we would have to come home, so she needed to let me know if she needed to go.  She did and we hurried to the bathroom and she went.  She was so glad to finally get out of the house, I think that me saying that if she went in her pants we would have to go home, was a bit of motivation.  We kept the trip short, and she got to pick a prize for not going at Target, so that was good too.

She does have a bit of fear in public restrooms on the giant seats with the open fronts.  I remedy that by me sitting on the potty, all the way towards the back (I am fully clothed, sounds gross...whatever) and she sits between my legs at the front. Sounds gross, but it works and she doesn't feel like she is going to fall in since she can hold on to my legs and her back is against me.  For a week or 2 if we went some where, I put the Froggy Potty in the car and we did have to use it once or twice, but now just reminding her not to go in her pants and to tell me so that we don't have to go home has worked.

I did put her in a pull up at bedtime, some theories say not to put them in a pull up at all, but I did and still continue to.  She doesn't have night time control yet, and I don't stress over that.  Night time control will come with time.  Poop was a bit more challenging and we still struggle a bit with it.

That is it...if there is something that I have forgotten, let me know and I will fill you in. 

Friday Quickee - Conversations with Rory

This will be a quick one, but she has been SUPER funny lately!

In the car on the way to eat with some friends of ours.  I called Kevin to tell him that we were going to O'Charleys (Hello, kids eat free!).
R: We are not going to O'Charley's, we are going to Ruby Tuesdays.
L: We are going to O'Charley's Rory, maybe we will go to Ruby Tuesdays another time
R: I am not going to O'Charleys
L: Okay
R: Wets go to Nellie Friday's
(***get it, RUBY and NELLIE...our dogs!)

We are trying to get her to go Poop in the potty...it is our last hang up that she isn't really consistent with.  For whatever reason, this is her thought process on Pooping.
R: Mommy, those fishies are hungry
L: What fishies Rory?
R: Those fishies in the Ow-Shun
L:O, OK.
R: I have to Poop in the potty to feed the fishies, they are so hungry
L: Rory, do you need to go potty
R: Yes, let's hurry!
-----She goes, and hops off the potty
R: YAY!  Mommy, those fish are so happy...they aren't hungry anymore!
L: Super!
(This is totally gross, but if it gets her to go, I don't care what she calls it and we have since aquired a new "Code Phrase"...I need to go 'Feed the Fish' has a whole new meaning)

Rory has gotten 2 of the Llama Llama books, they are SO cute, if you have toddlers, RUN and get them. 
Rory knows all of LLama Llama Red Pajama and 'reads' it to her self all of the time! 
I was fussing at her the other day and she busts out with this one:
R: Mommy, you listen to me...you stop all this Llama Drama and be patient for your Mama
(I almost lost it by the way...hard to scold her when she is being super cute)

After getting out of the tub the other night, she is following me into her room, all wrapped in her towel.  I turn around when I get to the bed and she is not there.
L: Rory...where are you?
---Silence
L: Rory, come here please
---Silence
L: RORY
R: (from far away) Rory is not here right now
L: Where is Rory and who is that talking?
R: This is Princess Belle, call me sweetly pweese
L: Princess Belle, where are you, come here please
-Rory tip toes in
R: Oh dear, I seemed to have gotten wost (lost), and I am naked...oh my

R drops juice sippy and a little spills out
R: Uh Oh, well that was unfort-nat (unfortunate)

Rory talks to Baby James

My cousin Caroline had her baby today.  Welcome sweet boy!  J@mes Edw@rd Klingler arrived weighing a hefty 8lbs, 5oz and was 19" long.  He is a cutie and Rory is excited to see him.  She told me tonight that she wanted to talk to him, so I recorded this on my phone for her.  I have no idea why it is sideways!

Wordless Friday

Quick Update

We are still around.  I have a lot of posts floating around in my head, but this one will likely be short.  I have taken a little break from the ole' blog for a few reasons.  First of all, I just needed a break and since it is within my power to impose such "breakness" I decided to do so.  Secondly, I spend most of my time at home, reminding Rory to go potty.  Haha! 

Here is a quick 5 for you to give you a quick update on what has been happening in our house lately. 

1.  We did 3 day potty training over July 4th weekend.  I didn't buy the book, but read a lot online about how to do it and read what other Moms had said about it.  I wound up using a hybrid of a bunch of different methods and also just going with what I felt would work best for Rory. It was rough, but it worked.  Rory still has accidents, but luckily, she is pretty good with it.  I bought a bunch of prizes for her to get to pick from, this was one of them...

I swore I would not buy this licensed, character crap...but it got her excited to go potty, so I did it...once.  She gets really mad if I tell her that it is a night gown and suggest that she wear it to bed.  Like REALLY mad!  To her, it is a dress...only a dress...no sleeping involved. I will do a detailed post on Potty Training, and how I did it, soon. (sorry for the fuzzyness, excited toddler+camera phone = blurry pics)

2.  Rory is crazy talkative...like comes out with stuff at the craziest times.  The other night, we were in Decatur for a Memorial Svc and my cousin Caroline's baby shower, and Mom and I were trying to get her to go to sleep.  She is laying in the bed, just chatting away and all the sudden, she sits up and says "Mommy, I am medium done with this sleeping."  Mom and I about lost it. 

3.  Kevin and I had been looking at bike trailers for a while, but wow...they are expensive.  We were at Target about 3 weeks ago (one of our tester trips after Potty Training where we knew where the bathroom was and if she had an accident, not that big of a deal) and found a Schwinn trailer on clearance for a steal.  It converts to a jogging stroller too.  It is awesome and Rory LOVES it...it is quite a work out!

Of course, Gymbo and Baby Meredith and the juice sippy had to go too.  Look at her little beat up toddler legs, bless her heart.

 4.  We are gearing up for our trip to the beach in September.  Rory asks every day if we are going to the beach today.  Sweet girl...she has no concept of tomorrow, let alone September.

5.  I have started looking at stuff and trying to get ideas for stuff for Rory's 3rd Birthday Party in December.  I have it narrowed down to 2-3 themes to choose from.  I know that my years of getting pick a cutsie theme are numbered and before long, she will be in full on 'licensed character theme' parties.  So I am enjoying it while I can.

For Dad

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
 

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made from what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

I have been changed for good.

This is the best recording I could find of it.  Ignore the video...just go with the words.  I think that it is so appropriate that it is from Wicked...

Dad,

I can't believe that it has been 4 years. This has been the strangest journey.  One I didn't think that I had it in me to make when we began 4 years ago.  Every moment, of every day, I love you so much. 

All my love,

Fritz.