Fridge Decor

I'm loving what I've got on my fridge right now.

I'm not one to hold on to things that John makes in Preschool but I think I will have this Valentine for years to come. The glasses and mustache crack me up and the far off look is so John.

Boys vs. Girls

Kevin and John have been to the zoo and Monster Jam in the last week.

I've also spent some quality time with Caitlyn before she leaves for D.C. Elizabeth was with us too but she slept through most of it.

Spit-Tacular

My little Lady Elizabeth has a very unladylike problem. Her spit-up is projectile and there is a lot of it. John had this problem too. I was hoping the problem would stop with him but apparently it is genetic.

We moved Elizabeth from a cradle in our room to her crib across the hall. When we moved the cradle this is what we found.

I'd say that is some impressive distance.

Elizabeth's Photo Shoot

We had Elizabeth's pictures taken when she was two weeks old. She HATED it. We got a lot of this.

John was even less cooperative. He did not want to hold her and actually got mean so we ended that right away. This is the best we got with the two of them.

She did ok here, but I really wanted her sleeping too and she would not sleep.

It really got bad when we tried to get sleeping naked pictures. She likes to be swaddled when she sleeps so I should have known this would be difficult.

I finally got her to sleep so we quickly unwrapped her and set her up. It didn't last long but luckily we did get this before the sleeping dragon woke up.

This was quite the stressful experience, I can't even imagine how the next attempt at family pictures will be.

Valentine's Day

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day.

Woke up to these, Elizabeth got one too

Made these

Captured this

And this (still working on John holding Elizabeth so we started side by side)

But then I got this!

Then a true Valentine's miracle happened. Kevin and I decided to go out to dinner with the kids. We chose Rio Grande because it is our favorite Mexican place and it is never busy. We went right at 5:00 and were seated immediately. I was a little worried about ruining someone's romantic evening but other people had kids too so that calmed my fears. This is where the miracle came in, I didn't have to worry at all. John was perfect. Besides spilling his water it was like we had an adult with us and let's face it adults spill there water too. Elizabeth slept through the whole thing which I expected. It was truly an enjoyable family date, the first I hope of many.

Walk with Elizabeth

John, Haydee, Elizabeth, and I ventured outdoors for a walk today. I hate to admit this is ground breaking news but it is. My neighbor gave me her Baby Bjorn that she got for her children thirteen years ago. I haven't ever used a new Bjorn but I don't know that I need to those Bjorn people know how to make a baby carrier that lasts. So all you Baby Bjorn owners out there be sure to keep them, you could just make some new mom's day thirteen years from now.

Might I just add that I am in love with Downton Abbey. I just started watching it today and can't get enough. If you have watched it you know what I mean, if you haven't start immediately.

Battle of Wills

John had been giving us a run for our money at bedtime. I wrote about it in December. Unfortunately, it got much worse after that. I think we finally have it under control and all it took was taking away the ipad. John loves my ipad so one night at the peak of frustration I told him he couldn't use the ipad the next day if he left his bedroom. After three days without the ipad he finally stayed in his room and the ipad privileges returned. That same week he had two nights of relapse but since then has been (for the most part) a dream at bedtime. I call this a battle of wills because his three days without the ipad were hard on me too. When John has the ipad I get a lot done.

Now for our latest battle. Much to my dismay John is not potty trained. I tried the three day method in August with no success after five days. I tried again for about four hours the beginning of December only to decide my pregnant body and brain could not handle it. While I wished he was potty trained, with only one child to care for changing the diapers seemed much easier than potty training him. With the addition of Elizabeth my views have changed. I now feel like the pain of potty training just might be worth it.

John pretty much refuses to go on the toilet. The week before last I was able to get him to do it on occasion with the right incentive. So I put him in underwear on Tuesday and tried to put him on the toilet every half an hour or so. He never went, on the toilet that is. Later in the afternoon he asked if he could use the ipad. Ahah I thought now I've got him. I told him he couldn't use the ipad until he went on the toilet. He ran into the bathroom and peed. He forgot to pull his underwear down but I figure that is a rookie mistake. I was so excited but we have not had a repeat performance and John has not used the ipad since then.(Excpet for this morning. My ipad is my saving grace while I feed Elizabeth. I forgot to put it out of reach after I fed her early this morning and John got it when he woke up.) He is back in diapers because clearly he isn't ready despite the fact that it is painfully obvious he is fully capable. I figure at some point he will cave and decide it is worth. Let's just hope I don't cave first.

This is the only humor that has come out of potty training.

Quinn and Cami's dog got John's toilet seat stuck around her head after getting a drink from the toilet.