Another first day of school….

Monday, August 16th, marked yet another first day of school for Sean!  Where are the years going?!  I remember taking a picture of him his first day of 4K in front of our bedroom door, and it seems like it was forever ago.  But alas, this year he’s in 3rd grade.  He has two homeroom teachers, one in the morning, one in the afternoon.  He’s been upgraded from the little kids playground, to the big kids playground.  He’s in the gifted and talented class.  The kids he’s with this year he will likely continue to be with for the majority of his school career.  Thankfully he has several friends already!

And today, August 23, marks my baby girl, Kaelyn’s, very first day of her school career.  She’s in 3 yr preschool, or 3 yr kindergarten as they say here!  I can’t believe she’s old enough to start her first day of school picture career!  It’s 3 mornings a week, from 8-11 on mon/tues/wed.  She was so excited to start today!  She did so good, daddy only stayed with her for a few mins before leaving her.  She played on the playground, sang songs, did pictures, had a snack…and soon I hope she’ll start making some new friends!  These are some of the kids she’ll share her school career with, and I’m so excited for her to start making some friends!

My beautiful, fearsome foursome…. And an incredibly rare, but very precious picture of our entire family.  I have been so amazingly blessed by God that it brings tears to my eyes every time I see these children.

M&M QOTW ~~ Potty training

What are your tips and tricks for potty training?

• What age did you begin with your child(ren)?
• How long did it take?
• Did you use a "system", or just wing it?
• Did you use specific rewards for incentive? How did that work for you?
• If you could change anything about the experience, what would you do differently?
• Did you use Pull-Ups?
• Do you think it's easier to potty train multiples at the same time, or separately?
  

DS #1 ~
I started at age 2.5 with him. I tried for 2 weeks to potty train him, and he was NOT getting it! We tried m&m's, bribes with toys, sticker charts, tons of encouragement....and he was still peeing in his underwear. I used pull ups at night, but not during the day unless we were going somewhere. I gave up, tried again in a couple of months....this time for a week, and it STILL didn't work. I let it go, and left him be, and 2 months before he turned 3 he suddenly decided HE was ready to go on the potty.....and it was a piece of cake after that! He was day trained within a week. Night training happened shortly after he turned 3.
DD #1 ~
I tried at age 2 but she was nowhere near being ready. I was pregnant with the twins at the time and it was exhausting trying to run her to the potty every hour or so. I attempted it again right before she was 2.5, just before the twins were born, but she still wasn't getting it. The twins were born when she was 2.5 yrs old, and because of having them, there was no potty training going on anytime soon. I tried again when they got about 6 months old, right after my dd turned 3, and she was close to being ready, but after 3 accidents in one afternoon, one of which was all over the floor and the baby toys, I gave up. At 3.5 yrs, she'd been going on the potty randomly for a few weeks....before baths, in the morning, etc, so when she went one morning I suggested she try her new fancy tinkerbell undies. We used m&m's as incentives, and potty training was finally a success. Originally we set a timer for every 30 mins, but when she wasn't going very often I extended it to 60 mins. Eventually it was every 2 hrs. I limited liquids for awhile until she understood what it felt like to go. It only took a couple weeks for her to be fully day and night trained. I only used pull ups at night for her as well.

I'll let you know how potty training the twins goes when they are a bit older (they are almost 18 months old). For now, I will say that the most important thing I learned with my older kids, was to not push them. They won't go to school with diapers on, they'll potty train when they are ready. It created a lot of stress when I tried to push my oldest son, to the point where we would both end up in tears everytime I said "Let's go potty!". Not cool mom, not cool.....

Let the school year BEGIN!

Yesterday marked the first day of school for my big boy, Sean! Last friday we went and met his teachers, he has TWO this year! He was very nervous, he's pretty shy until he gets to know you, but he was super excited that he knew several kids in his class. His teachers seemed very nice and excited to start a new year. One was even very excited to be teaching Sean finally (her words).

Kaelyn will get to meet her teacher this thursday evening. She's excited, and I'm excited for her! It'll be great for her to have something of her own that she doesn't have to share with the babies. Although, the transition to getting up early is going to be rough, she's already grouchy, and she's only been getting up around 8-8:30 am! 7am is going to be haaaaaard next monday when she starts school. lol!

As for the twins, we're just going to chill at home for the most part! It'll be nice to be able to spend some time with just the twins for a change. Since the big kids have been going to be early last week, David and I have enjoyed having some fun with just the twins, and they've enjoyed the 1 on 1 time with us I think <3

Monday, August 09/2010

Today officially marks the last full week of summer vacation for Sean! Where did the summer go?! It's been very busy, lots of fun....but it flew by much too fast! :( My big boy is going into 3rd grade this year...wow. He's in the gifted and talented class this year, we are so incredibly proud of him! He's much more excited about starting school now that he knows Henry (his friend) will be in the same class as him! I'm sure he'll know more kids too!

Kaelyn is also starting school this year, 3 yr kindergarten. *thud*. She's going to First Baptist preschool, and she starts in 2 weeks! It's just 3 mornings a week, from 8-11, but she is so excited. We ordered her very first bookbag today and she can't wait to get it!

And my babies, my twins, are almost 1.5 yrs old now. We packed up all the "baby" toys the other day, and have started taking gates down in the house. It's all flying by so very fast. So far the no gate thing is going okay, they now have full access to the kitchen and dining room. As long as we can keep the bathroom door closed, it's allllllll good! *thumbsup*

And the last of the trip pictures!

Lots of water fun at Grandma's and Papa's house! Along with a little "twin rivalry" over the scooter!



Sean and his two missing front teeth, the twins doing the pow-wow on the loose boards on papa's front deck, and granddaddy and papa watching the kids in the pool.



My sweet smiley Rylee, Liam motoring around on the scooter, and Liam on his very first quad ride. He wasn't too impressed. Rylee, however, was THRILLED....although since i was driving I didn't get to take a picture of her! :(



Rylee on her first big girl swing ride, Liam very proud of climbing on Auntie 'Chelles swingset all by himself, and my pretty girl Kaelyn.


My best friends beautiful kids, Brady and Keelie! Love that girl and those kids!!!



The twins very first popsicle....mmmmmm......and the whole group enjoying their popsicles at Auntie 'Chelle's!!