Pee-Pee In The Pot-ty!!

This is going to be a long, detailed post because I want to remember exactly what lead up to Hailey starting to become potty trained!

Last weekend Hailey spent the weekend with my in-laws because I was sick and Bryan was out of town. According to my mother in law, Hailey asked to use the potty and peed in it 3 times while she was there. This was pretty shocking to me since she has wanted absolutely nothing to do with the potty at home. Every time we ask her to sit on it, she throws a tantrum and says " I no sit on the potty!!!!!" We have been trying not to push the issue because we didn't want to make potty training a negative thing for her. However, after hearing how well she had done with her grandparents, we decided to try again. Here is a rundown of what I like to call "Hell Week".

Monday- We decided to try putting Hailey in underwear so she could feel if she was wet. In the morning she was willing to sit on the potty, but no matter how long she sat, nothing happened. Of course, as soon as she stood up and left the bathroom, she wet her pants. We ended the day with 5 accidents, 0 hits on the potty, and 2 meltdowns.

Tuesday- We took the potty to daycare and encouraged Debbie to have Hailey try to go potty. Hailey was very resistant in the morning and even had to have a time-out for throwning a fit. Debbie called me and I talked to Hailey on the phone and told her she had to try to sit on the potty. After that she tried a few times, but again, nothing happened. That night we went out for dinner and when we got home I had Hailey try to sit on the potty before we got ready for bed. She sat down but then started putting her hands in between her legs and saying that her bottom hurt. She asked for her pull-up and started to get upset. I told her that her pull-up was dirty so I just pulled up her pants and told her to wash her hands. As soon as she stepped up on the stool she peed her pants.

Wednesday- Hailey sat on the potty a few times at daycare without a fight but didn't manage to make anything happen. After daycare she had swim lessons and I decided to have her try sitting on the potty when we got home. She started putting her hands in between her legs again and asking for her pull-up, so I knew she was about to pee. She DID NOT want to sit on the potty so I had to physically hold her on it because I knew pee was coming any minute. She screamed her head off, so loudly in fact that Bryan came running downstairs thinking she had burned herself on the stove! Sure enough, she peed on the potty while I held her on it and then she was proud of herself. We made a huge deal, did the potty dance, gave her an M&M, had her put stickers on her chart, etc. Despite the previous screaming, we ended the night on a very positive note.

Thursday- Hailey had a HORRIBLE day at daycare. She refused to sit on the potty and had a nuclear meltdown, complete with hitting, kicking, and scratching Debbie. She was in a bad mood all day and had to have several time-outs. I felt conflicted because on the one hand I didn't want to force Hailey to use the potty if she wasn't ready, but on the other hand I couldn't let her think that it's okay to throw a fit like that and then get what you want. When we got home she was in a pretty good mood so before dinner I told her to sit on the potty. She came into the bathroom with me and I took off her diaper but she refused to sit down. I felt like she was about to pee so I took off her pants and socks and let her stand in the bathroom naked. I watched her like a hawk and as soon as I saw her start to pee, I whisked her onto the potty and made a HUGE deal about her peeing on the potty. Again, she got an M&M, sticker for her chart, we did the potty dance, and called Daddy at work to tell him.  She went to bed in a great mood and I decided I'd try to have her sit on the potty over the weekend and if we still didn't have success, we'd take a break and try again in a few months.

Friday- I woke up Friday morning thinking to myself, "I really don't want to deal with potty training today!" But, I knew I needed to stick with it a little longer so I told Hailey that we were going to get up, have breakfast, sit on the potty, and go to Little Gym in a very matter of fact and casual way. During breakfast she said, "I can't go on the potty" so I told her, "we're just going to try and if you go, great, and if you can't, that's okay too." After breakfast Hailey said, "let's sit on the potty Mom!" After she sat down she said, "I hafta pee." I told her to go ahead and she said, "I trying!" Suddenly, she went!!! We were both SO EXCITED and she was really, really proud of herself. After we got back from Little Gym she tried again before lunch and did it again!! Just sat down and went! Then after lunch she did it AGAIN! I was blown away!  The rest of the day went the same way and I just couldn't believe it! I don't know what changed between Thursday night and Friday morning but whatever it was, it was working!

Saturday, Sunday, Monday- For the past 3 days Hailey has peed on the potty about 40 times and has only peed in her diaper at naptime and at night! She has gone at home, at a friend's house, at her grandparents' house, and on a regular potty at a restaurant! She has told us herself that she needs to go a few times and the rest of the time we ask her if she needs to go and she tells us yes or no. We haven't had to deal with pooping yet because she always goes during her nap. I don't even know how to begin to approach that one but for now I am just BEYOND THRILLED with how well she has been doing! She goes back to daycare tomorrow so I'm hoping she is able to go there as well as she has been going at home. I am SOOOO PROUD of my little boogie-boo and I cannot believe how big she is getting!!

16 Weeks!

I can't believe I'm at the 4 month mark already! This pregnancy seems like it is going by a lot faster than the last time, probably because this time I'm too busy chasing after a 2 1/2 year old to sit around daydreaming about my baby-to-be all hours of the day and night.

Here are some of the belly stats at the 16 week point:

• Weight gained so far: 1 lb (Woo hoo!! Bring on the Girl Scout Cookies!)
• Maternity clothes: So far I'm still in my pre-pregnancy buttonless cotton work pants and most of my regular shirts, but I have been wearing maternity jeans for over a month!
• Sleep: So far so good... except for getting up to pee around 1am every night.
• Pregnancy symptoms: Zzzzzzz...um, I'm a little more tired than usual. I've also been having pain in my hips/sit bones which I thought was possibly sciatic nerve pain but my nurse practitioner said she thinks is just deep muscle and ligament pain. If I can find an hour 30 minutes 10 minutes any free time, I think I am going to try a prenatal yoga DVD that may or may not still be in the plastic wrap from the last time I was pregnant.
• Gender: Anyone's guess at this point. I had a dream it's a girl and when you ask Hailey what she thinks she's going to get she says "baby sister." Bryan is positive it's a boy and he was dead-on last time so maybe he's got some kind of baby gender sixth sense or something.
• Movement: Not feeling any movement yet but I can't wait! That was one of the most special things for me about being pregnant last time, I'm really excited to experience that feeling again.

Expanding

Where did this belly come from?!?!? Logically I know that most women start to show earlier the second time around, but that doesn't stop me from feeling a little weirded out that I'm THIS big already. I was looking back at pictures from when I was pregnant with Hailey and I look like I did at 5 MONTHS!

I've been feeling pretty good so far, aside from being really tired, until this week. This week I am having A LOT of lower back and hip pain. I think the hip pain is sciatic nerve pain- whenever I sit for any length of time my lower back starts to hurt and when I get up, the nerves in my inner hip joints are so pinched it makes me limp for a few minutes until they loosen up. Any of you other moms out there have advice on how to help alleviate some of this pain? Yoga? Chiropractor? Acupuncture? Physical Therapy? Ice cream?

Guess Who's Going To Be...

 ...a big sister!?!?! That's right, on (or around) July 19th, Hailey will be getting a sibling!! We are really excited and today was even more exciting because I had my 13 week ultrasound and got some awesome pictures of baby!

Hailey knows that she is going to be a big sister, although I don't think it means all that much to her right now. But it's so cute when you ask her where Mommy's baby is and she says, "In the tummy!" And when you ask what it's doing in there she says, "Growing!" I love it! I'm also really happy that a new baby started at her daycare recently and one of my really close friends just had a baby, so she's getting some experience being around them and being a good helper. She absolutely LOVES babies and is so sweet and gentle with them! I really hope that continues when her little brother or sister comes and doesn't leave at the end of the day!

I know I've been absolutely terrible about blogging lately but I'm milking the excuse of being completely and totally exhausted this first trimester, which was compounded by all the craziness of the holidays. My sincere plan is to try and blog more because it has been so much fun to be able to look back at my last pregnancy posts on the blog and I want to be able to do the same with this one! Next up, a belly picture! (Yes, there is a bump already! Crazy!)

Good Jumping Shamu!!

 Last weekend, Bryan's cousin Nick married his beautiful bride Carrie in San Diego. The wedding was lovely and Hailey had a fantastic time dancing the night away. Seriously, she danced all. night. long. About 9:00 (an hour past normal bedtime) we asked her if she was ready to go and go to bed and she said, "No! Hailey not tired yet! Want dance!" This girl is a party animal! Attending a wedding with a 2 year old is definitely a different experience than going without (as in a lot more trying to shush a squirmy toddler and a lot less consumption of adult beverages.) But she had fun and it was fun for us to watch her dance the night away. She looked sooooo cute in her party dress, and she knew it too. She twisted and twirled all night to make her skirt swish.

Since we had traveled all the way down to San Diego, we decided to make a weekend of it and take Hailey to Sea World. I was so excited to take her because I have always loved Sea World and I knew Hailey would like it because of how much she loves the zoo and all her books about animals. To get her ready for the trip I made her a little book of all the animals we would see and her daycare provider, Debbie, did sea animal themed art projects with her all week. All that prep payed off because she was SO EXCITED to see all the animals and shows! The first thing we did was see the Shamu Show and to be honest I got a little choked up when Shamu came out and Hailey breathed, "Oh wowwwww." I had no idea how happy and emotional it would make me to watch her wonder and amazement at something I grew up loving so much. All through the show she clapped and told Shamu what a great job he was doing ("Good jumping!" "Good splashing!" "Good swimming!") Obviously I had to buy her a stuffed Shamu as a souvenir from the day. She absolutely adores it and has taken it with her everywhere all week long.She was really excited about everything at the park and kept asking, "What NEXT??" She loved the penguins, polar bears, sea lions, and even touched a starfish! It was a really fun day and I am so lucky to be blessed with such a happy and flexible little girl. We were at the park from 10:45 to 5:00 with no nap and she only had 1 tiny meltdown at lunchtime that was easily diverted. Of course, she totally passed out before we had even pulled out of the parking lot to head home. What a memorable day!!

Trick or Treat(bag Throwdown)

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's.... SUPERHAILEY!!
This year for Halloween Hailey picked her costume out herself (out of 3 Mommy-approved choices, of course) and she picked Supergirl! It's just a costume from Party City but I swear it looks like it was made just for her, it fits so perfectly. She absolutely adores it and wants to wear it all the time. I have a feeling it will stick around as a dress-up costume long after we have polished off the last of the candy.

Each year for the past few years my friend and fellow blogger, Joanna, has issued a Treat Bag Throwdown to all of her mommy friends, encouraging them to make a trick-or-treat bag that will coordinate with their child's costume. For the past 2 years I have quietly hidden in the back of the class hoping to avoid being noticed, but this year she totally CALLED ME OUT! Since I couldn't hide anymore, I headed over to Michaels to see what I could put together. I'm actually pretty excited with how it turned out! I bought a plain black canvas bag, some felt, and some pipe cleaners, and voila!

Personalized treat bag! The absolute BEST part is how much Hailey loves it. She carries it around with her everywhere and it's the first thing she asks for every morning. Treat bag challenge - Accepted!


We had quite a whirlwind weekend this past weekend doing all kinds of Halloween activities. Bryan was in Vegas so my mom came up and got to join in on all the fun! First stop, Halloween party at The Little Gym. Hailey was a little overwhelmed at first because there were A TON of people and the gym was set up very differently from what she is used to, but after a few minutes she was jumping on the air track and following a little boy dressed as Mickey Mouse around relentlessly.

On Saturday night we headed over to the zoo for ZooBoo. The whole zoo is decorated for Halloween and several local businesses have tables set up where the kids can Trick-or-Treat. Hailey caught on to this process very quickly and had lots of fun opening up her bag for goodies. She could have cared less what actually went into the bag, saying "Trick-or-Treat" and holding her bag was the fun part for her.

As if that weren't enough Halloweening for one weekend, we met my friends Ashley, Chris, and Colin at the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins and take some cute pictures. Hailey even took a little ride on the train with Colin and I was pretty shocked that she was willing to do it without me riding with her. Normally doing something like that would scare her, but my little girl must be growing up because she loved it!


Hailey really had fun this year and by the time we made it back to the car she had straw stuck in her hair, a baby pumpkin, and a huge smile on her face. I really love some of the pictures we got and I know this will definitely be a Halloween tradition for us.

Such a whirlwind weekend!! Hailey took it all in stride and was in a great mood the whole weekend. My mom and I, on the other hand, were exhausted!

Thwarted... But Not Deterred

Pop quiz Hotshot... you're 48 hours away from setting sail on a Caribbean cruise you've been planning for months, your babysitter is already in town, and the airline calls and tells you that your flight to your departure port is cancelled due to Tropical Storm Maria and there is no way they can get you there before the cruise ship departs. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO????

(If you haven't caught on to the Speed reference by now there is no hope for you and we can no longer be friends.)

The answer? You hit up Priceline and look for a last minute deal to somewhere WITH NO HURRICANES! In this case, Maui!! If you know me at all you know that Maui is one of our favorite places of all time and when faced with a last minute change of plans, we decided to go somewhere we knew and loved so as to cause ourselves the least amount of stress. It ended up being the absolute best thing that could have happened because I had been so stressed out about the weather and getting sea sick on rough waters caused by the storm and we ended up having the most perfect weather in Maui while it rained in every single port we were scheduled to be in. I was also really apprehensive about leaving Hailey for so long for the first time and it made me feel better to be in the states and easily reachable by phone if needed. We enjoyed ourselves so much in fact that while I of course missed Hailey, it wasn't as desperately as I thought it was going to be.

I think it ended up being the perfect relaxing vacation because we did absolutely nothing the whole week since we'd been there several times before. We didn't feel like we needed to kill ourselves doing all kinds of sightseeing so we just went to our favorite beaches, did a little snorkeling, and r-e-l-a-x-e-d! It was heaven! We stayed at the Wailea Marriot because that is our favorite side of the island and we spent most of our days the beaches nearby. We also took a few days to spend over on the Ka'anapali/Lahaina side of the island so we could snorkel and eat at some of our favorite places. The one new thing we did was take a paddleboard lesson. It was so much fun and I felt really proud of myself because I'm not usually one to try new things that are physical because I am not that strong and I'm always afraid of hurting myself. I am so glad I did it and we couldn't have asked for calmer water. It was so clear you could see fish, turtles, and even a sting ray while we were paddling!

Needless to say, I think everything worked out exactly the way it was supposed to. I'm sure we would have had a good time on the cruise but this trip was so perfect and relaxing, it is exactly what we needed at this moment in time.



Infinity pool at our hotel. Soooo gorgeous and relaxing and they bring you umbrella drinks!



The snorkeling was AWESOME!



TURTLES!!





Don't we look relaxed??



Paddleboarding! And I only fell once :)





Hailey's beach! (Makena beach)

Luau at the Wailea Marriot on our last night. Great show and yummy food!