The Zoo

Andy and I took Amelia and August to the Dallas Zoo this morning. We had a ton of fun and it was so great to see Amelia get excited about animals she has only seen in cartoons. Now, I haven't been to a zoo in a long, long time BUT I was not that impressed with this zoo.  It had a weird layout and the animals were hard to see.  I am all for great treatment of the animals and giving them a natural habitat, but if you have a zoo you might want to be sure that your guests can see the animals. ha!  I was most disappointed that the elephants had been moved and their new area wasn't open to the public yet.  We heard one - but we couldn't see them.  Sad :(

Here are the only elephants we saw.  

Whoa!  That's a big gorilla!

Gorilla is going to take a nap now :)

Hello Mr. Crocodile. 

There's the REAL crocodile in the background.  She wasn't scared - but I was!  They are creepy!

 August hanging out with the monkeys (and Mommy).  He was a trooper!

Carousel ride before the ride home!  Fun!

The kicker is - with all of the animals and attractions that they had (that we could see) her favorite was a big 'ole tank of FISH!  In the kiddie area they had a tub full of Koi Fish (sp) and she LOVED them.  We literally had to carry her away from them.  Who knew?  We could have just taken her to a pond! HA!

The Saga Continues

I know I said I wouldn't write anymore about potty issues - but I lied.

First of all, she is doing great with #1 :)  So proud of her.

However - #2 is a problem.  She screams, fights, hits, cries, screams, screams and screams.  I know she is afraid to do it, but I don't know why.  It probably doesn't feel so great because she'll wait 3-4 days between each time.  I've tried many different tactics.  I've tried comforting her, talking her through it, giving her time outs for the fits, not acknowledging the behavior, literally putting her on the potty over and over, giving her some "help" in the form of Miralax, etc.  I've tried it all - but every 3 or 4 days we spend a couple of hours "battling" this issue until she just gives in. Trust me, no matter how glad I am that it's over, she does not get praise or rewards for the deed.  That would just affirm that it was OK to continue acting that way.  Then, she's just extra mad because she doesn't get her reward.  That's a lot of fun.  Poor August is just sitting and watching it all happen from his bouncy chair.  Hope he doesn't remember this when it's his turn to train!

The kicker is - one day last week - she did it without any issues whatsoever.  No crying, no screaming, no hitting...just told me she had to go and she went. ----several times. 

So, is she just playing me to get attention?  What do I do now?

A Little Note...

My Mother-in-Law, Bernice, gave me something really special today.  She has had it since January 26th - the day August was born.  After they came to visit us in the hospital, some of Andy's family went out to eat at Pei Wei.  At the end of the meal, she found the following fortune in her fortune cookie...

This was the message...

...and this was on the back!

Crazy coincidence...but I think it was meant to be.

You Know You're a Mother When...

...you spend 3 hours on the bathroom floor comforting your child while they try to go #2 in the potty for the first time.

Yes, yes...this is TMI - but she finally did it!  And the kicker is...after all of that sitting and comforting, she did it on her own!  I had to go get August from the other room, so I walked out, picked him up, walked back in and she had done it!  It was a mess - but she did it!  I was so proud.  She was confused, but proud and SO glad it was over (it had been 4 days - enough said).

It's a good thing August was able to go with the flow this morning.  If he was a little older I think it would have been crazy!  But, luckily, he hung out in his bouncy chair - sometimes in the living room snoozing - sometimes in the bathroom with us - and sometimes just chilling and helping to comfort his sister. 

And that's enough about that!  The End!

TWO Milestones This Week

Milestone #1:  This one was a milestone for me.  I drove to Austin with both kids - by myself!  I knew I could do it, but I was unsure of how it was going to go.  It turns out it wasn't horrible.  It took 4 hours each way with a few stops along the way for diaper changes and to eat.  All in all I was really proud of myself. 

It was fun to be in Austin with "built-in babysitters" so that Kelsey and I could go shopping, to a high school reunion luncheon, and to get some yummy, yummy yogurt!!!!!!  I don't know if I'll be making the trip by myself anytime soon, but it was fun to get out of town!
(I forgot my camera, so I'll have to get some and post them later).

Milestone #2:  We are in the middle of Potty Training!  Woo Hoo!
Day One - This was AWFUL!  I'm not going to lie.  It was hard.  She got right into her big girl underwear (which was surprising).  But, because I am a rookie, I only had 3 pairs.  Well, we went through those in about one hour.  So I packed up the car and we went to pick out some more.  Amelia chose them and she was really excited about it!  I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the messes and carrying Amelia to the potty and enduring the screaming and yelling and fighting of getting her on it.  Well, I know she was just scared - but I was doubting if this was the right time.  She shows all the "readiness" signs, but was this how it was supposed to be?
Day Two - This day started out the same...AWFUL!  So, I consulted some mommy friends.  With their tips and encouragement, I decided to stick it out (remember I am also dealing with the needs of a 3-month-old).  Well, she really turned a corner!  The tips worked and she willingly sat on the potty, and she did it!  She has yet to really tell me when she needs to go.  But every time I ask her to go - she goes!  Woo Hoo!  She did so well that Daddy and I took her out for ice cream last night. 

Yeah Amelia!!!!!

Springtime Fun - Rain or Shine

The weather has been weird lately, so we've been doing a bunch of different things (not including running errands)!  We love having play dates with Amelia's friends John, Brylee, Brianna, and going out to lunch with Marissa and Alanna.  I've taken them to the mall play area (August doesn't love it yet - haha).  We've also enjoyed a lot of visits from Honey, Doc and Aunt Kelsey, and have spent time up at Granner's and Grandpa's house. And when it rains all weekend, Daddy comes to the rescue and we bake cupcakes!  That was a hit!  Now, if it would stop raining and get a little warmer, we could enjoy our backyard and new outside toys!  Also, I am LOVING the new picket fence that Andy built to separate the yard into two areas:  one for the dog and one for playing!  It is awesome.  Once it's painted, I'll post pictures of it:)

I just wanted to share a few cute pictures of our fun (I need to take some pictures of Amelia with her friends - those would be so cute!)

Brother/Sister

Up until now, I really haven't seen a resemblance between Amelia and August.  Well, the other day I took some pictures of the two of them together - and now I see it. 

I love the look she is giving him in this one...haha!