Sigh....

I haven't been myself lately. I don't know what's going on, but I've been in a funk. A big one. I've tried to keep up a good front and not let it interfere with Caroline or my work. My patience has been running low and my temper flares up so quickly sometimes. This isn't a good combo to have with a teething, potty-training 21 month old. I do my very best to stay calm, but I've yelled at Caroline and spanked her leg when I've reached my limits. And I really, really feel bad when I do. I've found there's a fine line between teaching and discipline. I'm trying to work on teaching Caroline not to hit, and then I spank her (don't call the authorities on me--it only happens every now and then). I know I've got a double standard thing going on, and I'm trying my best not to. We also do time outs. She sits/lays on the time out mat and will pretty much stay there for the 1 minute timer, but I know she doesn't really understand it. Especially when she laughs or plays while she's there; I tell myself that I'm laying the foundation for when she's older and does understand.

Another issue I've been dealing with is my relationship with God. I grew up going to church. In high school, I was there just about every time the doors were open--Sunday school, choir/drama practice, youth meetings on Wednesdays, and Centrifuge and mission trips during the summer. Then I went to college...I visited churches a couple of times in Columbus but never really gave them a chance because they weren't "my church". Plus, I still went home frequently on the weekends and went with my mom then. John and I have gone through phases where we go for awhile and then we're out of town or company comes or we're lazy that morning, and the next thing I know, it's been months since we've been. I miss having a core group of Christians around me. I had such a great group while I was in high school and college but not so much anymore. Don't get me wrong, I have friends here in Jacksonville that are very involved in church but we don't live near them or go to church with them. I really want to find a church home; it's really important to me that Caroline grow up going to church and developing her relationship with God. We've gone to a church off and on for the past couple of years, and the sermons have really spoken to me the past couple of weeks (I skipped yesterday--I'm not ready to sit in church all by myself yet when John is out of town). But I feel like I need more than just sitting in a worship service once a week. I need to join a Sunday school class and be around other believers. I think this might be part of what's wrong with me.

Sorry for the heavy post. I hope everyone has enjoyed their Labor Day weekend. Check back tomorrow for new pictures and Caroline's month-day post!

20 Months

We keep creeping closer and closer to the big 2. It's going by so quickly! Sometimes I wish I could freeze her at this age for a little while. She really seems to do new things everyday, and it's hard to keep up with it. I need to start taking notes for my monthly update! Here are some fun facts:

*She loves for me to put make up on her (i.e. tickle her cheeks with my blush and powder brushes). She smiles and says "pretty" when I'm done.

*She likes to have her toenails painted. She noticed that I had gotten a pedicure the other day and wanted her toenails done too. Gave us something to pass the time while she was sitting on the potty!

*She talks all the time!! I love it!! Well, I love it for now...lol! She is using 2 and 3 word phrases a lot of the time.

*She's learned how to climb on the couch. I'm glad it's taken her this long to figure it out and am hoping she doesn't try it when we're not sitting right there.

*She's still a really picky eater. I don't know how this busy-body makes it by eating a few bites of food a day.

*She's making good progress with potty training (see previous post).

*She loves to color, draw, write, and paint. Maybe she got some of her cousin's artistic talent?? Hope so, Erin!

*The other day she sat by Max, gave him a hug, and said "love you". :-) So cute!

*She's always loved playing with her toy (or my real) phone, but now she puts it to her ear and says, "hewwo" and then jabbers on about who knows what.

*When we're rocking at night, she'll stick her foot up and say, "toes" because she wants me to do "this little piggy".

*Before bed, when I say, "I love you", she will say, "love you" back. :-)

That's all I can think of for now. I'll add more if I remember anything else!

Reading with Hatley


Building with Mason and Jace


I love this face!!!


A few of her babies

Potty Training Update

Well, it seems like the bootcamp just may have worked. Caroline is in training pants (not Pull Ups) when we're at home. She still has a few accidents but will tell you when she has to potty...sometimes. She sleeps in a diaper and naps/runs errands with me in a Pull Up. She's still in diapers at daycare because I'm not ready for them to have to follow her around with a rag to clean up her puddles. :-) It's not too bad at home since our downstairs is all tile and hardwood. And she usually stands in her self-made puddle until I can get it cleaned up. One day last week she told me that she had to poop, so we hurried to the potty (grabbing her sippy cup of milk and a couple of stuffed animals along the way--she doesn't like to potty empty handed). I thought it was probably a false alarm (her MO has been to tell me this, sit on the potty for a few minutes, and poop almost as soon as training pants are pulled back up), but I almost fell over when she stood up and there was poop in the potty! I sang, did the "you pooped in the potty dance", and gave her a big hug! She got to put 2 stickers on her chart and got 2 Reeces Pieces! I had promised her earlier that morning that she would get the Mickey Mouse balloon she's been eyeing at Publix for a couple of months now if she pooped in the potty. So, that evening after work, we unloaded in the rain and bought the $7 balloon (which she was scared of as soon as we got it home--this was after hugging it in the car). We're heading to Hernando for a few days, so I'm hoping the success continues there...especially since my mom has a lot of carpet!

Caroline and her new balloon


Yea for a full sticker chart!!

Potty Training Bootcamp

Well, we attempted it. We had a little success with Caroline using the potty earlier in the week (she had some stomach issues for a couple of days so that derailed it a little), so I decided we would go full force with it this weekend. Camp out in the bathroom (we only left the house for a total of 2 1/2 hours ALLLLLLL weekend long), stock it full of fun stuff (movies, books, toys, my iPhone), and see how it goes. Here's the rundown:
Day 1--peed in the potty 3 times, peed on the floor 1 time, and pooped in her pants 2 times. Not too bad. She cried when she peed on herself, but the poopy pants didn't faze her.
Day 2--peed on the floor 2 times and pooped in her pants 1 time....and that was only after being up for 1 1/2 hours! I wanted to quit but didn't want to lose whatever we had gained yesterday, so I pushed through. She went through a grand total of 9 pairs of training pants. She does not like it when she has an accident; she cries and calls out for me. She also slipped after an accident and knocked her forehead pretty good on the floor--ewww! But she did tell me right after she pooped for the 2nd time (the 1st time I discovered it after it fell on the floor while she was dancing....ahhh, the life of a mommy!).
I'm doing the whole positive reinforcement thing--a sticker chart and a piece of candy if she goes potty. She really likes the rewards. Just not quite enough to prevent any accidents yet. I have a feeling it will be awhile before she makes it to daycare in undies. Wish me luck!!

Sitting on the potty chair


Eating her candy


Putting her sticker on her chart


What's cuter than a baby wearing only undies??


My laundry pile tonight

A Day of Firsts

Today was my and John's anniversary. 7 years...doesn't feel like that long! Since he was out of town for work, Caroline and I celebrated with her first trip to the movies. We went to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie. I figured it would be a good one to start with since it's only an hour long. We went to the 10:30 am show, so there was only a handful of people in the theater. She did great all through the previews and short movie after the previews. She started to get a little fidgety when the real movie started. She munched on about half a bag of yogurt melts and sat pretty nicely on her little booster...until about halfway through the movie. She was tired of sitting and wanted down! I let her walk around right in front of our seats, and she ended up making it to the end. It actually went pretty well! But I think it will be awhile before we try it again! Here is a pic from the previews:


After the movie, we headed to Babies R Us to pick up a couple of things. I got Caroline a new booster seat so she can sit with us at the big table instead of her high chair. She seemed to like it and only threw her fork and milk at dinner tonight. Much better than a bowl of spaghetti like last night! Here's the big girl:



We've done lots of talking, watching (Elmo potty video), and reading (Once Upon a Potty) about going potty this weekend. I planned on "officially" starting to train her this weekend, but her training pants didn't make it here on Friday (I had to order size 18 months because you can't find them in any store, and the 2T ones seems gigantic). I kept asking her if she wanted to sit on the potty--sometimes she did and sometimes she almost had a break down telling me "no" (drama queen!). Today, after her nap, she seemed excited to go sit on it so we hurried into the bathroom. She sat for a little while and then she peed in the potty! Woo hoo! I praised her, sang a little song, and gave her a Reeses Pieces. She did it again just before her bath tonight! Very exciting times in the life of a mommy!


PS--Since I wrote this post last night, she has used the potty 2 more times! (And almost 1 more--she peed on the floor as soon as I took her diaper off!!)

19 Months!!!

I guess since Caroline's crossed over the 18 month mark, she's officially a "real" toddler. She's on the downhill slide towards 2, and I really can't believe it. I say this every month, but this is such a fun age! Well, except for the running from me in parking lots, occasional tantrum, major stubborness (don't know where she gets that from!), and throwing her plate on the ground after almost every meal. :-) She is growing by leaps and bounds and looks more a like a little girl everyday. Here are some fun facts about Caroline:

*She is starting to put 2 and occasionally 3 words together.

*She still loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and The Fresh Beat Band (but it bothers me that they replaced one of the characters!). She also loves Toy Story 3! She will point out Mickey, Minnie, Buzz, or Woody when she sees them at a store.

*She labels everything, and if she doesn't know what it is, I hear, "what that?".

*Some of her favorite words: Mouse (for Mickey or Minnie), Eeh Beat (for the Fresh Beat Band), cookie, and nilk (milk).

*She will answer "no" but not "yes". She will repeat part of the question back to you to answer yes though (ex--Do you want cookie? Cookie!)

*She is a little parrot and repeats thing constantly (especially when I say "seriously?"). :-)

*We've been doing time out. She sits and says she's sorry and gives me a hug, but she still doesn't really get it. I know this because she usually does what she was in time out for again (like throwing her plate--grrrr!!!).

*Cute story--when we were at dinner for Father's Day, she threw her cup down. I picked it up, looked her in the eyes, and said, "we don't throw our cups down". She looked at me and signed and said "sorry". So sweet! But she still throws them down...oh well.

*She loved the ocean last time we were at the beach! After a wave came, she would say, "more, more".

*Another cute story--we went swimming at our friend's community pool that has a big twisty water slide. Caroline decided she wanted to go down. When we were almost at the top of the steps, she stopped and said, "no". She wouldn't slide and wouldn't go back down. We stood there for awhile, and she finally decided to try it. She laughed the whole way down and asked for "more" as soon as we were at the bottom. We rode 3 more times, and I think she would have gone down by herself if I would have let her!

*She will try to sing along with some songs we sing together and will do the motions (sometimes) for Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle, If You're Happy and You Know It, and Itsy Bitsy Spider.

*We went back to the ENT today for another check up. We found out that one of her tubes had fallen out last month, so they were going to keep an eye on the hole to see if it started to close up. We found out today that it had started to, so they put another tube in while we were in the office. I was glad that she didn't have to be put to sleep again even though it was really hard to hold her and listen to her cry and call out "Mommy, Mommy". Her tonsils were also a little big, but they said that might be from her strep throat she had last month.

*She is spicy and funny and sweet and a ton of fun!!

Special Visitors

My mom, sister (Rosanne, aka Roro), and niece (Erin) came for a visit last week. They ended up coming a day early and cutting their visit a day shorter than planned because my other niece (Meagan) was being induced on Wednesday (yes, folks, I am a [gulp] great aunt). While they were here we shopped til we dropped, spent the day at the beach, had a cook out, and watched some fireworks. We were really sad to see them go but are really looking forward to a trip to MS in August to see everyone again and to meet baby Thomas!

Enjoying some corn from Grandaddy's garden-- yum!!


Tickle time!


Thanks for my new toys, Andy!


Cute 4th of July outfit


Ready for the fireworks!