Cabin Fever

I haven't been leaving my house (or at least not for very long) ever since starting to potty train Weston so we've been getting pretty bored around here. Here are some pictures though.

Wes always wants to hold Saydi and he throws a fit when I take her away when she starts to fuss (for obvious reasons). He's not very good about holding her in a good position. =)

He thinks the cans are legos apparently since he is always stacking them. He discovered yesterday that they roll too and that kept him occupied for a good 10 minutes.

Baby Saydi has been spending a little time propped up in the high chair in the hopes of her building up her stomach muscles. She can sit for a split second but always falls forward. This picture makes me kind of sad though because she's getting so big!

I took these videos last night and they were both so cute that I couldn't decide which one to post so I'm adding them both. The first one is of her in the bath. I tried putting her in the big tub a couple times before because she's busting out of the baby tub but she hasn't really liked it, until last night! It was great.

Saydi is VERY smiley and talkative. She giggles way louder then this but it was as good as I could get. I apologize for the terrible camera work. It's hard to make a fool of yourself to get your baby to laugh and tape it at the same time. And yes, that is DROOL on her shirt. I swear she's teething. I can't keep her dry.

Help Wanted

We've been having some conflicts with potty training. The 3daypottytraining.com website has a help desk that I've been using but the suggestions I've been getting are things that I feel are beyond Weston's understanding. Physically he is doing great. He only goes pee a handful of times every day and hasn't wet the bed at all for almost a whole week. But he is seriously lacking with communication. He has yet to tell me before he has to go. He usually just dances around and until I physically show him the potty, he forgets that that is where he needs to go. We've gone entire days without accidents, and we've had days (like yesterday) when he's had three or four. So I'm wondering what all you other moms have done to try to get your child to communicate with you before they need to go to the bathroom. I'm feeling really guilty because I really felt like Weston was ready for the potty but now I'm second guessing myself. I've tried to be really good about not forcing him and we never put him on the potty if he doesn't want to. But I still am worried that I am pushing him. Weston has always been really advanced physically but kind of slow vocally. He understands absolutely everything I say to him. But he can't say very much to me that I understand. Any suggestions on how to get him to tell me he needs to go?

News and Poos

Things have been extremely crazy, and yet extremely boring at the same time around our house lately. We started potty training Weston. I have to give a special thanks to Sandy Pascoe for recommending 3daypottytraining.com to me. Her method makes so much sense and already had a lot of things incorporated that I had wanted to do with Weston when it came time for the potty. However, Sandy warned me that you HAVE to do it exactly how the book says. Which I tried. But with a four month old that you're nursing it is hard to catch EVERY accident which is part of the success of this method. So anyway, instead of it being three days it was more like five until Wes started to get the hang of it. So for a WEEK we have been watching him 24/7 to catch every accident. He still isn't really telling us before he has to go but when we say "tell mommy if you have to go potty" then he will remember and run to the bathroom. We're still struggling with going #2 but he's doing SO much better then he was. He's been waking up dry from naps and night time for three days now even though he NEVER woke up dry before he was out of diapers. I never could have done this without Mark's help. I tried to do it on my own during the beginning of last week and it was just too hard with two kids. Mark had a long weekend and he helped me so much and that's when Weston started making progress. I have cleaned up enough pee and poo to last me a lifetime though! I told Mark I don't want to have a baby next time we get ready to potty train. Pregnant, maybe. But not a baby! It's so hard. I have to say though that I HIGHLY recommend using this method for anybody who is considering potty training. It's all about positive reinforcement, love, patience and consistency. No forcing, no discipline, and absolutely no more diapers or pull-ups. And it works! Anyway, we will continue on our journey but I'm just so glad we're down to one accident a day instead of the 20!! that we had on day one (and I only had ten pairs of underwear!).

In other news - Mark started his new job at the Site today! He finally heard from them a couple weeks ago and he's been finishing up all of his testing. Today was day one and we are hoping he is enjoying it. He's doing security which is what he did in the Marine Corps so he's excited to be

back in his field doing things that are familiar to him. And the pay increase is definitely exciting too! We're so thankful that things came through and it couldn't have been at a better time.

Saydi is as cute as ever and continuing to grow, grow, grow. We can never kiss her cheeks enough. She's starting giggling so loud and she frequently gives squeals of delight. She's also discovered her hands and is constantly chewing on them. She's still kind of wobbly but is getting better every day. We feel so lucky to have such good little kids!

Fort Fun

We had such a fun Saturday. We took Weston to the mall to play in the little play area and ended up spending the best 75 cents of my life. We let him ride on one of those moving car things and he thought that was so great. Then we went to Old Navy. I get Weston a bouncy ball whenever I have to go to the doctors office in their 25 cent machine to keep him quiet and occupied. Well, at Old Navy they have big bouncy balls for 25 cents. His reaction when he saw the big ball come out was so great Mark and I had to get him another one just to see it again. I don't think I've ever seen the kid happier! It was hysterical. Anyway, after we got home Mark decided to break out his fort building skills that have been sequestered for many years and he and Weston had lots of fun. Actually, I think Mark and I had just as much fun playing in it as Weston did. Poor Saydi only got to watch from her bouncer but it won't be long before she joins in the fun!

The fort.

I think this picture speaks for itself!

Weston watching Daddy make a run.

Last but not least, this picture is less then flattering of Saydi but it makes me crack up every time I see it!! She's a little preying mantis! The flash scared her so she made that funny face at the last minute. =) And check out her chubb-age on her thighs. LOVE IT!

I can't end with a silly picture of her so I had to add this adorable one that my niece took of her a while ago when they watched her. So precious.

Sickness and Silliness

Weston has been sick for two weeks and finally I decided something wasn't right so we went to the doctor and sure enough - double ear infections. Wes has only had one or two ear infections his whole life so I was kind of surprised. Anyway, we've been kind of lazy because of sick kids (Saydi has a stuffy/runny nose too) so I have been breaking out the camera more to make Weston happy. He loves it. Beware of lots of pictures to follow:

Saydi with her paci...

Saydi without her paci. =)

Weston loves his baby sister so much and is still a wonderful big brother. He is always so concerned for her and excited to see her in the morning.

Weston's new favorite thing is to play in Saydi's crib. It's pretty cute.

He's obsessed with my slippers. He also found an old pair of sunglasses and was sporting the two together for about a half an hour.

I went to check on Saydi one night and found this.

Then she worked her way out a little more. I just love it. So precious.

So despite leaky toilets, sinks, and mold in the basement life is pretty much becoming normal around here. Mark should be starting at the Site pretty soon and we are anxiously awaiting that change. Other then that just the day to day madness...that we love!

Baby Blues

I've noticed in some of the recent pictures I've taken lately how incredibly blue my kids' eyes are. Brown + green = BLUE apparently. Unfortunately it didn't come through as well on the computer as it is on my camera though.

Conversations With Wes and Saydi

Here are two videos of the typical conversations with my kids every day. Not too interesting for most but I love watching them and seeing how big they are getting! Saydi usually talks back to me a lot more then she did in this video though.

(Don't pay attention to the messy house and half naked kid) =)

Weston is saying at least one new word every day now. His comprehension still amazes me. It's kind of frustrating to know he understands me but I still can't understand most of what he says! Saydi is talking, smiling and now even giggling (she just barely started doing this). It really is going by fast and those sleepless nights are mostly just a memory now. She puts herself to sleep when I put her in her crib drowsy and she sleeps at least 7-8 hours at a time at night which is so nice. Our lives are pretty boring but yet entertaining! I'm really enjoying being a mom to two. At first it was a little crazy but our lives are getting pretty routine now. Thank goodness for that!

I don't usually talk about Mark much in my blogs but I just have to say how grateful I am for him. The other day I was whining about not wanting to clean the house and he took it upon himself to clean the entire house for me before he went to work while I just played the piano. What a nice guy he is! He works so hard for us and I'm so thankful to have such a great husband that does so much to help me on a daily basis. Love you Baby!