Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. It's been way too long since my last confession, so let's get started.

I did not return Saturday from a wonderful, warm vacation to Florida. It was not in the low 80's the entire time we were there and we most certainly did not have a fabulous time enjoying being outside.

I did not let Alaina crawl out of my bedroom and over to the stairs without thinking twice about it. She did not fall down said stairs and I did not feel soooooo bad about it. I did not just about have a heart attack and she did not turn out to be completely ok!

We did not pack for a 10 day trip to Florida in carry-ons because I am not too cheap to pay extra to check luggage. We did not have to bring a 2 year old, 11 month old, 3 carry on suitcases, 3 personal bags, 2 carseats, and a double stroller through security. I would not be that crazy!

I am not in the middle of potty training, and do not keep putting Pull-ups on my daughter because it is not just too much work to keep reminding her to the bathroom, and she does not just pee in them anyway. I am not a selfish mom, and always have the best interest of my children in mind.

I am not totally excited for March Madness to start. I do not have the games on every television in the house, so I don't miss anything. I have not won my family's pool the last two years, and am not expecting to win again!

I did not put Paige's supper in the fridge last night after she refused to eat any chicken or vegetables. I did not make brownies just so she would know what she was missing. I did not tell her that she wouldn't get a brownie until she ate her supper and I am not planning on warming it back up for her to eat when she decides she wants a brownie. That would be mean!

Well, that's all I've got. Let's hear what you have not done this week!

Ready or Not Potty Training Here We Come!

Call it selfish or call it smart, either way you look at it I was NOT going to potty train Paige until she was ready. I did not want to have to be running to the bathroom every 20 minutes and basically train myself to take my child to the bathroom. I was going to wait until Paige could tell me when she needed to go and basically take herself.

Well, that time came. Wednesday morning I was getting ready to give the girls a bath and before Paige got in she told me she needed to go potty. Now, this isn't a new thing. She has said this before and she has sat on the toilet, but had never actually gone. Until this day. I thought, well, she already has all her clothes off, the toilet is right here, I'll go ahead and let her sit on it. . . And she actually tinkled. I was so proud. We did the potty dance and made a huge deal of it. In my mind I'm thinking it's a fluke, but I'll go with it. After her bath before I put her daiper on she tells me again that she has to go potty. So I put her on the toilet. . .And she tinkled. I have to admit, I thought, "Are you serious? I was not going to even think about it until we got back from Florida." (which was a week away) That day she kept her daiper dry all morning and most of the evening. She even went #2.

So here we are, 5 days out, still doing great. She does have a few accidents and we are still doing pull-ups, but we are well on our way to having child #1 out of daipers. Way to go Paige, I'm so proud of you.

Wordless Wednesday

Valentine's Day

We had a fun Valentine's Day this year. We started out the day by going to a birthday party for Paige's friend Lindsay. It was a fun party and Paige truly enjoyed it. When we got home, Alaina went down for a nap and Paige wanted to take a bath, so we gave Aunt Amber instructions and turned the girls over to her for the rest of the day.

It was so nice to be able to spend time alone with Mark. We went to mall to take back a few things, then went miniature golfing at Planet X. We are pretty competitive and were tied going into the 18th hole. I was up and under shot it, Mark won by a stroke. Good job honey! After that we went to Home Depot and bought a new Plunger. Yep, we bought a plunger! We needed one, and we had a gift card. 'Nuf said.

I had made reservations for us at Vino's. We had never been there before, but I had read good reviews on it. It was very romantic and delicious. I really wanted some dessert, so we stopped at McDonald's for sundaes. What can I say, I'm cheap. We bought a plunger and went to McDonald's on Valentine's Day.

After supper we went to the US Cellular Center to the Bulls and Broncs Rodeo. It was AWESOME. I love bull riding and have been known to stop on it when I'm flipping channels. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I accidently figured it out playing 20 questions a few nights before. I loved every minute of it and even wore my cowboy hat. Bringing the camera was an afterthought, so no pics. Thanks Honey, for a great day!

Mark,

Thankyou for being an amazing husband and father. You are my best friend and the love of my life. I look forward to many more Valentine's Day dates with you. I love you!

Fun with Aunt Amber

Aunt Amber came to visit for the weekend. Paige just loves her Aunt Amber and her dog, Lucky. Here they are looking at the pictures that Paige took.

Amber giving Paige a "Bonk".

Daddy taught Paige how to get a cup stuck on your chin by sucking all the air out. Paige thought it was pretty fun and really liked the suction sound.

Mommy and Paige

Aunt Amber is trying to eat Paigey.

Alaina "flying".

Alaina getting a "Slurbert" from Aunt Amber.

Monkey pile on Mommy.

Lucky wanted to go outside with Casey, so I thought it would be hysterical to clip them together on the same cable. It was pretty funny. Casey hated it and Lucky just pulled her along.

Swap and Valentines Party

Clockwise from top left: Austin, Paige, Cameron, Ellie, Hannah holding Zachary, Abby holding Alaina, Jaclyn holding Ashlyn, and Aubrey holding Lauren

Today we had our babysitting swap and Valentine's Day party for the kids. I have been participating in the babysitting swap since Paige was around 5 months old. This is the original bunch of kids. We originally started with 5 moms, and now there are just four of us. Every other week two moms stay at one of their homes and watch all four people's kids. The other two moms get from 9am to noon, to do whatever they want to do without kids. Sometimes I clean, sometimes I run errands, and sometimes I really do nothing at all except take a nice long shower. It works out great and the kids love it.
The hardest part of the day is lunch.

Alaina had her first pizza today. She did a good job eating it and I think she liked it. It's so cute to see her and Zach sitting there together.

Alaina was all smiles today!

Paige loves playing with Hannah. She is definitely her best friend.

The kids all decorated their Valentine's bag and passed out Valentine's to each other. Paige really liked her candy necklace.

I don't think she quite gets it yet, but she liked the idea of all the cards and candy.

My baby is getting so big. She stood in the middle of the room for about 30 seconds today all by herself.

We ended the day with special heart rice krispie treats.

Another Beautiful Day Part 2

I'm glad that I wore Paige's rainboots under her jeans. She walked straight through the large puddle of water at the park. I just told her she had to make big splashes.
It was really deep, but her socks were still dry when we got home.