Santa came to town

This was one of the best Christmas' I've ever experienced. The kids were so excited about Santa Claus and the whole Christmas theme this year. It first started off with Josh asking why are house wasn't all decorated outside like Cam's, the neighbor, so off we went to buy some outdoor decorations. Our pitiful amount was just great for Josh (I bought more the day after Christmas for next year). Kaitlyn was excited because Brother was excited. She understood some of it and recognized Santa, but I don't really think she understood what was going to happen.

Since Uncle Cary was staying with us and his room is where we were stashing presents until the time came to put them under the tree, we didn't have any presents out for the kids to go crazy over. Well, on Dec. 23rd we needed the space for Cary and his dogs, so it was decided that the presents would go under the tree. BIG MISTAKE! Josh and Kaitlyn woke up the next morning thinking Santa came and they wanted to open presents. It took them 1 hour to finally tear into a present. Thank goodness it was only clothes. I gathered up the remaining presents and threw them into our bedroom and shut the door.

Judy came over a few hours later to help decorate Christmas cookies for Santa. She iced for Kaitlyn and I iced for Josh. They added the sprinkles! I think by the time we were done there were more sprinkles on the floor than on the cookies, but we all had fun and that's what counts.

The next morning Josh woke up at 4am and Jason was still up since he was BBQing for lunch. He asked Josh if he wanted to see what Santa brought him, so of course Josh said YES! Santa doesn't wrap presents, so Josh played with his new Woody and Rex toys while the rest of us slept. Kaitlyn woke up at 630am and Josh went and got her and asked if she wanted to see what Santa brought her and she said YES! She got a tricycle and baby dolls, so she was in heaven. They played with the toys Santa brought and they each opened 1 present and then waited until everyone else got there around 10am. Then it was a toystore gone crazy!!! They both got so many toys they didn't know what to do. I convinced Josh to open more presents and then we'd open the boxes after that. I think his favorite toy was Evil Pork Chop, or the flying pig from Toy Store 3. He will spend an hour at a time playing with that toy!!! We've set Kaitlyn up in the hallway with her baby dolls and she's very happy playing with them.

Since I had yesterday off I decided to take down the Christmas tree so the kids had more room to play, but when Josh found out I took the tree down he was very disappointed. I didn't mean to upset him and didn't realize he would miss the tree that much, but he was very sad that it wasn't up any more. We might have to leave the lights up outside until everyone else in the neighborhood takes theirs down so I don't disappoint him anymore.

All in all, this was a great Christmas and I look forward to many more to come!

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat lasted 3 days at our house. Jason left Thursday to go to Atlantic City to see Phish in concert, so that left me home alone for the 2nd year in a row to Trick or Treat. I figured we'd just do Trunk or Treat like last year, but that wasn't what happened.

Our weekend started by going downtown Pensacola to Trick or Treat at the local businesses. My inlaws met me downtown to help out. This was great. I coached the kids on the way downtown on what to say and when; Trick or Treat to get candy, Thank you after you got it. I told Josh he couldn't be shy or he wouldn't get any candy. They got a good amount and had a great time. Kaitlyn was a cheerleader and Josh was Buzz Lightyear.

Saturday the I took the kids to Barnes and Noble for story time and they dresses up as a patient (Kaitlyn) and Spiderman (Josh). We also stopped at the library before hand and they got a little bag of treats there. Also, we stopped at Target and I picked up a horse costume for Kaitlyn since she won't wear her Minnie Mouse dress she insisted on having. She agreed that she would wear the horse outfit. Saturday night I saw our neighbors outside dressed up and I asked if they were going out and they said yes and wanted to know if we wanted to come along. I said sure and got the kids ready. Josh wanted to be Buzz Lightyear and Kaitlyn was going to be in the horse outfit. They had a great time and got lots of candy.

Sunday rolls around and we decide just to go around the neighborhood. Josh was a Transformer and Kaitlyn wanted to be Minnie Mouse, but she wouldn't put on the dress, so I found some pj's that had Minnie Mouse on them and she wanted to wear them. They got a TON of candy from the neighborhood. We got home and left the light on, but only had a few trick or treaters, so I turned off the light and proceeded to get the kids ready for bed. About 745pm I noticed some cars outside and there were a load of kids running across lawns. I was shocked, but decided that since the kids were playing so well I wouldn't bother turning the lights on so they could hand out candy.

We had a great weekend and the kids learned how to play well together. Josh loves to play Spaceship and will order Kaitlyn around to get things for the space ship. This will continue only until Kaitlyn starts to realize 1) I don't want to play spaceship and 2) she gets more words in her vocab to tell Josh, no, you go get the toys!

Hopefully Daddy will be around next year to enjoy the festivities!

Kaitlyn's pictures

Well Josh and Kaitlyn had their school pictures taken at the beginning of the month and they turned out great! Josh looks so grown up in his picture! Kaitlyn was so adorable with her piggy tails. I can't wait to get the one of them together.

This past weekend Kaitlyn had a photo shoot. My friend Katy came over and us girls went out on the town. We ended up driving around most of the time, so we're going to go out again to get more pictures done. She did get some great shots of Kaitlyn and we're going to meet up again on Thursday to get pictures of the kids together in a patch of pumpkins.

We're still trying to decide what the kids are going to be for Halloween. Josh keeps changing his mind and is either going to be Buzz Lightyear, Spiderman, or Superman. Katilyn wants to be Minnie Mouse (her idol), but she won't put the dress on. We'll see what the day brings us on Trick or Treating night.

No more bottles

Well, I think I can safely say Kaitlyn in broken of her bottle habit. She will still ask for one every couple of days, but then I show her the empty cabinet and she's fine with it, she'll take a sippy cup. She did find one under her bed that had been there for awhile, but I told her to go throw it away and she took it to the kitchen sink. After looking at it, I threw it away!

Now, potty training time! She's been taking her diaper off and going and sitting on the potty. She's gone a few times, but I'm thinking of getting her Pull-Ups. Of course, I just bought a case of 175 diapers. I guess she can still use them at night time.

I'm not sure if it's the full moon or just siblings "loving" each other, but they have been fighting like cats and dogs lately. That mixed with both kids getting up in middle of the night, I've lost most of my patience. I'm trying to get it back, but it's really hard, especially since I'm sick too.

Kaitlyn's party

Kaitlyn had a WONDERFUL birthday party! Josh was so proud of her Minnie Mouse cake that he had to show it off as everyone came in. He wanted to eat the cut outs of Minnie Mouse and didn't want to share.

Kaitlyn got a lot of clothes and shoes!!!! She got an outfit that included a hat, so she had to wear that and then she put on a pair of shoes a size too big, but she HAD to wear them. Then she opened the present from her cousins and saw the Minnie Mouse sippy cup and that was it, the party could have ended. She grabbed that cup and had to have chocolate milk. She got a stuffed Minnie Mouse from her Aunt JenJen and she carried her around too. I would say it was a good birthday for her.

Her and Josh got to stay with Nana this past weekend while daddy and I went to a Sooners game with Justin and Grand dad. We had a great time, but I realize vacations without the kids won't be happening too much any more. I missed them like you wouldn't believe. We got Kaitlyn a cheerleaders dress and Josh a hooded jacket. They both loved their presents. We got Kaitlyn to say OU for the first time! It came out OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU. So sweet!!!!

On a different note, I went and picked the kids up from school yesterday and Miss Amber told me Kaitlyn went pee pee on the potty yesterday!!!!! This was a first for her and I'm so proud of her. We keep working with her at home and I know she'll pick it up quickly.

My little babes are growing up!!!!

Love you both!

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

Yesterday Kaitlyn turned 2! What a day for my little girl. We started off the day by going to Wal-Mart and buying cupcakes to take to school. We got home and she wanted to eat one so bad. I ended up giving her cereal and told her we could have one that night after dinner.

Next she went to the doctor for her check up. She weighs 23 pounds and is 32.5 inches tall. This means she'll be about 5'5" when she becomes an adult. I guess my kids got the short gene. Darn!

The doctor fell in love with her. I had her hair up in piggy tails and her ladybug dress that Nana made for her. She was so adorable!!!

She made it through school and daddy picked her and brother up and came home. Daddy decided we needed to go out to eat to celebrate so we went to Chic-Filet. The kids ate a little and played then it was off for ice cream!

They each got a scoop and ate most of it and then it was off to Target to wear off some energy. We walked around looking at clothes, toys and bedding. Kaitlyn will be moving to the big girl bed next weekend! We're still trying to decide what theme her room should be.

It was a little after 8pm when we got home, but she wasn't ready for bed, so we let them watch the Backyardagins. After that it was bed time!

Josh sang Happy Birthday to his sister and helped open her presents. The cute thing was Kaitlyn was trying to sign along, but just couldn't get the words out. What a sweet heart!

I hope you had a wonderful day!

Mommy, Daddy, and Joshy all love you!

Potty training

It seems as though potty training is going well for Josh. He has been in his BVD's all day at school for a few weeks now. They said there was only 1 day last week where he had an accident at naptime, but he was wearing a pull up, so it wasn't a big deal. He likes to wear his pull up in the car and as soon as we get to school he wants to go to the "big kid" classroom and use the potty there and then put on his BVD's. I'm thinking of telling him that once these pull ups are done that there's no more and he has to wear BVD's all the time at the house. Let's see how that goes.

Kaitlyn is also very interested in potty training. I can hardly keep a diaper on her these days. I'll be walking through the house and see a diaper in the hallway. Then I must go track down a naked baby and try and get her to put it back on. If she's not in the living room I look in the bathroom. She's usually sitting on her little potty trying to be a big girl! She still hasn't gone on the potty, but I'm thinking as soon as she does, she'll be VERY easy to train.

Kaitlyn has totally turned into a mommy's girl. She wants me all the time! This is pretty good since up until now it's always been Daddy!!! But Daddy's starting to feel sad because his little girl doesn't want him all the time. :o(

The cutest thing the kids are doing is Josh is trying to teach Kaitlyn words. His last attempt was this past weekend and he was trying to teach her the colors! She'll call everything Yellow. Well, Josh will say, "That's not yellow, that's (insert color here)." She had a brown marker the other day and was saying "yellow". Josh says "No baby, that's not yellow that's brown. Say brown baby. Brown. Say it, say brown." Then he looks at me and says, "Mommy, baby doesn't say brown". It's very cute!

Last weekend we had "Movie Night" on Friday. We ordered pizza and then got the kids changed into their pj's and got out the blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals and spread it all out in the living room. We watched about 3 movies before Josh finally fell asleep. Kaitlyn stayed up until 830pm. We finally had to take her to bed because she started pushing Josh. He was laughing when she did it, but I didn't want them to get all riled up. Jason took her to her room and he said she passed out in his arms! Josh stayed awake until 10pm and then we let him sleep in the living room. I had wanted to move him, but Jason convinced me to let him stay where he was. This was great until 5am when he woke up and wanted to stay up. All in all, it was a fun night, but not something we're going to do every weekend. Maybe every few months we'll do it.

Kaitlyn's birthday's coming up soon. Her and I went shopping for some party supplies. I'm having second thoughts on the cake, only because the picture I have is made with fondant. I'm thinking of just using icing. I probably won't decide until the last minute what I'll do. I love the picture of the cake and hope it turns out all great. I'll post pictures when it's all done.