This week

Elise looking cute as usual...love this outfit!

Connor, Chloe and Daddy paint Mother's Day crafts

The little monkey who likes to climb in her closet and then gets stuck.

"Mommy, I need help (multiple times repeated until I heard her)."
"What do you need help with?"
"Mommy, I stuck."
"You climbed up and now you can't get down?"
"Yes." (big grin on her face)
"Hold on, let me get a camera (I suppose she wasn't going to go anywhere anyway)."

Potty Training

Last Wednesday I started potty training Chloe.  I set the timer for every 10 minutes and when it went off we would sit on the potty.  She got to choose the big potty or the little potty.  Most times she chose the little potty.  I made sure she was well hydrated and would need to go more frequently.

After 4 accidents in her pants, she finally got some pee in the potty.  And thus the successes began!  She was able to go pee a couple more times in the potty and then had one more accident outside while playing with bubbles.  Late in the afternoon she would go to the potty without being told.  I went to check on her and found her asleep on the potty.

 Day 1 ended pretty successfully!

Thursday was even more successful.  Chloe no longer liked or needed the 10 minute reminders.  She took herself to the potty when she felt she needed to go.  Day 2 ended with only one accident.

Day 3 she fell asleep on the potty again.

She also had a great time playing while sitting.  She brought in a planter bucket and a shovel and made an interesting hat.  She also tipped it upside down and banged on it like a drum. 

She enjoyed wearing her helmet because potty training can be dangerous :)

So dangerous, she felt the need to bandage her fingers up.

Days 3-6 she kept her pants dry...Yesterday (day 7) she wet herself 3 times while at my parents' house.  Two times were excusable...she made it to the bathroom, but needed help getting on the potty and couldn't hold it long enough.  So I say she is potty trained for using the little potty.  Now I need to work on the big potty and take a step stool with me wherever I go.

The kiddos this week

Chloe is a problem solver.  Problem: I'm hungry.  Solution: Use chair to reach grapes in refrigerator.  She also pours her own cereal, makes juice and helps herself to whatever she wants.

Connor has been in love with vacuums since he was two.  He always insists on helping me when I have the big vacuum out, which is challenging because he uses the hose and goes the opposite direction that I go.  The big vacuum is also too heavy for him to work on his own.  So when I saw this little lightweight vacuum for $19.99 I snatched it right up.  It arrived Thursday afternoon and Connor has vacuumed all the floors in the house.

He even watches TV with the vacuum.

And shows his love to his sister.

Chloe loves Elise too.

Elise turned two months old yesterday.

Elise's newborn photos

Here are some of Elise's newborn photos.  The first one is my favorite.

Her binky was just plucked out.

Why are you taking all these photos of me?

Nice and comfy

She wouldn't hold the pose on this one

Easter

For Easter I made this fun wreath.

Elise enjoyed a toy the Easter bunny brought her.

We went egg hunting at Chris and Mary's house in Ramona.  They have a lot of land so the kids had a great time finding eggs.

Connor and Claire found several eggs hidden on this dirt hill.

Elise is One Month Old

Elise turned one month old yesterday! So we took some pictures.  She's lots of fun and we are all glad she's part of our family.

We've also been keeping busy visiting some fun places on the weekends.  We went to the Huntington Gardens two weeks ago and then on the way home we stopped by Bass Pro Shops for dinner and to stroll through the store.  Last weekend we went to Sea World and plan on going again this weekend.  And here's one more cute picture of Elise after a bath.  She's not fond of the shower/bath and hates being cold.

Two Weeks Old

Time sure is flying fast.  Our little angel is two weeks old already.  During her first week we quickly realized she was going to be yet another binky baby.  Thank goodness someone finally came up with a way to keep a binky in a baby's mouth...attach cute animal to it and stuff it into the swaddle...tada binky stays close by.

 Chloe loves holding Elise...she also enjoys watching Curious George...perhaps Elise will love Curious George too.

 Her first two weeks looked mostly like this.

 And this...

 Big yawn

 

 While Chloe entertained us with her hats and socks on hands.

 

 Chloe is definitely our more mischievous child.  She takes advantage of the time mommy feeds Elise to help herself to whatever she likes.  One day it was dumping sugar and rice all over the counter and floor.  Another day it was pouring juice...luckily the container was mostly empty.  This time I asked her what she was doing and her reply was, "Nothing."  Which is her standard answer.  She came over to me later with three containers of bubbles she had found in the cabinet.

 The last couple of days Elise has finally been more alert and has been sporting off her eyes.  They're deep blue and my guess is she'll keep them as Connor and Chloe both have blue eyes too.

 Here's a fun picture of our kiddos in their seats...yes three seats in the back of a Camry.  It is a challenge buckling Connor's buckle, but it's still doable.  So I can put off getting a van for a little longer.

Our family of five

Monday morning, February 15, 2016 I was induced.  I was supposed to be at the hospital at 7:30am, however they called and said they didn't have any beds available and I was to call back at 9 to get a new induction time.  I did and they told me to come to the hospital at 10:30, and so I did.  My doctor scheduled the induction that day because she wanted to deliver the baby herself.  She came in at 11:30 and broke my water...I was a whopping 2cm.  She said she was on duty until 6pm so we needed to deliver before then.  My doctor came back to visit and check me at 5pm and said I was close, but only 5-6cm.  At 5:50 my doctor was paged to deliver.  My doctor came in thrilled that I made the 6pm deadline (though she likely would've stayed a little longer for me). 

At 5:56pm, Elise was born.  She weighed 7lbs 12 oz and was 19 inches long.

Connor and Chloe came to the hospital twice to visit their baby sister.  Chloe was fascinated with the trucks outside the window.  Connor enjoyed holding Elise.

We stayed in the hospital one night and then headed home.

Connor and Chloe love holding Elise.  Chloe is fascinated with having a baby.  She giggles with delight every time Elise sneezes or makes any type of sound.

January

For Ellie and Claire's December birthdays, and a Christmas gift to Camille, I took my nieces to Color Me Mine.  Each picked out a figurine and then we spent a couple hours painting the masterpieces.  Ellie made a unicorn, Claire a cat and Camille a horse.  When we were done we ran to Vons and bought a tub of ice cream and some toppings to make sundaes.  I got the award for best aunt.  Since then Camille has requested a couple of times that we do this again for her birthday in May and the other two girls would like to go again for their birthdays in December.  I think it was a real hit!

Last Saturday Connor, Daddy and both grandpas went to Old Town for the annual dutch oven cook off.  Chloe and I stayed home, played, and took a nap.  We even made chocolate chip muffins and while I turned to grab a spoon, Chloe added some goldfish to the mix.  I had to do a little fishing.  The muffins turned out delicious!

Today is picture day at work.  Since I'm usually the one behind the camera and not in front of it, I realized we didn't have any baby bump pictures this time around.  So here you have it, 38 weeks and 1 day.  Our little bundle of joy is ready to be born.  She has dropped into position causing me to walk funny and super slow, not to mention we're at the uncomfortable stage now.  We're excited for her to join our family soon.