Update.....after 1 week

Potty training has been going on for one week now. Here is the results:
Annie wears a diaper every night and is dry every morning. She can hold it for a few hours. After the first couple of days of reminding her, she now tells us when she needs to go--including #2. She has not had any accidents in at least 4 days.

Creed tried underwear at night for three nights and couldn't stay dry through any of them. He is sleeping on a crib mattress on the floor of our room so that when I am awake feeding the baby, I can take him to the bathroom. Even if he is dry during the night, he is wet by morning. Also during the day he uses the bathroom about every 30 minutes. This has been a little bit of a problem during preschool and church, but thank goodness he has really understanding teachers. He has had a few accidents...usually all from not asking for help when he needs it. So we use a pull-up at night and make sure he is getting his "earned" chocolate candy to keep it positive.

We have been out of the house and didn't need any "change of clothes". For me that is the real success. Things are not perfect yet, but definitely better. In fact all three kids pooped today at the same time and I only had to change 2 diapers. (Both Jersey's of course.) They are getting it and I am thrilled!!!

The Before

So it's no secret that Creed has struggled with the potty training. He is now 3 1/2 and "refuses" to use the potty. He won't poop in it at all. In fact Annie poops in it more than him. Now that Annie is two, we thought maybe we would try a long shot and potty train them both. We have tried everything you can find on google for Creed so I wasn't sure what would work so I made it easy and used what we had. Halloween candy bars from the freezer for #2 and Otterpops from last summer for #1. Creed only had one accident all day and it was at 9 o'clock at night. He even stayed dry during a long nap. Annie on the other hand went through 6 pairs of underwear today. The first pair was the best.....Annie ran in to go potty and forgot to pull down her underwear. She started yelling "mommy" because the pee was squirting out all over her legs. Most accidents were on the kitchen or bathroom floor and I only had to clean a spot on the carpet once. Pretty good for the first day and much better than Creed's first try. That was three days of 10-12 pairs a day and a lot of "deep cleaning". Yuck!!! Two weeks and hopefully it will all be over. Then only one more!!!!!

My Crazy Girl

Annie turned two!! We kept it low key by taking the kids to McDonald's for happy meals and to play in the play area. I know...you are thinking "lame", but we never take our kids to McDonald's and it costs us a fortune. The kids loved it, but we learned that even kids like apple dippers better than fries, not all hamburgers are like Wendy's Jr. bacon cheeseburgers, and if you leave chocolate milk on the table unattended...the boy from the other table is going to swipe it. After all that fun we came back home to open presents and eat dessert. Autumn was in charge of the camera because Matt was trying to finish up a work thing and I was feeding a baby.

So during all that, Annie decided that she wasn't waiting any longer and helped herself to a cupcake.

Then we finally got to blow out her candle. She did great!
(And just so you know...her hair was done twice that day. Annie likes the "mess it up right after mom does it" approach.)

The First Two Weeks

My favorite picture of Jersey so far. But each moment of the first two weeks were not this great.

There was a lot of this......from both of us. Just kidding!! The first few nights were a little backwards, Matt got the flu and a cold and slept in a different room for almost a week. He didn't even hold her for two days. That was hard on him. Me and Jersey had lots of time to bond. Maybe a tad too much.

Just to prove that she still needs something in her mouth at all times.

Ahhh, sweat music to my ears. Quiet, quiet, quiet. Oh, I love this girl so much. :)

For the update: Once Jersey figured out days and nights, it was smooth sailing. She will sleep for 4-5 hours at a time most nights. Last night, after crying inconsolably for 2 hours, she slept for 6 hours straight. How can a parent complain really? She has been so fabulous and is growing so fast already. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 9 oz. at her two week appointment, and she has grown 2 inches. That's what I call cream milk. And no problems to report.

And the poop begins

So we got home from the hospital and decided to have a lounge day. It was much needed. I had been awake all day Friday, all night Friday night, all day Saturday, all but two hours Saturday night, all day Sunday, and most of Sunday night. Jersey likes to eat and doesn't seem to be satisfied without my milk in. So we slept and did nothing all day. Jersey finally pooped tonight and it was a doozy. All over the place. Matt got the opportunity to clean up while I laughed and took pictures. The little squirt has dropped from 7 lbs. 5 oz. to 6 lbs. 12 oz. She looks so skinny. We also opened her Christmas presents that she didn't get to enjoy in time. These are her matching jammies. She is so much fun!!!

What goes through a kid's mind

So Jack was upstairs playing in his room today. He came down and wanted to go to a friend's house but was wearing this lovely outfit with a coat. Obviously we said no, but upon investigating more, it turns out that he had a purpose to his extreme choice. He was dressed up as Ammon. Sometimes I am just amazed at what he thinks about. Incredible.

Jersey Mae is Here!!!

Hey everyone!! She finally came! So Friday night, Matt got Texas Roadhouse HOT buffalo wings for me as take out and we went to his parent's house to watch the amazing Utah game. The buffalo wings have a history as they are what put me in labor to have Annie. (Apparently they have to be Texas Roadhouse and not some other kind.) After the game we came home and we were watching a movie on TV when I jumped up suddenly and ran to the bathroom. My water broke. That has never happened before. When I was sure that was what had happened, we took the kids back to Matt's parents house and headed to the hospital.

I would not have rushed off right away, I was waiting for the contractions to start, but Jersey wasn't moving around at all so I was a little concerned. We got to the hospital and got the monitors on and she was having some cord compression. I had to lay on my side and have oxygen on. This didn't last too long because the buffalo wings kicked in and the contractions were coming quick and right on top of each other. It turns out that she was also posterior. Frankly, this is a crappy way to deliver a baby. Instead of a nice 9.5 cm head, it becomes an 11 0r 12 cm head. And there is a lot of back pain with a posterior baby. I was expecting the easy labor I had with Annie and I was not mentally prepared for the work it took to get Jersey out. My midwife was incredible. She knew just what to say to get me to relax and knew all the great pressure points. It was hard work, but I was able to deliver naturally again. Jersey came out sunny side up and with the cord around her neck twice. She was fine and I was so thrilled to be done that I think I will have no problems accepting this as our last kid.

She is a fabulous eater and sucks on everything; thumbs, pacifiers, me...she only cries when something is not in her mouth...and she can cry loud. The kids love her and Annie says, "My baby." We were able to spend a great weekend with family and friends and be home Sunday night in time for the Monday chaos with school, etc.