Reagan Had a Little Lamb

...and so did Jonathan...

...and Zachary...

Okay, it's all the same lamb, and we just played with it at Carter's house. The lamb actually belongs to a friend of Carter's grandma who was nice enough to bring it over to Carter's for a pre-Easter petting bash, and Carter was nice enough to invite us over to join in the fun!

There was also a couple of chicks (Carter's favorite!)...

Thomas pets the chicks while mom protects them

...and a duckling that all of my kids referred to as "Ming-Ming" (that's the name of the duckling on The Wonder Pets, in case you didn't know)

There was also a baby goat, but we didn't get any good pictures of it. So there was quite a little zoo for the children to explore, and many baby animals for Momma to rescue from the overly enthusiastic love of several toddlers! It was fun, but I'll bet my kiddos spent more time playing on Carter's swingset than they did with the animals!

Ahoy, matey!

Future Olympic star!

Future mountain climbers!

It was great fun and got us all in the mood for Easter! We had quite a jam-packed, fun-filled Easter weekend too, so stay tuned for all the festivities! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Happy Belated Easter!

Have a great week!

Talking with Toddlers

Just a few more cute things the kids are saying these days...

"That scared my ears" which means that noise was very loud (Thomas and Jonathan)

"a dozerbull" Jonathan for bulldozer

"That's the sound that comes out of my mouth!" This is what Jonathan likes to say after making his new strange air blowing through teeth sound. I don't really know how to describe it. Maybe I can get it on tape. This comment is also sometimes accompanied by this one: "That's the sound that comes out of my bottom!" I let you figure that one out for yourself!

There's another one I wanted to share, but I can't think of it right now. Sorry! I wish I had gotten on tape the kids telling Jim happy birthday today and showing off the painting masterpiece they did for him with my wonderful, ambitious helpers while I was out. Pics soon!

Have a great week everyone!

Potty Pain, Potty Pride

November 2008: Potty Plans A (Ambitious)and B (Back Off) are failures (See Potty Time Pain)

January 2009: Potty Plan C (Cautious) is a failure.

I never even told you about this one. It involved just Jonathan (because he truly is ready to use the potty, the stubborn little monkey!) and a bunch of Easy-ups. Three days of Easy-ups, LOTS of trips to the potty with an increasingly defiant child who could care less about any incentive I threw his way, and not one single successful potty usage. Conclusion: Jonathan will never do anything one moment before he is ready. One of these days, he will simply decide to use the potty and just will and never look back, but it will HAVE to be HIS decision!

March 2009: Potty Plan D (Determined, Dadgumit!) is a SUCCESS!!!!!

Here's what I did: I focused just on Reagan because she's a girl (doesn't EVERYONE say they're easier?) and she responds well to incentives! When she got up in the morning, she went into real underwear, and she stayed in real underwear all day, naptime included. No diapers until bedtime. I made her a Potty Page to hang on the wall in the bathroom. Every time she sat on the potty, regardless of actual pottying, she got 2 little stickers, one for her Potty Page and one for her shirt. If she actually DID something in the potty, she got 2 BIG stickers and two pieces of candy (M&Ms or Skittles). When she had an accident, we cleaned up, got dry clothes, and I told her it was okay and she'd remember next time. (Thanks, Gwen, for that last part!) I never MADE her sit on the potty, but I did ask her often if she wanted to, and she always did. She loved getting the stickers!

I based this plan on what I had read about the 3-day Potty Training Method. I don't have all the details about this method because I'm too cheap to pay for them, but I had a basic idea and was hoping for a breakthrough by the end of the third day.

The first day, we sat on the potty 18 times, had 5 accidents, and no success. The next day we sat on the potty 15 times, had 8 accidents, and 1 SUCCESS!!!! On day three, we sat on the potty 11 times, had only 2 accidents, but no success. It wasn't exactly the breakthrough I was anticipating. Nevertheless, I pressed on and continued with the plan since Reagan was still very excited about being "big" and wearing her underwear. She loves the underwear! All those pink and purple hearts and flowers! She has been in underwear all day ever since, with the exception of when we leave the house. I'm not ready to deal with accidents in public, so she has princess Pull-ups for outings, but honestly she doesn't like wearing them!

Obviously I expected to need lots of room for all the big stickers on Day 3. Alas.

She had her second success on day 4, and another on day 6, and THEN CAME THE BIG DAY!


On day 8, she successfully used the potty SIX TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! Six! Since that breakthrough day she has never had more than 2 accidents in a day, she has quit wetting the bed at naptime, she is successful almost every time she sits on the potty, and we've even had 2 days with no accidents at all! I'm so proud of her!



Today is day 17. On Monday I changed the reward system to reflect her growing abilities. She has a new Potty Page. Every time she does #1 in the potty she gets 2 little stickers. If she does #2, she gets 2 big stickers. She gets candy before naptime and before bedtime only if she has completed that half of the day accident-free.



These potty days have gone by really fast! Actually I was surprised when I counted this week and realized we were on day 17! But I'll tell you I had no idea it would be so EXHAUSTING!!! Running to the potty every 2 seconds and cleaning up accidents and keeping up with stickers and potty pages and candy and being supportive in the bathroom while still trying to monitor the other three children running amuck and unattended, not to mention the additional laundry and the loss of some of my naptime because I need to rush in there as soon as the kids wake up to get Reagan to the potty before she has an accident and still trying to get done all the things I need to get done...it's exhausting to type it, imagine living it! I can't imagine trying to do this with more than one child at a time! What was I thinking in Plan A? I was crazy! One potty trainer at a time is PLENTY!


So that is where we are right now. I'll keep you posted on future developments! And good luck to all of you other potty trainers out there!

Memphis Drama

I got so caught up in getting pics of the Memphis trip onto the blog, that I forgot to mention the dramatic moments of the first couple of days!

We arrived in Memphis on Friday. On Saturday, Jonathan started wheezing. He had a slight runny nose, but nothing impressive, certainly not as bad as other runny noses he has had. No fever, acted normal. He has never wheezed before that I can remember, so it was very strange for him to be wheezing! As the day wore on, his wheezing got worse. Late afternoon, my sister, a pediatric nurse, came over and listened to him breath and wheeze. She suggested breathing treatments to see if that helped. It made sense to me. I knew that if we had been at home, we would have done that already, since that has always been prescribed for breathing issues on the kids.

PROBLEM: I didn't bring the nebulizer or medicine with me! (A nebulizer is a machine that turns liquid medicine into a breathable mist) It never occurred to me that I might need them! So Jodie got us a spacer (which we also had at home and used on Thomas when he was little. It's a plastic tube with a little mask on one end. Medicine comes in an inhaler, like for asthma, and attaches to the other end. Puffs go into the tube to be breathed through the mask.) and the inhaler version of basically the same medicine that we use in the nebulizer.

We gave him a treatment and he did sound better afterwards, but he HATED the treatment! We gave him one more before he went to bed. He slept very poorly, constantly waking up and crying and still wheezing. I brought him in bed with me after awhile and listened to him breath. I tried to give him another treatment in the night, but he just screamed, so I quit. I laid in bed for hours listening to his breathing get worse, and debating whether I needed to get up and take him to the ER because his breathing sounded so awful he couldn't possibly be getting enough oxygen in his body and if I kept waiting he would surely suffocate RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!!!. I had just decided to get up when he suddenly sounded better. He fell asleep and his wheezing got better and better. He slept soundly, and then I fell asleep too. In the morning, he wasn't wheezing at all!

But it started up again after he had been awake a couple hours. Fearing a repeat of yesterday, I decided to take him to a LeBonheur urgent care office. Bud went with me (Thank you again!) and we saw a dr. Jonathan certainly did not ACT sick! His O2 was normal and the dr said the wheezing didn't seem to be in his lungs, although I feel certain it was the night before! He prescribed Orapred and breathing treatments with the spacer just like we had been doing. I was glad of that since I had felt some guilt about giving him medicine that hadn't technically been prescribed for him. (Feel free to chastise me next time we're at the office, Molly!)

He got a breathing treatment at the office and two more later in the day and never wheezed again! Thank goodness! I can guarantee you we will never go on another trip without the breathing medicine!

Memphis Trip!

WARNING: Lengthy post with LOTS and LOTS of pictures!

To begin, I want to give a great big thank you to my dad who bravely drove to Knoxville, left his car behind, and drove my van-full of children (and me) to Memphis! Thank you! Thank you!

We arrived in Memphis on Friday afternoon, and although our descent upon the cousins' "territory" was a little overwhelming at first, all the kids quickly adapted to the new arrangements, and they really had a blast together the whole time we were there!

Playing Ring-Around-the-Rosie

THE highlight of the visit--climbing up and mostly sliding back down the stairs in a massive group of screaming, laughing children

The kids' table

A couple of days we went to Jojo and Jeff's house to play. Happily no one threw up there like they did on our last visit back in the fall. Yuck! This time there was nothing but good times for everyone!

Daddy Bud pulling Thomas and Kallen (Thomas insisted on wearing Kinley's helmet!)




The kids, especially Zachary, LOVED riding around with Kinley in her jeep

They also desperately wanted to drive themselves. Unfortunately the only driving skill they have is mashing on the gas pedal--no braking and no steering! So if Kinley wasn't driving, we disconnected the battery and ruined ALL the fun!

And of course, we did a WHOLE LOT of playing at Bud and KayKay house! There were lots of toys and balloons to play with and a cat to terrorize inside (Poor Puddin) and bubbles and balls and hills to climb outside!

Bud helping Zachary slide down the hill

Thomas gets a turn

Jonathan's turn!

Kinley's turn

Our sweet cousins, Kinley and Kallen

Reagan having a blast

My very photogenic Jonathan

Hard to believe that a little over a year ago, Kallen was in a half-body cast that immobilized her legs! You can't tell it now!

Super bubble fun!

A game they could all play together

One day we even all descended upon George and Nancy at Kirby Pines, and they bravely allowed us to all eat in their dining hall. The wait staff was incredibly patient and attentive! The kids' favorite part was the big staircase where they posed for this picture.





(back row) Kallen, Zachary, Kinley

(front row) Thomas, Jonathan, Reagan

This is only a sampling of all the pictures I took while we were in Memphis. My sister also got some really great ones, which I will post as soon as I get them. If you can't wait, you can go read her blog: The Perkins Girls!

We had such a great time visiting all our family in Memphis. The kids did really well adjusting to a new place and new routines. They even adjusted decently well to sleeping in the big twin beds. It was certainly a better experience than last time!

We also enjoyed getting to see some friends and making a couple new ones! Thank you Mom and Dad for all the work you did to make our stay a good one! We love you!

It was a really great visit, but a long time to be away from home, so the kids and I were very happy when Jim showed up in Memphis after his long week of house renovating! We missed him so much while we were gone! And what a treat to come home to a beautiful "new" house!

Coming soon...another house project and...

POTTY TRAINING!!!!!

Our New Home

No, we haven't moved. It just feels like a new house with all the work Jim (and Rusty! Thank you Rusty for all your help!) put into it while the kids and I were in Memphis. A BEAUTIFUL new house! Take a look!

BEFORE

AFTER!!!

This is our living room, and i LOVE it! The blue is so perfect, and it looks great with our furniture. I can't wait to pick up some new decorative items to go with this new color! And also notice the baseboards. Jim replaced the old ones with new taller ones, and they look SO GOOD!

BEFORE

AFTER!!!

Notice the gorgeous trim Jim put in across the top of the cutout area of the wall that goes from the living room to the kitchen. What a difference it makes!

BEFORE

This isn't the greatest before picture of the eating area of our kitchen, but it's the best I could do. I wanted one with the furniture still in the room, and Jim only took pictures after removing the furniture.

AFTER!!!

Isn't this gorgeous! Look at that chair rail Jim put in! It looks so pretty I'm going to have to find another home for my china cabinet because I don't want to cover up the walls or the window!

Here's a shot of a project Jim ran out of time to finish. He intends to make a bunch of frames like the one here to go on the wall below the chair rail. It's going to look great!

I just can't put into words how much I love what Jim has done! And the pictures don't do justice to how beautiful it is! I am so proud of the job Jim did and so blessed to have such a talented hubby! And his talented friend!

Haircuts!

Right before we headed across the state, the kids got new haircuts IN AN ACTUAL SALON!!!! It was the first time for a salon haircut for everyone except Thomas whose uncooperative hair has necessitated prior trips. THANK YOU SO MUCH KIM FOR GOING WITH US! And bringing a camera! Your help was invaluable!

All in all, the kids did incredibly well! Much better than I expected! They were so good to sit in the chairs and wait their turn, and even when they got excited and wanted to see what was happening to their siblings, they were good to stay in the waiting area and not run all over the place. We only had one meltdown during a cut (Zachary), but that was mostly solved when I pulled out a sucker and handed it over. He was much more compliant after that!

Despite the look on Reagan's face, she never cried during her haircut. She cried AFTER it! I'm not really sure why, but when she was done and I got her down from the chair, she started crying and kept saying, "No! Haircut! I want a haircut!" Very strange!

Jonathan sporting his new 'do

Zachary, before the meltdown

This picture cracks me up because the man in the poster on the wall looks like a real person looking over the hairdresser's shoulder. He's having such a good time!

Yes, the kids were great, and afterwards Kim and I took them to the food court at the mall for lunch, and they were great then too! They are getting so big! I'm so proud of them!

A New Friend for Reagan

Well, this is a belated announcement, but we would like to welcome into the world this beautiful little bundle of joy...

Kennedy Elizabeth

Isn't she so pretty? And look at all that hair! We are so happy for our good friends Josh and Cris on the birth of their daughter and know that Carter will be a great big brother to her! We're also glad that when we go over to play with Carter there will be a girl for Reagan to play with too!

And we would also like to thank Melissa and Charlotte for watching the kids one night so we could go to the hospital and meet the little princess in person!

We Love to Read

Well, the kids and I have just returned from a somewhat last-minute, but lengthy and busy trip to Memphis. My apologies to anyone who would have liked to have seen us and didn't get to. But more about that later! While I sort through all the pictures we took while we were gone, and all the pics Jim took of his home improvement projects in our absence, I will try to entertain you with some catchup pics and stories.

First, a note on nakedness: To clarify, when my kids say they are naked, they aren't TOTALLY naked. They still have their diapers on. That is naked enough!

Now, here are a few shots of my budding "reader" Zachary. Recently, he has started "reading" books by himself or to his siblings. I haven't been able to actually hear what he's saying when he does this. I think mostly he just turns the pages and points to pictures.

Zachary

"Reading" to a bespectacled Jonathan

"Reading" to Reagan

Jonathan has done this too, but I don't have any pictures of him in the act! However, I HAVE overheard him "reading" to himself. His story went something like this:

Once upon a time there was a bunch of stuff...

Thrilling, I know. We'll have book deals in no time! Happy Monday everyone!

Talking with Toddlers

Like most toddlers, my kids love to be naked. Fortunately for me, they are not the stripping sort of children who take their clothes off whenever the mood strikes them throughout the day, but there are definite times of day when they deem it okay to take off their clothes. When they wake up in the morning and when they wake up after a nap, they often feel that clothes should be removed. I'm not sure why, but they do. And anytime clothes need to be changed, like time to get dressed in the morning, they are much more eager to remove the old clothes than they are to put on the new ones. But I have to say that by far their favorite naked time is nighttime when we're getting ready for bed. Almost the second their feet hit the floor after dinner each night, they begin declaring that they want to be naked. Once they have removed their clothes, they love to run about the house joyfully declaring their nakedness to all who might not have noticed.

"I'm naked!"

Well, it was during that portion of the evening yesterday when Zachary chose to amuse us with the following conversation:

He picked up Reagan's toy phone and, speaking into it, said:

Hello?

Oh, yes, you can be naked.

Yes, I am.

Okay, bye!

Yes, they love to be naked, and apparently they think everyone else should too!