Breakthrough!

Potty training. I don't know about you, but that's one word I can't stand! Or, maybe it's not the word I don't care for but the whole process that just wears me out! With Trinity we tried and tried to get her potty trained starting at about 18 months. We were all three stressed, none of us enjoyed it, we ran out of ways to make it fun and exciting, and she is WAY smarter than the two of us combined, so she outsmarted every thing we came up with! We finally just gave up on it all together and decided it could wait and wasn't worth all that stress. Then about a week before school started and she was to be in the big 3's class, I found out she was supposed to be potty trained in order to start...UGH! I shared this frustrating bit of information with her, she wouldn't be able to go back to school and play with her friends or see her favorite teacher unless she was in big girl panties and was going peepee and poopoo in the potty. Well, that's all it took! Ten minutes later she was done with diapers and never looked back! Seriously?...that's all it took?!?!

Then along came Emory's turn. This time I knew it would be different! The girls had such different personalities, this was gonna be a breeze! Well at 18 months we jumped in with both feet and put her in big girl panties for all day. I just knew that after one or two days of this she would be done! Yeah right...that was wishful thinking! We struggled for a few days, then I decided to wait a little while. A few months later we tried again, no further success than the last attempt. UGH! Finally, one day right after she turned three she just decided to do it. She put away her diapers and never looked back!

Now, it's Addison's turn. I have learned my lesson, no stressin about this, they'll do it on their own, when they're ready! After all, they're not going to go to Kindergarten in diapers, are they?!?! She started expressing interest in it a few months ago and would take herself in to sit on the potty multiple times a day, but never ever had any success. We (mostly Addison, but I was a willing and supportive participant) decided we would try a day in big girl panties. Within the first two hours she'd had three accidents and was DONE! And by done I mean she demanded a diaper and wanted nothing to do with all that mess!

Well, today she had stayed dry from about 9:30am till about 5pm (yes, I know that means she hasn't had enough to drink), but I told her if she would sit on the potty and go peepee then she could put on Elmo panties when we got home. Now, keep in mind, she has NEVER, EVER had any success on the potty! Well, the Elmo panties thing was all it took. She took her lollipop in and sat down and within a minute she was going! There was a huge party, we all celebrated, and as soon as we got home she grabbed her panties! Woo hoo!!!! This of course does not mean we are any where near potty independent...but it is a breakthrough of massive proportions and I'LL TAKE IT!

Our first night...

Well, the first night in the new rooms didn't exactly go well. About an hour and a half after I put them to "bed" (which was actually a slumber party in Trinity's room) they were still playing and talking, so I had to go be Mean Mommy and put them all in their own beds. About twenty minutes later I still heard voices coming from Emory and Addison's room. When I went in to shush them I found Addison climbing the slide to climb in Emory's bed. Not good! Until last night she completely fell for the rule of: Once you're in bed and it's lights out, you don't get up till Mommy or Daddy comes to get you. Oh well, so much for that! I fussed at them, read them the riot act and within three minutes they were both completely passed out!

Trinity was a little aprehensive about sleeping in her own room, alone, for the first time in almost three years. She put her night light on the floor next to her and snuggled down tight into her sleeping bag (I haven't bought her a new mattress yet...hopefully we'll get to that today). She finally passed out about the same time the other two did.

With Greg being gone, I don't really sleep well either. I finally drifted off a little before midnight (which is REALLY late for me...10 is late for me!) only to be awakened by Trinity at 12:30 because she couldn't sleep. I walked her back to bed, then tossed and turned to go back to sleep.

Then, about 2:15 Emory climbs in my bed (this happens several nights a week) and instead of carrying her back to her bed I just moved over and let her finish the night with me. She slept sideways the whole time! I finally just got up at 6, only to be followed at 6:30 by Emory and 7 by the other two.

Yeah, it's gonna be a long day with fussy children! Luckily we have a wedding this morning which we are all four attending, Trinity has a birthday party to enjoy this afternoon and we have errands to run after! Oh yeah...this is gonna be FUN!!!! Pray for me!

On to the next chapter

Today was bittersweet for me. I officially closed a chapter of my life, but the next one will be exciting too.

It actually started yesterday about 3pm when I dropped the girls off with my mom. See, Trinity's been asking for her own space for a while now. She's been sharing a room with Emory since Addison was born, and it just really doesn't work well for her. She has been good about it most of the time, but she is the type of person who just needs some alone time regularly. She likes her space. Over the past few weeks we've been talking to the girls about making the change of Trinity moving into Addison's room and moving Addison in with Emory. They've all accepted that and have made suggestions on how they would like things to be. Trinity picked out her paint color and a basic theme, etc.

I've found it is so much easier to tackle projects like this solo. I know it sounds kinda crazy, but then I can work at my own pace, take breaks when I want to, get my quiet time in (wonder where Trinity gets it from), and not worry about anyone else's opinion...I've got the picture in my mind and I'll just work from that. So, with Greg out of town and the girls with my parents, I decided this would be the perfect time!

Yesterday I came home, moved all Addison's furniture to the center of the room and started painting. Now...I can't turn back!

This whole project was a much larger undertaking that I had realized it would be! My girls have a ton of STUFF (and that's putting it nicely)!!!! I stayed up till about 1am, then got up early this morning and was back at it by 7. I got all the furniture moved around, painting done, walls decorated, clothes switched and more organized, Emory's stuff moved to the top bunk, shelves hung, hooks hung, etc, etc, etc, all by 5 this evening! Wow! I got rid of a dumpster full of trash, a box of books and I took out two bags of clothes that don't fit the girls anymore...that's a lot of extra stuff!

I still have several things to do (including buy a mattress for Trinity to sleep on), but all three girls were thrilled with the results when they got home this evening!

Trinity's room:

Emory and Addison's room:

So after I get all this finished and I'm finally sitting down I realize this is the first time in 7 years I haven't had a crib/toddler bed or a changing table in my house. I also realized this means Trinity is growing into a Tweenager. I'm not sure how I feel about any of these changes, but I do know I don't have control over them, so I might as well embrace them, enjoy them and make the best of them! My girls are growing up, that's just the way it works. No more babies, but that also means no more babies! Bittersweet!

It is time to move on and enjoy the adventures of this chapter we have opened today :)

Oh, and just so you know, the girls had NO idea I was working on their rooms while they were gone, it was a total surprise for them when they returned! They LOVED everything! Trinity said, "Oh Mom! It's absolutely gorgeous! Thank you so much! It's just like I wanted it!!!" That's all a Mommy needs to know all the hard work was worth it!

I put them to bed at about 8:30, they finally fell asleep about 10:15...they were excited!

Annual Training

Greg left yesterday for his first Annual Training weekend with the Texas State Guard. He was really excited to really get into deep training. He is gone for four days. Four days of HORRIFIC Texas heat and all kinds of interesting training. When I talked to him yesterday evening they had just ended all their meetings and it was about 10:30. He was put on "Fire Watch" from 2-4am and was to get up at 5:30 for the day.

I'm sure you're curious what "fire watch" is, I know I was! Apparently they don't have smoke detectors in the barracks, so they rotate on two man shifts to watch for fires. If you ask me, I think it's just a way to make them get up in the middle of the night and do something :) But, they only have to do it once all weekend, so he's glad to have it out of the way.

Tomorrow they are being visited by the Officer over all of The TXSG, who report to the Governor, so after their 14 hour day of training (with two very sick from heat exhaustion) they have to prepare their barracks for inspection.

Yeah, he's gonna be exhausted when he gets home on Sunday! But he's really enjoying it, and that's what's important!

He looks good, doesn't he?

Girls...where are you?!?!?!

The other night Greg and I were going about our evening routine...he was watching TV while I was getting things ready for the next day. The girls had been in bed and quiet for about an hour, so they were fast asleep. We heard a door close, not an outside door so we didn't panic, but we were curious. After a few minutes of continuing on with our routine (I guess we weren't all that curious), Greg got up to see what door was closed and how one of our pets managed to do it.

First he stuck his head in Trinity/Emory's room, only to find no one there. We know they had to be asleep, they were too quiet to be playing! So, he started looking around the house for them. They weren't in Addison's room...not in our room...not in our bathroom...not in their bedroom...we knew they hadn't ventured into the common areas, so where could they be?!?!

Okay, a little panic starts to set in about now. Are we sure that was not an outside door we heard? Surely it couldn't have been, we were right there with the doors. But, where are Trinity and Emory?

So we go on the search again, still no sign of them and no noises from them! This is starting to get serious! At what point do you call the police?

...Wait...what was that? Did I hear a whisper? There it is again...

Oh my gosh! We found them...laying on the floor of their closet! Well, not really laying because their closet isn't that big, but they were both in there, along with all their "snugglies"!

Their story was something like this:
Emory couldn't sleep because she didn't like the dark (they keep the closet light on and Emory wants the door open, Trinity wants it closed, so they compromise. Then I go in and push it all the way up when I go to bed...but shhhh, don't tell them that!) so she decided she would just sleep on the floor of the closet. Trinity felt bad, so she decided to climb in there and keep her company and they could have a slumber party in the closet. Lovely!

Once our adrenaline slowed down and we knew all was well, they were tucked back in and fell right to sleep!