Friday, April 17th
Kids are informed that as of tomorrow, they will NO longer be wearing diapers during the day. They seem OK with what I am telling them. However, I am guessing they had NO clue as to what I was telling them.
Saturday, April 18th
The kids get up around 7am and I again tell them that they are NO longer wearing diapers during the day. Brooke tells me that she doesn't want to wear underwear. TOO BAD! Potty Training Boot Camp has officially started!
I did some research a bit earlier in the week and found a wonderful little ebook online. It's from the potty training expert. It basically prepares the parent/adult who is going to do the potty training and it has the child going to the bathroom every 20 minutes. You set a timer and when it goes off, the child knows. I am here to tell you, this method TOTALLY worked for us. I came down and set the timer and every 20 minutes, the kids were on the potty. At first I gave them a teddy graham if they sat on the potty and a fruit chew if they actually went pee in the potty in addition to a sticker on their chart. At one point, I gave them a small container of cranraspberry juice. BAD IDEA! From about 10am - 11am, I was chasing pee pee EVERYWHERE! It was nightmare. Once we got rid of that, we had lunch and I put both of them down for a nap. At this point, Brooke was telling me that she had to go to the bathroom. Low and behold, they both made it through naptime without peeing in their underwear. Things definitely were awesome after naptime. I actually even took them to Target to get another toilet seat adapter for Kyle for upstairs. I set my phone for 20 minutes and by this point, they totally know when the timer goes off that it's potty time and they even yell it.
I am so surprised that the kids are so good at this and that it is so much easier than I had anticipated. I think I made this potty training thing out to be a monsterous task and was just not quite up for it until now. My main motivator was the kids going to school this next fall. In order for the kids to go to pre-school, they have to be potty trained.
Sunday, April 19th
Steve comes home from work and is amazed that the kids are doing so well with using the potty. We go the ENTIRE day without an accident and Brooke is telling us quite frequently that she has to go potty. Again, we venture out to Costco with the entire family and again we set the cellphone. We do our major shopping trip and don't have any accidents. We are religious with the 20 minute deal and the kids are doing really well. What a breeze!
We are now on day 7 of potty training and it is still going really well. I still put a diaper on the kids during the nighttime but they are already to the point that they want NOTHING to do with a diaper. They actually cried the other night because we put diapers on them. I am so glad this was not the monsterous task I was making it out to be. Brooke is actually doing so well that the other night I was on the phone with my girlfriend getting a salad recipe when I heard her come back up the stairs telling me that she went pee pee. Here she is in her Thomas shirt with nothing else on coming up the stairs. She knew she had to go so she went downstairs, took off her pants and undies and sat up on the toilet all by herself. These 2 never cease to amaze me. We couldn't be more proud of them. They are growing up so fast right before our eyes!
Happy Easter
A few days before Easter, Brookie got sick from God only knows what. I came home from the cruise on Thursday afternoon and that night I actually had a mommy 1st, my daughter threw up on me....2 times! Oh the smell! Good times! She made it threw the next day OK but had some MAJOR runny diapers. On Saturday morning while she was sitting at the breakfast table, WHAMO! Projectile. Nice breakfast for the in laws to see. That afternoon, after calling the nurse line, I took her to urgent care on their recommendation. She had been acting a bit better so on a whim, I decided to swing by the mall on the way home and have them both sit on the Easter Bunny's lap. From last year to this year, what a difference. They look so big with the Easter bunny. Of course Kyle is smiling and Brooke sort of has this half smile. I'll give it to her that she was not feeling 100%. It's still a cute picture though.
Easter was Sunday and the kids had a blast and I had a blast watching them. When they woke up, they had Easter baskets from Grammy waiting from them. I told them the Easter bunny had delivered them from Grammy and Pop Pop. After they opened those up, Steve had come home by then and we let them come downstairs and find their baskets from us in addition to finding the real eggs. We had decorated them on Friday and told them that we were going to leave them out so the Easter bunny could hide them in the house. We had a ton of eggs. We decorated 16 of them and then I stuffed 30-40 plastic eggs for them to have an Easter egg hunt outside with. Steve gave them their buckets and told them to run around and pick them all up. Kyle had been a champ that morning finding all of the real eggs. This time it was Brooke to take the lead and she won by collecting a lot. Uncle Dave made the most appropriate comment stating she was preparing herself for shopping since she found all of the ones with money in them. I had stuffed a lot of them with candy so we let them have a few pieces but mean mommy took the rest to work. Watching the kids on sugar is funny. Talk about hyper.
Steve's parents were in town so everyone came over and we had a BBQ. It was a fun day topped off with a little Wii at the end. The day flew by and it was a nice ending to my spring break. I will have to post more pictures of Easter and the Easter egg hunt.
Spring Break
Whoo Hoo! Spring Break is finally here and I am outta here. No more teachers, no more books, no more.....ANYTHING!!! Steve got my girlfriend and I a carnival cruise for Christmas and it's finally time to go! It's a four night trip down to Ensenada Mexico and back. Let's hope the banditos will leave us along long enough to let us get off the boat and get our drunk on at Whosongs and Papas and Beer. If not, we are bringing plenty of stashed liquor in a luggage and I'm sure we can find a way to terrorize the discotec!
Steve's parents are also coming in tomorrow for a visit. We will celebrate Easter when I get back. I of course was running around like a chicken yesterday getting all the easter basket stuff together so when I get back and am going through withdrawl, I will have everything here. We are going to decorate Easter eggs and stuff the plastic ones with tons of goodies. They are going to love the ones with pennies in them. They just love money!!
Also in the works is to visit a pre-school. I am ready for the kids to move on from a nanny. It's a huge long story but I just LOVE my iPhone. There is a program that allows me to monitor the house and I have 3 cameras set up and I can check in whenever I want to from my phone. I love it and it's been a huge eye opener. Funny! Steve turns them off when he is home!
The kids are coming along so wonderful. Kyle already knows his entire alphabet in the uppercase. I made a poster board that hangs on the pantry door which states the letter of the week, number of the week, shape of the week and color of the week. Both kids already know all of their shapes, even a pentagon. They also already know all of their colors. I went to this teacher store and got them all these cool learning games and flash cards and have even made quite a few games myself for them. They are eating it up and want to play "games" all the time. I made
the alphabet on clothespins. I took my hot glue gun to Parent Teacher Conference night at work and I sat there and hot glued. Let me tell you what a kid magnet I was with the little ones. I work at a high school so the big kids could've cared less what I was doing. Anyhow, the kids take the clothespin alphabet letter and pin it to the correct lamenated card. They love it and I am excited that they are so excited to learn.
Well, I am going to put the finished touches on my packing and CRANK the tunes cuz I am OUTTA HERE! VIVA MEXICO!
Steve's parents are also coming in tomorrow for a visit. We will celebrate Easter when I get back. I of course was running around like a chicken yesterday getting all the easter basket stuff together so when I get back and am going through withdrawl, I will have everything here. We are going to decorate Easter eggs and stuff the plastic ones with tons of goodies. They are going to love the ones with pennies in them. They just love money!!
Also in the works is to visit a pre-school. I am ready for the kids to move on from a nanny. It's a huge long story but I just LOVE my iPhone. There is a program that allows me to monitor the house and I have 3 cameras set up and I can check in whenever I want to from my phone. I love it and it's been a huge eye opener. Funny! Steve turns them off when he is home!
The kids are coming along so wonderful. Kyle already knows his entire alphabet in the uppercase. I made a poster board that hangs on the pantry door which states the letter of the week, number of the week, shape of the week and color of the week. Both kids already know all of their shapes, even a pentagon. They also already know all of their colors. I went to this teacher store and got them all these cool learning games and flash cards and have even made quite a few games myself for them. They are eating it up and want to play "games" all the time. I made
the alphabet on clothespins. I took my hot glue gun to Parent Teacher Conference night at work and I sat there and hot glued. Let me tell you what a kid magnet I was with the little ones. I work at a high school so the big kids could've cared less what I was doing. Anyhow, the kids take the clothespin alphabet letter and pin it to the correct lamenated card. They love it and I am excited that they are so excited to learn.Well, I am going to put the finished touches on my packing and CRANK the tunes cuz I am OUTTA HERE! VIVA MEXICO!
Happy St. Pats Day
Happy St. Patricks Day. I just couldn't resist getting t-shirts for the kids. Steve was nice enough to take a picture and send it to me at work. I wore little head bangers that day and my green shirt. I made cupcakes and of course Kyle was in heaven since they were GREEN. Green is his favorite color and everything he asks for has to be green. St. Pats Day was right up his street!
I did however flake on the dinner part though. We had burritos. It's a new Irish meal. With the last name of Bierbaum no one thinks I'm Irish. YUP!! Although I don't like Irish Whiskey. Oh well! The thing that I think both Steve and I thought about on this day was that exactly 2 years ago, we were boarding a plane and flying to Russia to pick up our babies. Now, they are wearing cute little t-shirts! Gives me warm fuzzies. I can't believe it's been 2 years already. My how time flies!
I did however flake on the dinner part though. We had burritos. It's a new Irish meal. With the last name of Bierbaum no one thinks I'm Irish. YUP!! Although I don't like Irish Whiskey. Oh well! The thing that I think both Steve and I thought about on this day was that exactly 2 years ago, we were boarding a plane and flying to Russia to pick up our babies. Now, they are wearing cute little t-shirts! Gives me warm fuzzies. I can't believe it's been 2 years already. My how time flies!
I have one of those kids....
Like the post title says, I have one of THOSE kids who likes to shove things up their noses!!! Yup! The kids were finishing up their dinner the other night and were eating the rest of their raisens. Brooke told me that it was stuck. I look over and she has her finger up her nose. At this point, I am a bit confused. I just simply told her to take her finger out. I then told her to not put her finger up her nose at the table. I walk over to her and she is still telling me that it's stuck and once I am near here she is nasely. I look at her again and she tells me that the RAISEN is stuck. OMG! I tilt her head back and there it is....a raisen stuck in her nose. I plug the opposite side of her nose and tell her to blow really hard. She actually does it and the raisen goes flying. The funny thing is, she looks at me and says, "thank you mommy." I then lecture here about shoving things up her nose. Good God!!! Motherhood is definitely NOT boring. There is never a dull moment with these two!!
Merry Christmas
Oh what a wonderful Christmas. It was a picture perfect morning AND snow decided to fall. It couldn't have been better. Well, I could've won the lotto!! Anyhow, it was a very great morning and we were so glad to be spending it at my parents house. My sister and her husband came over on Christmas Eve and stayed all the way through the weekend. We had so much family fun it was great! After the entire morning was done and we had some breakfast, we decided to pack up and head over to the sledding hill. The snow that was coming down was huge and WET! Everyone went but Steve and Grammy. We had a snowball fight, sledding down the hill and lots of laughs! Here are some pictures:
I took so many pictures and video that I put a mini little 20 minute video together of just our stay up in Bellevue. I think the video and the songs I put on there are like my Hallmark card. I had just such a great time with my family. It was definitely a Christmas to remember. The kids were able to make a snowman with Pop Pop in the backyard, sit in front of a roaring fireplace and watch the train "choo choo" around the Christmas tree.
I took so many pictures and video that I put a mini little 20 minute video together of just our stay up in Bellevue. I think the video and the songs I put on there are like my Hallmark card. I had just such a great time with my family. It was definitely a Christmas to remember. The kids were able to make a snowman with Pop Pop in the backyard, sit in front of a roaring fireplace and watch the train "choo choo" around the Christmas tree.
Leavenworth
We flew into Seattle on December 18th. Thank God since it had snowed the night before and that town doens't know what to do when it snows. Our flight was 3 hours late. Good times in the airport with TWO 2 yr olds. We got to Grammy and Pop Pops house at 11:30pm.
The next morning which was Friday, we loaded up mom's car and headed over Stevens Pass to a small Bavarian town called Leavenworth. I have always wanted to see the lighting ceremony. I was super excited since it had started to snow a week before we got there. It was going to be much colder than we were all used to. By the time we pulled in to town around 2:30pm, it was a whopping 15 degrees. We hit the starbucks and checked into our hotel. It was in a super location as it was right across the street from the lighting ceremony AND the sledding hill. We dumped off our stuff in the room, dressed the kids in their warm clothes and we headed out with our sleds.
The lighting ceremony wasn't until Saturday night so we had the rest of Friday to goof around.
We got over to the sledding hill and of course Brooke loved it. Kyle was OK with it and went a few times. He was more interested in playing on a snow hill. It didn't take Brooke long before she was asking to do it all by herself. Our little daredevil.
After awhile of sledding, we decided to take the kids back over to the hotel to warm them up in front of the lobby fireplace. The kids have never had hot chocolate before so we decided to let them try it. They liked it. So they sat in front of the fire and had hot cocoa.
After a little warm up, we headed next door to have some pizza. I loved it when I asked the waitress what type of wine they had and she told me they had a "chardonaid." Love it...I'll take a glass. I swear when we walked out of the pizza joint to walk next door the air was so cold it hurt my lungs to breathe. What a SoCal whimp!!
The next morning we got up, had some breakfast and headed back out to the sledding hill and to play in the snow. After awhile, we decided to go into this tent. Well it had some spiced hot red wine called Gluwein. It was pretty good. It was super cute while we were in there, Kyle found his breath. I could see him out of the corner of my eye playing with his breath so I of course grabbed the camera to start filming. It's so fun to experience those firsts with the kids. While we were in there, we heard this calling. We had no idea what it was so we looked at one of the guys that was in there working. He told us it meant Santa was coming. We quickly dressed the kids back into their warm clothes and headed back over to the gazebo where everything was happening. It was perfect. There weren't a lot of people there yet so the kids got to see Santa, Father Christmas, St. Nick, Frosty, Rudolph, etc. We got pictures with all of them.
I could go on forever about the weekend and this would be the longest post yet!!
The lighting ceremony was that night. WOW! Mother Nature picked a grand time to be freezing. It was in the low single digits and it was COLD! Everyone gathered around the gazebo and the streets right there and one by one, they turned on the lights while singing silent night. It was really cool to see the entire town lit up.
Needless to say, after the ceremony, we left to go get warmed up.
Our other eventful thing was that we went on a sleighride. Talk about cold! About 10 minutes into it and my feet were freezing. We went on the dinner sleighride so our ride was about 25 minutes or so and then we came back to eat dinner at the lodge. It was fun.
It was so quiet while we were out there in the woods and of course we all had to sing jingle bells! It was very beautiful being out there with all of the snow covered trees...it was just COLD!!! We stopped by a fire when we were almost done and got some hot cider. I basically wanted to stick my feet in the fire they were so cold. The kids won't remember it but it was a fun family outing.
The next day was Monday and we were headed back to Bellevue for the rest of the trip to stay with my parents. I just couldn't believe how much snow was there. I was hoping for a white christmas.
The next morning which was Friday, we loaded up mom's car and headed over Stevens Pass to a small Bavarian town called Leavenworth. I have always wanted to see the lighting ceremony. I was super excited since it had started to snow a week before we got there. It was going to be much colder than we were all used to. By the time we pulled in to town around 2:30pm, it was a whopping 15 degrees. We hit the starbucks and checked into our hotel. It was in a super location as it was right across the street from the lighting ceremony AND the sledding hill. We dumped off our stuff in the room, dressed the kids in their warm clothes and we headed out with our sleds.
The lighting ceremony wasn't until Saturday night so we had the rest of Friday to goof around.We got over to the sledding hill and of course Brooke loved it. Kyle was OK with it and went a few times. He was more interested in playing on a snow hill. It didn't take Brooke long before she was asking to do it all by herself. Our little daredevil.
After awhile of sledding, we decided to take the kids back over to the hotel to warm them up in front of the lobby fireplace. The kids have never had hot chocolate before so we decided to let them try it. They liked it. So they sat in front of the fire and had hot cocoa.
After a little warm up, we headed next door to have some pizza. I loved it when I asked the waitress what type of wine they had and she told me they had a "chardonaid." Love it...I'll take a glass. I swear when we walked out of the pizza joint to walk next door the air was so cold it hurt my lungs to breathe. What a SoCal whimp!!The next morning we got up, had some breakfast and headed back out to the sledding hill and to play in the snow. After awhile, we decided to go into this tent. Well it had some spiced hot red wine called Gluwein. It was pretty good. It was super cute while we were in there, Kyle found his breath. I could see him out of the corner of my eye playing with his breath so I of course grabbed the camera to start filming. It's so fun to experience those firsts with the kids. While we were in there, we heard this calling. We had no idea what it was so we looked at one of the guys that was in there working. He told us it meant Santa was coming. We quickly dressed the kids back into their warm clothes and headed back over to the gazebo where everything was happening. It was perfect. There weren't a lot of people there yet so the kids got to see Santa, Father Christmas, St. Nick, Frosty, Rudolph, etc. We got pictures with all of them.
I could go on forever about the weekend and this would be the longest post yet!! The lighting ceremony was that night. WOW! Mother Nature picked a grand time to be freezing. It was in the low single digits and it was COLD! Everyone gathered around the gazebo and the streets right there and one by one, they turned on the lights while singing silent night. It was really cool to see the entire town lit up.
Needless to say, after the ceremony, we left to go get warmed up.Our other eventful thing was that we went on a sleighride. Talk about cold! About 10 minutes into it and my feet were freezing. We went on the dinner sleighride so our ride was about 25 minutes or so and then we came back to eat dinner at the lodge. It was fun.
It was so quiet while we were out there in the woods and of course we all had to sing jingle bells! It was very beautiful being out there with all of the snow covered trees...it was just COLD!!! We stopped by a fire when we were almost done and got some hot cider. I basically wanted to stick my feet in the fire they were so cold. The kids won't remember it but it was a fun family outing.The next day was Monday and we were headed back to Bellevue for the rest of the trip to stay with my parents. I just couldn't believe how much snow was there. I was hoping for a white christmas.
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