It's Summer! Oh wait it's still Spring?

In the age of smart phones and tablets its easy to get lost from what life is really about... Having FUN!

Who doesn't like to break free from the mundane and technology and get back to basics. It's spring and for Virginia that means Summer temperatures.  To keep cool here without locking ourselves in the air conditioned house and without spending a lot of money, we got a few sprinklers.

A Lot of Potty Talk; Potty Trained in 3 days.

Hello,

 I hope you are find yourself well. Just a Quick shout out to everyone effected by the tornado. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Here on my home front Quinn started potty training on Monday.

I had some preparation before we went all in. I went to the store and picked up stickers- a lot of stickers-for his "Potty Yay Board"and to let him pick his underwear out.

I let him put stickers when he wanted, sometimes he did sometimes he didn't.

  I let him pick out all but one pack of his underwear, he chose mostly cars and one pack that had cars, nemo, and monsters inc. (he wanted the nemo ones) and I picked a pack of plain ones. I think its important to let them have some independence and a say in what they will be training in because don't you feel confident when you are wearing something that you like?!

First trip for Big Boy underwear!

 

Quinn likes to help with chores around the house so I let him help me load the washer with his underwear and explained to him that we were washing them so he can be a big boy in a couple days.
On Sunday night we packed up all the diapers (except for the one he would wear that night and one for the next morning) and again I explained to him what we were doing and why.


Every time you see your child having an accident scoop them up and rush them to the bathroom. Saying "Ewe your paints are wet, pee pee (poop) goes in the potty" this is important because you are rushing them to the bathroom it will help everything click as the week goes on. Quinn started to run to the bathroom himself and I would have to follow and help him on the toilet. When they do go in the toilet whether they started there or not give lots of praise. I do a silly potty song and give high fives and "nucks". And as long as he finishes in the toilet he gets to put a sticker on his potty board under either the pee or poop section. I just made his board out of cardboard box but you can get all fancy and get a folding board from the craft section at your local store. Do not tell your child "no" or punish them for accidents. Accidents will happen and if you give lots of praise throughout the day there will be less accidents the next day. Also you are going to tell your child "Tell me when you need to use the potty, OK" about a hundred times a day. After a while Quinn started laughing at me when I would tell him. Throughout the day ask them if they are dry and if they are make a big deal about it. It will help them to get things to click in their little heads. Do not make them sit on the toilet longer than a couple minutes, if they haven't gone they won't just keep an eye on them and when they start to have an accident rush them to the toilet.

Monday Morning-I got myself up and ready for the day. Took a shower, checked the computer. Pretty much get your things straight that morning before the child wakes up so you can focus all your attention on them the rest of the day. When Quinn woke up, I changed his diaper and we had breakfast, and offered him lots to drink. You are going to want to eat breakfast yourself because you will probably not find time to eat lunch later. After breakfast we went into the bathroom I let him choose which underwear he wanted to wear ( I kept his underwear on the shelf in the bathroom for training) I took his diaper off cleaned him up and got him dressed with a shirt that is short enough so I could see when he start to have an accident and put his underwear on him and told him "You have to keep McQueen dry and tell me when you need to use the potty, OK?" I also explained to him while we were in the bathroom that the toilet is for pee pee and poop, that big boys use the potty and not their pants.


So here is how it went...
Hit = made it to the toilet.

Day 1

7:50 pee in potty as soon as I set him on toilet

8:15 accident pee

8:20 accident pee

8:25 accident pee

8:30 accident pee

8:45 accident pee -finish on toilet

9:34 Hit - pee

10:18 Hit -pee & poop

11:13 accident pee

11:45-2:30 Nap- dry

2:55 accident pee

3:10 Hit-Poop

3:30 accident held and finished on toilet

4:56 accident poop

6:00 accident poop

8:00 Hit-Poop

9:00 went to bed 



Just chilling eating a snack after a HIT!

Day 2

6:30 wet bed

7:25 underwear a bit wet ran to bathroom -nothing

7:28 Hit pee-started and let me know and ran to bathroom.

9:00 accident pee

10:27 a little tinkle, held it.  Hit-pee

12:07 a little tinkle held it and finished in toilet. hit-Pee

1:18 a little tinkle. got me and Hit- pee

1:45-3:15 nap dry

3:30 hit pee

4:47 little tinkle, held it. Hit- pee 

7:35 started to poop in underwear finished on toilet

7:53 little tinkle, held it. Hit- pee 

9:45 went to bed

He didn't want to drink as much as he did yesterday and somethings are starting to click in his little noggin.



Day 3

6:00 woke up went to bathroom Hit-pee

7:52 Hit -pee

10:48 accident -pee he snuck to bathroom and didn't let me know he had to go. (Trying to do it himself)

11:30-1:35 nap

1:36 Hit Pee

3:08 accident pee

3:10 accident pee

3:50 accident pee

4:20 accident pee

4:48 Hit poop

5:07 Hit Pee

6:15 Hit Pee

7:10 Hit Pee

7:57 Hit Pee

Day 4

Woke up dry at 6:16

Used potty at 6:18 went pee

At 8:27 ran up to me holding himself saying Pee and we went to the potty. Hit -Pee. Underwear was dry too.

9:30 Hit pee

11:50 went to potty didn't go

11:55 went to potty didn't go

11:57 Hit Poop and Pee

12:20 fell asleep on me

12:25 peed in sleep I woke him up and took him to potty and he finished peeing.

3:45 woke up from nap. Hit pee

4:00 went to target for an hour.

6:20 Hit Pee

8:20 I asked him to go potty he got on potty tried and went.

9:20 Peed once more. Went to bed

 

First venture out Being potty trained.

 

Other Tips
I did not make going potty about the stickers I never told him you can only have a sticker if you go potty. I didn't feel like having a power struggle. After he would go potty we'd wash hands and nonchalantly I'd give him a sticker and let him put it on his board. And that would be that, he did ask for another sticker once in a while and I let him have one to put on his hand or shirt.
You can also do a potty treasure box - get some cheap toys from the dollar store and put them in the basket and let your child pick a toy or snack after they had a successful potty time with out starting as an accident.



By the end of day 3 everything was starting to click for him and we only had the one nap accident on day 4. On the morning of day 5 he woke me up at 4:12 to go potty. Our true test will be Saturday when we go to the Pungo Strawberry Festival.


If you have any questions I'll be glad to try and help you.

Fair Winds and Following Seas

Belle*

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Hi My Darlings,

So here is a new series I'm not sure exactly how many posts I'll have but I might just keep it going as I learn new things.

If you ready my post about my weight loss I promised to show you my "Fake POP" or Soda for all you that aren't from the northern states. I'm a michigander and I try to leave out all the "ehs" when I type. My husband can always tell when I have talked to my Mom on the phone because my accent comes back strong.

Strawberry Filled Morning

Hi my Darlings,

 Well last Friday I took the Q man out to a you pick strawberry patch. Last year he liked to pick the baby ones. This year he did so much better, only picked the ripe red ones. He still likes to pick the small sized ones but who cares he's learning that the life cycle of a strawberry plant and red means ready to eat.

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Hi my Darlings,

Are you among the many people of this Country that are over weight and under nourished? I was once... Well it was actually about 7 months ago I decided that I needed to do something and with my medical issues I am not able to work out like I would like to.  Being in the Navy I had to keep stay within Body Fit Standards or risk getting kicked out on Other than Honorable Discharge. So I began the search for something that would help. Sadly I don't have a full body before photo for comparison that isn't camouflaged by my uniform. But you can tell I have lost my fat face.

VoxBox SweetHeart Box

******I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.******

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So Influenster has another challenge for me. Reviewing the television show "The Taste". I have watched a few clips and even last weeks episode Daring Parings. To me this show seems like a mash up of "Chopped", "The Voice" and "Master Chef". The Voice you say? Yes this show is judged by one blind taste. Just like the coaches on the "The Voice"only hear the voice before locking in their vote the judges on "The Taste" must lock in their vote after tasting just one; yes one spoonful and without seeing who the chef is. 

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Hi my Darlings
For the past few weeks I have had the privilege to test out the new Palmolive Fresh Infusions. My expectations have stood up to my first impression review.

Here is the first impression review

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If you are anywhere in the Virginia and North Carolina area you already know what a crazy early morning it was here. 

I went to bed last night at 8:00 with a migraine and feeling nauseous only to wake up to the howling wind at 2am. Growing up in Michigan I could tell we were already in a Tornado Watch based on the hurricane force winds (highest gust was 67mph), checked the weather on my phone and sure enough the area was in a tornado watch until 5 this morning.

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Well last night my son decided to play nice by himself and watch some SS; that meant I was able to fix my nails. I had a huge chip in one from doing alot of dishes and cleaning. So... Instead of just fixing the one nail I redid all of them. This time I was feeling kinda pinkish but not too much so I added some mint. Here is the final result. 

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Hi My Darlings!

What do you do for fun on a random Thursday night? Me..... Well when I get some quiet time with the toddler playing by himself or watching Cars 2, you can catch me doing my nails. I pull out all my colors and try and decide what to wear. 

Influenster* Palmolive Fresh Infusions First Impressions Reviews

I have had a chance to use these delightful soaps for about a week now. And I have to say I am pleased. I started out with the Ginger and White Tea to clean up my sons tray after he makes his mess from meals. It has a pleasant scent that is just the right balance between floral and spice. I' not a fan o overly flowery scents so this is perfect for me. I have also used the the Lemon and Thyme to wash a few dishes that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher. Again it is a pleasing scent that doesn't over power. Another thing I like is if you have a scented plug in or anything else you use in your kitchen like me to make it smell fresh these soaps don't take away from that. 

Influenster* Palmolive Fresh Infusions

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Hi Lovelies, 

     December is over and its the start of a new month and a new year. I hope you all had a very lovely New Years Eve/ Day. 

With the end of a month means it's time for my favorites and Blahs. 

So lets start with the favorites.