Strollin'

A while back I bought a snazzy little stroller at a thrift shop thinking it'd be perfect for Peanut to practice being around babies.


M is sportin' a solid frame of around 24 pounds and her little wobbly legs are just now starting to build up strength for cruising and such. Peanut likes her stroller, but she needs helping pulling up on it and then walking with it...not always a good things when you're trying to encourage independence.


So I've been debating just biting the bullet and buying a more expensive stroller that can handle the weight of a 24 pounder pulling her self to stand and then cruising along in close to absolute independence. I was inspired by the beautiful shots of Sweet Ella Grace and her happily cruising along with her Teddy in tow. I googled the FIsher Price stroller and although it's a fair price at $30.00, compared to the $2.00 I paid, it was a little out of reach.


Then comes the brilliant idea (compliments to the daycare staff), strap some weights onto her snazzy stroller and see what happens. So that's what I did...added 5 pounds of weights wrapped up in cardboard box and taped them to the stroller.


The results are as follows in this 6 second video clip:

Wordless Wednesday

Guess who's using a spoon...

and her mama's not the only 1 excited about it!

Potty Training

Lil Miss is just about 2 years old. While we were on vacation a couple weeks ago, Bradley, Peanut, and I were laying around when we started talking about who was going change her pee-filled diaper. Peanut crawled out of bed, grabbed a diaper, and laid down on her changing mat! We were in awe! I mean, your know kids understand things, but it was just a swift reminder of how much more Peanut understands than what we give her credit for. Anyway, since then, we've been thinking...why not introduce her to the potty?

Reasons for potty training so soon:
1. Peanut loves the bathroom. Whenever we head to the bathroom, she goes right along with us. She'll ask for toilet paper, which she uses to wipe her nose.
2. She tells us when her diaper is dirty. Just today she signed dirty and I thought she was talking about a pig flashlight that I was holding, but she actually moved her hands towards her pants. hmmm...
3. I've been working with gifted kiddos for a while and have executed successful potty training plans, so I would sort of like to think I know what to look for and what to do. (Of course, I've also treated for food aversions as well and wouldn't you know my little Peanut is the world's pickiest eater.)

Why we probably shouldn't be embarking on this journey:
1. We are expecting twins in November, so if it doesn't go well there's a BIG possibility we could have a set back in training.
2. She's not walking yet. Granted she bear crawls to get around and could easily position herself on a kids potty, but would she take herself to the bathroom?
3. She's also not verbal yet. She has lots of signs (to include bathroom), but she will only sign it when we ask about the bathroom, not when she has actually gone.

So what's the plan? Being the impetuous people that we were born to be, we decided why not go for it? Sure it's a lot to take on, but what harm can we do by introducing her to the idea of just sitting on the pot. So today, I bought a Safety 1st potty today. It's a potty, a stool, and a storage container. I set it up in our downstairs bathroom. I put Lil Miss on the potty with her diaper still on. She immediately got off. She looked at me and asked for toilet paper. I set her back on the potty and gave her the square of toilet paper. She gave me the biggest grin EVER! Following that, each time she asked for a square of toiler paper, she sat back on the potty. So, we're going to go slow. Let her check it out, sit on it, hang out. So until she decides those little legs can carry her into the bathroom we'll start a potty schedule. For now, we'll just see where the seat takes us. :-)

Busy Summer!

I've been TERRIBLE at updating my blog. A lot has happened lately....

So, I turned 30 and my sister came over for a visit to help me celebrate. We're military and don't get to see family on a regular basis. Having my sister come for my birthday was a treat all it's own. Peanut loved having her Aunt here and we were both so sad when she left.
While she was here, she got lots of hugs and kisses.

Aunt J introduced Peanut to Reddi Whip...quite the hit I might add...

And a trip to Monkey Joe's. I don't know who was more wore out at the end of the day, Peanut or Aunt J.


A couple days after her visit we started our family vacation to FLORIDA! We went to Jacksonville and Destin. Jacksonville included a trip to the Jacksonville Zoo. It was HOT that day, but the 3 of us had fun despite Peanut refusing to sit in her stroller. Bradley carried her throughout the entire zoo except for 2 sections when she finally agreed to a trade; stroller for a cracker. ahh bribery...

Bradley spent a couple days golfing with his cousin and Peanut and I hung around the pool at his apartment.


In Destin we attended a Strong Bonds conference through the military. In the mornings, we went to our conference and the afternoons were ours to explore, which is exactly what we did. We drove all around town, played on the beach, and relaxed at the resort. It was absolute heaven to not have any responsibilities, the enjoy time with Bradley and Lil Miss. The pictures tell the story better than I ever could though...





While on vacation (it wasn't completely responsibility-free), I finished my last class (complete with an A) for certification to become a Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst, BCaBA. I'll working for another month towards my certification hours, but will then be taking it easy in anticipation of the boys.

Last, but not least...this week we had our fetal echos on the boys, a routine ultrasound, and an OB check up. The routine u/s confirmed that we are having boys that currently weigh about 2 pounds each, exactly what they should weigh at 26 weeks. Baby A has been doing flips and is head up. They want to see us back in another 4 weeks for another u/s, but we'll be back in 2 for another routine u/s. The OB check up led to lab tests which included the standard glucose screen (no results on that just yet though). The Dr. is comfortable with how the pregnancy is progressing and so am I. AND...Praise God, the fetal echo took about an hour and confirmed that neither baby shows signs of a having a heart defect!