Potty Training

Check out my baby in her big girl underwear! I decided last week to give potty training a go. After she held her bladder for over 14 hours with not wanting to sit on the potty, I gave up. I decided not to push the issue and wait until she was ready. Suddenly, a week later, out of the blue, she asked to go potty. Since then it's been smooth sailing. She hasn't had a single accident, wears underwear at all times (except for naps and bedtime) and tells me when she needs to go. I am so excited to be mostly done with diapers for a few months! She has yet to do #2 in the potty, but we have been having constipation issues, so I'm not forcing that one yet.

Potty training the second child is a lot easier than the first! I've even stopped putting pull-ups on her when we go places, because she loves to try out public bathrooms (ick!) so she always tells me when she has to go, plus I know she really can hold it for a long time if she wants too!

Although I think we could go diaper free at naps, I haven't tried that one yet. I'm not sure she'll do overnight yet though. Maybe we can be completely diaper free by December...just in time for baby #3! By the way, Ansley would not be happy with me for referring to her as a baby. A little 3 year old at church called her a baby the other day, and Ansley started crying saying "I not a baby, I a big girl!"

Date Night

Tonight is date night. Not for Jeremy and I, but for Jeremy and Kennedy. Beauty and the Beast is playing at the Muny, which is an awesome outdoor theater here. Jeremy and I went to one show last summer and it was so much fun. When we found out Beauty and the Beast was coming, we began looking into tickets. We would've all loved to go, but a) tickets are expensive, and b) the show doesn't start until 8:15, and Ansley would be a mess by the end of it. So, we decided Jeremy would take Kennedy on a special date. We found a good bargain on tickets on Craigslist, and she has been preparing ever since. She's had a dress picked out for days, put on some of her "makeup," had her nails painted, and we curled her hair--although the curls don't last long on her. She wanted to eat somewhere fancy, and so they decided on Olive Garden. They are leaving in about 25 minutes and she is soooooo excited. Here's a video of her

telling you about it.

Ansley and I, on the other hand, are already in our pj's, ready to chill, and then I have a date with Robert Pattinson and his latest movie on DVD once she goes to bed!

Ouch!

Poor little Ansley at times is as clumsy as can be. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree though...it seems Jeremy's mom and sister have their fair share of accidents themselves! :)

This time, we were visiting Camp Neotez and she managed to fall and bump her face into a wooden bench. She has a nasty scrape/bruise up her entire cheek. Poor thing. I'll let her tell you about it.

Princess Tiana and More

We've had quite an eventful week. Last weekend we were in Peoria for Betsy's bridal shower and then we had a family get together so everyone could meet Chad and to celebrate Kennedy's birthday. We came home Sunday and then Monday my mom and Dave stopped by for a couple of days on their way to Arkansas/Texas. Then Thursday, Jeremy's mom and sister stopped by for a couple of days as well. Kennedy has had the never-ending birthday with gifts coming all week long. I think it's all finally over. One of her gifts was a Princess and the Frog dress-up dress. Today, Ansley was wearing it and insisted we call her Princess Tiana. Here's a video of her in character:

Kennedy has had a quite a few funny things to say lately. When we were traveling to Peoria and were almost there, Jeremy told her we had only 3 towns left to go through: Tremont, Morton, and then East Peoria. As we were entering East Peoria, she said, "Have we gone through TreeStump yet?"

She was showing off a new shirt to her Grandma and told her we got it on sale. My mom asked her what "on sale" means, and her reply was "That we buy it!"

Ansley, on the other hand, is showing us quite an imagination. She spent an ENTIRE day pretending to be her cousin Caleb. She referred to Kennedy as Sidney (my niece), me as Stacy (my sister), and Jeremy as Brett (our brother-in-law). She would not step out of character either. If we would accidentally call her Ansley she would get mad and say "I not Ansley, I Caleb!" At one point, Jeremy said "C'mon girls, it's time to go!" and her reply was "I not a girl! I a boy and my name is Caleb!" It was quite humorous, and a bit embarrassing as we walked around the library with her saying "I Caleb. Stacy, wait up!" She is funny.

Here's a picture of Kennedy with another one of her birthday presents:

One Thursday Evening...

Kennedy has been asking to get her ears pierced for a few months. I'm not really sure why because I'm not sure that any of her friends have their ears pierced, but she is just such a girly girl who loves her jewelry, sparkles, and dresses, and she just really wanted to wear earrings. Stick-ons just didn't cut it. We've been to Claire's a few times and even been shown the "gun" that pierces ears, but she has chickened out each time--which was fine by me.

However, last night, we were at the mall with Jeremy's mom and sister and when I mentioned the idea of her getting them pierced both Nana and Cassidi cheered her on. She decided she was ready and ended up going through with it, after watching another 5 year old girl get hers done. Then when she finished, Aunt Cassidi got hers double-pierced. Kennedy definitely flinched when getting them done (one at a time!) and had a look on her face when they finished like "why on earth did I want to do this?" But once the lady handed her the mirror and she saw the finished product, a smile from ear to ear was on her face and didn't leave for the rest of the night. Any time she would walk by a mirror, she would take a glance, quite proud of herself. Nana even bought her a new car for her Zhu Zhu pet for being so brave, and I let her pick out some new earrings. Ansley really wanted her ears pierced too, but we decided to wait on that one! Here are some pictures from our adventure.

The nervous smile before...

The really happy smile after!

The finished product!

Wondering when it's her turn
The two brave girls!

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