Potty Training Memoirs - Day 3

So I know you are all just waiting to hear that Landry is fully potty trained and we did it all in just three short days. And you are just dying to know all my secrets. Ha Ha Ha!

No, I regret to inform you that we did not reach our goal in the three days as planned. But I'm not giving up. After all, my ultimate goal is to have her out of diapers by the time Eli gets here.

I have some things to be encouraged about:

1. Landry is much more conscientious of using the bathroom. Just letting her wear panties instead of diapers for a few days helped her to know when she was wet and when she was dry.

2. She has much better control now. She woke up dry this morning. She is staying dry for hours. And she woke up from her nap dry for 2 days in a row.

3. Even though she is realizing she has to tee tee when it's already a little too late, she is now giving a cue that she is about to go. I am hoping that when I see that cue, I can grab her up quick enough to get to the potty. Eventually, she'll be able to do it on her own.

Since I have a few more days with no plans, and the temperatures are absolutely frigid, we'll be staying in a few extra days to work on potty training a little more. What have I got to lose? Don't worry, I'll spare you all details for the next few days. I'll just be sure to tell you when she's got it good.

Potty Training Memoirs - Day 2

Alright, here is a run-down of day 2.....

Landry woke up with a wet diaper. Of course that is to be expected. I strapped on the big girl panties right away. She ate breakfast, drank a little lemonade (not three cups like yesterday). For the next two hours I sat her on the potty a few times and asked her several times if she had to tee tee on the potty. She kept telling me no. And for those 2 hours, she did not use the bathroom at all. I had a hair appointment so I had to leave my duties to Cory. You know he was really looking forward to that. But while I was at my appointment, I got a text from him saying she had gone on the potty. VICTORY! So when I got back, we asked her again if she had to go. We gave her a little more to drink, sat her on the potty for a few minutes while she watched a movie, but nothing. A few minutes after she got up, she had an accident. Grrr! And then another. Double Grrrr! We then decided to feed her lunch and let her play for a little bit before nap-time. i sat her down on her potty again to try one more time before nap. She sat there, reading a book to herself for 15 minutes, but nothing happened. I put a diaper on her for nap and surprisingly, she woke up dry! This afternoon/evening, she tee-teed two times on the potty, and was still dry when I put her to bed.

So, I am not as tired as I was yesterday. Maybe it's because I'm not obsessing as much. I don't know. I am just questioning whether the potty training is doing any good at this point. Is she getting it at all, or is she just sitting on the potty enough times during the day to actually avoid some accidents? I am just praying, that by some miracle, everything will magically internalize for her tomorrow.

And I welcome any advice from experienced moms. I know that all kids are different, and I'm willing to try anything.

I don't have any pictures today because they would just look the same as yesterday.

Potty Training Memoirs - Day 1

So Landry is now 2, and we have only 2 months before baby brother gets here. Our goal.....potty train in three days. Ok, so I know that sounds very unrealistic. But, I've read about a method that assures me it can happen. There is only one teeny, tiny problem. It only works if the child is really ready. That is what I am trying to determine the next 3 days.

So I read the method in the book "Toddler Wise". I highly recommend the book if you haven't read it. They say to block out a few days to be home. Don't go anywhere. Choose a doll for your which your child will act as a tutor. Buy lots of treats and yummy drinks. And focus only on potty training for the next 3 days.

So last night we went to wal-mart and Landry got to pick some special snacks and drinks. I kept telling her we were going to have a special day tomorrow, and she was going to wear big girl panties. This morning, first thing, I took off her diaper and let her choose a pair of big girl panties to wear. I also let her choose a pair for her doll. She walked into the dining room and saw all of the snacks and immediately started asking for them. When I told her they were for later, she was not real pleased.

After breakfast, the "fun" began. We used her doll as an example. The doll was dry so she got a treat. The doll tee-teed in the potty, she got two treats. I then left the room to go grab a treat for Landry for staying dry. But as soon as I walked out, she peed everywhere. Not such a good start. I realized right away, that this was going to be a lot harder than I thought.

1 hour of training camp down, Landry had downed three sippy cups of lemonade, had 2 accidents, but had successfully tee-teed on the potty one time.

3 hours down, we put a halt to the lemonade for a while, 3 successful tee-tees in the potty, but the accidents were still winning out.

We then took a break for lunch and nap. I put her in a diaper during this time, just to be safe. She was dry before her nap, but took a 3 hour nap and woke up a little wet.

The afternoon went much more smoothly. We only had one accident, but 3 successful tee-tees on the potty. One of those was even after we had put a diaper on her and her p.j.s right before bed. She started un-zipping her p.j.s and went to her potty. Sure enough, she had to go one more time. That was a huge victory!!!!

Now I have to admit, this little training camp has worn on me today. I have had to be right there next to Landry the entire day constantly reminding her to tell me if she has to potty or chasing her back to the potty when she has made a run for it. I am just praying that it really works. Tomorrow will be Day 2 of my potty training memoirs. For now, here are a couple pictures from today.

This is one of those classic pictures that Landry will never get to live down. It might just make it in her yearbook one day. This is when she had just discovered the goodies on the table and I told her she couldn't have them right then. But you cannot deny how stinkin' cute she looks in her big-girl panties.

This is where Landry spent most of her day. You can tell she is very enthused! ha! ha!

Landry's Special Day

We wanted to make Landry's birthday extra special. Even though she has already had three birthday parties, we wanted January 3 to be a real celebration of her life. We are trying to make it a point to make holidays, such as Easter and Christmas, about their true meanings. On Christmas we want to focus on the birth of Christ and giving to others. On Easter, we want to celebrate Christ's resurrection rather than just eggs and bunnies. That doesn't mean we will not have fun, but we are hoping that our children realize these holidays are not all about them. That is why it is important for us to make their birthdays, a day that IS all about them.

So with all that said, here is what we did on Landry's special day.....

We started the day with breakfast. Landry had her own little stack of chocolate chip pancakes, with 2 candles on the top, and a bowl of strawberries. We prayed, thanking God for Landry's precious little life, then Daddy and I sang to her and she blew out her candles. She gobbled the strawberries and ate the chocolate chips out of the pancakes. I'm pretty sure she learned that from her daddy.

Next we went to church, I brought iced-cookies, special birthday napkins, and sunglasses to share with her sunday school class. All the kids LOVED it! The teachers, on the other hand, probably wanted to kill me. I thought cookies would be cleaner than cupcakes. You should have seen the carpet when they were done. YIKES!

After church, we brought Landry to Olive Garden for lunch. I know you are all probably thinking that it sounds like a very adult place to take a 2-year-old for her birthday lunch. But I assure you, she enjoyed it just as much as us. Of all the places we've taken her to eat, including McDonalds and Chick-fil-a, she never eats as much as she does when we go to Olive Garden. She enjoyed the heck out of it!

We then went to Barnes and Noble to let Landry pick out a book. Oh, did she have a ball! She loves playing on the train table there and running around on the story-time stage. I'm not sure if she was delirious or just full of joy, but she ran around laughing and playing for an hour. We finally got her to choose a book and headed home. She was fast asleep in the car within 5 minutes.

She took a very long nap and woke up in time to get phone calls from all the grandparents. We also had some special visitors stay the night at our house, and she loved showing off for them.

Last of all, daddy read her new book to her before we prayed with her and tucked her soundly into bed.

Even though Landry doesn't truly understand what a birthday is all about yet. I know she had a wonderful day, and I think she really felt celebrated!

Happy Birthday Landry!

2 years old

1 year old

Minutes after your birth

Awaiting your arrival

To my precious gift from God on her second birthday……

Dear Landry,

How can it be that you are 2 years old? It just doesn’t seem real. I know it is cliché, but it truly feels like just yesterday I was anxiously awaiting your birth. I can remember every little detail about the wonderful day you were born.

It’s been 2 years since you made that special appearance and everyday just keeps getting better and better! While I miss the little bitty you, all the little baby sounds you would make and being able just to hold and cuddle you. And I miss seeing you crawl around everywhere, and that sweet little round baby face. I am absolutely loving the little girl you are developing into. It is so much fun seeing your personality emerge and watching you learn new things. It’s amazing listening to your vocabulary form, admiring as you work to achieve a goal, and watching your imagination run wild. I am in awe at the wonderful creation God gave to us. Please take to heart the verse that was painted in your first nursery: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5. I know God will use you in a mighty way if you allow Him to. Every night, Daddy and I pray that God would draw you to himself at a young age, and you would follow hard after Him your whole life. God’s given you a strong will. Use it for Him.

So what has your second year of life been like? Well here is a short run-through of each month:

January - You had taken steps, but were pretty determined that crawling was much easier than walking. You developed a camera face the month before and hammed it up all month

February – You decided walking wasn’t so bad. You’d do it a little more often. You also thought it was funny to climb onto the side of a laundry hamper and jump. This is also the month where we were able to get one of the first glimpses of your determination, when we watched you throw an all out fit because you could not balance an egg shaker on a piece of plastic.

March – It snowed in GA! We brought you out to play for a minute, but you weren’t too sure about what to do. Your camera face became “pretty eyes”, something you are still doing today. This month, daddy also went to Costa Rica on a mission trip. You were so glad when he came back!

April – You had lots of firsts this month. You had your first ice cream cone. I introduced you to sidewalk chalk and fingerpaint. You began imaginative play. You got really good at doing motions to songs, especially “Wheels on the Bus” and “Happy and You Know It”. You had your first Easter Egg Hunt. And Mommy and Daddy went on our first extended trip, a mission trip to New Orleans, without you.

May – You started getting the hang of using eating utensils. You discovered how much fun it was to ride on daddy’s back. You had a visit from Nana and Poppy and GiGi and PawPaw. You got your worst ouchie ever and scared me to death. And you began making your “strain face”

June – You were a swimming school drop-out. You took a new interest in taking care of baby dolls. You were obsessed with bubbles. You took your first plane ride. And you were a flower girl for Uncle Josh’s wedding.

July – You visited Dallas, Lake Charles, Singer, and Natchitoches. Aunt Shonda and Uncle Tim came for a visit. We found out you were going to be a big sister. You decided it was fun to wear underwear on your head. You starting making lots of different animal sounds

August – You showed us that you know all your colors and shapes. You ate your weight in strawberries. And you put on every pair of shoes you could find.

September – You began using a paintbrush to paint. You helped us celebrate Daddy and Mommy’s birthdays. You went to a college conference, in Atlanta, with us. You began to master the playground.

October – We went to the fair. We took a surprise visit to Louisiana. You helped Daddy carve a pumpkin. We found out you were having a brother. You were the cutest rock star ever, for Halloween

November – You showed us that you recognize and can name many letters of the alphabet. You helped decorate the Christmas tree. You got your first kitchen center. GiGi and PawPaw came for to our house for Thanksgiving.

December – We got a mini-van. You decided you still do not like Santa. You cut out and decorated sugar cookies. We took a trip to Louisiana to celebrate Christmas with our family. You had three birthday parties. You’ve taken imaginative play to a new level.

Woah, what an amazing year!

Landry, I love you more than life itself! You are an amazing little girl. I can’t imagine life without you!

Love,

Mommy

The Epic Christmas Blog

I named this blog "Epic" because it will encompass every detail of our entire Christmas vacation, which was a very full 13 days. I'm sorry if it seems more like a Christmas novel than a Christmas blog, but I want to have the entire trip on record.

It started Saturday, December 18 at 2:30 a.m. We decided to leave in the middle of the night in hopes that Landry would sleep halfway through our 10-hour drive. And so we would arrive in Louisiana in the middle of the day, rather than the evening. However, we told my parents we didn't leave until around 7 a.m. It was a nice surprise to them when we arrived at their house in time for lunch. Landry did excellent on the trip! We only stopped 2 times!!

When we got to LA, of course Landry was wired and ready to play, play, play! Daddy was ready for a long nap. After a few hours, Landry wound down and took a nap as well. She woke up just in time for Uncle Josh, Aunt Trista to arrive. She took a minute to warm up to them. But soon, Aunt Trista became her new playmate and she had a ball.

We exchanged presents that evening because Uncle Josh and Aunt Trista would be leaving for West Texas after the weekend. We all got such nice presents, especially Landry.

It was the year of Mexican Train Dominoes. Cory and I got 2 sets of this game as well!

Uncle Josh has vowed that every Christmas, Landry will get something camouflage to wear. It was a perfect outfit for her to wear running around the country. She even had the dirty face to go with it.

This is one of those priceless shots!

Landry was also around Uncle Josh and Aunt Trista long enough to come up with names for them. Uncle Josh is "Unca". Aunt Trista is "Aunt T".

Late, late that evening. We stayed up to make Landry her first of 3 birthday cakes. We did not have a free day when we could have a big birthday party for Landry, so we just brought cakes to our family Christmas gatherings. My aunt Connie, who is an experienced cake decorator, came over to help. Here is the adorable "Abby Cadaby" cake we made for her.

I think Aunt Connie is proud!

The next day, Sunday, we went to our old church and got to visit with lots of friends. Then we went to my Aunt Connie's house for the Guillory Christmas gathering. It was so nice getting to spend time with family and eat so much good food. 3 of my cousins have little girls who were born within 2 months of Landry being born, so it was lots of fun seeing how their personalities had developed and watching them interact with one another.

Here are all four of the little ladies playing with the dog

Landry getting ready to blow out her candle

This was our only chance to get a family picture before Josh and Trista headed to West Texas. We used my tripod and camera timer for this pic. Not half bad.

Monday, Landry and I went to Lake Charles and had a play-date with some of my old friends and their children. It was great catching up with them all, but we quickly realized that it is not such an easy task with little ones tagging along. After about an hour, all of the children starting getting irritable at once. We knew it was time to break up our little reunion. Hopefully we'll get to visit longer at our class reunion this summer.

Tuesday was a wonderful day. Cory had to take a certification exam in Beaumont, and he wanted me to go with him. I knew bringing Landry along was not a good idea because the test would take a while. So I left Landry with my mom and dad, and I went shopping while Cory took his test. It was so nice finishing my last minute Christmas shopping with nothing but time on my hands. While all the other shoppers were getting their tinsel in a tangle because of the traffic and long lines, I didn't have a care in the world. Did I mention it was wonderful? I can't remember the last time I had a day like this, but it was very much appreciated! After Cory's test, we met his Aunt and Uncle to go eat. We always enjoy visiting with them. We then headed home and arrived just in time to tuck Landry into bed. She was pretty pooped after a fun-filled day with GiGi and PawPaw. And by the way, CORY PASSED ALL HIS EXAMS! PRAISE GOD!

Wednesday, was just a nice and relaxing day. I needed to finish making some Christmas gifts, but we had no where to be. We just stayed around the house, played outside a little bit, did some baking, did some crafting. And that was that. We let Landry decorate and eat "Happy Birthday Jesus" brownies. However, while we were singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, Landry grinned ear to ear thinking it was for her.

Mom and I stayed up to make another birthday cake for Landry. We attempted to recreate the first one. How did we do?

We didn't have help this time and we used gumpaste for the polka dots rather then buttercream icing. When Landry woke up the next morning and saw the cake, she shouted "Abby" even though the "Abby" figurine was not on the cake yet. She recognized it from her first birthday party.

Thursday, was Christmas eve. We were lucky that Landry was willing to take an early nap because we knew the day would be CRAZY!. We left around noon to go to my MawMaw Marlene's house (My Dad's Mom). We had a super visit with her and my Aunt Sharon. Then we headed to MawMaw's House (Mom's Mom) to visit, have a birthday party, and then have the Langley Christmas gathering. Christmas at the Langley family is something to behold. Most people do not get to experience this type of Christmas gathering, and some may not ever want to. But I wouldn't want to miss it for the world. My mom is one of eight brothers and sisters. Most of her brothers and sisters have married and have their own kids. And most of those kids have now married and have their own kids. Just to paint a more detailed picture, there are about 35 kids under the age of 17 at my grandma's house on Christmas Eve. Add the adults to that and you get an idea of the madness that exists. It's so GREAT! Of course, Landry was a little overwhelmed at first, but she soon took to some of the little girls and joined in all the fun. She was one tuckered little girl when it was all said and done. I wish I had more pictures from this day, but I used my mom's camera, and I am waiting on a CD from her. I'll post a few once I get them.

Here is a picture of Landry helping GiGi decorate cupcakes for her party.

The next day was Christmas Day. We woke up, enjoyed a breakfast of biscuits and homemade jelly with my family, and hit the road by 8:30a.m. to get to Natchitoches to spend time with Cory's family. We arrived about 10:45, just in time to open gifts. Everyone wanted to enjoy watching Landry open her gifts, so we decided to let her go first. However, Nana LOVES to buy Christmas gifts, and Landry was completely surrounded by unopened gifts. She got only about a tenth of the way through the gifts when she decided she needed a break. She finished opening them in the next couple hours with help from us. Needless to say, we won't be buying any new toys for a while, and we'll be packing away some old ones when we get home. We spent the rest of the day eating Christmas dinner and playing with Landry's new toys. It was a great day.

Here she is saying "see ya, I'm taking a break"

Eli even got gifts. This is his first football.

Landry especially enjoyed the playhouse Poppy put together for her.

Saturday, Cory's cousin and family were driving in from Shreveport and Houston. So we decided it was a good day to have a birthday party for Landry. We went to wal-mart to get a cake, but they had nothing and couldn't make one for us that day. So why not make one more cake? This time we got a Dora cake topper. It was Aunt LuLu's (Charlotte) birthday, so we added her name to the cake too! You can tell in these pictures, that Landry is really getting used to this whole birthday party thing. By this point, she pretty much thinks everything is about her. I'll have to spend weeks bringing her back down to reality.

Saturday night, we went down to the riverbank to see the Natchitoches Christmas lights and the fireworks. We were a little worried about how Landry would respond to the noise of the fireworks, but she was ENAMORED by them. She enjoyed them so much, she cried when we told her they were over.

Here we are, waiting for the show to begin

Here they are, in AWE!

Sunday was a pretty laid back day. We visited with Cory's cousin, his wife, and baby before they had to leave to go back to Houston and ate a big pot of vegetable soup while watching the Saints lose. Sad day :(

Monday, Cory, his dad, and his uncle went to the Independence Bowl. The ladies stayed home and enjoyed a day to relax and play. Until evening, when we took the opportunity for a ladies dinner out. It was nice!

Tuesday, Cory, Landry, and I met MawMaw Dell (Cory's Mom's Mom) for lunch. We enjoyed a Chinese buffet and then did a little shopping. I got a couple of cute outfits, on sale, for Eli. That night, we went over to Uncle Ricky and Aunt Charlotte's for some Seafood Court Bouillon. Mmm Mmm! Aunt Lindsay (Aunt Z) came over too. Landry had a ball playing pool, or actually just dropping the balls in the holes and watching them come back down.

We snuck in time for a family picture. Thank God for tripods.

Poppy and Landry had a good ole' time together

Later, back at Cory's parent's house, Landry and Aunt Z became good buddies and played until it was time for Landry to hit the sack. Landry even shared her fruit snacks and kisses with Aunt Z. Not a normal occurrence.

We planned on leaving at around 2:30 a.m. the next morning, but bad weather was expected to hit. We decided to stay one extra day and wait out the weather. However, by the 12th day of our trip, Landry is pretty tired from all the excitement. She decides, it's time to chill a little.

And once she is rested, play-time with Mommy and Daddy is always a treat. This is Landry's pop-up tunnel. She thought it was funny for us to hide inside.

Once Nana arrived home from work, we ate pizza for supper, played a little with Nana and Poppy, got bathed up, then went to bed to get ready for our trek back home

Our alarm rang at 1:45 Thursday morning, and we were on the road by 2:15. Another VERY smooth trip. Landry woke up just as we were exiting for breakfast. She saw McDonalds and immediately started signing "play". We thought it would be a good idea to let her move around a little and the play area was perfect. We only took 2 necessary stops on the way back. Once we got 30 minutes away, we chose to stop at Academy. Cory would say it was necessary. We made it home in time to eat a late lunch. Although Landry didn't care to. She was too busy reacquainting herself with her room and toys. She was relieved to be home.

This concludes my epic Christmas blog. If you are tired just reading it, imagine experiencing it. The Veuleman household was not up last night to ring in the new year. Instead, we were sleeping soundly in our own beds. Life is good!

Baby Babble - Week 27

I am officially in my 3rd Trimester! Yahoo! It is really hard to believe how fast it is going. But I am thankful. Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment where I had to do my glucose screening. I was quite anxious about this test, because when I was pregnant for Landry I failed the first time. I know now, it was because I had eaten right before the test, and it was carb-filled mexican food. What was I thinking? I had to go back and take the 3-hour test, in which they stuck me 4 times. It was a nightmare. So this time, I was determined to have no carbs before taking the test. I basically ate a homemade egg mcmuffin minus the muffin. It was quite good. However, I do have to admit, I cheated a little and drank one cup of coffee with 1 tbsp. of creamer. But it only had 5 grams of carbs, so I figured I was good. I took the test at 10:45 and within minutes, they told me I passed my test with flying colors!! Yipee! I was so relieved, I treated myself to Starbucks. I made sure that I made up for the carbs I had missed that morning.

Now to other baby news.....the Dr. said I was measuring just right. The heartbeat is just right. My weight and blood pressure are just right. So far, so good. Baby Eli is moving around lots. Sometimes just little kicks and sometimes giant movements, where I think he may be flipping or something. Last night, he started getting into my ribs a little. Yikes! I pray that doesn't get worse.

My babycenter update tells me that he is about 2 pounds now and 14 1/2 inches long. He's also starting to sleep and wake at regular intervals and open and shut his eyes. If you'd like to read more, click here. Here is what the baby looks like right now.

Just in case you hadn't heard, Michelle Duggar (from 18 kids and counting), had her baby prematurely. Her due date was the same as mine, which means she had the baby at 26 weeks. The baby weighed 1 lb. 6 oz. and is stable, but be in prayer for little Josie and her family.