April 19, 2012

Blessed by wonderful friends.  Bojana and I finally ate lunch out of the house.  Why didn't we do this before?? No preparing of food.  No mess or dishes to worry about.  No toys to fight over or turf to lay claim to.  And no sandwich of mine compares to Five Guys burgers and fries.

Afterwards we walked over to the Babies'r'us.  We swapped children in our double strollers.  Nina Kate liked the new stroller and didn't mind a new side-kick for a few minutes.

April 15, 2012

Elmo continues to be Nina Kate's favorite.

We have an abundance of clover this year.  Will buy some weed'be'gone soon, but for now I'll just teach Nina how to make flower chains. =)

Cute Eyes

I sit down next to Nina and begin to brush her hair.  She looks up at me and says:
"Cute eyes Mama!  Black eyes.  Cute mouth.  Cute teeth.  Sharp teeth Mama."
I tease her and chomp at her fingers.  Then ask her what color my hair is.  She thinks for a few seconds and says, "gold!"

I like that answer!

Top 3 Nina Kate Phrases

"Whatch you are doing Mama?"

"Nice to see you Daddy!"

"Seven dollar pouch." (She is always assigning prices to things)

Potty Stake Out Day 2

I told myself we'd give it another quick try today while brother took his morning nap.  Of course after an hour passed by with no success I couldn't bring myself to give up.  I just know she will give in soon.  And I hate the thought of all that wasted effort.  So after a few hours we are eating another picnic lunch on the tile floor.  Nina is munching on some cucumbers and we hear "the music."  "I did it!!!" Nina exclaims before I can even process the royal trumpet triumph song. I look up completely shocked.  "You did do it!".  I lavished her with praise and offered the jellybean of her choice.  We even got to hear that royal music 2 more times in the next hour... of course followed by 2 more jellybeans.  

I consider this a great success and now I'm ready to sit on the couch and watch The Price is Right in the morning and let the potty sit in the closet for a few months.  

Royal Failure Day 1

So yesterday I had too much time on my hands in Wal-Mart and came home with a "big girl potty."  I literally opened up all the options and had Nina sit on them and I tested out their various features.  We settled on the Royal Potty that sings when pee hits the bowl.  I figure I'm a busy mom who could use a notification feature.

So today I had nothing on my calendar and Nina and I were both eager to try out our new purchase.  I am a novice at potty training but I've heard a few tips here and there so Nina and I settled down in the tiled hallway with Bibles, books, stickers, color magic pages, pretend food, flash cards, of course liquids of various kinds, and a picnic lunch... and so the great pee strike begins.

Two glasses of milk, a juice box, some sips of water, and two hours later she still hasn't made a royal drop in her potty.  I go to the kitchen to mix up some cereal for brother's lunch when I here the pitter patter of feet and turn and see Nina pee all over the tile floor!  ACK!

I try to keep my spirits up and carry on, knowing she has a lot left in her.  Finally, finally, finally I here the potty sing "hooray!" and I run to Nina.  "You did it!" I cheer and I look in the potty to see a few drops.  I decide to reward even the smallest success at this point and I tell her I'm proud of her, we dump it out, wash her hands and then..... WOOSH she pees all over the stepstool.  SIGH!

Family vacation... Sort of

Im typing this on the iPad from the microtel in Harrisonburg va. We are on our way to grandpa Kirby's funeral in pennsylvania.

When we pulled up to the hotel for the night Nina inquisitively shouted "new house?" lol. I tried to explain what a hotel is but she seemed pretty excited at the proposition of new diggs. She kept declaring "new couch!" as she climbed all over the sleeper sofa and "new bible!" when she dug out the Gideon's bible from the drawer. But best of all, when she wandered into the bathroom she shouted "cute bathtub!"

Yay for adventures and praising the Lord for such a pleasant day of travels! Even our McDonald's experience was exceptional. They gave us a whole bag full of free mcd cookies and those white mints. Feeling blessed.