Potty Training 101

So I have finally made the plunge to potty train. Mind you this is something I have been dreading since the day Tyler was born. I have heard so many horror stories about potty training and that boys are so much harder. I just haven't wanted to do it, but the other day we were almost out of diapers so my options were: spend $40 on diapers..or start potty training.

Guess what I chose..and am I regretting it..yes a little.

Items to get started..
*20 pairs of potty pants
*treats of Tyler's choice
*juice and lots of fluids to drink
*extra blankets and sheets
*Noah's Ark and a lot of animals
*Patience and TIME

What can I say there is no easy way to potty train your child unless you are Gina and you child does it herself. But it has to be done, so my friend Nikki at work gave me a copy of the book she used that's called how to Potty Train in 3 days...did it work might you ask?

Well kind of, he isn't completely potty trained, we still have accidents and he still can't make it through the night, but it's only day 5. He did however learn the concept in 3 days, and I agree with her methods completely. Her entire point of the first 3 days is to catch your child in every accident they have and run them to the bathroom in the middle of it..this trains them to recognize when they have to go potty and what it feels like. Tyler actually caught onto this really well. He just has trouble stopping what he's doing to go potty. You are also not suppose to ask them if they need to go potty, because they will most likely say NO. But you gently remind them at least 1,000 times a day to tell mommy if you have to go potty, after awhile when I would say this he would say yes I do, and it makes him feel like he made the choice. But like I said we aren't completely there, but I'm hoping another week will do the trick. Nikki trained her little guy in less than 2 weeks (even through the night) using this method and he is 2 months younger than Tyler. So cross your fingers for me because I'm hoping to have him trained before we move into our new house, so hopefully I can avoid the accidents on my new carpet.


The basket is full of presents which are animals that go to the Ark, so every time he tells me he has to go potty and he makes it..he gets to open a present. Luckily we have a lot of animals to go with it. But he gets so excited and wants everybody to watch him open it. I am so proud of you Big Boy!

Good News

Goods news..we have only one week left until we close on our new home. We are so excited..the stresses of doing sweat equity have gotten the best of us and we are so happy to be coming to the end. We have finally finished all the tile, the painting and the cabinets. They came and put in our counter tops, and appliances and we will be getting carpet tomorrow. So as much as you guys are probably done hearing about the house..we are done working on it and will hopefully be closing next Wednesday.

The finished product of the Kitchen, well we still have to get some bar stools and a table but it will come, hopefully soon.

This is the tile work in the Kitchen we also did 2 baths and the Laundry room. If you haven't done tile work before it is a big project and a very long process, but I think it turned out okay for beginners.

Tyler was very helpful when it came to cleaning the floors..in fact a little too helpful we had water everywhere, love you bug

My quirks

So I know Gina tagged me like forever ago..but I honestly have not had even 2 seconds to check my blog let alone respond to a post. So I'm sorry I'm finally getting around to it.

~ Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.

~ Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.

~ Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.
1.I too have a weird quirk that drives Kevin crazy: I like to pick at things, like whenever I have a zit(which by the way I have gotten way more of those things in the last month than I ever did as a teenager..everybody says it's from stress, but it's still makes me crazy) I have to pop it and pick at it until it's gone. I know it's gross and I probably shouldn't admit it, but it's true. I also like to pick at scabs, I even try to do it to Kev sometimes and he gets so mad. Sorry Honey..I will try to stop.

2. I am somewhat of a clean freak, what can I say I like to have a clean house..let's face it at this point I would just like to have a house. But I'm not one of those deep cleaning type of people I just like to surface clean a lot. And things have to be put away at night before I go to bed and the bed has to be made in the morning. Except on Tuesdays because I leave for work before Kevin and I have yet to come home to a bed made. But lo and behold I have to make it even at 8:00 at night.

3. I also am not a morning person. (G we are more alike than I thought) my alarm clock is Tyler and I don't get up a second before. My sister in law puts it this way--enjoy it while you can because before you know it you'll be getting up at 6am to get them off to school. Thanks Holly for helping me not to feel so guilty.

4. I am very stubborn and usually have to be right..Kevin can attest to this. I don't mean to be that way but when I feel strongly about something I stand my ground. I think that I have gotten better through our married years, but I'm sure I still have work to do.

5. I am some what of a perfectionist.. I wouldn't say it's to the point that I need help, but I like things to look good. I think that I have rubbed off on Kev a little because when we were doing the tile in our house he must have re cut about every 4th piece of tile because it was a little off. I'm glad that he had the patience, because I know we will enjoy it more now.

6. I am not your typical girl to buy chocolates for on Valentine's day. I'm just not a big fan of chocolate, If I have chocolate it has to be chocolate covered cinnamon bears. Other than that I would prefer some other form of sweets.

I am tagging....Lindsay H., Nikki V., Lindsay C., Tiffany S., Rachel P., Melissa P.

The count down is starting

Update with the house--

Things have been moving rather quickly, and we couldn't be happier. They have almost completely finished the exterior of the house..minus the stucco which should be happening in the next few days. Other than that the siding, the roof, the windows..you know, everything that goes into a house is done.

On the inside--they have finished framing and wiring, insulating, as well as sheet rock, taping and mudding. I think they have one more coat of mudding and sanding to do and then it will be time to paint. Starting next Friday and Saturday we will be painting all the baseboards white (rest of house will be tan..well minus a few rooms that I will add a little more color to). I know this is a tedious job and many people have recommended not to do it, but we figured it would be a lot easier than trying to paint 10+ foot walls in the Kitchen and Front room. Plus they are letting us do it before they install carpet which will be 10x's easier. We will also be installing tile in all the bathrooms, laundry room, entry way, and Kitchen. This is going to be a big job, but we wanted it to look nice and couldn't afford to upgrade to tile. So we are counting on family and friends and anyone who is willing to help to get this done. We only have one week..because the following weekend we have my brother and uncle installing all of our cabinets. I am very excited for this because we are doing different colors throughout the house instead of it being all the same as it would be with the builder. So it will make our Kitchen a little unique and different from the rest of our neighbors, (no offense Jen and Aaron).

So my project for this week is making curtains for a few of the windows in the house. I finally went to NPS that everyone has been raving about and found some amazing fabric, that I got at a great deal. So I am very excited to make them and put them up in our home. I also have been painting a few things for the house and found some great candlesticks at Smith's Marketplace for a good deal..which I painted black, and then I found some candles to put on them that will match the colors in the fabric. So.. it's coming along and I can't wait to move in and put it all together.

I will post more pics of the tile and cabinets once we get them in.. but for now these are a few pics of the progress.

week four..

week six..

week six..

week eight..back of house

week eight..front of house