our week

So, this is what has been happening around here lately...

Made necklaces...well, started them.  The girls lost focus.

Colored outside so that Emily could look cool in her shades.  Not that she needs to be outside to wear them.

Saw how sweet the girls can be...when they are sleeping.

Bella is in a dress mode.  She has been wearing dresses everyday for the past week.

Been dealing with these two.  Both these pictures are staged, but don't think for one minute that there is not a reality behind them.  I will admit they both got my attitude...poor me!

I gave Emily a haircut.  She always looked like a wild animal and refused to keep anything in her hair.  So, chopping it off seemed to work.

And, after Emily's photo session so I could get a picture of her new haircut, she decided she wanted to practice her photography.  At least she got part of me in the shot.  Better than I was expecting.

And, the most exciting news!  After 3 years and 4 months of diapers, our house is now diaper-free!  Yes, it is GREAT!  It has been about 3 days now that Emily has been in only underwear and no accidents.  Emily is 2 years and 3 months so she did it 2 months earlier than Bella.  NO MORE DIAPERS!  YAY!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and for those of you mothers, a great Mother's Day!

nap time bliss...a story of a proud momma

Nap time went off without a hitch! There was no getting out of the bed or crying. I am very proud of my little Emily.

Not only was she cooperative during nap time, but before bath time she sat on the potty chair and went pee and after bath time she told me she had to poopie. So, she sat down on the potty chair and pooped. She is making me one proud momma! Go Emily!

Peat and Repeat

Whatever Bella does you are sure to find Emily a few steps behind trying to do the same. Ever since Bella has been going to the bathroom on the toilet, Emily wants to as well. When Bella tells me she needs to go to the bathroom, we start walking there and Emily is following us screaming while trying to pull her own pants down. She wants to sit on the toilet and gets mad when Bella is.

She is CRAZY!

Here is a little video that shows her in the bathroom. Of course she is not really using the toilet, she just wants to think she does.

She watches what we do after Bella is finished doing her business. And the foot maneuver, she saw me do that a few times.

just another day

I know it is not really that exciting for you to see how my plants are growing but I am quite excited about the watermelon plant. I haven't really ever grown anything other than tomatoes. I wanted to show you a baby watermelon. He is just little bitty but hopefully he will grow to a nice size watermelon.

Also, I got a good size flower on the hydrangea plant.

Bella is still going strong with the potty training. No accidents, no diapers and she is going both #1 and #2 in the toilet. Her reward board is working out well.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July but being down here without the commericals, news reports and a normal job with the day off I really don't feel it is anything but a regular ol' day. Hopefully all of you will be doing something fun and watching some fireworks.

Hope you have a great 4th!

the chart

In the process of getting Bella to go to the bathroom in the toilet, we have established a pattern of getting "surprises". She goes potty and then asks for a reward. I tried to vary her rewards. They were a mixture of candy, fruit snacks and Hello Kitty stickers. But, I don't want to give her a food reward all the time and I am out of stickers. So, I tried to think of another way to do it.

I watch Supernanny because I like to get tips on how to deal with different issues. I know I don't do everything right but I am no where near as bad as some of those parents. No matter how good you are, Jo Frost know what's up as far as dealing with kids. I watch hoping to see some great idea that I can apply to our life.

You always see the Nanny bringing out some chart for chores or whatever. I thought I would give it a try. I had some foam sheets and made the board and pieces out of that. Bella really likes all the pieces that I made. I am just not sure how well she will understand the concept. I want her to be excited about putting the pieces on the board and once all the spaces are filled (there are 10 total) then she can pick a *surprise* from the store.

The first time she was able to put a piece on she didn't really understand and wanted a *surprise*. After she stopped crying I explained to her and showed her all the pieces I was making. We also hanged the chart on the wall and that got her even more excited. Once daddy got home Bella was able to show it off and tell him she went pee pee. I think this might be a better solution then giving her something every time.

Only time will tell.

So far day 3 has been a success!

***Update: She just went to the toilet again! She got to pick out the piece she wanted and she put it in the next box. She was happy with doing that. Looks like a good solution has been found.

This almost seems too easy! I know we have just began but she tells me every time she needs to go and that is it. So odd and good!

****Update #2: I know, enough with the updates! But, I am so excited about how easy this whole thing is. Bella is really liking the little pieces for her chart and is ready and willing to use the toilet. And it is interesting to see what piece she chooses next. I am going to have to buy some cheap toys and let her pick from them instead of going to the store every 10 bathroom trips.

wet and dry

A misconception about Mexico is it is hot all the time. Last year when I was coming back to visit for a month during the winter season people assumed that I would only need warm clothes for Indy and not Mexico.

The truth is there are so many elevations in Mexico that depending on where you are determines the weather. Here in Jalos we don't have much humidity. The hot days of summer are tolerable when sitting in the shade. Because it is the sun that makes it hot, not the air. That nasty humidity of Indy is NOT missed! And during the winter season the temperature at night drops to the low 30's.

Our summer is ending. Well, more like has ended. It starts warming up in March. April and May it is full blown summer. Hot days and temperatures in the 90's. June is when it starts cooling down again and towards the end of the month it starts into the rainy season. July and August it usually rains most days. But, not in that annoying way. It usually happens at night which makes it cooler to sleep and keeps the house a nice temperature during the day.


Outside it might be wet, but I am proud to report that we are dry inside. A ways back I mentioned I was starting to potty training Bella. Well, it was short lived. I think mostly because of me. After that first time she wanted to go on the toilet, she stopped. She didn't have an interest and I just let it go.

The other day I was thinking I really need to get it going because soon enough we will be in the States and I know that will be a stressful time for her so I would rather have it done by the time we get there. Plus, buying less diapers is always great! So, Tuesday morning she woke up with a dry diaper and I just took it off of her and put underwear on her. I told her that she is a big girl and big girls wear underwear. I also told her that big girls go potty in the toilet.


Since Tuesday morning she hasn't had a diaper on, not even at nap time or night time, and there have been no accidents. Not to say there won't be a few here and there, but mostly I am so thrilled that she is going along with this. She is a smaller version of me so if you know how stubborn I am than you know why I am excited that she is willing to cooperate. We are on day 3 of no diapers and it is just awesome.

While it is raining and wet outside, we have a dry little girl inside and one proud momma.

big day...

For all of you parents out there, you will relate to my big news. Today, for the first time, Bella went potty in the toilet!

Lately she hasn't been wearing a diaper, or clothes for that matter. She asks for a diaper when she had to do something. I have been asking her if she wants to go to the bathroom to potty and she always says no. She is almost 2 1/2 years old and I really wanted to get the ball rolling a while back but she has been resisting. I read some info on the net and it said not to push them. If you do, they will fight back even harder.

Since Emily is in diapers it isn't like I can get rid of them anyway so I didn't stress. I bought her some underwear hoping that would get her excited but didn't work. Grandma mailed us some My Little Pony underwear not to long ago and those are her favorite. Lately she has been asking to wear them. I was hoping it was a step in the right direction. And, I was right!

She was standing in the bathroom with no diaper or underwear and said she had to pee pee. I told her to sit on the toilet and do it and I would give her candy. Bribes are great! And, she did!

I wanted to make a big deal out of it so of course there was lots of praise from me and she got the candy, a sucker, and we called daddy to tell him and called Grandma at work. I hope she wants to do it again.

Please let this be a short, easy transition!