Road Trip

Today was busy, so busy! We went to church this morning as normal then we headed to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge Tn.

  We got there later than we had expected so it didn't leave us much time to spend in the park. Thankfully the weather had warmed up some since yesterday. 

My mom and step dad were already there, so we met up with them so Bryan could ride some roller coasters with my step dad and my mom and I took Maddox to ride the kiddie rides. I didn't realize how much longer things take with two babies. We didn't get much riding rides in by the time we changed diapers and fed everybody, etc. 

Then Bryan, Natalie, and I went to watch the McKamey family sing while mom and my step dad rode some more rides with Maddox. It's always a blessing to hear them sing. Although our time there was short we still had a great time an it felt nice just being out of the house. 

We put Maddox in diapers after church and while we were at Dollywood because I don't have a travel potty seat yet. I hope it doesn't back track our progress. 

On our way home the roads were very trafficy (if that's a word) so it took us longer than normal to get home. We had a great, busy day and now it is time for bed because my eyes are having a hard time staying open!

*I forgot to take my phone in so I'll have to add more pictures tomorrow from my actual camera. 

Happy Sunday!

-Hannah

Natalie's Birth Story

I figured since Natalie is a month old now it was time to write about her birth. Let me just start out by saying that I had this "perfect" birth plan typed up and was planning a natural birth at the hospital. Well my due date came and my group of doctors that I go to apparently think it's crazy for someone to go many days past their due date. They wanted to schedule me to be induced at my 39 week appointment, but I asked to wait because I really wanted to have a natural birth. I made it to my 40 week appointment and was told I could wait a few more days, but couldn't go past 41 weeks. They went ahead and scheduled my induction to be at 40 weeks and 3 days. I prayed and prayed and prayed that she would come on her own if it was the Lord's will.

Last pregnancy pic

Tuesday night (the night before I was to be induced) they had me come in around 8pm to start Cervidil, a medicine that goes on your cervix to try to thin and dilate it. They actually got that started around 10pm and I was just to lay there (and try to sleep) and be on a monitor all night. Bryan left shortly after that to go home and sleep and so Maddox could sleep in his own bed. I started having contractions around 11:30pm and contracted on and off all night. I thought surely I had dilated and possibly in labor, but around 6am they checked me and I had not dilated any. So then they started the pitocin and I knew I'd have to have an epidural. At this point I threw my birth plan out the window (not literally). Bryan came back around 7am and my mom watched Maddox. I got the epidural, but after a few minutes I realized I wasn't getting numb, so they tried to up the amount and still nothing. They decided to redo the whole setup, so I ended up getting 2 epidurals! Thankfully that one worked because the pain was getting pretty intense. I was really numb with the second epidural.

Then they broke my water and I went from 5cm to 10cm in like 30 minutes! They were afraid my doctor wouldn't make it in time! Thankfully he rushed in just in time because in three pushes (4 minutes) she was here! They placed her on my chest and we waited until her cord stopped pulsing before Bryan cut it (the only thing that happened that was in my birth plan)! I nursed her right then and just like her brother latched on like a champ. It was all such a whirlwind that I don't remember much after that until all the family came in.

Proud Papa!

We stayed as little as we had to and left the next day. Although nothing went how I planned, I know everything went how God planned because every time I prayed about giving birth I prayed His will be done. I am just so glad she is here and a healthy baby. We can't imagine life without her!

The many faces of Natalie :)

-Hannah

1 Month Old!

Today Natalie is 1 month old! Where has

time gone! I know the first two years of Maddox's life flew by and I'm sure hers will do the same!

Today we got our normal chores out of the way before nap time. After Maddox's nap we went to Target so he could use his gift card he got for his birthday. I'm getting braver about venturing out with two kids. Maddox picked out (with a little help from me) a Disney matching game, Color Wonder markers with a Mickey Mouse coloring book to go with them, and some really cute Hape jungle animals lacing beads. I refuse to buy him anything that requires batteries anymore for three reasons. #1: Batteries are expensive and 99% of the time when the die I don't replace them. #2: Battery powered toys are generally very noisy. And #3 (the most important): I once read a quote, "Active toys make passive children, but passive toys make active children".  When a toy does all the imagining for them they don't do it on their own. I love to watch Maddox play with his little cars by himself because he's using his imagination with them. Maddox often gets gifts that are battery powered toys and we gladly accept them and I'll let him play it until the batteries run out, but if someone asks me what he wants I try to suggest non-battery toys. The only battery powered toys I really like are ones that pertain to learning like his See N Say or he has a Leap Frog Tag Jr with the little books. 

I ended up getting some tote boxes at Target because Maddox's toys were becoming piled up and cluttered. I decided to do a toy rotation with them. He has an organizer bin that has 12 little buckets, so I put one toy or activity in each bucket and put the rest away. His toy organizer still looks full and I had to use 2 big totes for the rest that's how cluttered it was! I plan to swap out toys every two weeks. This also will give me a better idea of what he plays with and what he doesn't. I'll probably leave his little cars out full time because I know he plays with them everyday and a puzzle of some sort because he does those everyday. 

We spent the evening playing with his new toys. He hasn't seemed to notice that most of his toys are missing. I hope this helps his independent play a little better because he won't feel overwhelmed at the massive pile of toys. 

We have decided to postpone our little trip we had planned tomorrow to Sunday because it's supposed to be really cold tomorrow, but warm back up on Sunday. 

Do you do a toy rotation? How do you do yours?

-Hannah

Potty Training Day 4

I think we have come to a stand still in potty training. I let him lead the way today about when he needed to go, but I would remind him every 30 minutes. He never would tell me when he needed to go and we had several accidents, so I went back to making him go every 30 minutes. I think that is going to be our groove for a while because I learned today that 30 minutes is about how long he can hold it. I hope if we do it this way for a while he will eventually get the idea of what it feels like when he needs to go and will tell me.

Sporting his big boy underwear.

We had a pretty normal day today. I had to pull out the iPad today with a show to keep Maddox occupied so I could feed Natalie. I don't like to resort to electronics to occupy him, but he is going through a phase of wanting someone to play with him all the time. I need to get some activities that he can do on his own that I only pull out when I need to nurse so they always seem new and exciting. 

Milk coma :)

It was the perfect weather today so we got out for a walk. Bryan had to work for a little bit today, so I tried to have dinner ready when he got home. After dinner, I gave both kids a bath and go them both to bed while Bryan mowed our jungle we had growing outside. Mowing is apparently not on our high priority list and we are definitely not "keeping up with the Jones'" when it comes to having a manicured yard. Now we are trying to enjoy a little quiet before heading to bed.

What household duty do you tend to put off?

-Hannah

Potty Training Day 3

Big Brother helping sissy with her pacifier!

We have moved up to 30 minute increments between potty breaks! We only had one accident and it was my fault. I turned the timer of and then got distracted before we made it to the bathroom. I think I have changed my mind on nap time and night time training for now though because he is still waking up really wet. If he just wears two diapers a day that will drastically cut down on my diaper laundry. I'm going to continue tomorrow with 30 minute reminders, but I am going to let him tell me when he needs to go instead of making him go. If it turns out to be a total disaster I'll go back to taking him every 30 minutes.

He had a bit of a rough behavior day today. We stayed out pretty late at my mom's house last night so I don't think either one of us were well rested this morning (although Natalie slept from 11pm-6:30am!). I thought if I could just make it to nap time we would all feel better after a nap. The nap did help him out a bit, but I think I felt more tired when I woke up. He did good until around 6pm when he started to get sleepy. Things started to head down fast, so I had to get creative to keep us both positive. We had a silly dance party, which got us both laughing and back in better spirits. 

He wanted me to take his picture in his Woody PJs

On a side note: I signed up for the Disney Movie Club, which seems like it is going to be a good deal. I got Maddox 7 movies for $26 and the catch is I have to purchase 4 more movies at regular price ($19.95) within the next 2 years. Not a bad deal at all especially considering the 7 movies I got are all movies I was looking to buy right now for him anyway. I got him  Toy Story 1,2, & 3, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, Planes, and Cars. I can't wait to see the look on his face when all his favorite movies come in the mail! 

Chunky Cheeks

Now I'm off to bed early so I won't be dragging tomorrow!

How did you tackle nap/night time potty training? 

-Hannah

Potty Training Day 2

Maddox is still doing really well with the potty training. We have increased his time between potty breaks to 20-25 minutes with no accidents in between. I put a diaper on him at nap time and when we went out to Rite Aid. I plan to work on nap time and night time by Thursday.

All dressed up :)

I have adventured into couponing. Not extreme couponing, but just couponing when I see a good deal. Today at Rite Aid I got 3 shampoos, 3 conditioners, 2 hair sprays, and 1 can of mousse (all Pantene brand) for $15 and received $10 in their +up rewards. So I basically got all of that for $5. I plan to go back later in the week and spend the $10 on a few others products I have good coupons for.

In Natalie news, she was attempting to smile today and it was so cute! 

Smiley Girl!

After our trip to the store we headed over to my mom's house to share my big pot of beans I had made today and also so I could watch the new episodes of 19 Kids and Counting.

Do you coupon?? Where are your favorite places to shop with coupons??

-Hannah

Potty Training Day 1

Today was our first official day of potty training. It went very well! We got off to a little bumpy start, but two little accidents later we were on our way. I'll tell you what I'm doing so that way if it works it might be an encouragement to other mommas trying to potty train and of it doesn't work you'll know what not to do! :)

This morning I got all of his underwear and put them in a little basket and let him choose which pair he wanted to wear (his  Disney character ones are his favorite). I then set a timer for 15 minutes and took him to try to potty when it would go off. The first two times I didn't set a timer because I thought I would keep track on my own the 15 minutes, but I didn't do very good so we had two accidents. That's when I decided I need a timer. He went potty every time I took him all day except twice and even went #2! I put a diaper on him for nap time and he wasn't real wet when he woke up so maybe in a day or two we will adventure into that. Tomorrow I'm going to increase the time to 20 minutes and eventually one day this week work up to him telling me when he needs to go. 

I did get most of the cleaning done I wanted to, but having to stop what I was doing every 15 minutes kept me a little distracted, but I feel I've started the week of on a high note so it gives me hope for the rest of the week! We are planning a little trip on Saturday so that gives me something to look forward to and "work" for. 

I didn't take any pictures today which I was wanting to do better at that, but I'll leave you with a cute throwback picture of Maddox :)

How did you potty train your little ones?

-Hannah