Potty training

So last week I started potty training with Dane. He has been showing interest for a few months but i was trying to hold him off until we got back from FL. Knowing that being in a car for that long would probably undue all my efforts up to that point. Now we are back and it is going good. Dane is starting to tell me when he has to go pee and will tell me when he is stinky which is going in the right direction. With Mia I was home a lot more so that is making it a little more of a challenage but maybe this way Dane will do better with public toilets. (Mia refused to go on any noisy potties the entire trip to FL. She is not a fan of automatic flushing to say the least!) So Dane has been going 2-3 times a day and I am braving the world of big boy pants today. Mia would sit on the potty just to get the treat (M&Ms) but Dane doesn't seem to want to sit there unless he wants to actually go. But I am fine with doing it on his terms.

Vacation recap

We just got back from Marathon, FL. Another successful Easter vacation. 18 family members, 1 house, ages 1.5 - 83 years old. 1500 miles. I will post some pics later but here is a recap of how things went.

We left Friday afternoon, 2 suburbans and a van full. We joke every year that we look like the Beverly Hillbillies driving down the road. My parents' burbon 5 had a car top carrier on the roof and a luggage rack that hooks into the hitch. At one rest stop my sister Kaitlyn comes out of the bathroom and tells us that Margaret, a family friend, is in there. Now it is late at night and i am guessing that we are in either KY or TN. What are the chances of that? But Margaret was heading to FL with her daughter and grandkids. The trip was going along rather uneventful and we were making decent time. The GPS said we would be to the house in the Keys by 4 pm Saturday. All that changed when we came to a complete stop on the interstate. And we stayed that way for over 3 hours! We watched Marley & Me and tried to waste some time. I can only imagine how far the traffic backed up behind us. We were pretty close to where the accident happened. We ran into traffic several other places but finally managed to reach Marathon at 11pm! My dad went to sleep right in the front seat of the Burbon 5.
The house was really nice and there was plenty of room. We got our workout each day walking the stairs that lead down to the dock and pool. Iguanas were all over the place and the kids liked watching them. We managed not to go to the store every day, usually we need something from there every day. My mom, Andrea, and I power shopped Sunday morning filling 2 carts in about an hour. Good work girls! To give you an idea of how much food we needed, we went thru 2 loaves of bread for one lunch and 5 racks of ribs for 1 dinner. You get the idea.
The Easter bunny came to our house early since we would be driving on Easter. (I'll post more about that another day.) We all went to Key West on Tuesday and had a nice time. Andrea and I scored the parking spot of the day, right off Duvall St. The men spent most of the day at the Sports Page, a bar with no Key West atmosphere but they were happy. We walked around, did some shopping and watched the sunset festivities in Mallory Square. Then back to the house we went. And for the record, Andrea and I were NOT mad. The kids were just done! We ate dinner at the McD's with the best view in the US. Overlooking the water in Key West.
Boat rides and pool duty filled the rest of the week. We had to be out of the house Saturday morning so we started our journey home to IL. Dropping Aunt Chris and Jacob off at the airport and Grandma Hartnett off at her house we hit the road. It was slow going pulling a boat back but we had plenty of time. Dane did good on the way down but on the way home he was not happy. He was screeching if he was awake. He earned himself the nickname Teradactyl. Thank goodness he is a grandson or my dad might have "ripped his face off!" Ask Kaden about that. We stopped at a nice hotel in GA and then another one in TN. We didn't have any swimsuits available (all packed away in the car top carriers) for the kids so we did it white trash style. Underwear or diapers for the kids. Now we are back home and it is freezing. I am ready to head back to FL already!

Quick one

Well I am taking a quick break from packing. I managed to get all our clothes into 1 bag. That's pretty good considering that is a family of 4, clothes for a week +. Anyways I am counting down the hours until we hit the road. There are 3 vehicles caravanning down the FL. 2 of us are going all the way to Marathon (half way down the Keys). Matt is in for a new experience, since the only time he has driven to FL was 1 time for spring break in college. I have a feeling this road trip might be a little different. Regardless, we are hoping to get there by late Saturday night. My plan for the week is to sit by the pool, read a book or two and have a few cocktails! Hopefully the kids are good with the plan too! There will be 18 of us staying in 1 house, ages 1.5 to 83! Something for everyone! I hope everyone has a wonderful spring break and I will be posting pics as soon as we get back. I hope we bring a little sun and warmth back with us!

new saying

Well this morning I said something without really thinking and it turns out it was pretty smart. And simple! Mia has a habit of repeating herself over and over. So this morning I said:
You said it. I heard it. No need to repeat it.

I am trying to acknowledge when she says something whether it needs a response or not. So she knows I heard her. We will see how it goes.

life is good

I get to wake up to this sweet face. How lucky am I?

Hello everyone! I have been loving this weather lately. Mia said the funniest thing this morning to me (she is at that age where she loves to talk and most of it is very funny.)

Mia: Mommy last night when you were bye-bye and it was dark out. I watched a show with Daddy. The ladies had babies in their tummies and they popped them out!

Me: I turn around with a slightly confused look on my face trying to figure out what she is talking about. Then I remember that New Adventures of Old Christine was on and they have a couple ladies on that show that are preggo. So, it makes sense but for a moment I had to wonder what kind of shows they watched when i am not around.

Since we have moved back to IL, Matt has taken over bath time duties. He used to be at work at night so he missed out on the majority of them. (That means I DID the majority of them!) It gives me a little quiet time or time to sit on the couch and just relax for a bit. On Tuesday night just as he was getting ready to get the kids into the bath Harold called and so I took over the routine. I had a great time watching them splash around. Sometimes you need to break out of the routine just to see what happens on the other side. Now I will hand bath time back to Matt and enjoy my 15 minutes of 'me' time.

He just wanted to stay wrapped up in his frog towel. I just wanted to snuggle him!

Dane is currently obsessed with his belly button. He pushes it and says' "Beep Beep!" If he sees someone else's watch out, he now will go after that one. He wakes up in the morning and he's in his crib "Beep Beep." Same thing at nap time. I think he might go into shock in a couple weeks in FL when everyone has their swimsuits on. His favorite belly button, after his, is Papa's.

Mia walks around the house singing all day. Making ups songs, mixing up words to actual songs and singing some just like they were sang to her. I love it. I wish I could bottle it up and save it for 10 years down the road. The Hokey Pokey is a current fave. Kaitlyn and Kara do it with her and you should see her stick her bum in and shake it all around. I am pretty sure she gets that from me.

Here is Mia trying to figure out what to wear. She is such a girl!

Smiles all around

Some things in life just put a smile on my face. A real wood burning fireplace, a newborn baby, a phone call from a friend you haven't talked to in a while. There are others but you get the idea. Today is a dreary, rainy day but we all had a smile on our face as we finished lunch. Chocolate pudding has that power. Mia and Dane had their first taste of it last night at dinner and the smiles were just as big. So after eating a great lunch I was happy to dish out the chocolate goodness.

I finished another dress for Mia last week and I am putting the final touches on a dress for myself. I made a little headband to match Mia's dress. (It came in handy when she got sick that night at Ohma's house.) Next up so overalls for Dane. I just sew for enjoyment and to use my brain. It's a nice change of pace, sewing machines are pretty quiet! So let me know if you need something. And I am still waiting for the material to arrive for the girls who already told me what they want. Hoping to get the shipment late this week.

Catch up time

I can't believe that it has been so long since i was on here. Well February was pretty busy. We went to a lot of volleyball games, my sisters stayed with us for a weekend and just life in general kept us moving. I had surgery on my wrist and can't wait for the darn splint to come off (just a few more days). You never realize how many things require 2 hands when you are a mommy. I have taken a little break from sewing but plan on jumping right back into it next week.

We managed to get some fresh air this week and really enjoyed being outside. It was nice to get out a different set of toys for a bit. Mia worked on her new scooter. She must get that from Papa Hartnett. And Dane just wanted to get into everything and get out all the balls he could find in the garage.