Dress-up is fun!

Look at these little cuties... not much I need to say but they're all dressing up in their little costumes and the cuteness just deserved its own post. Love you guys!

Potty Training Allie

After potty training 3 children, does that make one an expert? I'm not sure what the qualifications of that are, but I don't think it really gets any easier. Though, for some reason I thought it would. Truth is: the thought "she's my 4th, this should be pretty easy right?" definitely crossed my mind. Not that I truly think I'm an expert but she should just pick it up by osmosis because I'VE done it so many times, right?

Potty training Allie really hasn't been hard, I just wanted it to be really really easy. In fact, the hardest part has been finding the time to do it! Last year, I thought for sure Allie would be a potty pro before the calendar turned. Well, here's the thing: time is of short supply and my availability is in even shorter supply. 

Last summer Allie showed signs of being ready, but I wasn't in a hurry b/c she wasn't yet 2, plus we were out of town in June for Maggie's therapy. Sadly, we had 2 funerals in July, plus I was out of town then we had another funeral in August and school started. Normally, this would be a great time to start, but I decided to homeschool this year, so the opposite was the case. I simply had no time or mental aptitude to tackle both these major things. I still thought, no worries, we'll get there. But that continued to be the case week after week month after month. I had this same problem with Jake; we simply weren't home for long enough stretches throughout the day to actually stay consistent so we kept starting and stopping! I have tried several times with Allie, but lacked consistency beyond 2 maybe 3 days and was only half in it on those days. 

HOWEVER, there's a light at the end of this tunnel. This week I decided I was just going to have to save instruction time until Allie was napping. Will could do his independent work, but beyond that, we changed up our schedule so I could focus on this potty training thing. And it's working!! Why didn't I do this before?!!!? Too overwhelmed was all I can say. So, attempt #263 is now in full affect with my undivided attention and progress is being made, amazing how that happens. 

We started Monday and went through nearly every pair of Allie's underwear. Oh but Tuesday. Sweet Tuesday, January 24, around 9:30am, Allie peed on the potty!! She went two more times that day aaaaand pooped once! The poop was before naptime. What's even better, is while I asked and guided her to the toilet several times, she initiated many tries. She also shared her potty treats with her siblings. :) Who ever heard of a sharing 2-year-old!!??!! I love this girl! :)

Today is day 4 and she's mostly accident free. Her pattern seems to be asking and then running to the potty at least 3-4 times before she actually potties. She's very good at holding it in. Her pull ups are still pretty full after nap & bedtime, so we're not there yet, but such a great start for this sweet pea baby girl!! I haven't bought diapers in awhile, we moved on to pull ups around Thanksgiving I think for all those times I was "working on it." I guess that means we've technically been diaper-free for awhile, but it looks like we're on our to having a house full of potty-able people. :) 

I really wasn't worried, I knew she'd go to Kindergarten potty-trained, but is nice to be on the cusp of one less thing on my plate to do...

Cuties

My girls...

The big kids during the school day

 The littles

 All 4. The top pic is blurry but Jake's face is hilarious so I had to add it 

Odds-n-Ends

January seems like it's always a low-key month. Christmas is over, school is back and things are just mellow. If any other month besides December preceded January, it may not seem that way but the juxtaposition certainly leaves January feeling quiet. Here's some of the happenings:

I started a new spelling program with Will at the end of November and I hoped to complete it before the semester ended. We sailed through pretty quickly, but with the business of December, we just didn't get it done. We had a couple lessons left, so we finished up before officially starting second semester next week. We're working on a few subjects this week, but easing back in. 

 We bought Oregon Trail for one of Will's Christmas presents and thought he'd be stoked about it. But if figured if nothing else, it brought back some nostalgia from our childhood. Will hasn't sat down to play yet, so Daniel and I decided to tackle it. This was our first game and we both died of snake bites! We played several more times and were winning (making it to Oregon) so we realized we weren't playing correctly -- don't know why Daniel didn't read all the rules to begin with. By the time we were playing full bore, we got nowhere near the end. This game is hard! :)