Thank goodness for...

These...these...and ESPECIALLY these...Kenadie LOVES all of these!!! And so,I felt inspired to share :) It really makes you feel loved and reassures you of how special you are when your child wakes up in the morning or from a nap and IMMEDIATELY greets you with "cupcakes Mommy?" They are called "Smart Snacks." Toys R Us has the ice cream cones, the others I ordered from Amazon. BEST money I've spent yet on toys! Not to mention, they are very educational, colorful and durable. We also have the do-nuts. Can you tell I like these toys and plan to have everything they make :)

Aaron left this past Tuesday for Washington D.C., and Kenadie and I can't wait for his return home tomorrow! It should come as no surprise that she and I fled the scene upon his departure :) One night alone is my limit--and we didn't even do that this time! I am such a wimp--there, I said it! Stop reading here if you aren't interested in potty training info :) Have a great weekend!

If you chose to stick with me...

On a note about potty training... we are SO almost there! We are down to just using one diaper a day, and that's for bedtime. If my one reader is reading this :) and by chance, you are about to embark on the adventures of potty training, my few tips to pass along are:

1.) Be patient. I think my patience has just about been tested the most on this journey.

2.) Taking Kenadie to the potty every 10 minutes got us NOWHERE! I discovered that by taking a step back, and letting her "learn" how to go, rather than trying to "make" her go worked wonders for us. That being said...

3.) We started round 2 of potty training by only "going" to the potty twice a day, once first thing in the morning and then before bath time at night. By doing this, she learned "how" to go, when by nature, we pretty much all have to go anyway :) Sorry if this is too much information, but just giving some tips here :)

4.) Once we mastered our two times a day, I started taking her hourly, with two M&M's as her reward. I highly recommend the training pants that Gerber makes. I've only seen them at Target. They pretty much absorb all of an accident if it happens, but yet give the feel of panties/underwear.

5.) I've lengthened our potty visits to every hour and a half or so. I'm now trying to let her tell me when she needs to go. It's so hard when it has been two hours since she has gone. The controlling part of me wants to take her because I know she would go, but in making an effort to let her become more independent... I'm waiting for her to tell me, which sometimes does result in an accident, but we are definitely improving. I guess they DO need to have accidents so that they see what happens when they don't go to the potty :) FYI--I only do that at home, letting her tell me... I'm not quite that brave yet :)

6.) My final point, potty training is DEFINITELY a process. It surely doesn't happen overnight, or at least it didn't for us. We have been working on it successfully now for about a month. With each week, I see DRASTIC improvements that I guess just have to come on their own. Good luck and hang in there!