Monday afternoon, naptime.

Let me start off by saying M slept great last night! I put him down at 8:30. He woke up about 10:30 to eat, but didn't eat much so I was afraid he'd be up about 2. Well, he started waking up at 4:00am!! I'm thrilled. I'm really hoping now that he is getting close to 3 months that 4am will be the norm. How cool would that be?

Speaking of M, my milk supply issues are fixed. They improved a lot after I finally kicked my cold last week. I actually was able to pump 10 oz. on Sunday morning - I felt like a cow! I'm keeping up with the fenugreek pills to help, at least for a few more weeks.

Brett's family is coming into town on Thursday for the Brickyard. Can't wait to see them. We always have so much fun with them. I have my menu planned. I always try to bring 2-3 things over to help with the food. I know Kylie will be so excited to see Dillion, she just thinks he's the best thing ever. We'll have to be careful and considerate so Dillion doesn't overdose on K!

Brett's mom's cousin Dick died this morning at 6:30. S thinks the viewing will be Wednesday evening and funeral on Thursday. I dropped off his suits at the cleaners this morning, they should be ready at noon on Wednesday.

K and I went to the pool in Plainfield today. That waterpark is so fun. K loved it! I could hardly sit down, she kept saying "Get up mommy, come over here". It wasn't too crowded, probably because it was a Monday. S watched M for the morning while we were there. It was nice to have some time with just K. I also stopped by Metropolis and exchanged my new Yankee candle for a scent that I like better. And I got M a pair of knit pants from ON to match a onesie that we have.

PTing is going ok. We did the naked thing for 1.5 days and it went well. No pee accidents. She didn't pooh on the floor or anything either, she would just start grabbing her butt and I'd rush her to the potty but she wouldn't finish going. Last night she actually played with a magnadoodle on the toliet for 15 mins while I tried talking her into poohing. Seemed like she was actually trying but didn't. Today she had a little bit in her panties when we got home from the pool but didn't go anymore when I got her to the potty. I did tell her that she would have to wear diapers like a baby until she started going on the potty. She did not like that at all. She is NOT a baby. And does NOT wear diapers. I also told her that she needs to go in the potty before she can go to school. We'll see if anything happens with this now.

Sunday evening.

Friday evening we volunteered with our small group to do free babysitting at the church. We had about 15 kids!! Wore us all out.

Busy but good weekend. Saturday Brett took Kylie to Art class and I took Matthew to the grocery store. I got food for this weekend for the Brickyard party. Talked to mom too, she sounds like she feels much better. This bronchitis has really knocked her on her butt. I'm glad she is on the mend.

After naps, we went to Tonya's wedding. It was so wonderful to see her clean, sober and healthy and very happy. Her husband is Alejandro, we call him Alex. The wedding itself was very short (we got there late due to getting lost. Kylie asked me "What does frustrated mean? What is wrong with my daddy??). There were probably 50 people there or so. Art, Cathy, Dick, Sharon, John and us were there for our side of the family. It was so impossibly hot that M was miserable. We kept him inside but after a few hours he couldn't handle it anymore so we left. They had a pool and Kylie and John got in it to cool off. Kylie came up to me after dinner, pulling her dress up and said "I can take my shirt off, please?". They had a mariachi band there for a while too that was really good. Interesting to see the Mexicans enjoy it - lots of dancing and singing! Dick wanted to hire them for the Brickyard party but I told B who told D that it's an "in the moment thing" and we'd just stare instead of dance since we don't know any of the songs or dances.

Tom came over after we got home and stayed until 11:30. He seems to be over the divorce but was upset about a girl who he really liked dumping his this past week. Brett and I talked with him and gave him some advice. He's trying to keep his life as normal as possible for his son but doesn't know what his new normal is yet.

M was so tired from the wedding that he slept from 8:30pm - 4:30 am!!!! I could hardly believe it. Tonight I bathed him and put him to bed at 8:30 so we'll see what happens. He very well might be up at midnight looking for dinner, who knows.

Sunday was church and then we went to our friends Andy and Sara's son Joshua's first b-day party. We got a call that Cousin Dick is dying. Brett went to the hospital to be with his mom. I guess he actually flatlined for 18 minutes but they brought him back. So he is brain dead. They turned off the respirator and are waiting for him to die. The man has been miserable for years so this is what he would want. Guess we'll be going to a funeral / visitation this week.

Friday afternoon, kids are napping.

Wednesday night Matthew slept till 2:45 and up at 5. Thursday night he slept till 3:30 and to 6. I don't think cluster feeding him works well, he has been getting up earlier when we do that. I think we'll stick to feeding him at 10:30 for the night. I also want to try to get him into bed for the night earlier, like 7:30ish. Maybe we'll try that this weekend.

PTing is going ok. Kylie didn't have any accidents yesterday with pee. We even went to Gymboree and the fair with no problems. She did poop in the evening on Thursday in her panties while playing outside. Friday, today, we're doing "naked" day. No panties, no clothes at all for Kylie. She has told me every time she needs to go tinkle and she knows now before she starts to go too. She did try to poop in the living today while she was naked. I saw her grabbing at her butt and rushed her to the bathroom. She had already gone a little bit, which fell in the toilet. But she refused to push anymore. We're babysitting at the church tonight with our small group so I'm sure she'll poop there if she doesn't go beforehand.

I had my MK celebration party at my house last night. Cindy came, it was good to see her. She gave us a Polo sleeper for Matthew. And I earned several gifts for my sales - red emerald cut earrings and matching necklace, a silver watch, hoop earrings and I got to wear a bright pink sash that said "Unit Queen of Sales" on it. That was fun! Sharon, Regina and Amy came to the party to celebrate with me.

Nothing much else is going on here. I'll update over the weekend.

Wednesday afternoon, both kids are asleep. We stayed in all morning to work on PTing. She did fine with peeing, actually stayed dry all night long! I had her sit on the potty several times in the morning, especially at 10am because that's her normal poop time. We talked a lot about going poop in the potty and I thought she understood. I even told her that if she didn't go poop in the potty then we would take the Lighting McQueen (LM) car away (it's still in the box until she goes poop but she can play with it while she sits on the potty). Well, I was doing dishs and she was playing in the sink with the bubbles about 1:30 when I smelled something. She got upset when I brought her into the bathroom and flushed the poop. She sat on the toilet for a few minutes but I'm sure she was done. Then I cleaned her up and took LM and put him into the garage. That got her very upset. She kept wanting him and I told her "No, not when you poop in your panties.". So she got her blanket and crawled onto her bed for her nap. I felt really bad for taking the LM away but maybe she will figure it out. She refused to wear a pull-up during her nap, only panties, hopefully she doesn't wake up all wet. I do have a water proof mattress cover so it won't be a big deal to wash the sheets.

I talked to my friend Sara this morning! It's been the first time since she had Sophie. Sophie is doing great, sleeping well. Sara is having a hard time with nursing. I guess Sophie has a very strong latch and is causing "tramatized nipples" on Sara, bleeding and everything. Ouch. Owen seems to be doing good too but wants to be right next to Sara when she is feeding. Nick went back to work today. I guess he wasn't much of a help because he suffered a slipped disk in his back right when they got home from the hospital. So Sara had to take care of him, Owen and Sophie. I wish so bad that I was up there to help her. She doesn't even have anyone to bring her dinner.

Matthew slept ok last night. Up at 2:45 and at 5. He wouldn't settle down at 5 so I was back up at 5:30 changing his diaper and feeding him some more. Frustrating.

It's Tuesday night. Let's see what has happened in my life.

Sunday night M slept terribly. He was up at 1:15, 3:30 and 5:30. I was exhausted. I needed to get the car window fixed so I brought K over to S's and asked if she could keep her till that evening. That way, I could get a nap (seems like every time I need a nap, she decides not to take one!). So glad the car is fixed, you don't realize how much you use your driver side window until you don't have it! I cleaned house after I got home, while Matthew napped. I took a great nap and actually felt much better. It was a nice day so we all hung out outside with our neighbors until K came home.

Monday night he was up at 3:30 so that was a big improvement. I got on my mom's website and nursing website and asked about my milk issues. The general consensus is that my milk is getting hurt by giving bottles at night. And that I just need to keep nursing and my supply will be fine. And I need to relax about the sleeping thing because he is sleeping better then a lot of BF babies at his age. I just need to keep that in mind at 3 am!

Tuesday we went to the Hendricks County Fair and had a good time. We went early in the am so there weren't crowds. Kylie got her face painted like a girl pirate - pink bandana, purple eye patch, skull cross bones, scar. It looked really cute! Kylie liked all the animals, Matthew slept the whole time. K did use the bathroom 3 times, when I asked her too. She had an accident on the way to the car, I forgot to ask if she needed to go before we left and we didn't have enough time to get back to the bathroom.

She also had 4 poop accidents. I'm pretty tired of those. I've told her that she could use a diaper to poop in, it would be cleaner then going in her panties. She doesn't seem to care and/or understand. We've told her she can have a Lighting McQueen car if she goes, just once. No dice. We're staying home all day tomorrow and working on it some more. She's had accidents every time we've been out since Friday so we need to spend the day re-enforcing things. Wish us luck.

We watched Emma, the next door neighbor girl, tonight. Gave her parents a break. They went to the fair. The girls had tons of fun playing. I guess E fights her bath every night. But she had a blast with K so I told her parents the toys we have that E played with, hopefully they will have some luck at their house.

I fed M 3 times between 6 and 9:30, trying to fill him up really good. I hope we have a good night tonight!

It's Sunday so let me catch up from the weekend.

Friday we went to Sara and Gillian's to play. On the way there Kylie told me that Gillian was mean. She's never said that about any kid before so I was really surprised. So I told her that hopefully Gillian wouldn't be mean and she would have fun. And this time I really watched how Gillian played with Kylie. And she is mean - very bossy. Kept telling Kylie that she couldn't do something because she wasn't a big girl, to which I said "Kylie is a big girl and she can do that." And Gillian would get frustrated or mad if Kylie wasn't playing exactly how Gillian thought she should. On the way home, Kylie told me again that Gillian was mean, so we might not do another playdate for a while with them.

Friday night was lots of fun at Howl at the Moon. We met up with people from Brett's work that I've met before. They are all nice people. I had several drinks and was feeling pretty good. The music was fun and I even got some of the ladies to dance on stage with me. We left about 11:30 and picked up Matthew. He was sound asleep so took him home and gave him his last bottle (he didn't drink both at D&S's). Then he slept until 5:30.

Saturday we slept in a little bit. Then watched the tour until Kylie came home (she went to Gymboree Art class with D&S). After she got home, I took her to a health food store to look for some supplements to help with my milk production. The man who owns the store helped me and was very knowledgeable. He has 4 kids, the youngest was only 6 days old. All home births with midwives. He suggested some fenugreek capsules and said that I could get lots of hops by drinking 2 India Pale Alex. He said those 2 beers a day would greatly increase my production. He said this is what he suggests to women who are nursing twins. I thought it was pretty cool of him to suggest something that I couldn't even buy at his store so I got the fenugreek and will try that with the beer.

After the food store, we went to Meijer. I kept asking Kylie if she needed to go to the bathroom - "no, mommy." As we were leaving she says she needs to go. We get to the bathroom and she's already wet and had some poop (for the second time that day). Not cool but what can you do? I can't get upset because I don't want her to get discouraged. So she just sat on a plastic bag all the way home. (I had a change of clothes but we were close to home so I didn't bother).

Saturday evening Lynk, Nancy and Alex came over. We cooked brats, porkchops, corn on the cob on the grill (yummy). We just started this summer cooking sweet corn on the grill. Man, we should have been doing it for years. It tastes so good on the grill. Super hot, buttery, just plain yum. It's like eating summer in Indiana, if you know what I mean. About as Indiana as the State Fair. Which I'm looking forward to. I'm becoming such a Hoosier now. It's taken 9 years but I'm about as Indiana as I can imagine being.

Alex was playing with Kylie in her room and accidentally locked Kylie in the room alone. She didn't know that Kylie didn't know how to open a locked door. Alex got really upset about it. Kylie was fine, we kept telling her we were playing hide and seek. Brett stuck a hanger in the hole of the doorknob but couldn't pop it. Then we tried to take the doorknob off, which didn't do anything. The hinges were on the other side so we couldn't take the door off. And her windows were down and locked so we couldn't go that way. While we were messing with the door, we kept talking to Kylie to keep her mind off of being locked in. We said we were playing hide and seek and she said "Come find me, I'm in here!". Brett eventually got a credit card and used it to push the latch in and open the door. I don't think she was stuck more then 7 or 8 minutes but I sure was glad to get that door open!

Saturday night, Matthew went to bed after his bath so about 9pm. I "dreamfeed" him at 11 and he slept until 3:15. Then was up at 5:30 but I just put a pacifier in his mouth and he went back to sleep. We worked in the nursery during first service. We had one boy who would not stop crying. I think he was quite for 20 minutes the entire service. Brett was taking care of him while I was playing with another girl. After a while I could tell that Brett was out of ideas so we switched but then Matthew needed to eat. A lady from the other nursery came over and got him to be quite, which worked for a while but then he got all upset again. I was glad when he parents came to get him!

Kylie did ok with the potty at Sunday school. She wears a tag that says "Please take me to the potty." but I don't know how well the workers pay attention to that. I took her when we first got there so she knew where it was, which she told me she already knew that. And I guess Kylie told the helpers several times that she needed to go but didn't actually pee. Then she had an accident. What can you do? You take her when she says she needs to but she doesn't. The she pees in her dress. Oh well, I guess the workers in the 2 year old class are pretty used to that.

We were going to the St. Chris fest after church, told Kylie we were going and everything. Pull up and it's all packed up. It was over last night. Kylie got all upset and confused. So we went to D&S's instead to go swimming, which she didn't want to do. So we went to the park and then to Baskin Robbins instead. Now everyone is napping. Brett is out at Best Buy getting a new video camera for the wrestling club. We use theirs for our personal use and had it in NC. The camera messed up somehow and the tape doesn't play right so we need a new camera to play the video. I don't completely understand it, that's why Brett handles these things.

Floyd Landis won the Tour de France. Very cool. Sure didn't look like he would win on Wednesday but he had the ride of his life on Thursday to make up for it. Very cool that an American wins again. I'm sure the French hate us even more. Oh well.

Not much new to report. It's Friday afternoon. I'm feeling better from my cold but Kylie has it now. Yesterday I felt like complete crap. Both kids are napping, I was laying down but B called me so now I'm awake and watching the Tour de France.

M slept till 3 on Wednesday night. Why only till 3? I don't know, we're doing the same thing as the night he slept till 5 and till 4. Thursday night Brett didn't feed him until almost midnight and gave him 5 oz that time. He slept until 5:30, which was very good for me to get that rest. But I'm having a hard time keeping up with pumping that much every morning. It doesn't allow for me to pump any to store for another time, like when I'm leaving him with D&S or something. Example - tonight we're going out to Howl at the Moon. I'm leaving D&S with 2 bottles that I had to defrost from my stash. If I keep using the milk I pump in the morning for the late night bottle, then I can't store any. I have 4 or 5 feedings in the freezer now, which is good. I'm looking into ways to increase my supply. I can buy a tea and drink that but I hate tea. I can buy the tea in pill form but it's $26 for 15 days. I can look at getting hops in pill form. I'm drinking tons of water and eating plenty. I'm eating oatmeal, which is helping. I could add some formula to what I pump during the day so I wouldn't have to use all that I pump every night but I don't want to open that can of worms. I really want to keep M exclusively BF. I guess I'll figure something out. Brett seems to really like giving him that last feeding and I don't want to take that away.

We had Gymboree yesterday. Kylie was so proud to tell her teacher and friends that she's using the potty. No accidents there either. She still went poop in her panties later that day but at least she's peeing consistently in the potty.

We also went to the St. Chris festival last night with D&S. The food was yummy - homemade blueberry pie, mmm. Kylie rode several rides, all by herself. Even this space shuttle ride that swung out a little bit. No fear, she was just excited. And she went into the fun house with John. Part of it was a rope net that she had to climb. John said "I'll have to carry you up to the top." But I told Kylie that it was just like at Gymboree and she could do it - and she did. Plus she used the potty several times there too. And she picked the winning number for a fruit basket! What a nice evening.

My dad stayed at our house last night. Kylie played with him until her bed time. He held Matthew most of the night before I put him to bed too. We all watched the tour together. Can't believe what an amazing day Floyd Landis had. Truly amazing. I'm watching now but can't tell where he is at or how he is doing yet.

I haven't heard anything from Sara since she called to tell me about Sophie. I hope she is doing well. I know how overwhelming those first few weeks are. I remember wanting to call and talk to her but having no energy or tons of stuff to get done. I'll give her some time to get home and adjusted. I can't wait to see pictures of the little one.

I cashed in my Gymbucks yesterday. I filled up my shopping cart at 10pm on Wednesday and then logged on-line after feeding M at 3:00 a.m. One of my favorite items was already sold out! In three hours! Those Gymboree addicts are crazy (no, I'm not an addict!)

That's about it, I'll write about Friday later.

What a day. I'm exhausted. Beat. Dead-tired.

We went shopping with S, which was nice. There was a big sale at Old Navy so S got the kids several outfits each as well as getting me a pair of jeans and 2 shirts and B a shirt. Then we went to Penny's and S got the kids some more fall clothes. I think with these clothes, plus the ones I already have and the ones I'm ordering from Gymboree using my Gymbucks coupons, will be enough for both of them. Cool!

K did good at the mall with pottying. She told me 3 times that she needed to go and had one accident. That wasn't really her fault, she told S that she needed to go but I wasn't there so S had to get Matthew and Kylie and get to me (I was in line at Culvers) so by the time I got K to the bathroom, she had already gone. And she pooped in her panties twice this afternoon. And one accident on the floor but that was because she was so upset about having to go to bed that she just lost it. Tomorrow is Gymboree so we'll see how we do with that. I'll be really happy to tell my mom friends that Kylie is working so hard and doing so well.

Speaking of mom friends, Sara had her baby. I was right, it's a GIRL!! Born at 10:58 a.m. and weighed 7lbs, 2 oz. Sophia Rose and they will call her Sophie. I guess they were both shocked that she was a girl. The labor went so fast that the doctor didn't make it. One of his partners had to deliver and I guess was putting on his shoe covers when Sophie was coming out! I really wish I could be there to see Sara and Sophie but Sara doesn't think she can handle company for a while. But they'll be down here in September so I'll see her then! I'm sure she is beautiful.

Kylie didn't take a nap so I didn't get any type of break this afternoon. The house seems trashed, toys everywhere. I've done more laundry then I can count due to the PTing. I am so drained.

K also likes watching herself on the wedding video. She talks about being a flower girl and shows me how she walked. She actually told me that "Devin wasn't at the wedding. Devin was at the dinner." How does she remember the name of a kid she met once for a few hours more then two weeks ago?

Matthew did sleep until 4am this morning. Not through the night but close. Unfortunatly, I wasn't tired and didn't fall asleep until midnight so I didn't take advantage of it. Not tonight, I'm hitting the hay very soon. I have a cold that is kicking my butt too. And since I'm BFing, I don't want to take anything for it. Grrr...

Brett has been busy with work. He didn't get home last night until 9. He's training to learn a new product so that's been keeping him busy. He works so hard to provide for us, we're lucky.

That's about it. I'm going to bed.

The excitement continues at the Nabb household. Matthew slept through the night last night. B gave him a 4 oz bottle at 10:15 and he slept from 10:30-5am, without waking up. I could hardly believe it. I didn't sleep as well since I kept waking up and checking the clock and listening for M. We'll keep giving him a bottle to see if this continues. I hope it does!

PTing went well again today with K. She peed several times and didn't even think about protesting when I told her to pick out panties for the day and take off her diaper. I think it's becoming a habit for her now. No accidents for pee. She did poop her panties again. I've talked with mom's on my mommy board and I guess pooping can just take a lot longer for them to feel comfortable with doing. We won't push it, hopefully I'll catch her getting ready to go and get her on the potty fast.

We went to S's for swimming this morning for a little while. K did well there again. I left her there while I took M to get my hair cut and colored. It looks good, very blonde and shorter then before. I brought our car into the dealership to have the window looked at. It broke and won't go up after you put it down. Turns out it's a common problem, so common that the part to fix it is on national backorder and won't be in for 3 weeks or so. Great.

Checked in on K with S. I guess she pooped again in her panties and it got pretty messy and she got upset. Maybe that will help her figure it out. But I guess she pooped again as soon as they put her diaper on for bed. As long as she pees and doesn't poop in her panties, then that's cool for now. If she feels most comfortable pooping in her diaper at night, then that's fine. She'll figure it out soon. S even took her to McD's and K went twice there. And they went to the park and she didn't need to go then.

I know most of these blogs have been about PTing but that's the only thing I'm really working on in my life right now! It's such a big deal. Between K pting and M sleeping through the night, I feel like I got the best high of my life today!

Josh and Sarah both called to congratulate Kylie on doing so well with PTing. I talked to my mom this morning, she is very upset about her diabetes. I guess she has to try new medicine to keep it under control. It has me concerned because she gets so upset about it herself. And then she gets morbid, thinking she'll die early. Which isn't true if she takes care of herself. She worries me, especially with dad traveling. Retirement can't come soon enough for them! I know Brett is concerned about me keeping healthy and my weight under control so I don't hopefully develop it later in life.

My best friend Sara is at the hospital right now, being induced. I'm guessing Girl, 7lbs, 5oz. I wish I was closer to her to help, it must really suck to be 6 hours away from family right now.

That's about it for now.

Things are still going well with the potty training (PT). Yesterday she did well even going to the bathroom at Olive Garden and got out of the pool again to use the potty. Very good. She did go poop at church in the nursery but we had a change of clothes so it wasn't much of a big deal. She did tell the teacher right away that she did it and needed to go to the bathroom. So it's starting to make sense to her, I don't think it will be long before it all connects.

We had a nice weekend with my parents. Sunday we went to church and then to lunch at Olive Garden. I actually tried something new, something with VEGETABLES in it!! And I LIKED it! Who would have thought? After naps yesterday, we went swimming at D&S's. It wasn't blazing hot so that was nice.

Matthew slept well last night, not as good as Saturday night when he slept until nearly 4am before waking up to eat. He got up at 1:30 but I had just fed him at 10:30 so I sent Brett in to give him a pacifier (Matthew won't settle down if he sees me but will if it's B.) Then he was up at 2:45. Still earlier then I would like but not bad. Then he was up again at 6:30 but wouldn't go back to sleep so that was when my day started! Tonight I'm going to have Brett give M a bottle of 4oz to see if that will help him sleep later. Maybe he eats more from the bottle then when he eats but falls asleep with me.

Monday- We're staying in today to work on the PTing. I gave Kylie watered down juice for breakfast, thinking it will keep her busy on the potty. It's now 3pm and she's gone more then 10 times on the potty. Most of the time she wets a little in her panties and then runs to the bathroom yelling "I have to go potty-potty!!". Sometimes, she'll realize before she goes that she needs to go. And twice she just went without saying anything until it was too late. And unfortunately, she has pooped twice in her panties. But she told me (showed me once) that she had gone and needed to get clean. It will take some time but I think if we work hard and are consistent this week, that she'll get it. Pray for us!!

What an exciting weekend so far. I think Kylie is really serious about potty training now. She wore panties all day yesterday and only had two accidents. She even got out of the pool (we went swimming at D&S's) to go instead of going in her swimmy diaper. That means that she knew she need to go before feeling wet since she wouldn't have noticed feeling wet in the pool. The two accidents she had weren't a big deal, the first was in the car going over to D&S's and the second was in the evening while she was busy playing. No poop yet, she says it's sleeping. We told her she gets a "My Little Pony" if she goes poop so we'll see what happens when the urge hits.

Matthew slept pretty good, up at 2:30 and at 6:00. Kylie was up at 7:15, came into our room to wake us up. Much different then when she wasn't able to open the door and would just call our name until we got her. It's sweet to open my eyes and see her face inches away from mine.

We had a nice day with my parents. It was so hot that after Kylie got back from art class, we all headed over to the pool. We brought KFC for lunch and stayed a little over 2 hours. Kylie is doing better and better with swimming, such a big girl. You have to pull her out of the pool before she'll get out - her lips turn purple and she's shivering but she still wants to stay in!

After swimming everyone took naps. Then Brett and I got ready to go to Les Miserables. We went to dinner at the hibachi grill at Jillians (no one was there, we were the only people in the whole restaurant). Black Expo is this weekend so downtown was very busy. After dinner we went to the play which was awesome! The music was great, the set and costumes were amazing. The actors were great. I was very impressed. Brett didn't like it as much as me but I think he appreciated it, but didn't love it like me. But he's not an art guy so I understand that. I just appreciate the fact that he'll take me and not complain. ;-) What a great guy.

What an exciting day!! First off, Matthew slept well, he didn't wake for his first feeding until 3:30 a.m. Brett got up to feed him since I had pumped a bottle so I didn't need to get out of bed until nearly 7:00! Amazing and wonderful. I'm so thankful that B is willing to help at night, it makes a big difference for me, even just one night a week is a big help. I hope Matthew sleeps as well tonight. His Dr. did say that he's getting close to the 12lb mark which is the "magic sleep through the night" number. We'll see, I think it's more of a maturity level in the baby then a weight gain.

We went to see Cars today. Kylie loved it and I thought it was really good too. Matthew slept most of the time. During the movie, I noticed that K had dirtied her diaper and it stunk. I didn't have the diaper bag and frankly, didn't want to leave the movie to get it and change her (there was only about 20 minutes left). So she waited and as we were leaving she said her diaper was falling off. I checked and it was very full especially since I had changed her before we left for the movie, I guess drinking most of the medium Sprite will do that to a little kid. Anyway, I told her she would just have to wait, that I would change her when we got home. We get home, I change her and a little while later she tells me that she's going tinkle in her diaper. I asked if she wanted to sit on the potty and she said Yes (!!). She had already finished going but she did sit on the potty without arguing. Then she asked if she could wear her big girl panties, another shocker. So I let her pick them out and she had them on for about 30 minutes when she told me she was going tinkle so I pulled off her panties and put her on the potty (we were in the bathroom when this happened, washing our hands). And she went!!!! She was excited, I was excited, we were all thrilled. Her panties were damp because she didn't realize that she was going until she felt it. We got new panties out and tried again. About 15 minutes later, she told me she was going tinkle again and we hurried to the bathroom. Repeat from before. More excitement! Again I had to get her new panties. After an hour or so, it was time for us to go to dinner with my parents so I told K that we needed to change to pull-ups, which she didn't want to do but she didn't want to sit on the potty again. All she wanted to do was wash her hands. So, she was washing her hands and suddenly, she got down from the chair she was standing on, went to the potty chair, pulled down her panties and went all on her own. And her panties were still dry!! So she knew before going that she needed to go. What a big step for us. She's never told me before that she was going, it was always us catching her at the right time, just dumb luck. But now she's telling us. She did stay dry all through dinner but refused to go potty before we left the restaurant. She informed me as we were driving home that she was going tinkle. Five minutes later and she would have made it home. She didn't want to try any more the rest of the night. I hope this is a turning point for us. I really think that if she decides to do this that the training will be very easy. She just has to decide to do it. (Sorry that I'm so detailed about this but it's a big deal in our house and I want to remember the details in case we have a set back later.)

I talked to my best friend Sara today. She is 38 weeks pregnant. She had her appointment today and the doctor scheduled an induction for Thursday. She is really hoping to go before then, she doesn't want an induction. I hope she does. She was induced with her son and want to see what going naturally is like. I think it's a girl.

My parents got into town this evening about 6. They met us at Cazuala's which is my favorite Mexican restaurant. I had a Mango margarita and got a little buzz off it. My dinner was yummy as usual. I'm glad they are visiting, it's great to see them with Kylie and Matthew. I think if it's not rainy tomorrow we'll probably head over to D&S's for swimming after K's art class. That's about the only thing you can do in this heat.

Not much has happened lately. Matthew was pretty fussy after his shots, he ended up with a fever of 100.4 on Wednesday night from his shots. I called the Ped just to make sure. So he was up at 1:30 and 5 because of the fever. That made for a long, tired day for me on Thursday. We went to Gymboree for Kylie and just came home and played until nap time. Then we all crashed, it felt so good to nap for nearly two hours! I don't normally nap, not since I got used to getting up with M, which happened by the time he was 3 weeks old. I sleep better a night by not napping during the day. Sometimes I get cranky with the kids but I try to keep it in check.

We went swimming last night at D&S's. It was hot so it was nice to get in. Kylie loves the water. It's scary how much she likes it. I worry all the time about her drowning. But she seems to understand that she can't go near the pool without an adult holding her hand. I know I won't relax until she knows how to swim well. She does have a swimsuit that has a lifejacket attached to it that she likes to wear. We've been working on teaching her to kick and use her arms to move in the water (with one of us holding her around the waist). Yesterday she actually was able to "swim" from person to person on her own. We didn't hold her or anything. The suit helped her float and she kicked to where she wanted to go. She's a little fish. I wonder if it's too late to get her enrolled in swim classes?

My parents are driving in to town this evening. Brett got me Les Mes tickets for my birthday and it's tomorrow night. So they are babysitting both kids for us. I'm looking forward to a nice night out. And next Friday we're going to Howl at the Moon with Brett's work. D&S will watch the kids that night.

We're all getting excited about the Nebraska family coming into town in a few weeks. It will be great to see them all. We always have such a nice time. Hopefully this time everyone can just relax and enjoy themselves - no pre-planned activities other then sitting around the pool. We will have people over to our house that Friday for a party too. I'll have to start coming up with a guest list and menu in the next few weeks for that.

I finished putting the pictures into our vacation Ofoto album. It's 57 pages long! Brett and I will do the captions together, he comes up with some funny lines, better then I can do.

I think that's about it for us today.

Rough night with M's sleeping. I put him down at 11 but he was up at 1:15. Then back down by 1:30 (I don't think he was very hungry, just looking for some comfort) and up again at 4:30, when he ate a good amount. I get pretty tired when he's up twice a night, I can handle once a night but up twice is hard. Oh well, he may start sleeping through soon, I hope.

We're still working hard at trying to figure out how to get K potty trained. She doesn't have any interest in it. She's happy to sit in a dirty diaper for hours if you let her. Just in the past week or so, she started telling us that she's dirty and wants to get changed so maybe we're getting closer.

Matthew had his 2 month appointment this afternoon. He is a chunk! Eleven pounds, 6 oz. That's the 45 percentile for weight, 23 inches which is the 50 percentile for length. He's bigger then Kylie by a month (she didn't hit those measurements until 3 months). Dr. Collings isn't concerned with his hernia at all, said it's very common and is actually small. She expects it to heal on its own but may take up to two years. It doesn't cause him any pain so there is no need to make a big deal about it. She also said that he's getting big enough to possibly start sleeping through the night but we'll see. He did get 4 shots which were harder on mom and dad then on him. But he calmed right down after nursing for a few minutes (he's such a boob man!).

All in all, it was a good appointment. We did ask about tips to help Kylie with potty training and she gave us some ideas. Most of which we've tried already. But she said not to stress about it that she might be more interested in it after she starts school and sees other kids her age using the potty. Let's hope that is true.

We went to the Children's museum this morning. It's getting easier to take both kids out by myself. Still not second nature yet but at least I don't feel like crying anymore! I just put M in the Moby Wrap so I have my hands free and he snoozes for hours in there. I let Kylie walk around so no need to haul out the stroller this time. It was pretty busy today. They have a new traveling exhibit about Seseam Street that Kylie loved. And she's really interested in the "Mystery's in History" area, which is all about pioneer life. Which is interesting since I always loved and still do like that type of history. Maybe she'll want to be Laura Ingalls like I did! Guess we could make a trip up to Walnut Grove and see Uncle Josh on the way. I have heard that you can take a Laura Ingalls Wilder road trip, to see the different towns that she lived in. I would like that but I think Brett would be bored out of his mind.

Josh sent some new tunes for my Ipod, TV theme songs like Mac Giver, Knight Rider, GI Joe, Smurfs and stuff. Rather funny. Although, I had to delete some off my Ipod to make room, it got full after Brett added some of his own songs on there (mainly 70's stuff from his childhood, after all, he's a hippie at heart, being born in 1969 and all.)

I'm uploading pictures from our NC trip onto Ofoto now. I want to make a photo album in the next few days. We got so many great pictures. I love our new digital camera, it takes great pictures, well worth the money. I'm glad we took so many, that way when K and M get older, they can look at them and hear all about our trip.

That's about it here.

So, we went to the Outer Banks of N.C a few weeks ago. It was a great time. We met up with my parents, brother, grandmother, Aunt Brenda and Uncle Jack, Sara Roberts and her friend Claudia. We all rented a house in Corolla, about 200 yards from the beach. We flew out there, which was a challenge. You have to have so much stuff with two kids - 2 car seats, clothes, diapers, wipes, some toys, stroller, ect... We were lucky enough to give some of our stuff to my aunt and uncle and some to my parents to bring with them since they were driving (trailering their Harley's). We managed to get our luggage checked and all our carry-on items on. Kylie was great on the plane, she liked being next to the window in her car seat. Matthew just slept the whole time in either Brett or I's arms. We flew into Norfolk and had a 3 hour drive to the house. The house was very nice, plenty of room. We were put in the furthest room because no one wanted to hear Matthew crying in the middle of the night! Kylie stayed with my brother in another room. But after he woke her up getting into the top bunk, he stayed in another room. So little Kylie was the only one who got her own room!
The beach was great. Kylie loved it and had so much fun playing in the sand, waves, and looking for crabs and shells. There was another family with several kids a little older then her that she would watch. You could tell that she wanted to play too but they all seemed to hang out together and didn't notice her.
There were some rainy days but that's to be expected. We did take a Horse Safari to see the wild horses in Corolla. They are descendents of horses that were shipwrecked on the island 400 years ago. We all piled into a old Suburban and drove onto the beach where they are allowed to roam freely. There is too much traffic now for them to be completely free so they are fenced into about 10,000 acres. We saw 5 or 6 herds, which had between 3-6 horses in each. It was very cool to see them on the beach, right next to the water. I don't have pictures to post yet but I will include some later.

Kylie and Brett climbed the Currituck lighthouse, 214 stairs. He carried her up but she climbed all the way down herself. I stayed below to videotape with Matthew.

The whole reason we were on vacation was because Kylie had been asked to be the flowergirl at my cousins wedding on July 1st. So we drove up to Norfolk for the wedding on Saturday morning. Kylie had done ok at the rehearsal the night before (we drove back that night to help insure that she would nap in the car on Saturday, no nap = crabby toddler which no one wants at a wedding). We stressed to her that she would only get one chance to walk down the aisle in her beautiful dress. Once we got to the church, Kylie saw the bride, Alli, and seemed to "get" that this was a big deal. She did great with the pictures and then I took her out of her dress until the wedding. Kylie was a little hesitent to walk down the aisle when the doors opened, but the ring bearer, Henri, kinda pulled her and got her started. Then she did beautifully, even dropped the petals from her basket and everything. She did so well that I could rent her out as a flowergirl for some serious money!! I was so thrilled when she did it that I could have cried (I think I did a little bit). Brett told me that he was more nervous for Kylie then he was for some very big wrestling matches when he was young! So we both sighed in relief when she pulled it off.

The reception was lots of fun. The food was good and so was the music. Kylie was annouced with the rest of the bridal party and actually stood still on the dance floor with everyone while the bride and groom had their first dance. Then it was the bridal party dance and with a little encouragement, the ring bearer agreed to dance with Kylie. So cute!! Then we couldn't get her off the dance floor. At one point, I looked over and saw her sitting in the middle of the floor, pulling off her shoes and socks (what woman likes to keep on uncomfortable shoes??). Her feet were black by the end of the night. Kylie also had her first taste of champange. I had put her water in the champange glass because she thought it was so pretty. Later, the glasses were filled for the toast and I didn't know it. Kylie took her glass, took a big drink, spit it out and told me it was "nasty"! LOL! Matthew pretty much just slept the whole time, I don't think most people knew he was there. But we did get many comments on how adorable he is. Which he is. ;-)

That's about it for our vacation. We had a great time!

I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog for our family. Things get so busy but we have so many moments that we want to remember but don't write down. So, blog seems to be the answer.

Matthew is 9 weeks old now. He's sleeping pretty good at night. He normally wakes up about 3 and then again at 6. Most of the time he goes back to sleep for a few hours. But I don't. I try to snooze until Brett gets out of the shower and then I get in. I like to be showered and ready before the kids get up. This allows me to feel "ready" for the day. I may be a SAHM, but I treat it like a job and I need to be up, ready to work, before the kids are.
It's raining today and we're going to my friend Betsy's to have a playdate. It's good to get out of the house, we all seem to enjoy a change of scenery.
Let me think of some funny moments that have happened lately that I should record. Kylie, 2.5 years, has started calling Matthew "Little Man" just like Brett. Before, when he would call him little Man, she would correct him and say "No, his name is Matthew Stanley. " Her favorite phrases now are "cool" and "unbelievable", which is a big word for her but she says it pretty well. She wants to know what is going on with Matthew at all times. Last week, she was eating breakfast and I jumped into the shower (she was up early so I couldn't get ready before she got up). I put Matthew on the bed while I was in the bathroom. A few minutes later, she comes into the bathroom and pulls back the shower curtain, looks up at me through the water falling on her face and says "I looked everywhere, I can't find Matthew, he's not in his crib!" I smiled and told her he was on my bed. She was very relieved and told Matthew that she was very worried about him. Cute!
Matthew has an umbilical hernia. Basically his belly button has become an outie. It looks like a big bubble stuck on his belly. I guess it's not uncommon for babies and is caused by straining, which he does all the time. He goes to the Dr for his 2 month appt tomorrow so we'll see what the Dr thinks. Hopefully he won't need to have surgery. He will get a few shots which is normal for a 2 month appointment. :-( He's smiling better and more often now. I love catching those smiles, they are so special right now.
We just got back from our vacation to the Outer Banks. I'll write more about that later, too much for this short amount of time. I need to get Kylie dressed so we can go on our playdate!