Potty-Trained... Poopdee-Doo!

So first of all, before I explain the title, me and Gracie went on a mommy daughter date with our friends Deja and Monique. We had a blast! We saw the real princesses and all the other Disney pets and it was just about the most incredible thing ever! But really, I did not expect Gracie to be quite as into as she was.
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The grand finale was equipped with all the characters and fireworks. I think she was impressed. She was screaming for joy and just couldn't even believe her eyes! I was the same way, but from watching her. It was so fun to see her get so into and have so much fun with me and not at my expense! Which brings me to my title explanation...



I'm in the kitchen today attempting to create a tinkerbell dress-up, which for me is stressful, not fun. My oh so talented sister talked me into it, trust me, not my idea. Gracie is in the bathroom flushing the toilet, cause she's supposedly "potty-trained" (I swear there's no such thing for this girlfriend). So I go in there to check things out cause she's taking some time. I open the door and my fake french cobblestone bathroom floor is covered in a dark chocolate colored spackle. It reeked, it was crumbly, it was stuck, it was out of a nightmare! I don't even want to know how it got all over the place. SICK!!! I should have sensed things weren't going my way when she peed her pants in Ann Taylor Loft at the Gateway on Saturday. I think that grossed some people out too cause Seth puked about five minutes later (in the same store mind you). Poor Ann Taylor girl! I tell you what, I'm up for a trade if anyone wants to have a go at this dilemma. I love my Gracie like crazy, but man, she is sure having a good time getting to me lately! I tell her come here, she sprints in the opposite direction. The louder and sterner I say it, the faster she runs and the more she laughs. I tell her to put her shoes on, she's throws them across the room with a big grin on her face. I try to put her in time out in her bedroom and she says, "I want to say sorry! I want to say sorry!" and does the same thing as soon as I'm not looking. I keep telling her Santa won't bring her toys, but will bring her dirty rocks if she's not a good girl. She just looks at me with an innocent smile and says, "I'm a good girl mommy". All I can say is it's a good thing she's cute! If anyone has any 2 1/2 year old pointers for me, PLEASE!! I would LOVE THEM!! Other than that, life is fabulous.

Happy Boo to Lu and You

We are still alive! Lucy just had her 1st Birthday last week! Happy Birthday to Lu, we all sure love you! She liked eating the frosting off her cake, but she didn't quite get the cake part. Oh well. And though I opened her presents, she liked getting them! Gracie especially liked her getting them. She figured it was happy birthday to her too since she has used her toys a tad more than Lucy, so far. But thank you so much to our wonderful family that came and our wonderful family that sent gifts and love. (that includes the Mehler family)





Here's Giesha me and Joker dressed as a nurse Andy (you'd have to have seen the movie to get it) dressed for Tracy's fun Halloween party. We always have so much fun- thanks Tracy! And to the family members not present, we missed you!!



Halloween was fun this year, cause I actually had a legit excuse to go trick or treating! Me and Gracie went to a couple houses in our neighborhood, then we packed up and hit the Greenwoods neighborhood and scored some delicious doughnuts and dinner. Thanks Greenwoods! When we got the girls to bed at 10, I was all pumped and ready to watch a spooky Halloween show and eat some of Gracie's candy. But the old man said it was time for bed and so lights were out at 10:15. I'm not crazy enough to watch a scary show by myself! It was good to get to bed early though. Thanks Andy for your practicality. I think I would be a zombie right now if you didn't love to sleep so much! I love ya!


Lucy was a duck, or if you prefer, a chicken. I myself am not sure which this hand-me-down bird is. This is what Gracie was her 1st Halloween and Lucy, okay I, decided that's what she wanted to be.


Gracie wanted to be a purple kitty, but she was a good sport and settled for a white and pink one. I must say she could make a roadkill costume look cute!

And on a side note, we discovered the secret to potty training!! Halloween Candy! (I wish I could type that to sound like how Oprah announces her fabulous suprises) It was so worth it to her to be able to pick whatever random candy she wanted. I feel like I've drugged her with sugar some days though, so we've tried to tone it down a notch. I was just so thrilled she was excited to go that I didn't even care she was trying to go every ten minutes! YAY GRACIE!! It's not 100% yet, but I tell ya, this time has been a pleasure.


Hope you all had a most excellent Halloween!!

A Day for Firsts

We made it!! I can't believe the first day of Preschool finally got here! It seemed like it took forever! It was so much fun and I LOVE my cutest little children in my class already! The only difficult one was Gracie, understandably. So it was Gracie's first and last day of Preschool, this year. 'We'll try again next year my little spunky, ball of cute naughtiness!' I'm kind of sad to send my babies, but I'm so glad my sweet neighbor will trade my kids for her son to come, cause Gracie just adores her. She's her nursery leader too which makes it perfect. Lucy was feeling strange today, or she was just grouchy. There was a lot going on so I think she had a rough go, poor thing! She's so good natured that if she's ever fussy it's pretty dramatic. But she had her first day of ever being tended by anyone other than Grandma and Grandpa. 'Way to go Lucy Lu! You did it! And she even said you were good! I'm so proud!'.

Here's a cute picture of her that has nothing to do with her first babysat experience...



And Gracie had her first day of Dance Class!! I think I'm more excited about her being in dance than she is. I just love little 3-4 year old recitals with their darling, froofy costumes! I can't wait!! She really liked it, and I must admit, she was a wee bit skeptical. But how could you not have fun with cute Brandi as your teacher!





And Andy had his first day of listening to every detail of each of his girls' day. And let me tell you, we each had a lot to say and each were exhausted beyond reason. 'Thanks Andy for your support and your ready ears! I don't know what kind of a mess we drama queens would be in right now if we didn't have your steady, happy spirit around!'




And let's not forget Tuch Partuchi's first banishment to an enclosed space since he moved back in the house. Poor kitty!


The basement worked better.

p.s. Lucy's tooth is totally back to normal! Crazy little teeth. They're amazing.

When Do I Get Eyes On the Back of My Head?!

The Before Picture...

I desperately need another set of eyes somewhere! It all started on Saturday morning. We like to take it easy in the morning and so we just put Lucy on the floor of our bedroom to play with toys while we try to get in a couple more 5 second intervals of sleep. That morning we heard a thud and she started screaming. Not too unusual for this stage of standing up to everything. Andy picked her up, and grogy me looked at her and realized that she used to have two teeth. One was missing! We looked on the floor for the other one. Eventually we found it still attached, but just bent all the way forward! I called the pediatirician, duh! I was freaking out okay! Yes- over a tooth that she's going to lose one day anyway, but it's still scary! I came to my senses and called the dentist. This was a Saturday, mind you, so I was over-joyed when my dentist called me back and calmly told me it happens to every kid and to just push the tooth back in place. First of all- I have nightmares about my teeth falling out or shattering, so this is just not my thing. I pushed it back, which was easier than I thought, (maybe cause she was screaming and kept her mouth wide open) but it just seemed crooked so I called the dentist back. He said, "you seem nervous, do you want me to meet you at my office and look at it or do you want me to come to your house?" Talk about the nicest dentist ever! And to top it off, after I met him and he said that it looked fine, I asked the cost and he said, "I don't charge you for emergencies, they're stressful enough." How awesome is that?!! I think he's got a ticket to the celestial kingdom! (if I could give them out he would) Maybe it's cause I don't know many dentists, but that just seemed so generous to me. Especially when every time we go to the emergency room it sets us back, roughly, a grand for basically the same thing. So thank you a million times over Dr. Doman! You are an angel!
Sorry for the bad picture! This was after I pushed it back and you can't even see it. She was reluctant to open her mouth and prabably will be forever now, I'm afraid. She was a major trooper and was back to her usual massive, crinkle-nose grins and giggles 5 minutes later.

And speaking of angels...
My first born angel found the food coloring this morning. Pretty! At first I thought she drank the bottle, but then I found the cup with the dye and my hair color brush in it. I guess she's already practicing for her career in make-up, or from the looks of it, face painting. She was lots of fun today. I lost something and so I kept going out to look in the car, but she kept following me. I decided to outsmart her and close the childproof door. She's smarter. She locked the deadbolt! I was completely locked out of the house!! I tried to talk her through unlocking the door, but she got so frustrated with the childproof doorknob that she gave up and climbed on the counter to eat the bag of cookies sitting there. Lucy was in her high chair crying and I was begging and pleading through the door, as nice as I possibly could- at a moment like that. It was a good thing I had my cell phone with me, but an even better thing that I knew how to get her to open the back door that I temoparily forgot exsisted. I was so relieved that it was hard to be mad. Shocking. I do believe the current book I'm reading, 'When Anger Hurts Your Kids', may be preventing much, much hurt! Props to you doctors that wrote it! I'm impressed. And I'm sure Gracie thanks you as well!

I Love Lucy

Little Lucy Lu is at such a cute stage and has been so much fun! She eats most food now but still survives on her bottle. If she's not sure about a food item, she just sits there with her jaw clenched lookin at me like, "you must be joking".
She's going through a semi-serious phase where she just stares at you. At times I will give her my best material and still she just stares at me. Ya, it makes me feel pretty lame, but it's still adorable somehow.
She's crawling around like crazy and loves to get into everything, especially the cat food. She thinks it's tasty. She also pulls herself up to standing all the time now. The little daredevil was trying to let go and stand all by herself in our little kiddie pool yesterday.
She's always so happy to see people after she wakes up, like she's been in isolation for ever- so she's very social. Except when her toys are taken. She's devasted when someone takes objects from her, namely Gracie who usually takes EVERYTHING from her. She curls that bottom lip and starts bawling so intensly that she can't move, unless it's to rest her suddenly heavier head on the floor.

But this time she's ready for combat. Look out Gracie!

Now that Gracie's scared off it's turned from weapon of mass destruction to delicious lollipop.

The Magic of Asking

Gracie woke up yesterday morning and said she wanted an Elmo Pancake. Who ever heard of an Elmo Pancake?! I figured I'd just make regular pancakes. And look what magically appeared when I took the first pancake out of the pan...


I guess what Gracie wants Gracie gets! Maybe she should say she wants a free trip to Disneyland!

Do you think this could've become a shrine like those pictures of Mary found in tree bark and such?


Even Lucy was impressed. I bet she was thinking she can't wait until she can talk.

A Nut in a Rut

So the above is a cloth diaper. Yes they still make them and no I have not purchased one, with that title. I have purchased about 30 pairs of the un-padded, unprotected, unforgiving underwear, that have somehow taken the place of these so dreaded cloth diapers. I tell you what- they are looking pretty good right now.

I have given up potty he** officially for the second time. After Gracie completely soaked through my supposed, stain proof, waterproof mattress pad this afternoon- I slapped on one of the Lucy diapers and never looked back. (I guess that's proof there's no proof.)

No amount of M&M's, prizes, praises, potty parties, or cold showers can crack this little nut of mine. Oh no no. She's in it for the long haul. She's proven once again that she is the boss. For some reason I have this idea in my head that I am the mom so therefore I get to tell her what to do and when to do it. A long time dream of mine, being the youngest. I guess that is just not the case. Lesson learned.

Gracie, you stay in those diapers until your 5 for all I care. More power to ya. Just don't come crying to me when you get bum rash.

But really do! I couldn't love anything more than I love my little nut! I just really loathe potty training.

4th of July Extravaganza

I keep forgetting to take my camera with me places, and I don't love to post without a picture. I know it probably appears like I don't blog so often because I'm way too busy with all my fabulous goings on but, sadly, that's not the case.


Though we did have a great 4th of July! Here's some of our favorite people in the world on the teetor-totter at the Mehler's:
Pat, Landrie, Gracie and Ashlie

So we started the festivities on the 3rd with a tasty BBQ at the cute Greenwoods. After, everyone came to our house for dessert, and then the fun Mark and Erin rented a projector, so we pitched our tents out in their back yard and watched Night at the Museum outside. Gracie keeps telling me, "Dum Dum I want some gum gum". We slept over in the tent (though my diva husband bailed for his cushy bed and his air conditioned and sprinkler-free bedroom at 2 am) and had a delicious breakfast in the morning. Then we went to Pat's and had a fabulous BBQ, the kids played in the pool, I schooled them all in cards, Andy thinks he schooled them in badmitten, and we did fireworks. We went to see the big fireworks afterwards, but they'd already started so I just sat on the side strip of grass next to my car, instead of searching for prime seats. Then Ashlie decided she'd had enough of the so called extravaganza and bolted out of my moving vehicle, ran through the street dodging traffic, and hopped in with some random driver going the opposite direction. AH! I was like, you could of just told me to take you home Ash! She just couldn't take one more second I guess.
Andy couldn't either, but his excuse was that he had to pick up my parents from the airport. Poor things had to come home at 10:30 pm from a Scandanavian Cruise. We're so glad they're back! They're the ones that got the prime seats for the fire works!

But we really had a great time. Thanks so much Mehler family for thinking of us and always letting us crash your parties! We always have so much fun with you! You are family to us! We love you guys!

(And I guess Ashlie really knew the guy and it was stopped traffic, so I just maybe exaggerated a teensy - and she really loves us I know. She was being nice and saving us time and gas by getting this guy "friend" to take her home, so thanks Ash! I just had to make things a tad more exciting.)

Girls Camp!!

Here's the before camping shot...

Here's the middle of camping shot...

Here's the beautimous leader shot...

And here's the after camping shot...


It's funny how camping really does affect your spirituality for the better and your looks for the worse! And though, the belly flop I landed from the zip line bruised my entire thigh (and ego), and it took half a bottle of condioner to get a comb through my hair after the girls styled it, I had an absolute blast! I love all of these girls and am so excited to see what amazing old women these young women will be! They are great examples to this old woman! It was really good for me to go as a leader and gain more appreciation for what all my leaders did for me.
I love my calling!!

Camping Reunion

We had a fun Dickey Family Reunion up in Porcupine Dam a couple weeks ago. Gracie was loving it! She had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Adam! We had a great time meeting all of Andy's relatives that we've heard so much about and can now put a face too! And Lucy loved that she was held the entire time!


This little mischevious grin makes me think she knew what she was doing when she got diahara in her big girl pants 3 times in our 18 hour trip! I know - T.M.I. She wasn't acting sick in the slightest, but we sure got the best of all symptoms!


At bed time, Lucy was between Gracie and me. She was so excited she was in hysterics. She kept looking back and forth at the two of us beaming, squealing and laughing. Of course that got Gracie and me laughing and squealing. And poor Andy was at a loss trying to get his giggling girls to be quiet.


Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Rob were in charge of the reunion and so of course it was fabulous! We made matching tie-dye shirts (actually, I did) and played games and ate (as usual) gourmet, delicious food. Grandma Brenda was the life of this game of duck, duck, goose. She got picked about every time! She was a great sport.

Thanks again Brenda and Rob!!


And yes there's more camping to come when I get my pictures from Girl's Camp that was last week...

Changes

As you can see I changed our blog. The Palmer Piggies are no more. Andy didn't so much like the fact that he was grouped in with a pink blog and piggie title. I finally caved when he couldn't bring himself to add anything to the blog the other day. So maybe now we'll hear more from Andy. Who knows.


And in other less obvious news, I am potty training Gracie again! My favorite thing ever! Though I must say it is less painful this time. I ran out of diapers and I couldn't bring myself to buy anymore so we said goodbye to diapers completely. But she had a potty control issue going on so now I'm spending that money on this whole elaborate prize method. Lovely. Let me break it down (cause I sometimes forget so it will be good for me to write it out). If she tries when I ask her and she doesn't go then she gets one M&M for trying; if she tries, when I ask, and she goes, she gets two; if she tells me she needs to go and she goes, then she gets to pick a small prize (stickers or a bracelet) and two M&M's; and if she stays dry for 2 hours she get a big prize (like a dollar store toy). And if she goes a whole day and night without accidents she gets to pick out some sheets. I must admit, she sometimes goes over and over just so she can get her M&M fix. And though it's fun for her now, little does she know! She's going to be expecting prizes everytime, but if she doesn't get this soon, like by the time I run out of prizes, she's getting cold showers if she has accidents! It's summer, sort of, she can handle it right? Fortunately she's figured out the number 2 thing- YAY! She just can't quite get the wet part- boo. So hopefully we won't get to the cold shower phase because I may not have the heart to do it. But I've heard it works and if I get desperate, who knows!



And poor, little Lucy is trying so hard to get up and get around. She gets on her hands and knees and revs up, but just can't pull the trigger. I'm totally fine with her being immobile, but I just see the frustration in her eyes (and her whole face in this picture) at not being able to go anywhere. Poor little chubber! She's almost there! Maybe by the end of the day she'll get it. Who knows.
And...


Gracie can Read!


Lucy, "She doesn't know how to read. What's going on here?"

The Fabulous Legacy Center

Here's a fun time at the greatest pool that ever existed. There's awesome playsets for kids with slides, bouncy swings, and a big ol' barrel that dumps water all over, a lazy river and a ginormous slide that I am always a wee bit scared to go down. We went with Grandma Tomi, Emmers and Anna, Seth and Ruthie and had a blast. I definately recommend it to everyone. Though it can get busy, we went in the morning on a Thursday and it was the perfect occupancy. Us and about 10 other people. Legacy Center rocks the 'Iz-'Ouse! You must go!

Notice how we now have to use a swim diaper and plastic liner now, due to the runs given to the masses last year. I was fine with it- I want none of that at my house! And yes- Gracie is the same size as Anna who is 5. Crazy.

Even the locker room was full of secret places to hide and play.

Lucy had fun for a while, but there just wasn't quite enough stuff to keep her interested and awake. I guess you can't please everyone.

What Doing?

Life gets busy I guess, then I forget to write about it until I start to notice that I've missed my blogging therapy session! I haven't even been all that busy - I just feel that way because I ought to be! I have preschool starting in like 3 months and though I'm ready - I'm totally not ready! I have my garden that is right now the garden from you know where, and isn't even close to getting in. But I don't care. If I have to plant them in August and have nothing to show for it, then so be it. I'm not doing all this bug infested, back breaking weed pulling for nothing! My real problem is that I'm reading Little Woman, a book that I love, and I can't seem to finish it, but every spare minute I get, I read! I'm in some serious trouble! My laundry kept piling up to the point that Andy did it, which happens more often that I like to admit. But in my defense, he runs out of clothes faster than I do so I don't notice it as soon!
But life is happy and we've done some fun things. I set up the slip'n'slide on the chance warm day we had this summer so far. It was really fun and I eventually let Gracie have a turn. It was cute though- she'd watch me do it then say, "Mommy- I too big." "It's boring" But as soon I had her go with me she was lovin it.
We went to the park for a picnic yesterday with daddy, which is always fun. We just follow Gracie from one play set to the next and haul all our junk all over the park. She loves the power as much as the slides I think!
But mostly I keep busy feeding babies, changing babies, bathing babies, scolding babies and best of all playing with the babies! Pretty much- I love it!

We visited one grave on Sunday, and Gracie loved all the decorations, especially all the flags. We left before she got any ideas,

Lucy is minutes away from learning to crawl I'm afraid. I'm actually very excited for her because she's wanted to get up and go the second she was born. Anyone that's held her before can attest. As you can see I always forget my camera, so here's a random photo of the sweet little punky pie. Her thumb sucking skills are pretty cute!

Piggies at the Zoo

I love the Zoo. I just do and you can make fun of me all you want. I've already been twice this spring. (I have a family season pass.) Those little caged animals thrill me to peices, poor things. I always get so excited when they actually move around and act like they're glad to be alive. Andy told Gracie all last week that we would go to the Zoo on Monday. Turned out that it was overcast, showering and cold that day. But, a promise is a promise so we packed up our jackets and went. It was the best zoo day ever because all the animals were in rare form. I saw the wolf for the third time in about 70 visits (the second time was about 2 weeks ago) and he was pacing around; the black bears were playing and being crazy; the tiger was pacing and I made a noise I guess he didn't like cause he sprayed in my direction; the cheetah was out pacing; the gorilla was enjoying his view of us while eating a tissue box like it was popcorn; on the train ride an unfenced buffalo headed straight for Gracie (which freaked me out); the monkeys are always entertaining; and when I said "here pretty kitty" to one of the cougars it came right to me! That trip is going in the record books. Too bad Gracie and Lucy won''t remember it. They had fun though. And amazingly enough, Andy and I didn't bicker once the entire day! Go ahead and add that to the record books too!