Undie Day!!!

We have been talking about potty training with Charlie a lot lately. He has gone pee pee in the potty many times but we have never really and truly transitioned from diapers to undies...until today!
He woke up and I gave him a present(his undies wrapped up in wrapping paper). He wasn't too impressed since he has seen them before. I told him that everytime he went pee pee in the potty he would get one M&M. I don't really like using food as a reward but we tried EVERYTHING with Bella and then ended up using the M&M because it was the only thing that worked so thought I would just start there. He wasn't really into it but with some encouragement from his big sis we were well on our way.
It is 10am and he has peed 5 times successfully in the potty and we have gone through 4 pairs of undies!
I think he is doing great but I am exhausted!!!


So the rest of the day did not go that well...We had accident after accident and lots of screaming(by Charlie) everytime I even mentioned the word potty. By the time he went to bed our whole family was EXHAUSTED!!!
Bill and I talked and realized that maybe he just wasn't ready so made the decision to ask him in the morning if he wanted to wear undies or diapers and go from there. I was almost 100% sure that he was going to choose diapers and really was o.k. with that.

We woke up the next morning and the first words out of Charlie's mouth were "I wear big boy undies and do pee in the potty and get an m&m."
I was shocked!!! I said are you sure you don't want to wear and diaper???? He said he wanted undies so on they went and off we went. The morning went on with lots of protesting and crying and then Bella and I left for school( I was helping in her class that day) and Bill was staying home with Charlie. I was really feeling like this potty training thing at 2 1/2 was not the best idea I have ever had when I got a call on my cell "hi mommy! i go pee pee in the potty two times!!!" I was tickled!!!! Then I got another call about an hour later from Bill saying that Charlie peed again and then he caught the end of a poop in the potty! We were on our way!!!! By the way, M&Ms did not work with Charlie as they had with Bella....his currency is cars! so I found some cheap matchbox cars and some car stickers and put them in a cool box and that is his pee pee prize box!
Whatever works, right?

We are on day 4 of undies and doing great!!! He has a few accidents but now more successes!!! I could not be happier and neither can Charlie!!!

Superbowl 10k

I have recently discovered a deep love of running about 8 months ago. I never ever thought that would happen but it has and I could not be happier. I run about 4 times a week and did my first race ever in November. Bill and I ran the turkey trot 5k together and it was really fun.

About three weeks ago, I ran my first 10k. I decided to do it by myself just to show myself that I could. It was really fun. I had hurt my leg the week before and wasn't sure if i would be able to finish the race but about 10min into the run my leg stopped hurting and it was really fun.

Bill and the kids drove by and cheered me on on their way out of town for a birthday party. It was so cute seeing them and hearing their little voices"go mommy! go mommy!"

My mom also rode her bike over to see me and rode next to me part of the way and then ahead of me to take pictures. I felt very supported.

I finished the race in one hour and seven min and feeling really strong!
What an experience!
Now my goal is to do a few more 10ks and then a half marathon in November!!!

34 in Vegas!!!

I spent my 34th birthday in Vegas with my brother! We had the best time. Bill and the kids drove me to the airport on Friday evening and I flew to Vegas. I took a cab from the airport to the hotel all by myself. This may not seem like a big deal to most of you but it is a BIG deal for me. I was very proud of myself. It also was only my second time in a cab, the first being when I was about 14.
I made it to the hotel about 8:30 and what a swanky hotel it was. We stayed at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay and it was beautiful. I made it to my room, checked it out and ordered room service because I was starving! After I ate my dinner I took a bath in a beautfully big tub! Oh, did I mention that there is a T.V. in the bathroom so I watched supernanny while I bathed...heaven!!

I had a wonderful sleep and woke up raring to go! I decided to venture to the gym in the hotel for a workout. I am so not used to the world of fancy hotels and did not forsee that the gym in the hotel was going to have an additional cost...oh well, I was on vacation! After a great workout and a shower, I thought I would venture out into the hotel in search of coffee while I waited for Dave to arrive.

I found a Starbucks and sat down to enjoy my coffee while also enjoying some people watching. It is amazing the vast variety of people you will see while sitting in a casino: preppy, put together couples, families with strollers, guys(and girls for that matter) that seem to be on the prowl at all hours of the day, and then the couples that are walking around in shorts and t-shirts with buckets of coins for the slots and gigantic drinks!

After my coffee I walked around the casino and was heading back to the room when I ran into Dave coming in the door! He dropped his stuff off in the room and then we were starving so went in search of some food. I was buying Dave lunch for his birthday as his is 8 days after mine. We found a burger place we wanted to eat at but decided to go have a margerita and some chips and guacamole while we waited for our table. I don't know the last time, if ever, that I have had a margerita before 12 in the afternoon! After lunch we went back to the room where Dave took a nap and I rested and read.

Then it was time to get ready for our evening. We got dressed up and headed over to the Venetian where Dave bought me a delicious dinner at the Mario Betalli restaurant. It was soooo yummy! After dessert we walked across the street to the Mirage where we had tickets to see the Cirque De Soliel show LOVE. Neither Dave or I had ever seen a Cirque show before and we were very impressed. It was one of the most intricately timed and preformed shows I have ever seen.

After the show we went to the New York New York hotel where my friend, Will, managaes the ESPN Zone. He bought us a drink while we caught up, it had been about 8 years since we had seen eachother. It was really fun.

The next morning Dave was going to get a massage and I was happy to stay in the room and read and relax. Dave, being the generous big brother that he is, had coffee and breakfast delivered to the room! it was perfect!
After we checked out of the hotel we walked around Vegas for a while and visited a few more hotels. Then we had lunch and took a taxi to the airport. What a wonderful weekend!

My mom and Bella picked me up at the airport and I when we got home a party was waiting for me! I had a yummy dinner, a delicious cake, two homemade cards and some beautiful earrings!
What more could a mama ask for?!?

Yellow-Eyed Penguins

Bella has been going to pre-school since September but just started pre-k in January. She is going to school on Fridays also now and this class is for the kids who will be attending Kindergarten in the fall. She absolutly LOVES pre-k! She feels like such a big girl. They have learning centers and longer circle time and they get to play on the big kids playground. One other new thing is that their sharing time, which was bring in anything you want to talk about, has turned into a science sharing time.
Bella had her first science sharing time aobut a week ago. We talked about what she would like to share about and after I gave her a few ideas she decided on talking about the yellow-eye penguins that we saw when we were living in New Zealand. We talked about where they lived and where that is on the globe and then I framed a picture that we took of the penguins. Come her share day she was ready.
Bill and I and Charlie all went to see her and she did such a great job! she was so proud of herself and we were too!!!

Happy Valentine's Day and the humor of a four year old.

I know it is way past Valentine's Day but it is still February so I just made it under the wire, right?
We enjoyed a quiet, love filled Valentine's Day here. It started with the kids coming down the stairs and seeing the table decorated with fun pink and red heartshaped fun! I stocked up at the dollar store and boy was it worth it! Bella looked at me and said "this is the best Valentine's party I have ever been to!!!" Melts your heart!
Charlie looked at everything and then asked if he could touch it...oh my sweet boy, of course you can!!!
While the kids were checking out their table of love I made them heart shaped banana pancakes with strawberries on top!

After breakfast, Bill played with the kids while I was able to sneak off for a run and a much needed trip to the chiropractor.
Then Bill and I, with a little help from Nonna, were able to go out for a romantic lunch at the Crows Nest. It was really nice to get away and have that much needed time together.

Bill downloaded a copy of Charlie Brown's Valentine so after dinner we popped some popcorn and had family movie night...so fun!!
I have to tell a funny story about Bella right here. A few days before Valentine's Day while we were getting the kids ready for bed Bill told us that he brought the Charlie Brown movie home for us to watch. Bella, not knowing anything about Charlie Brown said "Wow! We are going to watch Charlie Brown! After that can we watch Bella Pink!?" I fell over laughing so hard! The only Charlie she knows about is her brother and thought that is who we were talking about and then didn't want to be left out!!!
I just love that little girl!