whoops

Warning: this post is all about potty training so if you're not into it then consider yourself warned and stop reading now.


So after weeks of subtle pressure from Mike, my Mom and Olivia, I've finally decided that it might be time to start potty training my child. So this afternoon after her nap Olivia got to put on big girl panties. I carefully explained that when one wears big girl panties they have to go potty in the bathroom. I followed that up with a demonstration and then it was Olivia's turn. She sat on the potty for a bit then she said she was all done (nothing happened). She stood up and peed on the stool. I said no Olivia you're supposed to go in the potty. She looked at me with a the most serious little face and then she started cracking up. I'm talking serious belly laughs here. About 30 minutes later Olivia tells me she needs to go potty. We rush to the bathroom, I get her on the potty and.....nothing. She announces that she's all done, she stands up on her little stool, she looks at me and then she starts peeing on the stool. She finishes and of course this is the most hilarious thing on the face of the planet. She's laughing so hard that she falls off the stool. How can I not laugh with her? So I let out a little giggle, it just slips out. My little giggle prompts more laughter from Olivia. Whoops, I've now taught my child that I think it's funny when she pees on the stool too. Olivia does stop laughing long enough to say poo poo so back on the potty she goes. And she does a great job! So at least she's got the poo poo part down, now all I have to do is teach her that it's not hilariously funny to pee on stools.

Yikes...the dentist

So Olivia's going to the dentist for the first time this Thursday. I am so nervous about it. I've never minded going to the dentist. I've had braces but I've never really had any major dental issues. So going to the dentist wasn't ever a really big deal. They clean my teeth and tell me to floss more often. Olivia and I have been practicing for about a week now. She will open her mouth and say "ahhh". She won't stick out her tongue but then again there was a phase a couple months ago where all she wanted to do was walk around and stick out her tongue at things. Obviously that wasn't appropriate behavior so we put a stop to that so maybe it's my fault that we can't get her to stick out her tongue on purpose anymore.

Its so funny that I don't give a second thought to my dental appointments but I haven't been able to stop thinking about Olivia's appointment since I made it almost 2 weeks ago.

Valentines Day Craft

So I'm trying to find fun little craft projects to do with Olivia now that we're home together. Here's a picture of this week's project. It's taken us all week but Olivia had a blast. We're going to write special Valentines day messages on the hearts. Olivia especially enjoyed sticking the leaves and hearts on the tree but I have found her trying to tape other items (her toy cars, her Cheerios, her doll, etc.) to other doors around the house.

My newest obsession

The other day when I was at the commissary I saw Diet Pomegranate 7up on sale for 49 cents for a 2 liter bottle. I got a few and I've discovered that I absolutely LOVE it. I've gone back 2 more times to stock up. I am a little sad though, I think that they are discontinuing it soon.....I guess I'll just have to hope they bring it back next Christmas.

More Peter Pictures

Here's the link to some photos of just Peter. I can't believe that he's 2 months old already!

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1AcNWTRm5ZsWIQ

2 months old!

Where is the time going! I can't believe that Peter is two months old already! Yesterday was his two month checkup and he got his first set of shots. He's weighing in at a healthy 12 lbs even and is 22 and a half inches long. I pulled out Olivia's baby book to compare, at her 2 month check up she was only 11 lbs 5 ounces and 21 inches long. He's already smiling, cooing and babbling. I can't wait for him to start laughing but at the same time I don't want time to go by so quickly! I took this picture right before the shots when Peter was flirting with the nurse. I don't think he would have been so adorable if he knew he was about to get 3 big shots!

So good I didn't want to leave

Today at Mass the priest was giving a particularly interesting homily. He's a young priest and we usually enjoy his sermons but today was really interesting. He was speaking about the importance of confession and how it's not as popular now as it once was. Then he continued on to talk about the 5 sins that cannot be forgiven by a regular priest during confession. Interestingly enough these do not include murder. Midway through the list of the 5 sins Olivia decided that she needed a new diaper. She picked up my purse and headed for the bathroom. I was able to slow her down and we stood near the exit for a while so I could listen to the homily a little longer but Olivia was not as interested so I had to give in and change her. I can't remember being so interested in a homily in a long time, I hated to leave! By the time we got back the homily was over. I had to know what the other sins were so I googled them and just had to share with all of you.....

1. Defiling the Eucharist
2. Attempting to assassinate the Pope
3. A priest abusing the confidentiality of the confessional by revealing the nature of the sin and the person who admitted to it
4. A priest who has sex with someone and then offers forgiveness for the act
5. A man who directly participates in an abortion - even by paying for it - who then seeks to become a priest or deacon

Exactly what I should be doing

It's 5:37 am at the Leiva house. I've just finished feeding Peter and I'm holding a happy gurgling, cooing little boy. All of a sudden I hear Olivia through the baby monitor: "hi" "morning" "mama" "yayia (this is how Olivia pronounces Olivia)" "baby" "bath" "duck" "H I J K" "4 5 6" "A B C" "bye". And then I hear her falling asleep again. I debated going back to bed for another hour but I decided I'd just hold Peter instead. This is the best way to start the day!

Whew!

Last week was a busy week! I'm glad it's over and this week seems to be a little more relaxing....

• Monday was Olivia's first time going to her new daycare. She got a little upset when I left but she had a great time. She made a new friend and she fingerpainted.


• Tuesday was Olivia's first time to go to Language Playgroup. Playgroup this week consisted of toddler gymnastics. I'm really not sure what this had to do with language development at all but Olivia had a good time.


• Wednesday consisted of a session with Olivia's Speech Teacher and a trip to the grocery store.


• Thursday included Olivia's regular Speech Therapy session and then the rescheduled Christmas party at Chuck E Cheese.

Poor Peter, he's been carted around all over the place!

Peter's Baptism

By far the best part of our trip to Houston was Peter's baptism. My great-uncle, Father Pat, baptized me when I was an infant and he performed the ceremony when Mike and I got married. It means so much to us that he was able to baptize Peter. We celebrated the baptism in the Chapel at the University of St. Thomas where we were married. It was so special that we could share the day with so many of my extended family members as well as Mike's big brother and his family. It was great to see everyone.

What a cutie!

From a frown to a smile in less than 10 seconds.

Isn't he the cutest!

Dinner Anyone?

Tonight was one of those nights where I had no desire to cook, I jokingly asked Olivia what she wanted for dinner and to my surprise she told me! I had to reward this communication accomplishment so I told her that she could choose what she wanted for dinner. So here's what she chose:

That's right, that's banana ("nanner"), hot dog ("hot dog"), cheese ("cheese"), pepperoni ("roni"). I'm sure she's available to plan your dinner menu too. In case you were wondering I had a baked potato and a glass of wine.

My Boys

They're even color coordinated!

Dinner Date

Tonight Olivia and I had a dinner date. Olivia helped me make pizza and we had a blast. Apparently Olivia loves pepperoni cold, right from the package, but put it on a pizza and bake it and she refuses to eat it.

When Mike is gone

our house looks like this......

Mike is out of town, again. We're all getting over being sick and we're readjusting to being back at home. This afternoon I let Olivia play with her toys while I was trying to write in Peter's baby book, he's only 6 weeks old and I'm already behind! In a matter of minutes Olivia had completely destroyed our family room. At least she helped me clean it up.

More pictures

In case you still need to see more pictures here's the link to pictures we posted on Shutterfly.
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1AcNWTRm5ZsWIB

Bad Santa

So before we left for Houston we took Olivia meet Santa. Apparently Olivia thought this was some form of inhumane punishment. It's a good think we didn't pay for these pictures but I had to post it. Olivia's expression is priceless. I don't know who is more miserable, Olivia or Santa.

Christmas (the condensed version)

We're back home and settling in so it's time to get caught up on the blogging. After a bumpy start in the Seattle/Tacoma airport we ended up having a great Christmas. Here are just a few of the highlights followed by some of my favorite pictures of our trip....

• Seeing my nephews and watching Olivia and Peter interact with their cousins. At 2 and a half Olivia falls right in between Braden (3) and Hunter (2). It was so much fun to watch them interacting with each other!
• Olivia really enjoyed seeing and pointing out all the animals, especially the horses and the cows!
• Catching up with my sisters. We talk on the phone pretty often but nothing beats catching up in person!
• Seeing my parents with their FOUR grandkids. I still can't believe that my mom is a grandma (I realize this is completely irrational since 2 of her kids are my own kids but I still think of my mom as driving me around to school and sports stuff)
• Kolaches. Every time we go to Houston we look forward to having kolaches one day for breakfast.
• A trip to Houston means seeing family! I have a large extended family and most of them live in the Houston area so it was great to see my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandmother.
• We were also able to see Mike's older brother and his wife and my youngest niece. It was so much fun to catch up with them.
• The weather! It wasn't super sunny while we were there but it wasn't raining or snowing so that's a huge improvement!
  
  

Christmas morning-Santa left boots and lollipops.



Mike and Karen (my sister) with the kids on a hay ride to feed the horses.

The four cousins, Olivia, Braden, Peter, and Hunter.

Tub Time




The whole family (top row: me, Amy, my Dad; bottom row: Peter, Mike, Olivia, my Mom, Braden, Karen, Hunter)

I'll be posting a lot more photos from our trip on Shutterfly so I'll post the link later on.