See you later diapers!

Diapers are a thing of the past in this house and I can honestly say it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be.

I tried the 3 day potty training with both girls and it was a nightmare. I wouldn't recommend that to anyone......ever. All it did was scare the heck out of both of them.

Thankfully I didn't scar them too bad because a month after I quit the idea of having potty trained kids Finley potty trained herself. She asked Gary to use the potty and hasn't had one accident. That was probably about 3 months ago. A few weeks ago Gillian started showing a little interest in wearing big girl undies so I put her in a pair, let her pee in them and she was so upset she peed on her princess undies that she has been on the potty since. Piece of cake.

Now the adorable thing is Finley the potty pro helping Gillian the potty newbie in the bathroom. If Gillian announces she has to go Finley says "I take you" and goes in with her. Then she helps her pull down her pants and undies and get up on the stool. Then she very patiently waits until she pees and cheers for her "YEAH GILLIAN WENT PEE PEE!!" After all the fanfare is over she gives her toilet paper and helps her pull up her pants.

Who needs me around when you have a Finley? Now if I could just teach her to make dinner we would be all set!

My little Red Sox fans!

Its pretty easy to tell from this picture that Gillian is my ham and loves to smile for the camera and Finley is the eccentric girly girl with her pink skirt on . We took off to walmart after this pic and she wore her zebra print boots with it too. She's too cute for words. There is no denying she has her own style!

2 or 12?

Finley and her attitude are going to be the death of me. I am in shock that any 2 year old can act like this. Its like she's a teenager for goodness sakes.

This weekend I heard it all. These are some of her favorite phrases over the past few days. They had us all cracking up.

"No,no,no,no,no" (with her little hand waving in front of my face for maximum drama)

"No,no,no,no,no. NO SING MOM" (don't forget dramatic hand"

"NO, Me not peanut, ME FINLEY"

"Me sick, me need jellybean"

"Me do" (she says this about everything, don't try to help her in any way shape or form unless you have her permission)

And the comment that sent me over the edge this weekend came out of Gillian's mouth

"No Mom, you're fat" (after asking her if I can ride in her wagon)

I informed her that no I wasn't fat and if for any reason they thought I was it was only because I carried their butts for 9 long months! And of course I had to remind them that before I had them I had a smoking hot body! Thank you freaking much. Now who's the teenager?! Brats.

Camping

First week of camping season started and we made it out alive! We did have a slight snag when Gillian started coughing so uncontrollably out of no where Saturday night she ended up throwing up all over Gary. Then she fell asleep and slept through the night. Thank goodness. Not sure what caused the coughing but I'm glad it passed quickly.

The girls were so excited to have their own room in the camper, they have always had their own room there but apparently this year it meant something to them. Their cousin visited for a little while and they had to show Ava their room. They played in it for ever. After Gillian threw up I decided to sleep in the bed with them and Finley was ticked when she woke up around 3 to find me laying beside her! And I mean TICKED!

She woke up, grabbed the blankets off me and started yelling "NO MOM MY BED-GET UP" over and over and over and over and freaking over again. It woke everyone up. She was whining and crying and not happy that I was sleeping with her.

I found it so strange since she begs me to sleep with her and Gillian at home? Guess while camping they are just too cool for their mom? Kinda made me a little sad, not gonna lie. I learned my lesson the next night and slept in my own bed. Away from their room.

So besides those 2 little things our nights were good and our days were better. They loved riding around on the golf cart, taking walks, waving at everyone they saw come by, hanging at the beach and eating smores! It was a fun weekend for everyone. I can't wait to go back this weekend.

Early Summer?

Last week it was nearly 90 degree's outside. So we busted out the pool and bathing suits (or babysuits as the girls call them) and caught some rays. Can't wait for the nice weather to get here and stay for a while! Finley is embrassing the ponytail lately, and won't wear any bathing suit unless it has some type of tutu attached. She's a kid who knows what she wants......

Personalities

Wow. I love this age. The girls personalities are really coming out and its amazing to watch!

Finley is VERY independent. I can't stress that word enough. She wants to do everything for herself. Don't even try to do it for her. You will get a melt down and a half from her. She wants to pour her own milk, put on her own sippy cup cap, pick out her own outfits, dress herself, get her own snack, do her own juicebox, help cook, feed the animals, close the doors, climb in her carseat, pick out her own movie AND put it in the DVD player, Oh and don't forget turning on the Tv and starting her movie.

Good luck if you forget and do something for her. I've literally had to pour milk back in its container just so she can help.

She loves to pick her own clothes. Which usually consist of a pair of pants, miss matched shirt and a random skirt thrown over her pants. She loves dresses and skirts.

She is talking up a storm this past month too. Its funny to hear her putting together sentences now. She just blabbers on and on and on these days. She isn't the least bit shy and will say "Hi" to anyone that looks at her.

In church today she came in with one hand in her pocket and the other waving to people she saw along the way saying "Hi,  Me Finley"

She is almost completely potty trained, with the exception of pooping in the potty. She has had 1 accident since she potty trained herself months ago. She means business. She wasn't going to have me telling her when she was going to be a big girl. She fought me when I tried to potty train her in January. She fought hard. Once I gave up she let me know who was in charge. It obviously wasn't me, she amazes me everyday with how stubborn she is.

Gillian could not be more opposite from Finley if she tried. She is shy, and it takes her a long time to warm up to people.

She could care less at this point about doing anything herself. She is perfectly happy having me (or Finley) do everything for her.

She LOVES to sing. When we are at church she "sings" along. LOUD. Its hysterical. I can't help but giggle at her, along with anyone else that watches her.

She is sweet and cuddly and loves to watch her movies. Her favorite this week is The brave little toaster. She recites the movies and sings along with them now and it cracks me up to watch her. Her favorite song to sing is Raffi's Down by the bay. She screams along with that one in the car.

We started potty training her a week ago and while it wasn't as easy as Finley, because honestly you couldn't get any easier than Finley, she didn't do to bad. She had a few accidents in her big her undies but after she realized she was ruining her princess undies she started telling me when she had to go. She's been a few days accident free now.

I can't believe they will be 2 1/2 next month. They are growing up so fast. I can't wait to see how their little personalities develop over the next year. I can tell I am going to have my hands full with Finley already. Just waiting for Gillian to jump on that independent bandwagon to make things more interesting around here. Like one stubborn child isn't enough!

The Playhouse makeover

I'd been looking for one of those older Little Tikes playhouse's for a while to redo. I saw someone on Pinterest redid one with spray paint and fell in love with the idea immediately!

So I started looking high and low on craigslist and finally found one for $20.00! What a steal! I sent Gary to pick it up and he came back with money in his pocket. The lady he got it from also turned out to have twin girls and she told him to just take it. Being the good guy he is he fought with her until she at least took a 10!

I ran out to Lowe's and picked up spray paint (you need the kind that says its for plastic) and headed back home. Gary power washed the whole thing and took it all apart. Then he was awesome enough to take a whole entire day to spray paint the whole thing for me! He rocks. It was long and tedious and I never would have finished it that's for sure!

Here are some pics. Here is what it looked like before. This is not the actual playhouse or my picture, just one I found online of exactly what it looked like!

And here it is after Gary slaved away all day! If you do get brave enough to attempt this make sure you let everything dry for a few days before putting it together. If you do it too soon (I'm not going to tell you how I know this) you run the risk of the paint coming off in some spots (mainly the shutters when your kids try to open and close them when they aren't all the way dry)



The girls call it their princess house. Love my hubby!