Potty training

Recently, I've been asked a lot about potty training. How did I do it? Why did I start so early? Do the girls still wear diapers? For starters, I have no idea how I did it because I never asked for advice and I never researched methods; I literally just did it. We started early because what else would I do while staying home with these crazy girls. There's only so many floors to sweep and mop (KIDDING!). Blair is still in diapers all day, though she will let us know 65% of the time if she needs to poop or pee. Addy has been out of diapers during the day for over a year and a half and out of diapers at night for only about 4 months. I do not claim to know it all about potty training, but I have had a lot of success with both of my children (I hear boys are harder). Below are some tips, ideas and so forth that I have used or heard about. I hope they help!

*Start now. Like yesterday, like 6 months ago. You can purchase the toilet lid or training potty and get them accustomed to seeing it or sitting on it around 12 months. Progressively bring it out more often allowing them to sit without a diaper. (TMI: when I was first introducing the training potty to Addy, she was deathly afraid of it, so I sat on it and peed to show her it wasn't going to eat her alive. You'll do anything to get them potty trained, right? Not to mention, I hadn't peed in privacy in over 6 months anyways, so what difference did it make.)

*When they poop in their diaper, take them to the bathroom and drop the poop into the toilet and flush. This will give them the first idea about where the poop and pee goes. Explain to them in your best, happy voice. At this point, you aren't even talking about potty training, you are just laying down the foundation.

*The moment they wake in the morning or from nap time, put them on the potty. I'm sure they peed while they were sleeping, but trust me, they will need to go again when they wake. This is a great opportunity to show them what pee is/how it works/etc.

*Books and TV shows: I do not know much about TV shows encouraging potty training, but I am certain they exist. I've heard rumors of a great one with Daniel the Tiger, but we've never watched that so I cannot confirm or deny its awesomeness. If a favorite character has an episode about potty training, allow them to watch. Better yet, allow them to sit butt naked on their potty while watching it. We purchased the milestone book set from LeapFrog for our oldest when she was about 15 months old (mostly because it included a book about becoming a big sibling), but it contained a book on potty usage. I wouldn't necessarily say it helped, but it certainly did not hinder the process. There's an ABUNDANCE of books for children and adults on potty training.

*I am not against bribery in parenting. Our kids love junk food, but we don't allow them to have it often. Because of this, junk food is exactly what it should be, a treat. When they make even the smallest strides in potty training, reward them. Cookies, candy, soda...whatever works for your family. We did M&Ms with our oldest and we are currently doing mini cookies with our 21 month old.

*I know people who swear by the 3 day method: keep your toddler naked for 3 days - keep them in one room that is close to the bathroom (or use a training potty that you can move around) - the second they start to urinate, grab them and place them on the toilet. The idea is that they will understand that's where the urine goes (you will be cleaning up a lot of pee, especially the first 2 days). I'm not against this method, but I've never tried it and no child on this planet is fully potty trained in 3 days. Accidents will continue to happen for quite some time.

*Underwear: purchase undies with their favorite character(s). You can either offer them up from the beginning as incentive to try or tell them they cannot wear/receive them until they start making strides in their potty training.

*Potty training is stressful for both parents and children. Do not make it worse by adding unnecessary rules, requirements, etc. For example: if (s)he wants to use half the roll of toilet paper after peeing, go right ahead. You can get into logistics of toilet paper use, wiping and so forth after they have gotten the hang of it.

*This is mostly just opinion/personal preference, but it rang true in our household: do not use a training potty and then expect them to easily and quickly transition to the real toilet. Purchase the removable lids for your toilets and supply your toddlers with a step stool. You do not want to basically start potty training over again when it's time to transition to the actual potty. Additionally, this prevents you from having to carry a potty around with you everywhere you go (does not sound like fun to me) because they will be comfortable using toilets at other locations/homes.

*Put them on the potty even if they have said they already peed in the diaper. My 21 month old will pee in her diaper and then immediately tell me what she's done. I STILL place her on the potty and 9 out of 10 times, she was not finished and will complete the process on the toilet. Cookie earned!

*Do not get upset!! Kids read our mannerisms, tone and so much more. If we sound defeated when they have an accident, they will feel defeated and give up. We do not chastise for having accidents; simply encourage them to try again next time for that reward. They will not be fully potty trained for a while, so there's no need to get frustrated over accidents. My 3 and a half year old still has accidents every 3 months or so during the night. No big deal. The sheets probably needed to be washed anyways. I calmly remind her to take her cute, little tushy to the bathroom if she needs to pee at night (make sure you have night lights and if need be, keep doing Pull-Ups for as long as needed).

*Some noticeable hints that they are ready for serious potty training: they can tell you they have pooped or peed in their diaper (through speech or other methods); they are hiding or leaving the room to defecate in the diaper. Please be prepared for a lengthy process. If you are not willing/able to invest the time in potty training than you have a bigger problem at hand.

*Did I mention praise? I cannot reiterate it enough. SING, DANCE, CLAP, CHEER, THROW A PARTY, anything! Positive reinforcement is key!!

*Lastly, allow them to participate. Flushing, washing hands, throwing away their diaper, etc. Anything to get them involved and make them feel as if they are a big kid.

Who's ready to start potty training? Any tips or ideas that worked for your children? Let me know!

(I cannot believe I typed some variation of the words pee and poop about 3 dozens+ times in a post. HA!)

Hanes Academy

When Addy was little, there was no need for a big production about "school." Every day was school time and it was just her and I playing and learning. Now that my sweet Blair is in the picture, things don't flow as easily. I have to designate periods of time during the day for learning, playing, cleaning, etc. We do not and never will have a specific itinerary for the day because that is not real life. Things comes up, schedules change, and I want my children to learn that no matter how many lists you make or schedules you try to stick to, there will more often than not be a change and we must learn as humans to go with the flow.

With that being said, we have officially started "preschool" in our upstairs office and things have been going quite well. We are most often in the classroom first thing in the morning because it is upstairs and it's easy to monitor them while also getting ready for the day. In the afternoon while Blair takes a nap, Addy and I use the classroom for about an hour. And lastly, we use it any other time when the girls ask or we do not have other things that need to be done.

Addy keeps bragging about going to school and how mommy is her teacher and that really excites me and motivates me to continue. Additionally, I've witnessed Addy on more than one occasion assist Blair in her work or try and "teach" her. That has also given me the boost of confidence I needed to know this is the right thing for our family.

Here are some photos of our classroom/office:

We still have furniture to remove including the couch and coffee table. Also, we have more supplies we need to purchase with the most important being a new printer. Our printer is no longer made, which means the ink is also no longer made. This is pretty ridiculous to us because our printer is only a few years old, but I guess technology is always changing and either way, it's an absolute necessity for our lessons. Another mandatory item is another desk of some sort which I have been have not refinished. My intention is for the plastic art desk to become Blair's work space and for my nice wood desk that is unfinished to be Addy's.

Most items were purchased at Target over the last year and more often than not, they were found in the dollar bins. We have also purchased a lot of things from the Dollar Tree. The season, months, weather, etc. board was an idea I found on Pinterest and copied. I still need to complete the number dates for each month, but so far Addy has really been enjoying it.

Our biggest asset over the last 6 months has been our local library. Can you imagine thousands (maybe even millions) of books at your disposable...and they're free??!! What a wonderful thing for taxpayer dollars to go to! If we are focusing on a specific subject for the week, I can go on to the library website and reserve the book(s) needed on that topic. We pick them up and the girls can play in the library or select other non-educational books to borrow. It has been such a blessing and I am incredibly thankful for it. I cannot explain the pride I have in these two little girls who so love books, stories, the idea of books, etc. As a child, I was a horrible reader (I never quite understood the idea of sounding words out). Because of this, I hated reading in all capacities, but especially reading aloud in front of others. Thankfully, my hatred of books did not follow me into my adult life and I now love nothing more than dissolving into a good book. Reading is literally the foundation for ALL learning. If you can read, you can educate yourself on anything imaginable. I encourage all parents, whether homeschooling or not, to read to their children as much as possible. And not just the 20 suggested minutes by educators. Read to them all day, whether in the grocery store or at home. Encourage them to follow along and even participate in the stories. It will not only build the greatest foundation for learning, but it will also allow their imaginations to explore and when a child has an exceptional imagination, they are more likely to play alone so you can clean house or have personal time.

Do not start feeling bad for my kids as if they are punished with school time. They also have a playroom which is honestly a little ridiculous. We recently removed 1/3 of the toys and placed them in the attic because space was insanely limited. And remember, playtime is learning time too. You do not need a fancy classroom to educate your children. I have noticed that the girls are much more willing to give me 30 minutes to workout, 30 minutes to clean, 30 minutes to make dinner and 30 minutes to check emails, make phone calls, blog or have personal time if I have spent the rest of the bulk of my day with them in the playroom or classroom learning and playing together.

**Let me be totally honest that our lives are not perfect. Some days, we do not go anywhere near that classroom. Some days, I let my kids watch an hour of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so I can take a shower and sweep my floors. Some days, we spend 6 hours outside and other days, we do not even look out the window. Life is about balance and nothing will make you realize how important balance is until you have children. A classroom setup isn't necessary for all families and more importantly, it isn't even feasible. But it works for us and we enjoy using it. Never base parenting or educational decisions on the actions (or words) of others. Do what is right for YOUR family!

What are some ideas you have for a classroom? What should I add? Any teachers of lower grades (preschool-2nd grade) have opinions about what you would like kids to know or have a foundation of before entering your grade? :)

Make this soup...now. Even if it's 100 degrees outside.

Shrimp and corn chowder

I pinned about 4 different recipes for this soup and eventually decided I didn't like the contents for any of them, so I came up with my own version. And I am so thankful I did!

Almost all the recipes included onion...yuck! That was the first omitted item. Next, I took bay leaves off the ingredient list. My personally opinion is that whenever you add bay leaves to anything, they overpower the whole dish. The original recipe that I manipulated called for 4 cups of chicken stock (I used broth), but that made the soup much thinner than I would have liked, so I only used 3 cups (and honestly, that was still a little thin for me; I like thick, creamy soups). To thicken it up more, I added an entire cup of heavy cream and one tablespoon of flour (I could have used more, but I was being careful not the ruin it). And lastly, the biggest change I made was to add potatoes. I have no idea why this popped into my head, but I just felt the soup needed another large component. The shrimp and corn might have been fine on their own, but the dish is mostly spices and I thought another solid would really bring it together.

Luckily for me, my husband hates seafood of all kinds. So I get to eat this soup for the next few days and I am totally okay with that! Which reminds me....the recipe also called for cooking the shrimp separately, but I feared that would prevent all the spices from being absorbed by the shrimp, so I left them in the pot from start to finish. Here's my version:

Ingredients: 

1 pound of shrimp (I buy them frozen, but cooked, peeled and tails removed)

1 large potato (diced into cubes)

1/4 of a package of bacon (roughly 4-5 slices)

2 tablespoons of minced garlic

2 teaspoons of paprika

1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon of dried basil

1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes

3 cups of chicken broth

1 can of whole corn

1 cup of heavy cream

1 tablespoon of dried parsley

Instructions:

The first thing I did was place the bacon on a cooking sheet and bake it in the oven. I cook all of my bacon this way so that I can drain the grease and it also prevents me from getting burned while trying to cook it on the stove top. Next, I diced my potato and immediately boiled the cubes for about 15 minutes. You want them soft enough to chew, but not mashed potato consistency. 

Using a large pot, I sprayed the inside with cooking spray and immediately added the shrimp, garlic, paprika, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes. You can add salt or pepper for taste, but I omitted both. Allow the flavors to mix together well and then add your broth. Boil down for about 10-15 minutes and then add your cream. Lastly, remove the soup from the stove top and add in all your remaining ingredients (diced bacon, parsley and potatoes). Give the soup a good whisk to mix all the goodies. 

Serve and enjoy!!

Here's the original: http://damndelicious.net/2014/10/24/shrimp-corn-chowder/

Give this soup a try and let me know what you think! 

Operation: FIX THIS HOME

My husband and I feel very blessed that we were able to purchase our first home 6 months after getting married at only 25 years old. BUT, this is not our "forever" home. Every neighborhood has its pros and cons and ours is no different. Same goes for our actual home; there are things we love and things we hate. Unfortunately, we are stuck here until we pay off our school loans and can afford to build our forever home somewhere in the country with lots of land.

So until then...we will organize, we will redecorate, we will remodel, we will slowly but surely make this house a home and more importantly, improve it as much as possible for resell. You would think by what I'm saying we have only been here a few months, but it's actually been 4 years. Within weeks of moving into our home, we found out we were expecting. That really slowed the process of getting our house together. And just when we thought we were ready to get started again on home improvements, we were expecting again. I wouldn't change the timeline of our marriage, children, etc. for all the money in the world, but now that the girls are almost 4 and 2, we are ready to seriously start getting this home together for several different reasons.

We recently had our roof done. CHECK! Next is our master bath, which shockingly has been OUT OF ORDER since we moved in due to a broken shower pan. Once we realized the entire bathroom would need to be gutted to fix it, we placed this remodeling task on the back burner, but we are currently tackling it. Luckily, I married the perfect kind of man...the man that can do/fix anything. DIY projects are scary thoughts for the inexperienced, but with Stephen, they are a blessing (mostly because it saves us $$$). So far, we have only done the demolition. However, we have no timeline, which I think makes for the best kind of remodels. We have an additional full bath upstairs, so we aren't bathing in our sinks or anything. Here are some before photos:

As you can see, this is the original bathroom from when this home was built almost 50 years ago. I guess back then muted pink was a big hit for bathrooms. Even worse, our other bath is guacamole green, but that project is probably years away.

In addition to these serious remodeling tasks, we are doing some other smaller ones. I am currently in the process of putting our girls into one room. They are close in age and they are literally only in their rooms to get dressed and sleep, so they don't need a lot of individual space. That means that we will officially have a guest bedroom and our 4th bedroom is S L O W L Y becoming an updated office/classroom for the girls. *We still have not decided whether we are homeschooling (probably not), but we needed an area for what preschool work we are/will be doing because the playroom is not an area that I (or anyone else) would consider conducive with learning.*

Next up this summer is lots of landscaping work and eventually, a fence for the backyard (this project may be further away than I'd like).

What projects are you tackling in your home currently? What "dream" projects do you have in mind?