Ireland's Updated Dr. Seuss Room

Well, I've only got 7 days left to prepare for a big change in our family. Ireland Laine will be arriving on Thursday, September 22 (I'm getting induced!). I'm ready to not have my big belly swinging around in front of me anymore - it's starting to really get in the way of things I want to do.

So, thanks to my wonderful husband and amazing mom, we made some progress in Ireland's room. I was extremely blessed at her shower, and was able to take a lot of goodies home with me to decorate and update the more boyish nursery to girly frills (thanks to Aubrey Stewart for her craftiness).

Here's a look at our improved nursery:


We just added bows to the curtains (which are really shower curtains but it tied in the Dr. Seuss theme and added some color to that side of the room)...my mom updated the lamp shade with left over fabric and rosettes from the shower...and my sister-in-law Alicia created a bow frame for me that matches all my wild colors!

An upclose look at the frame:


An upclose look at the lamp shade:




The three circle rugs are from ikea ($10 a piece) and cover up three windows that used to let in a ton of light (a brilliant idea my mom came up with). We then hung the "Ireland" banner across them for that personal touch.

We switched out the blue changing pad with a red one:



Probably my favorite part of the room. The "Izzy" letters wrapped in yarn and the hanging fabric that just gives it that girly feel. I still might paint the knobs on the dresser, just not in the mood for another project quite yet.

Well, in just a few short days we will be asking for a table for 4 instead of 3. Excited about our growing family. Feeling ready to meet our little girl!

Pacifier Give up . . . (aka "wuba" in our house)

There are so many names for pacifiers out there...each family has their own catchy name and a good reason for it as well. Ours just happens to be "Wuba"...it's short for the brand of pacifiers we have bought: Wubanubs.

My sister-in-law got us addicted when she picked up the first one at Starlight Starbright in Folsom. Judah took to the pacifier right away and this particular brand was great because they are hard to lose with the animal attached. My doctor warned us to get rid of it before he turned 18 months, but we didn't listen. He told us it would be harder because Judah would be able to communicate what he wanted, throw tantrums easier and the longer you wait, the more addicted they become. He was probably right, but I wasn't willing to give it up at the time because Judah was still teething and it was one of those "easier said than done" kind of things. Judah also is my first, so he's probably more spoiled and catered to than needed...but it's what we chose to do. Poor Ireland, not sure if she'll get the same special treatment :).

Over Judah's first year of life we collected 5 different wubanubs (some we bought, some from grandparents). In the last few months, we were down to 2 (I did lose a couple and he chewed through one as well). We accidentally left Judah's last working wubanub at daycare on Thursday of this past week and decided to maybe attempt to pull him out of the bad habit. He kept asking where it was and finally it stuck that it was left at daycare. We have a couple back up pacifiers without the stuffed animal attachment that we were using for naps and bedtime...but on Sunday, we finally misplaced all the backups as well. So we went cold turkey (cause neither Joe or I were going to go out and buy a replacement at this point). No wuba for naptime or bedtime. He didn't really cry for it...just whined a bunch and talked our ears off. This kid is a talker and becoming a parrot as well. It probably took him an extra hour of talking about where wuba went to finally fall asleep.

He woke up about 1 hour earlier than normal and whined for wuba again. He probably would have fallen back asleep had we given it to him, but we bit the bullet and woke up at 6:30am to much more talking. He hasn't really stopped talking since.

I headed out for a dr. appointment this morning and upon my return I found a pacifier in his mouth. He had dug in a toy chest and found one that we thought was long gone. So, I took the advice from a facebook friend and we went to the street to give wuba to Jesus attached to some balloons. We told Judah that Jesus needed his last wuba to give to a new baby. Maybe even baby Ireland would get it from Jesus. He didn't really cry, just looked a little dazed. We've been repeating all afternoon that wuba is in heaven with Jesus cause he needed it for another baby. Take a look at the video here:



In the car ride he brought it up again, wuba is in heaven with Jesus for another baby to have:



Luckily, Judah loves falling asleep in the car, and we timed his nap perfectly today to make that happen. He is out like a light right now, and we are praying that he takes a nice long one without any random wake ups.

This pretty much is day 2...and I think he's taking it like a champ. Now it's up to Joe and I to make peace with all the extra chatter. At least he's a good conversationalist.

Maybe a Part 2 to follow...I'll keep you updated on the progress.

What's to come in my everyday life:
1. I'm officially getting induced on September 22 if Ireland decides to stay put until then!
2. I'm moving offices at work as soon as a new desk arrives (I've got 1 week to prepare to go on maternity leave)
3. I'll let you know how Judah does at daycare without a wuba.
4. We'll let you know how Judah does with the transition of his baby sister's arrival.
5. I most post the post-laundry party blog...but for now just view pictures on facebook.

Potty Training Day 1 {part 2}

So...we started off the morning by striping Judah's clothes and taking a moment to sit on the "potty seat" first thing. He definitely enjoyed getting his M&M after that first trip. Sitting on the seat wasn't the hard part, we knew what lied ahead for us was actually "going" in the toilet.

We headed downstairs for breakfast in the nude which Judah was thoroughly excited about (until his little booty sat right on his "big truck" and gave him an "owwwiii") But he moved on quickly. We kept with the reminders of saying "it's time to pee pee on the potty seat" and he would slowly walk to the bathroom to await his M&M for trying. That probably happened about 3 times in the morning. We felt like we were off to a great start. Then it got strangely quiet and I heard a little stream (luckily most was on the tile)...so we rushed him into the bathroom and explained that you need to go on your "potty seat" not in the living room area. He didn't seem to mind peeing freely at all.

Playtime was entertaining watching him do what he normally does with many trips to the potty seat and 1 M&M for every time he tried (maybe that's where we failed :). Lunch came quickly and I knew that a #2 was going to be in our near future. A few minutes after eating we went to the bathroom to attempt "the big one." He told me he had to go, and he even asked to hold my hand to squeeze (probably too much info)...but he really wanted to please us, you could just tell. Well, we read a book on the potty, hung out for about 5 minutes after squeezing to no avail.

I let him loose and headed to the kitchen to start cleaning up lunch. I should have known the eery quietness came too quickly. I asked Joe if Judah was in his sight and he said "no" and I started getting nervous. Calling for Judah he came around the corner. I asked him what he was up too, and he grabbed my hand, took me into our living room and pointed to a little nugget on the car which he quickly exclaimed was the "doggies." (we don't own a dog, but we were watching our neighbors dog and his explanation actually made sense)..so I asked Joe where the dog was and asked if he noticed the dog going potty. When ...Joe pointed out that it couldn't have been the dogs because there was a "big boy log" in Joe's eye line by the couch. Then I started dying laughing because I had no clue how in the world Judah had managed to take a #2 right in front of Joe (he was watching football and must have zoned out)then be smart enough to blame it on the dog. Wow, our child is a genius.

Needless to say, Joe cleaned up that one. Luckily nothing was runny at this point (again TMI, I know)...

We headed to my parents pool after that last incident and decided to take it easy over there. He enjoyed riding in the car with no diaper (it was actually easier to buckle him in too), then swimming with no diaper was a blast...we sat on the potty seat 2 times at my parents, had no accidents over there but no success stories either. Then headed home for nap time (I cheated and stuck a diaper on him for that because I wasn't wanting to wash any sheets). He woke up dry and we were happy.

More trips were taken at this point to just sitting on the potty seat with his reward. When in the middle of cooking dinner...the little stream sound appeared again...he backed up from his puddle on the tile and blamed it on the dog again (probably cause we laughed so hard the first time)...Now all his potty accidents were the dogs fault.

Grandma & Papa came over for dinner to give us some encouragement. Judah ran around in the nude for a bit...then we showed them how Judah could wear "big boy tractor undies" which he wasn't a fan of at first since he had been nude all day...but quickly learned to like them over diapers. They took a few turns with him on the "potty seat" but nothing happened. I decided to stick a diaper on him for bed and we called it a day.

I have to say it was quite eventful. Humorous even to some point. We hung up our hats and decided to go out for the weekend and not push him. I'm sure I could've won a few battles if I tried, but got out of the mood quickly. We wanted to enjoy our weekend together. So...we'll get there again.

Judah will be heading to Capital's preschool when I go back to work after having Ireland. He has to be in the process of potty training and wearing pull ups at that point, but he will be closer to the age, watching other friends do it...and maybe it will just work out better. I'm not stressed, we had a good day exploring that world.

We can wait till he's ready.

And the journey continues.

Potty Training Day 1 {part 1}

Judah has been showing some interest for going potty on the "big boy seat" so we decided to try and dedicate Labor Day weekend to seeing if it sticks. He's almost 2 (just one month shy) and I've been told Joe was potty trained before age 2, so we are thinking maybe it'll run in the family.

Our first advice we were told, was to take him on trips to get "big boy undies," a potty seat, and some M&M's. He was really into purchasing all of these items.
1. Tractor undies for Gap Outlet

My mom also splurged and got him some shark undies too:


2. Potty Seat at Babies R Us (Baby Bjorn)


3. M&M's- big bag from costco to last us for the weekend (plus the parents get a treat too right?)


We have sat him on the seat (without actually going) a few times now, just to test it out and get him excited about the M&M treats, etc. I also was informed about the Pull Ups "I Go Potty" app, so both Joe and I downloaded it for free. They have a funny "Potty Dance" video that we have watched a few times and tried to emulate (I'll have to get that on video as well).

He's still sleeping, but first thing on the "to do" list today is to get him stripped down and let him walk around naked all day. I'll let you know how it goes. Stay tuned for part 2 of day 1.

Here is the video of our way to Baby Gap outlets for "tractor undies"...


(PS- guess we need to get rid of the pacifier too- one step at a time people, one step at a time)

Impossibly Easy Quiche Muffins

If you know me at all, you know I hate to cook. We recently had a MOMS group brunch, and needed a type of egg dish. My mom had altered a dish she found from Betty Crocker for my shower so I headed to her house for a tutorial.

We started from this recipe found here: Impossibly Easy Vegetable Pie and altered to fit our needs. At my shower, she created this recipe in muffin cups. We realized it's easier to peel from foil cups then paper, so for the sake of these photos below- it's in mini-bread shaped foiled muffin cups. Regular foil cups would work just fine.

I always like following recipes with photos due to my ineptness when it comes to cooking...so I hope this makes a for a quick easy tutorial for you if needing a brunch/shower/breakfast recipe.

1. Heat oven to 400.

2. Place foil cups in muffin pan (in this case we used a regular glass baking dish). Spray with Pam (or non-sticking spray of your choice).

3. My mom liked the use of bacon in this particular recipe- so we used the pre-cooked kind that you stick in the microwave for 3 minutes. Simple, easy, and tastes delicious (can be subsitutuded for various meat products or veggies). Break into pieces and place at the bottom of the muffin cup.

4. Saute veggies (we used red and yellow peppers, onions, and cooked over oil) on the stove then place over the bacon.

5. Sprinkle chedder cheese on top of veggies until they are covered. (other cheese substitutes can be used as well)
6. Mix together eggs, milk, bisquick batter mix (amounts are on the original recipe link above)7. Pour about 1/3 cup of the mixture on the top of the cheese.
8. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. And you have yourself a nice little egg dish. You can also danish with a tomato, etc...but I ran out of time...Enjoy!


Here is a picture of the muffin size cups from my shower: