Tidbits

First let me start by saying I successfully surprised Jeff last weekend for his birthday.  He kept hinting about a big surprise birthday (since he gave me one for my 30^th) and I kept telling him he wasn’t getting one.  “Sure, wink wink” was the never ending response.  Well about 5 days before his birthday I decided to go for it and attempt a surprise gathering.   I called a few friends and asked his buddy/coworker, Bronson, to let the guys at work know about the plans.  A few days before though I made a big mistake and one of his friends called me and I answered it with Jeff sitting right there.  I tried to talk my way out of the question, "who was that?" but I knew I had blown it and he probably knew something was up.  So later that night when the girls had gone to bed I "confessed". I told Jeff that I really did try to plan something but it just wasn't going to work out because too many people had other plans and wouldn't be able to make it.  And while I "REALLY tried" I just couldn't make it happen.  But don't worry honey, we can still have grandpa come over after the girls go to bed and we can go out for a quiet dinner just the two of us.  

Well my plotting worked and I was able to get Jeff to Extreme's that night and surprise him with about 8 of his close friends!  I stayed with the guys until 11:00 and then I came home while they continued the celebration.  Around 2:30 my poor husband came home and let's just say Sunday was not a good day for the birthday boy.  He quickly realized your body just doesn't recover as easily at 40 as it did when you were in your 20's.  The girls and I did our best to take care of daddy "who was sick and not feeling well".  We even made him his favorite treat, oatmeal cookies.  

I love the look on Carly's face..."where's mine" is what I'm guessing is going through her head

Potty Training has been the other big happening of the week.  We have been trying to for months but Katie has been stubborn and just hasn't shown interest.  At home she would even get upset and cry and refuse to sit on the potty.  Luckily things were going better at Sharry's and on Monday it really started to click.  So Sharry went for it and we did at home as well.  It also helped that we  finally figured out an incentive that got her to go potty for us.  We told her that if she can stay dry and use the potty than she will get to go on a back yard camp out with daddy.  That did the trick and from that point on she has been very excited to go potty so she can go camping in "the great outdoors" with daddy and papa.  

On Tuesday she even got to wear regular big girl panties (before it was only pull ups) but too many accidents happened in those though so we went back to the pull ups.  I was home Wednesday so we continued with the process.  Thursday she was back at Sharry's and surrounded by the other big girls who go potty.  One of her little friends Maddie even said "I'm so proud of you Katie"....they are so sweet at that age (well sometimes, hahaha).  Friday we were back at home and she continued to do well, but I had to stay completely on top of things and have her sit on the potty every hour or so.  Saturday we had a wedding to go to and while we tried to continue with the training it didn't go so well (more on that later).  Yesterday, we got back on track but she was refusing to poop in the potty.  After nap she started really hurting and crying but just wouldn't go.  It was terrible because I knew what was wrong but couldn't do anything to make it better.  Finally after about an hour of coaxing, comforting and talking about how everyone poops in the potty, we had success and after that our happy, little girl was back!  

Overall it is going well and we are making progress but I think it's a myth you can completely potty train your toddler in a weekend. If it isn't I would love to hear some suggestions.  It's been a week now and she is still having a couple accidents per day.  Occasionally she will tell us she has to pee beforehand, but if I miss the window of opportunity she will pee in her pull up and not care.   I am thinking I need to take the plunge and get away from pulls ups because they just aren't much different than diapers.  I admit though I am lazy and don't want to clean up the mess.  Although, since both Jeff and I are on vacation this week it's probably the best time to do it.   Ahhhh, to be continued...

The Big 40

Jeff turns 40 today and we are having a fun day of celebrating.

Katie was so excited this morning because I told her that when she wakes up it will be daddy's birthday.  So first thing she wanted to do was give daddy his presents that she picked out for him at the Dollar Store.

It was a lot of fun shopping with her, but the concept of gift giving is still a work in progress.  We had a few almost  meltdowns because she wanted to keep putting toys that she wanted in her basket.  But what can you expect...at 2 and a half it is really hard to understand that the goal is  to pick things out for others and not yourself.  I am sure that next year she will really start to "get it".  In the meantime daddy got some very nice "presents" (toys) this morning and it was so sweet seeing Katie so excited to give them to him.  Later on she said "daddy, I will share with you." (at least she understands that concept)

Now we are off to breakfast at IHOP...and then later tonight I have planned a semi surprise gathering for Jeff.  More to come about that. 

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband and daddy!

Daddy Bonding Time

Last week I had to go out of town for work which meant Jeff was on daddy duty from Wed afternoon until late Friday night.  This was the first time I had been away from both of my girls for more than one night so of course I was a little nervous.  Jeff still had to work though so I organized a team of friends and family to help with the girls during the day.  Janice and Linda took a couple shifts during the day and the girls had a great time playing with them!  Sharry (daycare provider) who has been a lifesaver these past two weeks was flexible with her schedule and helped us out tremendously!  And of course we couldn't have done it without  PaPa and Grandma who were a huge help!  Thank you everyone.... knowing the girls were in very capable hands helped a lot with the worrying :)

While I am guessing Jeff doesn't want me to make traveling a regular occurrence, it did allow for some great bonding time between daddy and his girls.  I am the first one to admit that I have the tendency to be a bit controlling, but with me being away Jeff had the freedom to do what he wanted the way he wanted and guess what they not only survived, they thrived!  Note to self, I need to relax and go with the flow more. It really is ok that they ate the lasagna I made for three nights in a row.  It's ok that Katie ran around the backyard barefoot all of the time.  It's ok that Katie got to watch some tv in the evening while Jeff put Carly to bed.  And it's ok that Carly got a bedtime story before her bottle instead of after.  All was well with the Garner Girls! 
 

Daddy Daughter Day

This past Saturday I was gone all day and daddy was in charge. This was the first time I have left the two of them for an extended period of time and surprisingly I wasn't nervous at all. I knew he wouldn't do things the same way I do, but I also knew that Katie would be fine and she would have a lot of fun playing with her daddy all day. I attended a conference for work so I was gone from 8:00 until 6:00. That meant daddy was in charge of 2 meals and 1 snack, 2 naps, multiple diaper changes, and hours of keeping a very busy one year old safe. He did it all and not a single tear was shed (according to Jeff). It went so well that when I got home that night he said "you should leave us more often!". Sure honey, I will take you up on that offer :)

Unfortunately I don't have many pictures from their day together, but here are a few that Jeff sent me from his phone. They spent a lot of time outside because it was a beautiful day. They even went to the park and Katie walked the whole time which took about 30 minutes. Jeff's back didn't feel too good the next day but it was worth it because she loved it and felt like such a big girl.




And here is a video I received right when my conference ended. Needless to say, I was anxious to get home after hearing that adorable giggle.