March Status Report

   I just wanted to update everybody on life. We've had some big changes in the past few weeks!!
   The first big change was putting Paige in a twin size bed. In the course of a very short hour, our Paige's room transformed from a toddler's room to a little girl's room. The change was amazing and definitely took our breath away. Babyhood does not stay around long and it seems that Paige's was especially short because of Kyle's absence. She loves her new bed and, though it has been nearly a month, she continues to point it out to me 3-4 times a day and 'bed' is often the first word out of her mouth in the morning. I must say it's the cutest thing!

 

Happy girl!

I love the way her room turned out!

   Of course, there are lots of changes with Taylor. First, we decided to call her by her name, Taylor and said goodbye to Ellie. Second, she is transitioning into sleeping much longer at night. She dropped her 3am feeding around 6 weeks and now, at 10 weeks, she is no longer interested in waking up at 10pm to eat. I must admit, this is a huge relief to me! When she was eating at 10, I had to push through my sleepy phase and wasn't getting into bed until 11:30 or later and it took me at least another hour or longer to fall asleep, only to wake up with her again at 7am. Let's just say that is no where near enough sleep for me!

I'm not going to wake up, Mom. 

   We also had Taylor's 2 month check up where she tipped the scales at over 13 pounds and blew everybody out of the water with her 25.75 inches. I'm very happy to report that her health is picture perfect! The down side to the appointment was that she had to get her first round of shots. It never makes me cry when I have to watch them get shots but I always get a pain in my heart when the nurse requires me to hold their arms down and I feel them pull away as they get stuck. Oh, how I hate that part!!!
   As of this morning, we hit another milestone with Taylor. She is rolling over on purpose! In the past week, we have found her on her belly in her crib a few times but her getting that way was always by chance. If you watch the video below, you can see that phase is now over.

   Doesn't that video make you giggle?! Paige was absolutely positive that Taylor was not supposed to be on her belly. As you heard, at first, I stopped Paige from rolling her back over but then I gave in because it was too cute to stop and Paige wasn't hurting anything. She tends to be more rough with Taylor than I would prefer but what else can you expect from a 20 month old?!
   Speaking of our 20 month old, Paige has reached a huge milestone at her young age. She is officially potty trained!!! Oh, what another huge relief and major chunk taken off of my plate. Thank you, Lord!!! It took her about 3 weeks, a lot of M&M's, quite a few accidents and some very confused tears but when it clicked, we were done. It is absolutely awesome! I am very impressed and extremely grateful that she is potty trained at 20 months old. Due to her very young age, I do not require that she be dry after naps or over night. I do expect her to tell me when she needs to go and to use her potty during the day but I do not think it's very fair to expect her to hold her bladder for 12 hours at night. However, she has taken it upon herself and is waking up dry from naps quite often and I always try to make a big deal out of it and reward her. I'm sure night time dryness will come when she's a little older and ready. I'm in no rush for it and am very, very proud of her!!

We found that coloring was a great way to keep Paige
occupied during the early days of potty training.
 It made for a hilarious picture!

   As for Kyle, he is currently kicking butt in Advanced SWAT School. Thankfully, this school is only 5 days long but it is frustrating because the days are very long and he has terrible cell service out there so our chatter is virtually non-existant. It never matters how long that man is gone, I miss him terribly!
   As far as I go, I am doing well. I am still struggling with balancing 2 children and their completely different schedules, along with taking care of our home. Having Paige's potty training done is a huge encouragement and it has taken a large burden from me. I wish I had the words to explain how excited I am about that! I know that struggle is not going anywhere. It is something that comes along with wife/mother-hood. I am simply praying for a better handle on it.
   On the whole, our family is blossoming. Paige and Taylor are growing like weeds and constantly changing. Kyle and I are happy and looking forward to whatever challenge Paige and Taylor throw at us next!