Potty news- uh, for Kaitlyn, that is. ;)

I am so shocked at the progress Kaitlyn has made over the last week with potty training. She hasn't had many accidents- the only ones worth reporting were only in Pull-Ups while she was at school or at the Y. Understandable... there are SO many other things to think about while out of the house.
This week I have been slightly worried about how she's going to learn to start telling me that she has to go potty instead of me just taking her there and sitting her down. She has only told me twice, in history, that she had to go potty. When, you ask? Well, I'll just say that the seat belt sign was illuminated... BOTH times. We were taking off and landing on our flight from Des Moines last month. Really, Kaitlyn? The only time in the entire world that I CAN'T take you to the bathroom do you tell me you have to go? Silly girl!
Anyway, so back to this week.... Yesterday, as I was preoccupied with my brother Kevin being at my house, I heard the toilet flush in the bathroom and the door was shut. I asked Kevin if Nathan was in there (I had been outside) and he said no. I peeked inside the bathroom to see what was going on.
There was Kaitlyn, standing pant-less by the toilet looking at me.
"What are you doing Kaitlyn?" I asked, hoping not to see a bunch of water everywhere.
"I went pee-pee and poopie and then flushed it away!" she replied with a grin.
Seriously. She had gotten up from watching Peter Pan, gone to the bathroom, used the little potty, and then dumped it into the big potty and flushed it away. ALL by HERSELF.
Granted, I had to help with a little "clean-up" of the rear, but she did is alone! ALL ALONE! But wait, it gets better....
Later, about an hour later, she was walking by the bathroom, stood still for a second, and then changed direction and went into the bathroom and proceeded to use the potty again, without even cluing me in. I just happened to be watching!
I guess I don't need to worry anymore about this peanut... I'm amazed. Of course, today, she'll probably have an accident now that I've shared this with you all. ;)

The Tweeties Flew the Coop...

Here is the last photo of the birdies.... They flew the coop on Saturday just before we headed to the beach. Nathan peeked outside to see the last one on the ground and then fly to the pool fence. I can't even take credit for this photo... Nathan snapped it! :) We seriously think they were only hatched and in the nest for two weeks.
Bye bye birdies!

Making progress!

Kaitlyn is definitely making progress in the potty training department!
Today she used the potty all day long, and only had a wet diaper after we had been at the Y for an hour.
I'm SO proud! :)

How about a weekend in Iowa?

Kaitlyn sure enjoyed playing at the Neipert's house, and she really loved the DIRT. She's obviously not my daughter. Ha.

Kaitlyn really also loved their swing.... Get a load of the videos at the end.

Mattie and the cherry tree!

Bennett was lying on the cement playing completely and contently by himself until I butted in with my camera. This is him, getting up to walk away from me. :)

Bennett's 3rd birthday party!

Look at those extremely jealous onlookers. :)

Kaitlyn took a break from present opening to practice "bags" for when she's in college.

Bennett opens a basketball hoop from Grandma and Grandpa Wilcke.

Kaitlyn and James sacked out after the long day in Des Moines.

Drool! :)

Surprise on our back porch!

Our back porch holds a surprise... can you see it?
No, not the horrendous mess... look closer...

No, not the deflated and faded pool innertubes... look closer...
Closer still...
Now do you get it? It's a nest!
Birdies!!!! Tiny little fuzzy birdies! TWEET! TWEET! TWEET! TWEET! TWEET!

Actually, they are still too young to tweet yet... we think they just hatched a few days ago! I get this response by going over to the nest and making kissing noises. You can only see 4 here, but there are 5 lil' ones! They are right outside our bedroom doors (french doors on pictures). I can't WAIT until they start tweeting at 6 AM! ;) AND pooping all over! Ha ha ha.

Spider web!

Check out this spider web that Nathan found in the backyard!

Kaitlyn's sensitive side.

This morning a few things happened that I had to blog about. They are just so sweet!
The kids woke Nathan and I up by playing loudly in James' room. I heard them talking about St. Margaret Mary school, but really didn't know why. I heard James say, "When I am 5 I get to go to school at St. Margaret Mary." Kaitlyn replied, "I get to go to St. Margaret Mary too!"
When I walked in and was talking with them, Kaitlyn pointed at their school toy set and told me, "This is St. Margaret Mary!" SO sweet.
Yesterday, the kids both went to school and both brought home the paper Scholastic book order forms. James, for some strange reason, grew very fond of these tiny booklet and wanted to keep it forever. It was on the floor of the family room while the kids were munching on Cinnamon Life. Unfortunately it was in range of Kona's back paw when the dog decided to scratch himself, and his claws ripped the corner off of the back page of the pamphlet. All hell broke loose in James' world.
He cried and cried and cried. I tried to explain to him that it was just paper and it wasn't meant for us to keep forever. "It's something that you can look at to order books, but then you're supposed to throw it away." I tried to reason to him.
Kaitlyn says to him, "James, are you sad?"
"YEEEES," James cried.
"You should have Mommy hold you." She told him.
SO SO sweet! She is becoming more aware of how other people are feeling! At a different point this morning when we were up stairs getting teeth brushed and I was changing a dirty diaper on Kaitlyn (YES- still using pull ups- that's a whole different story), James was mad at me and she told me, "I want to go give James a hug." Unfortunately she was mid-changing and I couldn't let her get up or I would have. She's such a girl!!! ;) I love it!

Potatoes Tomatoes.

Kaitlyn LOVES tomatoes. She doesn't like potatoes. However, she can't seem to get it straight that tomatoes aren't potatoes.
For months now, she has called tomatoes "potatoes". We'll say to her, "Kaitlyn, these are NOT potatoes, they are TOM-A-TOES." She repeats, "tom-a-toes." Yes, good job.
Next time, it's the same thing all over again. She knows too, she KNOWS that she gets it wrong and now is starting to try to get around trying to actually calling them what they are.
Tonight's dinner was a hodgepodge of things. I put together plates for the kids, James got zucchini leftovers from last night (with chicken and rice) and Kaitlyn got a diced tomato (also with rice and chicken). James doesn't like tomatoes, and Kaitlyn isn't so fond of zucchini, so I humored them a little and gave them what they liked.
Nathan had the pleasure of putting the plates down on the table in front of the kids. Kaitlyn got excited when she saw the bowl of chopped red things that she loves so much sitting in front of her.
She said to Nathan, "Are those potatoes?"
"No, Kaitlyn, they are not. Tell me what they are."
Kaitlyn replied again, "Potatoes!"
"No, try again."
"(insert mumble here)-ta-toes."
We laughed a bit under our breath, and then Nathan said to her again, "Tell me what they are Kaitlyn and then you can have them."
Then she busts out with, "Just trust me, Daddy."
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Seriously... potatoes/tomatoes.... what a cutie.

Polishing off the house!

This was a conversation between James and me on the way to school this morning....
James: "What are those trucks there, Mom?"
Me: "Those are landscaping trucks. They are bringing trees and bushes to plant to make that new house's yard look pretty."
James: "Our house isn't pretty."
Me: "You don't think our house is pretty, James? Why not? What can we do to make it pretty?"
James: "Make it sparkle."
Me: "How do you think we could make it sparkle?"
James: "Wipe it off."
Me: "Are you talking about the inside or the outside?"
James: "Both the inside AND the outside."

So apparently, to make your house sparkle, you need to wipe it off. ;) There is your DIY project for the weekend.

Look at me!

Kaitlyn has been doing one of those "copycat" things lately, and it absolutely cracks me up every time.
If she tries to tell me something and I'm not looking at her she says to me, "Mom. Look at my eyes." and then starts in with whatever she was going to say.
:) CRACKS me up.
I won't be reporting on the bad things she picks up that I do or say. ;) LOL.

She is making progress with "going" on the potty. It's still a hazy road that lies before us... but it's becoming a bit clearer. I just keep thinking, NO MORE DIAPERS! YESSSS!

In other news, James was officially accepted into St. Margaret Mary Catholic School! My heart swells with pride as we start this journey with Christ as the center of his education. How sweet HE is!

Kaitlyn and James see the Easter Bunny!

Dying Easter Eggs!

We had a lot of fun today dying eggs for Easter tomorrow. The kids really enjoyed it... I think Nathan and I enjoyed it a little too much too. ;)
This is the first time we dyed eggs at our house as a family!! Happy Easter everyone!

Easter is upon us!

James and Kaitlyn have been on spring break this week, but someone (Barbie-:)) posting on FB that their daughter had a dream that she died reminded me of something completely blog worthy.
Easter is coming, and The Methodist School that my kids attend are very good at telling the kids about Easter and what it means.  Jesus died upon the cross for us....
If you read back to one of my blogs a month or two ago, you'll read about how once I told James about my brother's cat having to be put down.  "Speedy died today," I told James.  He replied, "Upon the cross?"
Well, last week, probably because of all the "Jesus died upon the cross" talk at school, James asked me as we were getting ready to go upstairs to bed, "Mom?  When are you going to die?"  *Thunk* my heart hit the floor.  I told him, with my most honest sincerity, "James, honey, I don't know.  Nobody knows when they will die, but honey, you don't need to worry about that."  I'm pretty sure my mouth hung agape after he turned around and walked up the stairs.
Kid, you're only 4!  Why are you starting to worry about that already?  I remember when I was a kid and that feeling of anxiety of not KNOWING when my parents could die.  I would worry, worry and worry, that something bad would happen to them and they would die in a car accident or something.  Poor kid.  Him asking me that brought back all of those feelings of uncertainty that I used to have as a kid. 

James has packed our bags for us, and he's sending us out to live somewhere else.

James... poor James.  He was so tired today.  He must not have gotten nearly enough sleep last night.  He and I went over to my parent's house for dinner (crab! yum) and we didn't get home until 9.   He went to bed then, but got up a bit early for a usual morning around here, which was around 7.  Yes, I know several of you moms out there want to kill me right now because sleeping IN until 7 a.m. is a luxury to some of you, but just keep in mind the hell we'll go through when he starts Kindergarten next year. ;)
Anyway, he was tired.
He and Kaitlyn were fighting a lot this morning while our nanny, Mimi, was here.  She had told me about it when I got home from my amazing, kick butt workout at the Y *hooray*, and they were still bickering as she was telling me.  After lunch time it got pretty bad, so Mimi made the ultimate decision that both of them needed to go take naps.  This went over like a lead balloon for James. 
"I am NOT going upstairs!  I am NOT taking a nap!" was what I heard from his mouth when I was upstairs trying to print my grocery list.  Then I heard Mimi call my name.  "Meredith... he kicked me."
UH OH.  NO, you didn't James... :(
I hauled downstairs and put him on the naughty step immediately which sent his verbal rant up about 50 decibels. 
"I am NOT going upstairs to bed. Mommy is NOT a good girl.  Neither is Mimi.  Mommy is usually a good girl but NOT today.  I'm going to do something to them.  I'm going to send them to bed with NO dinner."
Oh the foreshadowing irony.
He didn't nap, but he did rest.  Kaitlyn didn't nap either.  Sigh.  But, at least they rested, and then later Mimi took them to the park to get the ants out of their pants for about an hour.  She said they didn't stop once... which showed on their red faces when they got home.
Enter dinnertime.  While they were gone at the park, I had made Broccoli Cheese soup and a Chicken and Rice Casserole (Paula Dean on FoodNetwork) that has lots of fun stuff in that is very good... to some people. :)
James has been complaining about dinner pretty much every night.  He makes gagging sounds when he sits at the table (although it's totally fake), and says, "YUCK!"
I had mentioned this problem to a few of my girlfriends the other day and got a few good pointers.  One was that I should explain to him that when he says that he hurts my feelings... like it would hurt his feelings if I said that I didn't like one of the paintings that he made for me.  The other was a much more stern recommendation....  She told me that if he complains, take his dinner away and ask him to leave the table.  I tried explaining to him about the "feelings" a few times before today, but it just didn't seem to sink in.
After about 10 minutes of all of us sitting at the table and James not eating and complaining, I did it.  I took his meal away and put it by the sink.  "Okay then, if you're just going to complain, you won't eat."  Of course he started howling and crying, and then I told him that he was excused and he had to leave the table.  Then he pipes up mid-blubber "... But I think I'm ready to eat my dinner now."
I looked at Nathan, and we agreed... too late kid.  You had your chance.  This sent him wailing and screaming off to the couch.  Then he started in with the verbal stuff again, telling us, Nathan and me, that we had to go live somewhere else and that he was NOT going to eat EVER again.  Ha! 
Nathan took him up to take a bath and put him to bed.  He cried through his whole bath.  He spent a while hanging out in his bed and talking, then started asking for me to come upstairs.  "Mommy, I'm hungry."
"Sorry James.  You didn't eat dinner, you just complained so I took your dinner away.  That will teach you a lesson.  Go to sleep." He talked me into, well, more or less I talked myself into, giving him a drink of water and tucking him in.
Humph.  I'm happy this day is over.

Only a month!

Okay, it's been ONLY a month since my last post. UGH.  I'm a loser.
However, I do have an excuse.. ha.
I have been facilitating a MOMS group and a retreat at St. Margaret Mary for the last 8 weeks, and now that it's over, I should have more time to blog and keep you all updated on what is going on in our lives.  Facilitating the group and retreats at SMM are a bit time consuming, then when you throw in a part time job, two kids and a husband to cook for and take care of, life gets busy.  No, I'm not complaining, I'm just "sayin'".
Kaitlyn is three now, and I do plan on posting about her birthday, plus pictures, so stay tuned.  She's still struggling with potty training, she's finally interested in actually sitting on the little potty, but we've only made a small amount of progress.  We were planning on trying to keep her in undies this weekend, but due to a last minute shopping trip yesterday/evening, and then her throwing up this morning (???) it's just not getting done.  She may have a tummy bug, so we're on a holding pattern for a while.

Kaitlyn's speech is getting better and better.  She is fine tuning her sounds, and when she talks she sounds like a kid instead of a toddler.  My baby... she's growing up too fast!  She is still Miss Independent, she has to do everything herself... and if you don't let her... watch OUT.  Tantrums'R'Us.

James is doing very well in school, he still loves it so much.  In fact, it's Spring Break this week, and I'm not sure what we're going to do with him! :)

Class Easter parties

Pics from the kids' Easter parties at school!
Kaitlyn had a class egg hunt in the courtyard. You should have seen the place, there were WAY too many eggs... and not enough hiding spots! Ha.



Kaitlyn and her class (she's in the middle on the ground):
James makes a paper maché egg, ONLY with green tissue, of course!
Mrs. Roach reads an Easter story to the kids... where is James? He must be in the corner behind Mrs. Roach... Hmmm.
James eating the frosting off of a cupcake. I made the treats for the class this year! Cupcakes and sugar cookies. I was up 'til midnight. Ha.

Blog? What blog?

Wow... sorry followers.  I'm slacking!

Kaitlyn's 3rd Birthday Party!

Our sweet girl turned 3 on March 15! Here is a video of us singing to her, and quite possibly, the world's longest "blow out the candles" session, EVER. ;)

We love you Kaitlyn Beth Wilcke... aka Kaitlyn Bef Wiwke. :)

Disney!!!

Here is a series of photos of our kids' FIRST trip to Disney!!! :) We sure had a great time! We went with the Devitt family. Ted is my cousin on Mom's side. He and Jen have two boys, Riley and Carson. They are SO adorable!


Waiting in line to drive the cars... although we had to actually leave the line since they shut it down due to pretty bad crash that required a stretcher. Yikes.

On to DUMBO!!!







I LOVE this shot of the boys!




An HOUR and a half later:

Kaitlyn's face when seeing Mickey and Minnie at the "Meet Mickey" house...

We meet Mickey and Minnie! Never mind James' need to go to the bathroom. :)


The Parade!

Look! There is Woody!

James is excited for the parade! Strange look on his face! :)

Kaitlyn holds her new Snow White doll.


Time to chill on the monorail.

... and ZONK. Success.