Potty Training Attempt

So it's Day 1 of my most recent potty training attempt.

My plan is simple. Today, she is still in a diaper. I get frustrated when she pees on the floor so we're just practicing today. 

I have the oven timer set for every 15 minutes. When it goes off, that means it's time to sit on the potty. To get Aubrey to sit on it longer than 5 seconds, I sing a couple songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider and Popcorn Popping. I'll also make sure to have movies on that catch her attention so she'll sit and watch the show.

Trying to train her that when the buzzer goes off, it's time to just sit on the potty. Once we get the habit down, I'll put more space in between. 

Once we get the timer habit as a routine, we'll transition to panties and go back to every 15 minutes. Aubrey has been pretty good about staying dry for at least an hour, but this is mostly about habit and getting her used to it. 

If she has an accident, that's fine. I'm hoping she'll catch on soon. 

We will try this for a week. If by Saturday she still refuses to willingly participate, I'll put the potty away and try again. 

There is no pressure. It's more of an experiment. If it works, awesome! If not, no harm done!

Quick Family Update

Here are the big highlights over the past couple months:

Jared is really enjoying working for Simplx! He's helped with the Web site and other marketing tools. He's also doing sales (and rocking it) and learning about installing the systems. 

I've been doing little projects. Lately I've been using soup/ravioli cans to help organize my counters. I have a can for wooden spoons, random silverware and scissors. I got tired of just looking at the silver cans. So I painted them! It adds color to the kitchen, which I love, and it was a fun little craft. 

I'm also turning a few old t-shirts into pillows. They can be used for throw pillows, added comfort on the couch, or Aubrey can jump into the pile. No matter what, it'll be fun to put my t-shirts to use! 

Jared was super sweet and bought me flowers this morning!

It was a fun surprise! Picked them up after seminary this morning! I love him. He loves me!

I'm becoming more daring in the kitchen. I see recipes on Pinterest, but I've never really thought about trying them. Well, the other day I realized I had a copycat Olive Garden breadsticks and alfredo sauce recipe! I could make my own Olive Garden food!

So I did! I got everything the recipes asked for, followed the directions exactly and it was a huge success! There are a few things I can tweak and make better next time. And the meal passed the microwave test! If foods aren't good microwaved the next day, then I won't make it again unless it can be eaten that night. Jared doesn't really care for alfredo sauce, but even he liked this recipe! This will be made again!

Aubrey and I will be working on potty training again. I have realistic expectations and if she doesn't want to do it, no harm done! I can just as easily put her little potty away. I got her cute little panties to help her get excited. We'll see how it goes!

My Baby is a Big Girl

Yesterday before church, Jared and I converted Aubrey's crib into a toddler bed. It'll give her a little more freedom and it was hard for me to lift her up and put her in her crib. 

The bed is a little high so I put some blankets on the floor to cushion the blow when she rolls over and falls off the bed. 

When we got home from church, Aubrey was so tired from the time change and playing for 2 hours in nursery. So we put her on her bed, sang some songs and hoped for the best! A few minutes later, I didn't hear any movement or sounds. This is what I walked in to see!

She did so well during her nap! No falling off or anything! And she came out on her own when she was ready.

The real test came at night. Jared put her down first. Sang lots of songs and did the routine like normal. But we left the door ajar. She came out once and it was so funny. All we heard was the door being opened and she slowly made her way down the hallway until we saw her!

I went and put her back in bed and sang another song. A few minutes later, she was back out in the hallway!

I went back again, got her resting and turned on her nightlight. I closed the door for good this time so she couldn't open it. (I turned on the nightlight so she could see her way back to the bed after climbing out of it.)

We could still hear her and knew she was trying to open the door, but she soon gave up and went to bed. She fell asleep in her bed! There were a couple sad moments when she rolled off, but she was fine and got back in bed.

Around 3, though, I woke up randomly and decided to check on Aubrey. Silly girl was sleeping on the floor! I can't even explain what might have happened. I think she climbed out, made her way to the door, but got tired halfway across the floor and fell asleep. I don't know.

Jared checked on her this morning and she was back in bed.

I consider it a huge success! She fell asleep in her bed and woke up in it too! Nap times will be interesting, but we'll get used to it!

Sleeping Specifics

I find it comical how different each member of our family sleeps. 

Aubrey HAS to sleep with her pacifier and her music playing. I'm fine with that. She only has her pacifier when she's in her crib or in VERY rough driving situations. We've been having the music in her room for a while now and it's been a huge help. It drowns out when I'm making noise around the apartment and she finds it comforting.
Even though I put a blanket over her, she ends up sleeping on top of the blankets anyhow. Some days she'll roll around and eventually end up under a blanket, whether she means to or not. But she has a heater in her room and she'll never get too cold.
Lights don't seem to bother her. During her naps I just pull the curtain over her window and close the blinds but it's not by any means dark. She sleeps just fine!
So to sum up, she has to have her pacifier and music, doesn't use blankets and is just fine with light.

I, on the other hand, have a very difficult time sleeping lately with any sort of noise. Most everyone has seen Peter Pan, so they know that Captain Hook has a problem with clocks ticking. (Something to do with a crocodile eating his hand and following Hook around and constantly ticking because he also ate an alarm clock.) 
Anyways, we have a little clock in our bedroom so Jared can see the time when he wakes up at random hours of the night. When I'm having a rough night, I turn into my own version of Captain Hook. I stick my head under the pillows, I put in earplugs, I hide under the blankets, I growl and toss and turn. It's not a pretty sight. Nights that I have migraines I even go so far and have the clock put in the bathroom. Then I close the bathroom door and also the closet door. 
Jared got me a face mask for when I sleep because light keeps me up too. I need complete darkness to sleep. Even the tiny bit of light that comes in from the window can keep me awake. We have glow in the dark bubble bath that my eyes gravitate towards when it's dark. I cannot sleep with any light. Thank goodness for the face mask to block all it out.
We used to have two blankets on our bed; a loose blanket and a comforter. It was good on cold nights, but the past few nights the loose blanket has driven me crazy! I'm a tosser and a roller. I don't stay in one position for very long. The loose blanket gets all wrapped around me and I get stuck and end up stealing all the blanket from Jared. So now, my half of the bed only has the comforter while Jared has both blankets.
So to sum up, I can only sleep with no sound, no light and just one blanket.

Jared is a good mix between Aubrey and me. He is fine with noise. Really, half the time Jared doesn't even hear the noises I hear. He even sleeps through me talking to him or if Aubrey fusses on the rare occasion.
And light doesn't seem to bother him. It needs to be dark for him to sleep, but he doesn't need the total darkness to sleep. That's cool I guess. 
Like I said before, he has both the loose blanket and the comforter. I wear lots of clothes to bed apparently so just the one blanket works for me. But he has both the loose blanket to wrap up in (now that I'm not stealing it) and we can still share the comforter in peace.
So to sum up for Jared, he is fine with the usual noise of night, likes the room to be dark, and he has two blankets.

I seem to be the crazy, high maintenance person. That's fine for me. I don't seem to sleep very well to begin with, so if I have to be picky and insane, I'll do it!

Migraine Monday

Here we are at another Monday. 

And I have another migraine.

They don't come so much as a shock anymore. I can't figure out what triggers them. With my luck, it's probably not just a single trigger, but lots of different ones, so there is no way to figure it out. 

Seeing a chiropractor has helped and feels good for a little bit. But then stress kicks in and messes up all the good work. 

The past few days have been pretty stressful, both physically and emotionally, so I should have expected this migraine. 

Jared started a new job and had to work some pretty long hours this week. There were days he didn't even see Aubrey because he got home way past her bedtime. And Sunday was my first day at church without him. It was just me and Aubrey. 

Today will most likely be lots of movies for Aubrey at a very low volume. I plan on staying in pajamas all day because I am not expecting anyone to come over. At least Jared will be home at a decent time so I'll get some help at the end of the day. Hopefully by then this ibuprofen will kick in and I can be back to my regular self. 

Right now, the goal is just to survive! I plan on taking it easy and being a little lazy when it comes to things like cleaning, folding laundry or doing dishes. It can all wait a day anyhow.