Easter 2013

Easter kind of snuck up on me this year....potty training and a sick kid will do that I guess.

Bo woke up this morning with a crick in his neck (who even knew that happened to toddlers!?) and was pitiful for the 2 hours we were up before leaving for Sunday School, so I didn't even bother with a family picture or even a picture of the kids. :-p

They did like getting a few treats before church! They got Play-doh, a sticker book, bubbles, and glow bracelets.

We had a great worship service at church, then came home for lunch. Mamaw and Papaw came over for lunch (and Mamaw brought most of the food!). We enjoyed that, then walked across the street to hunt eggs at Ms. Sue's house. 

Of course, we had to play outside too!

Poor Papaw!

Our big boy!

See this sweet boy? He's 100% BIG boy now!

He's been saying for months now "I'm not a baby! I'm a big boy!", yet when I asked him about wearing baby diapers, he'd get really quiet. I'd offer underwear and the potty, but his reply was always "I tee-tee in diapers!". He loved the things!

Arabelle was totally different in potty training. She'd go when I put her on the toilet at a really young age...around 18 mo! She was fully in underwear around 20 mo., including dry at night! She really responded well to a lot of praise. Bo could have cared less about clapping and verbal praise.

He was showing signs of readiness (not that he WANTED to, but physically, he was ready), so I'd been planning to get rid of the diapers, suck it up, and potty train this week, since it was Spring Break from school. Of course, Arabelle started vomiting Saturday night and was pitiful all day Sunday, but I knew it HAD to be done. I offered lots of fluids, including popsicles and juice, which he never gets, to keep him going. Everything I had read was called something like "The 3 Day Potty Training Method" and I was hoping and praying that 3 days would be enough!

Monday was Day 1. He was really unhappy about there being no diapers! I asked if he wanted underwear and he said "NO!!!!", so he went bare bottomed most of Monday. Monday was a LONG day....1 pee in the potty and 5 accidents, despite saying "I need to tee-tee" 1,000 times and running to the potty. I expected a lot of accidents, but man, it was a hard day! I think we spent more time in the bathroom than out of it.

Tuesday was Day 2. He woke up wet (goes to bed in a pull up), but the 1st pee of the day made it in the toilet! We were off to a great start! He still didn't want underwear that day, which probably helped the learning process anyway. He still did a lot of  "I need to tee-tee" and running to the toilet, but not nearly as much. In the afternoon the light bulb went off when he used the toilet and he had no more accidents all day! So on day 2, there were 3 in the toilet and just 1 accident (he can hold it for several hours)!!

Wednesday was Day 3. I woke up dreading another day of it, even after the improvements the day before. I was just TIRED and Arabelle had started vomiting again. My legs were sore from all the running to the toilet, following him around the house, sitting on the floor for games/activities (trying to stay off the furniture!), and squatting to sit on the extra step stool while he was on the toilet. But, the day started off great....he wanted to wear undies!! We had a good morning and even ventured outside just after lunch. That's where he had his only accident of the day. I'm assuming he got too busy and forgot. :-p I went to church Wed. night to teach and Jared stayed home with both kids, since Arabelle had been sick that morning. He took the trash out while they were finishing supper and he came in to find Bo on the toilet and using the bathroom, all by himself! Day 3 was just 1 accident and 5 in the toilet!

Today, Thursday, was Day 4. Bo actually shocked us and woke up at 4:30 am calling out that he had to use the bathroom!! He got up, went, and hopped right back in bed. I am SO thankful that our kids sleep in their own beds so easily and enjoy their space. I am not the kind of Mama that can share bed space with a kid! He woke up with a dry pull up this morning, went through the whole day using the toilet, and stayed clean and dry when we went for my Dr. appt. this afternoon. So proud of him! He did discover the perk of being a boy....he can use the bathroom outside! ;) He made it through the entire day with NO ACCIDENTS!!! He even refused the pull up at bedtime tonight and asked for underwear. We'll see how that goes. :)

I will be watching him pretty close in the coming days and I fully expect him to have accidents here and there, especially when he heads back to 'school' Monday morning, but I think it's safe to say he's potty trained!

I'm SO proud of my big boy!! And so thankful that it really was just a "3 Day Potty Training Method".

*Arabelle finally seems to feel better. She was sick off and on from Saturday night until this morning. Poor thing!

School Easter Party and Church Easter Celebration

Friday and Saturday were fun days to celebrate Easter a bit early! The kids are out on Spring Break this week, so the school had their Easter parties on Friday.

Bo's party was at school, but Arabelle's was at another student's house, so I missed Bo's because I had to take Arabelle to her party. When I picked him up, he had a basket full of eggs though!

They always have great snacks!

Lining them all up:

 Go!

I was laughing so hard at her here. She was reaching as far as she could. Don't know why she didn't just go around. 

Basket full

Saturday morning was our church's Easter celebration. The weather was supposed to be WET, but thankfully, it held off long enough for the egg hunt, etc.!

Arabelle and Gigi running after the eggs!

*Yes, I'm human and forgot my camera on Saturday. And yes, Bo was there, but wasn't ever still enough for a picture on Jared's phone!

We're looking forward to celebrating our Risen Savior Sunday!

Disney World, Day 4

We started day 4 at the Magic Kingdom again right when the gates opened. We went straigh to Fantasyland again to see Enchanted Tales with Belle, the only attraction we missed in Fantasyland the day before.

Arabelle was really excited to meet Belle!!

I really liked this attraction because they chose kids to be in the play, then you meet Belle at the end. Arabelle was Ms. Potts, the tea pot.

I got in trouble for using my flash for this picture, but SO worth it! A pregnant lady playing dumb worked like a charm. ;)

Bo was really hesitant to go up to Belle, but she was giving out bookmarks, so he finally inched his way up there, then backed up to her for the picture.

From there we went to Tomorrowland and rode the Astro Orbiter. Bo was really excited about riding a space ship!

Bo did think it was a bit too loud when we were waiting in line. :)

We went from there across to Adventureland, grabbed a Jungle Cruise FastPass, then rode The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. 

Excited!!!

The line to meet Tinkerbell was about 25 minutes, so I asked Arabelle if she wanted to wait in line, or find something else to ride/see/do. She choose to wait, so while we waited, the rest of the group walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Tree house. 

When we got out, Arabelle said she forgot to ask Tinkerbell for some pixie dust so she could fly. She was really a little disappointed! 

Next was the Jungle Cruise. Here's Bo with his new baby hippo....one of the perks of having your grandparents with you at Disney!

We enjoyed our picnic lunch, then checked out the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I wasn't sure if the kids would be scared or not. They didn't make a peep the entire time. I think we rode another ride or two before taking a break for the afternoon.

The boys dropped us girls off at Downtown Disney for Arabelle's visit to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique and the boys rested at the townhouse. 

I had asked her several weeks ago which princess was her favorite and she said Tiana, from the Princess and the Frog. I surprised her with a Tiana princess gown and she was so proud!

She was a bit unsure of the whole process at first.

Then she started enjoying the pampering!

The finished product....Princess Arabelle!

This is her response when they turned her around to see herself in the mirror.

We went back to the townhouse to rest a bit (it was much needed!), then went back to the Magic Kingdom for more fun!

Finally the ONE family picture we have of Bo smiling and Arabelle is making a 'funny face'. We have a whole series of them and she's making a different face in each one. Stinker.

I only planned for Arabelle to meet Tiana (her favorite!!) right when we got back and to see which other princesses were available that evening. 

She was SO excited! We lucked out and the line was really short to meet Tiana.

Tiana, Arabelle, Bo, and Prince Naveen.

Mamaw and Papaw got in on the picture too. 

We had gotten a FastPass for the princesses....they had Rapunzel and Cinderella, same as the day before, plus Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). 

We had supper booked at The Plaza Restaurant there on Main St. in the Magic Kingdom. It was SO nice to SIT for a while!

Dessert for the kids was cookies and milk. Arabelle loved the little tea cup!

I didn't have anything specific planned for after supper and was hoping the kids could make it for the fireworks, which started at 9:45. My kids have NEVER stayed up that late before!!

So, we rode several more rides....there were NO LINES at all! It was really fun!

We rode the People Mover in Tomorrowland. I initially didn't plan it because I thought it may be boring, but it was pretty fun! We saw all the attractions in Tomorrowland and the kids liked the quick turns!

These next 2 pictures make me laugh....like father....

like son.....No, Jared didn't tell him to do that. We were sitting across from one another and he saw Jared do it and did the same thing. :)

We did the Buzz Lightyear ride 2 times in a row. I wasn't very good, but Jared was!

Action shot of Bo and Papaw.

Arabelle asked to ride Under the Sea again, so we did that....just walked right on with no wait time!

Bo was waving at Ariel.

Bo chose to do the Peter Pan ride again and we had just enough time to ride, go to the restroom, and find a spot for the fireworks. It was a great show!

Bo said it was too loud and "the boys are making a mess!", but seemed to like all the colors.

I was SO glad the kids were able to stay awake for the fireworks and be happy and having fun! We headed for the monorail after that, along with thousands of other people. Of course, since it was so crowded, we just HAD to stop for a little snack on the way out. 

We made it back to the townhouse and had the kids in bed at 11:30. I couldn't believe they stayed awake the whole time (Bo did nap about an hour that day). 

It was a great first trip to Disney World! The weather was perfect and crowds weren't nearly as bad as I thought. Arabelle told me that if it was cold when we got home, we could just go back to Disney World....sounds like a good plan to me!

They both have already asked when we're going back, but it'll be a while yet!