Let it begin. Potty Training

Well. It's time. Aiden is showing majority of the signs he is ready...Potty Training!!

• Doesn't like to be in a soiled diaper
• Tells me if he's poop or peed
• Interested in the potty
• Likes to mimic us or follow us in the bathroom

So off I went for tips and ideas...because I am CLUELESS in this department!

Supplies:

1. Training Pants (For night time and for traveling since I don't want to risk a accident until I feel we are fully trained)

2. Waterproof undies to put over his normal undies (Hopefully this will help him when he's training so we don't have pee over everything if there is an accident)
3. Big boy undies (Only superhero one's will do.)

4. Potty books (To keep him on the toilet while we wait)

5. Reward jar and stickers (Already have lots of stickers, so I picked up some PB M&Ms and a canister from Target-in white. Just need to make a label for it and keep Wes out of the jar. lol) 


6. Charts (Now you know I love an excuse to make charts-click on the picture to see the whole thing or if you want to save and use yourself.... Once every star has a sticker he gets a reward. The other is to help me keep track and figure out his patterns. His daycare does checks every hour so I will keep that routine going.)

7. Potty (We got him a small floor potty because he was having a hard time climbing on the toilet and almost fell off so many times) Ended up getting the BABYBJORN Smart Potty

We are starting bright and early Saturday so wish us luck!!! I'm terrified but have to keep a solid front. EEEEK! We can do it! We can do it! Lots of pictures and results to come.

Paint

So this weekend I accomplished a lot on our to-do list way ahead of schedule too.
House Progress
#1 is complete. Old light holes be gone! Freshly sanded ceilings complete. Aiden went to the grandparents for 2 hours so I could get it done and MAN was a glad. Dust EVERYWHERE! Took me forever to clean my mess.

Next came #2 Painting the ceiling. It's not complete yet because I'm thinking I want to paint it some sort of tan. I've seen in magazines and online where people paint their ceilings a different color and I love it! So I came home with 3 shades of tan that are lighter than our living room....Painted swatches all over the room by the wall/crown molding; by the cabinets; by the windows. Trying to hit all the different lighting in the room....so over the next few weeks I will narrow it down from 3 to 1. I think I am leaning more towards the middle color at the moment.

My other project was #3 to paint the wall around the bathroom vanity trim work that I accidentally stained. Well....I started and then noticed why I hate eggshell. The color looks completely different....and OF COURSE I don't have enough paint to repaint the whole wall, so off I went to Lowes to get a new can. However this delayed me because I spent the rest of the day taping all the trim work off...just take a look at that wall...almost used an entire roll with so many lights, mirror, vanity, crown molding, corner molding.....just know I'm NEVER repainting this bathroom again. haha That is for the next owner (same thing I say about Aiden's Navy walls haha).

For this coming up week, Friday we are hanging our extra bathroom cabinet #5 and then the bathroom will be COMPLETE after I paint next weekend! SCORE!!!! I am working on a Pinterest project still for above the glass shelf though, but all the main stuff is complete that is just decor. I want to do some type of monogram picture (ALW) but still deciding what type of medium to use.

Speaking of Pinterest...I completed some other little projects this weekend too. Can we say productive!?

Remember the floating shelf?! Looks just like the inspiration. Total cost? $23. Try and beat that...because you can't I've looked. I'm thinking about exchanging or reworking my buffets current hardware to give it more of a pop like the inspiration, but that's on the back burning. Haven't really done a lot with it since we got it at Salvation Army for $100 bucks.

Other tidbit about my this project. I kept Aiden entertained while I put the shelf together by painting. Painting the word "Family", of course I did have to do some touchups, but I'm glad he got to help. Now if you take a closer look at the shelf you will see 3 bottles of wine that I've had since 2006. What's so special about those wines?! And why won't I drink them? The one on the left is from Firestone not the best wine ever but it reminds me of my time I lived in Santa Barbara. A time a won't ever forget. The other two are from trips to Napa Valley. 1st one was from the family vacation we took one Thanksgiving week and the right bottle is from a work trip we took when visiting San Fran. Those bottles have made it through several moves and still are going strong.

My next project was to declutter my kitchen table. I don't know about everyone else but what my house lacks is a true entry way. Nowhere we can unload when coming home. So our kitchen table becomes the dumping ground for our bags, lunch boxes, and jackets. Which bothers us to say the least when it comes time to sit down and eat. So insert solution. A children's message center. It's made from a normal picture frame which makes it become a dry erase board and the images below I created. Let's just say the inspiration is selling a template for $35 and I made mine for free....thanks but no thanks. It was too easy.

Now I'm just on the hunt for two hooks I like. One for a backpack the other for his coat. But this nook was perfect because it's not near a doorway and doesn't disturb anything. When I have our other nook complete for mine and Wes' stuff I will post about that too.

Favorites

Just wanted to share a few of my favorite websites that help me save. They help me spot deals without me having to put any effort into it.

Groupon We use this wesbite for date night deals and sometimes they put discounts on local events going on in town.
Living Social I sometimes can find deals on here, but like Groupon better.
My Memphis Mommy Hands down fav website, because she obviously tailors to everything Memphis. Food, Events, Merchandise steals, plus she does giveaways too. She also does breakdowns on how to get the most out of Target and Kroger weekly ads, which definitely helps our grocery bill.
Target Savers Obviously I want to find deals at Target over anywhere else, so this is a good source.

Speaking of Target savings...as everyone knows I'm on the hunt for a floating shelf for our bathroom. So I check Target 1st. Found this gem in expresso. for what price?! $7.65! Score! It's too big for the bathroom, but it allows me to accomplish a Pinterest Pin of mine.  So not only will I be able to declutter some of my cabinet space, but make our buffet feel more useful. Just waiting on the glass racks delivery and hopefully soon I'll have an after shot.

The funny thing is I'm proudly displaying all my Ridel glasses that sad to say I've only used once. I got some at our William Sonoma outlet and some from Wes....and they havent been used in geez 3 years?! But I sure look like a drinker now. haha I'm more excited about decluttering my cabinets. :-)

Here are a few local store/events I use to help me save on clothes, toys, etc for Aiden:
Consignment store: Summer Kids If you like them on FB you can see what they get in daily.
Consignment sale: Kidstown

Some online websites I like to browse for deals for Aiden that are a hit or miss, because sometimes they really aren't savings:
KidSteals
BabySteals I got my Petunia Pickle Bottom bag on there for $65 and it's originally a $145 bag.
Zulily

There are a couple good DIY websites I use, which in return save me $$.
Prudent Baby This site is GREAT! What I used to make Aiden's nursery sheets/changing pad covers, blankets, etc. The detail is what makes it dummy proof. Just love all the different topics, not just baby stuff anymore. Home/Food/Entertaining now.
Pinterest Given. Duh!
Hostess with the Mostess If you ever need any type of party theme or idea. Go here!

I know I'm missing some...but I can't think of them off the top of my head. But I hope this helps! ENJOY!

The Party

What was months of planning finally turned into reality...and it flew by. Most everyone up here is sick so people came and went. One big whirlwind, but Aiden had SO SO much fun. So much fun he went down for his nap around 4pm and didn't wake up till the next day. Wore himself out!

The food was delicious! Lenny's Subs was a hit! Hated that I didn't take a picture of the food table, but it was good. Served subs, salad, and various fruits found in the book. The cakes turned out great. Even though Aiden wasn't interested in his "pumpkin"/apple cake. Oh well it still was cute.

The kids were running wild, being kids. Which is quite adorable. The streamers on the fan were a big hit.The other big hit was the coloring pages, probably more with the adults than the kids. haha Guess we are all still kids at heart.

Next came present time. One word: Chaos! Live and learn. Didn't experience it last year because some of the kids weren't there. I will definitely do it different next year. Kids trying to open his presents/bossing Aiden around. Just so overwhelming...but why don't parent's take responsibility for their kids?! Yes, it's a party and kids are suppose to go wild. I mean Aiden was screaming for joy the whole time. haha. But there is a time when you have to wrangle your kids in and get them to obey you. It's not my responsibility to parent your kid. But other than that hiccup it was a GREAT day other than me sounding like crap.

Aiden got some adorable ADORABLE presents! He has been one stylish kid going to daycare the past week. The trains, books, and puzzles are such a hit. I just can't wait for this weather to warm up so we can head to the zoo and get out there hitting some tballs. He is one blessed kid and we have such amazing people in our life!!

What a fun day we had. I want to continue those fun days. Everyday! Memories upon memories. So for starters we did a class at Little Gym, which was interesting. 1st half of the visit he was holding onto me the whole time and panicked when I let him go, but by the end he was having a ball trying all the things out. The next thing I'm so excited for is "Little Kickers"! ahhh Aiden is starting soccer this spring. SO exciting! He can throw the ball excellent, but we need to practice his kicking skills.

Now for a funny. I was looking through my phone at all the pictures of Aiden I've taken over the years and this one is sad and funny at the same time. I took it right after his very 1st breathing treatment at the doctors office....can you tell he was fighting the WHOLE time! Red skin, sweating. Took 3 of us to hold him down. Man how times have changed...Poor little guy!