Scoreboard.

Here is the potty training score.

Saturday (afternoon):

• Pee in the potty 4 times!
• Poop in the potty 1 time!
• 2 pee & 1 poop accidents.

This was a spur of the moment decision to potty train--Presley just happened to pee a bit on the floor on the way to the bathtub and I sat her on the potty to see if more would come. And come it did! We were both so excited.

Sunday (all day):

• Pee in the potty 13 times!
• Poop in the potty 0 times.
• 1 pee & 1 poop acccident.

We are all exhausted but hopefully it will be worth it in the end. Tomorrow I am going to work on letting Presley tell me that she has to go rather than asking her (I am being too protective/worried). Toward the end of the day she started running to the potty telling me she had to toot (when we got there she hopped on and peed!).

Big Helper.

When Presley isn't acting 2 she is a big help to me. She takes out the dirty diapers and entertains Stella after we have gotten out of the shower. Presley loves to pretend to feed Stella or give her her pacifier or wipe her spit bubbles.


Presley also thinks that Stella wants toys so she will try to get her to hold all kinds of things. Yesterday it was a hanger.


It is amazing what good friends the two of them are already!

We love to give kisses at our house. We have several different kinds--butterfly kiss, goodbye/grandma kiss, Eskimo kiss, and a real kiss. Here is Presley giving Stella a real kiss. It is wonderful having the two of them!

Go Matt!

There used to be these lunch meat commercials for Hillshire Farms that I found quite funny. They included someone cooking or using meat and then a cheer/chant saying "Go meat!". Presley thought they were saying "Go Matt!" for her uncle Matt who was racing cars that summer.

Presley now loves to sleep in her "Go Matt!" shirt--so Matt this one's for you! How do you like the morning hair? It is out of control!

Smile!

Stella actually has an even bigger smile than this, but here is what I was able to get!

She is a cutie! Presley can get her to smile more than anyone else so far.

Cooling Off.

I was going to get domestic and make homemade popsicles (I found a recipe that just looked too good). But after not having quite all the ingredients I settled for ICE popsicles.

It was a good thing I made the peopsicles with water . . . they were drippy in the heat! Presley enjoyed hers on the deck. Eventually she ended up using the popsicle to cool off by running it up and down her arms and legs.

Maybe we will try making vanilla pudding pops next--sounds yummy!

Independence.

What a great thing! And what a stage Presley is going through--she is very independent (or at least wants to be). We spent the 4th at several family functions. Traditional breakfast at my mom and dad's, annual lunch and water fight at the orchards with extended family, and an evening BBQ with Chris's side of the family.

It is too bad I forgot my camera, but we did have a fun and exhausting day of activities. Presley was even dressed the part in a red, white, and blue dress she called her "flag dress".

Uncle Paul and aunt Ali with P at the rodeo. I think Paul was hungry.

Mor Mor sharing what I hope was NOT Mountain Dew with P.

Just before the 4th Presley and her dad attended the Oakley Rodeo with family and friends. It is something we are lucky to go to every year. Stella and I stayed home and spent some quality time together--sleeping!

I can see clearly now.

We spent the other morning washing our VERY dirty windows. I use 'we' pretty loosely--Chris did the hard work this year (I did it last year). Presley helped dad by standing on the bottom rung of the ladder and I made sure all the screens were out so they could also be washed.

Thank you honey! I guess I will finish up the job by washing the insides.

Potty.

If Presley could be potty trained that would be great! Her latest thing is to poop right while I am feeding Stella, convenient right? She is finally starting to understand that she is dirty when she is wet (the dirty=poop thing is pretty easy to understand, even for a kid).

Presley can hold hold it, she just won't let it go! The other day she went for a nap dry, woke up 3 hours later dry, and another hour later was dry. We sat on the potty for a while but nothing happened. Finally another hour later (and a big glass of watered down juice) she wet her diaper. 5 hours!

The crying is because we needed to put the potty chair away and go run some errands.

When Presley had her potty out the other day she was showing her bunny how to use it. She likes to set up the step stool right in front of the little pink potty and put her wipes on it. Normally we only use the step stool to get up onto the big potty with the potty seat on top (this is what we will use when we finally get around to the actual training).

Elusive.

I have tried for nearly a week and a half to get a picture of Stella's smile. She doesn't do it often but it is there--usually first thing in the morning or just after finishing a good meal (all times when my camera isn't too handy). Between smiles, eating, diaper changes, and crying, Stella is still doing what babies do best--sleep.

Stella first started smiling just before the 5 week mark but was confirmed by someone other than her mom on her 5 week birthday. Since then she has smiled for both sets of grandparents, her mom and dad and even for her big sister. The smile is a big, gummy one with squinty eyes and all!

I can't wait for Stella to start smiling more and more--a giggle would be great too!

Backyard Fun.

When we were little we would run through the sprinklers all summer long. Later, we got a pool and we would still run around outside and then jump in the pool--getting grass and debris in the pool. This wasn't fun for my mom who cleaned and managed the pool systems.

We go to the pool up here quite a bit but it doesn't have a shallow end for P to play in and Chris and I have to constantly hold her. So this last weekend, with the sun and heat in full effect, we got out a blow-up pool, put it on the lawn, and let Presley play with the hose while it filled up.

To get in or not?

Kick, kick, kick!

Presley had quite a blast and was completely at home in the water. Running around, kicking, splashing, drinking out of the hose--this is something we will definitely do again!