GeM's TWO!

Hard to believe but our little spunk of kid turned TWO!! I didn't mind the first year and some going by fast but now time can slow down. I LOVE her at this age, she is so much fun! She is so fearless (I have about 15 small heart attacks a day) and independent (the snuggle struggle is real), she's funny, adventurous and loves her friends. She's annoying at times but not for bad reasons, she just repeats herself like a broken record and it drives me bonkers lol. She's a very VERY busy kid, always into something....our place isn't that big but I feel like I prob walk/run a 5k everyday in a matter of a few hours and by night time i'm done, this kid is a lot of work, good work but a lot. The times she's a brat, time outs are our friend, she stands facing the corner and can't come out until she's done crying and ready to smile, it works well for her, we also bribe her, I love it haha. We're lucky to have a really good kid, everything about her I love, all her personality traits and weird things she does as well as her super infectious smile.

I decided (because Gem can't) that she'd have a luau beach party at the Tiki Bar! My parents came for Gem's birthday this year so they brought all the decorations down and i'm so excited! Something I love to do is plan stuff and then set it all up, it's rare that I ever get a chance to do it, so Gem's birthdays are the perfect little parties to create! Instead of gifts this year, we asked people to give money and we are donating on Joss's behalf (Gem's cousin who is 3 and has leukemia) to the CURE foundation in Atlanta, GA. Gem raised $250 at her birthday party!! Her friends are so awesome!

Happiest Birthday to our TWO year old, mom and dad love you to the moon!!

ScHOoL TimE

We have reached the age where we send Gemma to school! We chose a near by Montessori school and Monday was her first day. She had her lunch packed and her sneakers on ready to go make new friends and learn a lot of cool things. I as well was ready to have my mornings with GMA and coffee also run errands without having to buckle and unbuckle another human on my busy mornings and ALSO.....BLOG!!! I have time to blog now! It's only half day so we pick her up at noon. 

Day 1, we talk about school, her lunch box, friends and how much fun she'll have. She gets excited but obviously doesn't know what she's excited about haha. We got to school and dropped her off but had a little resistance and didn't want to leave mommy's arms, she cried a little but we quickly left and before we left she'd found a toy with her teacher and was totally distracted. I did not cry, I know you're wondering. When we went to pick her up she was outside happily on the swing, when she spotted us she started crying haha. She used to do that when Darin came home, she'd get so excited she'd cry, so I guess these were excitement happy tears. She also had NO ACCIDENTS!! 

Day 2, making good progress, we had a little whimper but she willingly went to the teacher. I try to make my mornings quick, in and out in less than 15 seconds, literally haha. I don't want to be there and make her more upset because i'm still around, it's like pulling a bandaid off, the quicker you do it, the quicker the pain. Until she's adjusted and goes to school with a smile and understands what her morning routine is, i'll start giving her a proper goodbye at school. Found her on the swing again when I picked her up, no cries, just pointing and "mommy, mommy!". Teacher said she had some good laughing sessions with her friends today, i'm so glad she's adjusting so fast and enjoying her new friends. Also NO ACCIDENTS today too!!

Day 3, no cries, no whimpers, no look back either. My girl put her lunch box on the shelf and went right to the puzzles....peace mom! Alrighty then, so that was awesome! Went to pick her up and she was on the swing AGAIN, she LOOOOVES swings :) she was laughing and smiling, happy to see me but wasn't ready to get off so we swung for a little while longer :) No accidents today either!! I'm so freaking proud of her!!

Day 4, happy as a clam in water, she put up her lunch box and I asked for a kiss, so she kissed me and turned around and headed to the puzzles....this is the moment I teared up. She is such an amazing kid, so independent and brave, my little sweet and fearless soul, i'm so proud of you! xo

Day 5, it's so cute watching her put up her lunch box and then come kiss me bye. I'd say her first week went absolutely awesome. She knows her routine and she's happy to be going to school, I couldn't ask for more. When I picked her up, she was of course on the swings, she actually got off (which she didn't do the other 4 days) ran to the class room and came out with her lunch box and her art project she painted, like ok mom, i'm ready! :) Such a big kid so fast. 

She turns TWO next week!!! Ahhhhhh crazy!

NeW yEAr & PoTTy TRaiNiNG

New Year's Day we spent the ENTIRE day at the beach with friends, it couldn't have been more perfect of a day. We watched the sunset and then all headed home. It was nice with the day being a Friday because then we had the rest of the weekend with Darin. We had a BBQ on Sunday with some friends, which was a great day as well, perfect weather to use the new pool toys!

In December we got our barrel which had all of the potty training supplies :) just a simple seat cover and stool, a few potty books and new panties (girl superheroes) haha. Since Gem has been born i've read a series called Baby Wise, which lead to pre-toddlerwise, toddler wise and potty wise.....I LOVE these books, I think they're spot on with a lot of my personality and parenting ways so I use it as a guide and it's worked wonders. Anyhow, so I read Potty Wise, learned what I could, decided on my way of training, prepared with m+m's as her potty prize and then waited till Monday to start. We started off focusing on the potty and what we do in it, so I let Gem run naked and we sat in the bathroom for most of the day, I had the tv off and prepped the bathroom with coffee, my phone, books, m+m's in a bowl close by so she could see her winnings, some cleaning spray, a rag and some wipes lol, I had made us our own cave of survival. The first day was hard and frustrating, I wanted to give up but I knew I couldn't so we powered through. The second day was WAY easier, about half on the potty and half accidents, I was ok with this though, it showed me progress and that whatever I was doing was working...onto day three when we had no accidents (of pee, lol). Day four we had none and ever since then (it's been about 3 weeks) we have an accident every now and then but nothing major, it's usually she makes it to the bathroom and not quite to the toilet, but she told me she had to go and she tried her best to make it so I count it. Time equals progress and i'm so impressed with how flipping fast she learned that in, it amazes me! I'm so proud of her and also stocked I have no more diapers to change!! Nap and nighttime diapers is all that's left, but I know that part of training will come in time, i'm happy and Gem is happy she gets her candy :) 

I won't embarrass the older Gemma and post pics of her on the potty with her ipad and books :) your welcome :)

HoLiDAy SEasOn TwO

HAPPY 2016!!! We are coming off of a great Christmas season. I miss it already, I love having a tree that lights up at night and smells so good, just something about snugging on the couch with a lit tree.....it's a warm my heart kind of feeling. Gemma and I made my mom's traditional "snowball cookies", she loves to help mix and loves to sit on the counter any chance she can get. Christmas morning was nice, just us. I made Darin waffles which he's been dying for but we didn't have a waffle maker, well guess what Santa brought him this year? Hahahaha!! We toasted to Christmas and had a yummy breakfast before heading off to our friends house for lunch and onto another for dinner. We went to a Christmas party the week before and Santa was there......he brought Gem a present but she didn't seem too pleased with his outfit lol. I learned at Sea World over the summer that she DOES NOT like people dressed up as things, Santa included apparently. 

We had a great New Years, spent it at the Franco's and had a nice steak dinner with all the fixings then went to watch the fireworks....Gem barely made it but she made it nonetheless. Here's a peek at our Christmas and New Year week.