Pee and Sleep

She is doing both now-on her own!!! YEAH:) She is actually telling us when she needs to go to the bathroom and wears 'big girl' underwear all day, every day. She still wears a pull-up to bed but it is never wet in the morning. She has really taken to peeing AND pooping in the grass, too. Her favorite time to do this is at soccer games. Fun.

Sleeping has also gotten tremendously better!! She goes to bed without a drink and without a fuss and puts herself to sleep. So nice!!! She actually responds better to Todd and my mom (whenever she is around) so I let them do the deed. I am sure there will be nights when she pees her pants in her bed AND won't go to sleep but right now, things are looking up on the toddler front!

Wonderful weekend

Elisabeth Connors-Kos and Elizabeth Connors :)

Isabella, Elisabeth, and Sadie

Playing at a park

Isabella's new past time...picking her feet.

Elisabeth with her teacher after returning home from Gettysburg.

My 2 favorite girls at Cracker Barrel

My new favorite picture :)

Isabella and her new beaded Santa Claus bracelet


Elisabeth arrived back in town safe and sound and only 30 minutes late! She had a wonderful time in Gettysburg and amazed us with her 'war' facts. She even bought us all gifts from the gift shop!! Oh...and she took 100+ pictures :)

We had a great time in Syracuse-we arrived at 1 am on Saturday morning. J, J, and Sadie had arrived the night before. We went shopping, of course, and then mom ad dad took care of all of the girls so we could go out on a double date. We had an awesome dinner and then went to see "India Jones". I must not have closely watched the other 3 because this one DUMB and supposedly it was just like the previous ones. I thought it would never end. I now realize why Karen Allen had about 5 lines and gave up acting so she could open a knitting store-she is a HORRIBLE actress! J and J loved it so it was a success for half of the group :)

On Sunday, we went to church and out to eat and then home for a 3 hour nap:) Today we went shopping and I got Isabella a new duvet cover for her big girl bed. Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Gettysburg, here she comes!

Elisabeth took off this morning at 7:15 am with her pillow, blanket, sunscreen, and lunch to Gettysburg with her entire 5th grade class. Five parents from each class were chosen randomly to go...I wasn't one of them. On one hand, I am thrilled to miss the 3 hour bus ride down and back plus the shleping around that we would have to do once we got there. But, on the other hand, I am sad to be missing it and a little pissed I don't automatically get to go because I work at her school. No special treatment EVER and it stinks. I am amazed how well she did this morning-she, unfortunately, inherited by anxiety genes and I thought for sure she would wake up with a stomach ache with threats of puking but she was fine!!! We pick her up tonight at 7:30 and then drive to Syracuse for the long weekend. Sadie, Jacqueline, and Jim are come down from Canada so we will get to be together for a few days :) Can you say...outlets??!!!

Elepants and swings :)

Ever since Todd and my MIL took Isabella to the zoo, she has been obsessed with 'elepants' (aka elephants). Yesterday, she got her own Build-A-Bear elephant from my dad in the mail. She was so HAPPY and went skipping off with it when all of a sudden it let out this loud elephant noise. She dropped her prized possession and ran for the hills!!!! "Ever since Todd and his mom took Isabella to the circus, she has been obsessed with elepantsElepant scare! Elepant scare!" My dad thought she would love the noise it made when you pushed his hand but she hated it. We had to go upstairs and get Elisabeth's elephant and give her that one because IT didn't make the noise. Then, to make matters worse, Elisabeth decides she doesn't want to switch elephants-she likes her own. So...we swapped E's elephants clothes for I's elephants clothes, shoved the noise-maker down into the elephants butt, and gave it back to I. If you can figure that one out, I"ll buy you a real elephant!!! We are just praying that she doesn't roll over some night and hit the noise box. She will never forgive us!!

Thanks Mom and Dad for my new swing :) I LOVE IT!!!

Lucy and Liam Pictures :)

Great weekend so far ......

The girls and I have had a wonderful weekend so far :) On Friday night, Elisabeth went to a birthday party and I went out for pizza with a friend (Patty) and Bella. On Saturday, we went out to breakfast with that same friend and then over to Elisabeth's soccer game. Patty looked after Isabella while I got to watch the game (I never get to do that as I am always following Bella around on the nearby playground). This game was very important to E. because she was going up against 2 of her friends/enemies (depending on the day). They kept telling her they were going to win....but WE DID!!!! YEAH!!! And...she played goalie for the first half, which she was dreading to do. Todd is always there co-coaching but because he was away, she faced this all on her own. She was beyond thrilled but promises not to gloat in school tomorrow. Right now, their team has not lost one game!! Last night, after a few hours of napping, we went to church. I LOVE the Saturday night service at our church-very quiet and laid back. Elisabeth helped out in Isabella's class and I got to sit and listen. He talked about the Sabbath and how it should be a day of rest, as God intended, and how everyone is trying to micro-manage their lives and get ahead. It was a really great sermon. After, the girls and I went out for sandwiches and then home to snuggle :)

The one great thing about this weekend is that Elisabeth really missed Todd. Growing up, they were not especially close as I was always there and never really gave them the chance to bond. With Isabella, our time is split. She really doesn't have a preference and is more than willing to stay with Todd or run to the store with him. However, when I am with her...Elisabeth has time to spend with Todd and it has been great. Soccer has really helped, too. She actually cried yesterday when he wasn't there to help her out at soccer. She called him on the phone and got a pep talk from him-which is unheard of! After the game, he was the first one she called. It really meant the world to her and was absolutely wonderful to see.

Now we are going to honor God and sit in our pjs all day:) We might, however, take a trip to the mall but that is only 2 minutes away and won't exert too much energy!!!

HE'S GONE GOLFING!!!!

The only man in our house, besides 2 of the dogs, has taken off for the weekend to golf. He is only going 2 hours away but will be gone until Sunday. The house is cleaned and the girls and I are ready for some relaxation :) Birthday party tonight and soccer tomorrow...other than that, the Lifetime Movie channel will be on 24/7 :)

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was wonderful this year. We were in Syracuse then Canada then back to Syracuse. On Sunday, Mom and I drove to the outlets to do a little shopping and then we all had dinner together. We didn't get home until very late on Sunday night but it was worth it :)


Pap Pap and his girls.

This is a BEAUTIFUL charcoal drawing done of the girls. J and J brought it back for me from Vietnam. I am having it framed :)

No, that is not purple snot hanging from Isabella's nose-it is a lilac that she was smelling.

E 3: Elizabeth, Elisabeth, and Isabella (which happens to be the Italian version of Elizabeth).

Meeting Sadie

What a wonderful, fabulous little baby girl :)  She is 15 months old and weighs about 17 pounds.  She is THE cutest thing in the world and so so calm!!  Hope you enjoy the pictures :)

Hitting, biting, and peeing......

is how I would describe our sweet little angel lately. She has majorly backtracked on the potty front-I will attribute it to being sick for 2 weeks and me being away for 6 days. The sitter has always been very supportive of potty training her early but she has really been upsetting me lately. Yesterday Isabella peed her pants while on a walk with the babysitter and got snack taken away. Then when she got home from the walk and peed on the potty, she didn't get an M & M because she had peed her pants before. Todd and I have NEVER scolded her for wetting her pants...we tell her she should pee on the potty, change her, and that is it. When I went in to talk to B. about this, she told me we had bigger problems. On the way home from their walk, Isabella decided to take a bite out of the 1 year old's burned hand (she burned it on a bowl of pasta a few days ago)- luckily not on the burned part. Then the 3 year old wanted Isabella to sing with him at lunch time and Isabella whacked him across the face. AHHHHHHH!!! Hopefully she is just going through a typical phase. Hopefully....

Tomorrow we leave for Syracuse to see my mom and dad. Then on Saturday, we are off to Canada to meet the newest member of the family-Sadie:)

Big girl bed, soccer, and birthday parties....

pretty much sums up what we have been doing for the past few days :) That and sleeping, of course! Isabella has been throwing fits every time we put her in her crib so I took the crib down the night after I returned and put up a twin bed for her to sleep in. We do have a toddler bed but the crib mattress is so uncomfortable that I thought she would like a regular mattress instead. Elisabeth had 2 twin beds up in her room and was quite happy to get rid of one of them. So far, except for a little crying when it is time to lay down, things have been going very well. She usually just lays there after reading books and falls asleep on her own!!

Friday night and Saturday Elisabeth had birthday parties and then she played soccer on Saturday as well. And she had a sleep over on Saturday night! She was one tired kid today!