Lot's of Firsts at the State Fair

We talked about possibly taking a ride up the big wheel but decided not this year.

We arrived at the fair and before we even got in the gate, I ran into some of my relatives. Then, not 30 minutes later, we saw some other people we know. Later we saw some others as well. I usually always see at least somebody I know at the fair each year but I thought it was funny to run into family before even entering inside the fair. We got there around lunch time and it was really crowded with people, the food lines were crazy long and the kids were getting hungry. After weeding through the crowds, I decided to go on a hunt for some food for my kids without having to stand in a long long line. Craig though I was never going to return.

We had the most memorable experience with making numerous stops to the potty while at the fair. We brought a portable potty chair but we also tried using the restrooms and quickly found the portable potty worked much better. We really didn't think we would find enough places that were secluded enough to allow the kids to do their business, but surprisingly we did. We just backed up to a building, dumpster or line of shrubs etc. and put the two strollers in front to block that side. It worked out really well. The kids did well keeping their pull-ups dry (I just wasn't brave enough to do regular underwear) although we did have a few minor leaks.

It definitely takes a lot longer to get through the fair with kids in tow that is for sure, but then again, what doesn't? I couldn't believe it when I looked up and we had been there 3 hours and literally all we had done was potty, eat, potty, and see one thing. The pottying novelty wore off and we were able to get through the fair with much less potty break distractions.

We stopped at the "Little Hands on the Farm" and the kids went through the entire process of farming for the first time. This was such a fun and educational experience. We started off getting an apron. Tyler was the only one that wanted to wear one. We also picked up our baskets and our corn.
We watered the trees...
we picked our fruit from the trees.


We milked a cow


We placed milk in our baskets after milking our cow.
We planted our seeds.
We watered our seeds. We also watered our seeds with milk but unfortunately I couldn't get a picture. Ha!
We picked our vegetables out of the garden.


We stopped for a picture - Tyler on the tractor.
Whitney
Hannah
We picked up their bag of grain.


We "rode" tractors... although we didn't actually ride them.
We fed the farm animals.
We made a stop by the farmer's market to sell our foods.
We went shopping in the store and picked out whatever they wanted and payed for it with their hard earned money.


Tyler giving the cashier his money for his crackers.
Hannah receiving her merchandise back after paying for it.
After we finished farming, we attempted to take a picture. You'll see in the next few pics, our failed attempt to get everybody to look through the holes at the same time but not for lack of trying.
Take two
Take three


We wandered around the car show as Craig dreamed of owning a big, monster truck. Tyler experienced his first time to sit on a monster truck tire.

The kids had their first experience with cotton candy. Of course, they all loved it but after a while, Tyler (of all people) was very concerned about his dirty, sticky hands.
Of course, Mom & Dad couldn't pass up the cotton candy either.


We watched the parade come through that evening. (I think this was their first parade???) We saw police on horseback.
We saw clowns...


We saw some motorcycle cops. This one in particular stopped and just stared at the kids and said hello.


We saw some interesting creatures on stilts.
We saw floats...
This, as always is the best part!


Of course we had to pet and feed all the farm animals.



Their first time to sit in a real tractor. On our way to the car, we decided to give the kids a "ride" on the tractors that we saw when we came in. They were really tired by this point but enjoyed sitting in the tractors anyway.



After making it to the car, pottying and getting everybody and our gear loaded up, we were headed for home and the rest is history. As soon as Tyler started to nod off, I flashed the camera again and he woke up.

We ate corny dogs, tornado taters, nachos, funnel cakes, cotton candy, fried bacon, ice cream and loved every minute of it! We saw several other of the "usuals" like the pavilions, a trip through the Midway, a passing by of Big Tex, but we missed several other "usuals" like the dog show and the street acrobats and performers. All in all, it was a great day and a very fun and memorable experience with family.

Two Weeks In PT'ing

Just documenting our progress so I won't forget... The kids are doing well with potty training. They are learning to control their bladders better and for longer periods of time. They are doing remarkably well with "the other" as well. I think I mentioned before that Tyler has been waking up dry from naps several times. Friday morning, he woke up dry and we were so proud of his huge accomplishment. He isn't consistent yet so we will continue pull-ups for the time being until they are more consistent during the day.

This is SO much work and so demanding on me, I have to just laugh to keep from crying. It really is getting very funny at times because it is so chaotic. A very difficult adjustment for sure - probably more for me than the kids. Diapers were so much easier (at least for now)!

I've had several more very "interesting" outings in the past few days as well including an impromptu visit to the doctor with my trio in tow. I was pressed for time getting there (and it was no short trip traveling from South Garland to Frisco), missed my exit and took a 15 or 20 minute detour and then once I got there, I unloaded all the kids only to discover we had parked in the back. I've never been there before and the office building truly didn't look like the back. LOL So, I loaded everybody back up (because it was too far to walk around to the front) and then unloaded everybody again. Whew! Working me to death! I went in, handled my business and off we went. I spent more time unloading, loading, unloading and loading than I did in the office. Ha!

Today we went to a reunion picnic with some of Craig's old schoolmates at GCA. We had a good time, the weather was nice but it was difficult with the kids needing to potty so frequently. And we were at a park no less, so our potty breaks consisted of going potty in the potty chair in the car because the restroom was too far away.

Later that evening we made a run to Target for a few things but not before running into Babies R Us to buy a portable potty seat. At Target we made two trips to the restroom and decided to try out the new portable potty seat. The first trip to the restroom, the potty chair didn't work too well - falling in the toilet when I placed the child on the seat and then falling in the floor after taking the child off. Yuck! The second trip was to clean up an accident Hannah had but I did have better luck with the potty seat that time at least. :) We finally finished our shopping and headed home.

We plan to go to the State Fair tomorrow. We shall see how it goes. We plan to take a potty chair but I think we have decided to use pull-ups. :)

Potty Training Day 6

We have been busy as ever these past 6 days but the trio are progressing along. We have gone through many stages of potty training in the past 6 days from fear of the potty chair, to not wanting to get off the potty, to running to the potty every few minutes (or less) only to sit on it for half a second.

They have done well during naps on occasion waking up dry, but there have been many days they have not woken up dry as well. If they don't get it soon, we will be resorting to pullups during naps as well as night time. They are sleeping straight through their nap and waking up wet. They wake up after only an hour or hour-and-a-half and are still very tired.

Hannah has definitely improved a lot and is going potty much more. We have found with her, if we ignore her and let her do her business rather than having a staring contest while she goes, she has a much higher success rate. She also "performs" much better for her daddy than me. :) She only had one accident yesterday and none yet today (aside from naps).

Tyler has got it down pat - he is so reliable and I can say he is completely potty trained during the day. I don't believe he has had one single potty accident since day 1 (aside from naps).

Whitney is almost there but still needs a little more work. She is doing great. She hasn't had any accidents in several days (aside from naps).

They are all going #2 much more now and we are so happy about that! Hannah and Whitney are increasingly using the big potty more for both #1 & #2 and we LOVE that. Tyler still likes his "little potty" but he will use the big potty too.

I just love their cute tooshies!

Bye bye diapers! It feels so weird to not be changing diapers all day long!


Our stash of goodies - stickers and jelly beans & chocolate covered raisins.
Their potty charts! Good job Hannah, Tyler & Whitney!
Their poopy charts... This was taken on day 2(?) I think(?) and we had no success at that time.
For nap time, we layered their beds with sheets and a huge plastic trash bag in between each layer to keep the wetness from soaking thru. This way when they soil one layer, you just take the top layer off and have another dry, clean sheet ready for you and don't have to put sheets on during naps or at night. Many potty training moms purchase multiple mattress pads but I decided to try the trash bags because it would be much less expensive and it has worked wonderfully! I will say it is A LOT of work changing these, getting them washed & put back on their beds. Our kids still have their bumpers on their cribs and you moms know how hard it is to change sheets with bumpers.
We did lots of activities to help get their mind off needing to go potty. Of course we reminded them to let us know when they needed to go but if they weren't kept busy with an activity, they were going to the potty to try every 2 minutes or less. Here we are playing with play doh while Craig reads them a story, with much enthusiasm I might add.
My entry table/panty-undy table. This also serves as a barrier to keep them off the carpeted dining room. My house is turned completely upside down. This is only about 50 or 60 of my 75 pairs of underwear & panties I bought. :)
The endless laundry...
Here is an aerial view. It is hard to tell from this pic but there is clear plastic covering the entire living room floor, every where the tarp isn't.
This is the current potty station - where my entry table used to be.


More play doh activities...
Look at the attitude in that face.... Ha! She is saying, "mom, seriously, stop taking my picture." She looks so grown up here. sniff sniff
Sweet, happy Whitney
Tyler is such a silly boy. Doesn't take much to get him tickled. :)
We glued noodles to paper...
We made cookies, iced and decorated them with sprinkles.
These pics are out of order... Here is the icing part...


Til next time.... :)