Saturday, November 27, 2010

Denver Trip

We spent last weekend just outside Denver with my brother Clint and his amazing girlfriend, Angela. They live in a suburb called Centennial and there was still some snow on the ground from a previous storm. We were between the storms apparently because the snow came after we left. They were wonderful hosts again--putting up with the Izzards for four days is a lot to handle! 


It was sunny and beautiful but pretty cold! Brrr! I think Clint said my teeth were chattering as we walked from the car to lunch in Golden. But as soon as the beer tour started, we were warm and cozy inside the brewery smelling the hops and barley. The three full free pours were a great way to end the family friendly tour. Jackson had a ton of fun running up and down the ramps and checking out the beer accessories. He never fails to spot a football, so we came home with a silver bullet souvenir. 


High altitude hair!
Reading Lion a story before takeoff!






Angela and Clint have lived here for over a year now and know the delicious places to eat! We really enjoyed the places they took us to but especially enjoyed Angela's home cooking! She really knows her way around the kitchen. Jackson scarfed down her jambalaya. 


We brought a portable DVD player with us this time for the flight to keep Jackson busy in case he didn't fall asleep. Of course he slept through both flights. At least "Barney DDD" was an entertaining reward after he used the potty. He only had two accidents in four days! 


We also stopped by to visit my cousin Craig and his wife Renee. They just moved outside Boulder and are about 30 minutes from Clint. They have two adorable girls and Jackson had fun playing with all of their girly things -- and finding their footballs, too. 


Danika, Reese, and Jack

We can't wait to see Clint and Angela for Christmas--they will be visiting us! Yay! 



Jackson was sound asleep until he heard his
favorite sound...the horn of a firetruck!

Outside the Pecile-Kennedy residence =)






Sunday, November 21, 2010

Potty Party Post!

So I was a little skeptical when I heard about potty training your child in just one day when I first read about it on a website. But then my friend Skye used this approach to train her daughter Celeste before her second birthday, and after talking to her about it and asking a million questions, I felt Jackson would be a perfect party boy. 


First step--Skye let me borrow the book, Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day by Teri Crane and I read it twice. Really it is a lot shorter than it looks as half of the book is devoted to party themes and shopping lists. 


The next step was to have Sierra get on board. He took the quiz in the book and scored higher than I did -- so he was either a. more ready to train Jackson or b. embellishing his answers. We scored the same on the quiz about Jackson being ready -- he had all the signs -- dry diapers, potty interest, able to communicate potty language, follow directions, etc. 


After talking to Sue at daycare, we decided to have the party on November 11th because I was off for Veterans' Day. Let the party begin!

The party started the night  before when Sierra and I decorated the party areas. Sierra made the cool signs and I purchased the supplies. I decided Jackson would be super excited if we had a firefighter theme because he loves trucks, especially firetrucks. About a week before the BIG DAY, we started talking about his Potty Party. Sue recommended doing a visual countdown on the calendar so each night we crossed out a day to anticipate the party day. Jackson was so cute because he kept saying we would have cake at his Potty Party (I put a sticker on the calendar of a cake with a firetruck).


When Jackson woke up on his BIG DAY, I told him that I saw a present for him in the bathroom. Inside he found Big Boy Bear. He was wearing Big Boy Underwear. Woo hoo!!!
special breakfast with Big Boy Bear




















That morning I gave him a special breakfast with party balloons. 


We did everything with Big Boy Bear and showed the bear how to use the potty (using apple juice and prunes in the potty). We played special games related to firefighters and only read books about using the potty. We also watched Elmo's Potty Time DVD throughout the morning. 
special treats for staying dry and using the potty


Many times Big Boy Bear made mistakes, but I always modeled how to use the potty after and gave Big Boy Bear treats for trying, staying dry, and using the potty. Oh and Big Boy Bear doesn't eat treats, so Jackson ate them once he promised that someday he would use the potty.


FINALLY it was nap time. Of course he didn't go down easy like any other day because he was excited about the party theme. But once he was asleep I took a nap, too. I knew it was going to be fun times ahead...


After nap Big Boy Bear gave Jackson a present--a bag full of underwear to match the ones he was wearing. SO EXCITING! From that point on, Jackson wore underwear. We used the same techniques from the morning, but this time with Jackson. I couldn't believe 5 minutes after nap he was peeing on the potty. It was so exciting for both of us! 


Later that night Sierra came home and I quickly had to give him the Cliff's Notes on the Potty Party Techniques. That was hard! Autumn, Marcos, and my mom came over to help us celebrate Jackson being a BIG BOY! Together we packed up his diapers and "threw" them away. 


the potty room
We are now on day 10 of potty training. The party was successful because it was the day of intense training and Jack gained an understanding of how to use the potty by training the bear. But, it didn't just happen in that day. We only use Pull Ups at nap and at bedtime as the book and daycare recommended. 
taking Big Boy Bear everywhere


He is doing really well now! It wasn't easy the first few days -- many accidents and wet clothes...but wow he sure has learned how his little body works. He is so proud of himself for "staying dry" and using the potty--"I did it!!!" and this is encouraging because there were times where I wanted to put a diaper back on but didn't because that would send the wrong message. Daycare was really good about keeping him in underwear as well and we have learned a few things over the last 10 days which I will now share with you! 


1. Own at least 16 pairs of training underwear (they are thicker)


2. Our favorite potty books are: The Potty Train, Potty Time With Elmo, Elmo's Potty coloring book (thanks Auntie Autumn), and Even Firefighters Go to the Potty.


3. Stay positive always even when you want to cry...example: I took Jack to the potty and 5 minutes letter he had an accident. Ugh.


4. Train your partner with the potty language several days before your party (otherwise it's really hard to train your kid and your husband).


5. Do it when both of you are ready and have time to spend in intense potty mode. It would have helped if I had taken the second day off of work to spend hours in the bathroom. We did that on the third day instead.


Skye also introduced me to a really cool portable potty: Potette. When Jackson first used it on our trip to Denver, he said: "that's for girls!" -- who knew he would notice that it was pink and purple? Sorry they were sold out of green and blue!


reading the paper in my undies


Good luck on your potty training adventures! 

Saturday, November 13, 2010

--Shutterfly--


After my baby shower, I wanted to give my sister Autumn something special for being such an amazing hostess. I took the pictures from that special day and created a Shutterfly book.


When Jackson was first born, we took pictures of him daily and I put them in a folder on my desktop for each day. After the first week, I organized them into a Shutterfly book which we shared with friends and families who came to meet our bundle of joy! It was SO easy and looked SO professional! It is still one of Jack's favorite books to read before bed. I love making these books because I can do them after Jackson has gone to bed and while Sierra watches football, basketball, baseball...whatever sport is on. 




We have used Shutterfly for Christmas cards as well! Have you ever used them? The processing time is FAST and the quality is EXCELLENT. I really like this one from this year's holiday cards selection! Don't be surprised if you see it in your mailbox this holiday season!



One of my favorite gifts last Christmas was a photo calendar! Sierra is not very tech savvy when it comes to creating things online, yet he was able to make a beautiful calendar for our home using pictures off of his cellphone! I was shocked that the pictures looked as good as they did! The best part was that he added special dates on the calendar and cute captions for each month. =) If Sierra can do it, you can, too! 

Are you ready to create something magical and special? Share your memories and create many smiles as you upload your photos to Shutterfly and make a gift for a loved one, order holiday cards with your own photos, or choose from many, many other products! 

If you are a blogger--check this out! Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… learn more:http://bit.ly/sfly2010 

Sunday, November 7, 2010

:: Daddy the Barber ::

 Before--Dad and Jack with shaggy hair. 
Get the hair off me!

Sierra said he could easily trim Jack's hair and so we gave it a try last night! Jackson did pretty well until the hair trimmings landed on his belly, in his nose, and all over his hands. He tried cleaning them up but hair was getting everywhere. He doesn't like being messy. He became a little impatient with his barber. Dada's first cuts made Mama a little nervous (those scissors are sharp!), but some M&Ms helped us both relax. =)


We love our haircuts!

Who knew my Handy Husband could be so handy with hair?