I'm A Big Girl Now!

Our little Kay-Bugs is just growing up so fast. She's not a baby now, she's a big girl. A lot of things have happened this last month that prove our little girl is growing up. 

First of all, Makayla is now potty trained! She still wears "baby diapers" at night, but she wears big girl "unnies" during the day. Occasionally she has an accident, but she is really good at using the potty. Makayla insists on doing things herself in the bathroom. She has to turn on the light, set up her potty seat and step stool, wipe, and wash her hands. If you try to help her do any of the above, she will un do it, tell you "Kay-bugs turn" and set it up herself! And she also insists on being completely naked before she goes potty. We just hope that doesn't last forever.  But alas, we are so excited to be a one diaper and one changing table family (minus the few accidents Tyler has) :)

Second of all, Makayla is a big girl because she is such a good helper around the house. Case in point, Makayla likes to help me do the dishes... with out unnies. 

Ohh... I just want to squish her cute little bummie!

 Since Makayla is a big girl now, we thought she needed a big girl haircut. Makayla's hair was really cute when it was in piggies, but she rarely kept them in and as a result, she often looked like a homeless girl by the end of the day. So we decided it was time for a cut. Here's the before picture...

 We took her to Cookie Cutters. Makayla got to pick out her own chair and she picked the pink car.

I was really nervous for her and I thought it was going to be a fight, but it was really anti-climatic. She was loving the t.v they had playing and was glued to it the entire time.

The girl cut off a good chunk of her hair.

Then styled it...

When we left they gave Makayla a sucker and let her pick a balloon. Makayla picked yellow (probably because she didn't know how to say "teal" or "white" :)

 And here's the finished product, pretty cute, huh?

 It must have been a pretty memorable experience because every one we talk to she tells them "I get haircut, sucker, boon".  With one little hair cut, our little baby girl looks like a big girl!

Next proof that our little girl is a big girl now... she got upgraded to her toddler bed! Right after we got her hair cut we went to the store and Makayla got to pick out her big girl sheets. After looking at all the options, she picked "Punnels" (Rapunzel) sheets. We set up her bed and got her all ready for her first night in her new bed.

 She loves them! We still get to read books before bed, but now we get to do it in her bed!

Now every morning when Makayla wakes up, she tells us "I wake on my Punnel pillow!" 

And finally, the last proof that our little girl is growing up... she likes to dress herself.

It doesn't always match, but it is so cute when she tells us "my turn" or "I do it" I may struggle, though, when she insists on picking out her own outfits to wear in public. 

Some other cute sayings of Makayla this month include: 

-When we leave somewhere we always tell Makayla, "Say you love them" to which she responds "Love 'em!"

-When she picks her breakfast she chooses "oatmilk"

-Her favorite movies include "Tangled", "Mermaid" (The Little Mermaid), and "Belle" (Beauty and the Beast). Every night before bed or as soon as she wakes up in the morning, she tells us what movie she wants to watch. 

-Sometimes Makayla forgets who she's talking to and she'll say "Tank you Ma...Tank you Da-di"

-The cutest is when she is talking about herself and she says things like, "No touching Kay-bugs blankie!"

-If she gets upset, she yells at us, "I go time out" then goes to sit in a corner with her head down. If we ask her if she is done in time out, she firmly tells us "No!"

Makayla, even though it is so cute that you are growing up, please try to say my little girl forever! 

Girls night out

Have I told you how awesome my Bestie is? Well she's pretty cool and got us tickets to the Jazz game. Both of our significant others hate the Jazz, so it was up to the die hard fans that we are to go support the Jazz. Obviously the boys just don't know what they're missing. The Jazz played the Knicks and sadly they lost, but we had so much fun!

Emily was texting her boy all night and at one point she said to me, "I don't think I've watched any of the game. Can't the boys just let us have a night out at the basketball game without them interrupting us all night?" Ironic and hilarious all at the same time!

Oh and we probably have a million pictures in this same pose, but this time we had matching Jazz glasses, so we thought we would make it a million and one pictures in this same pose. 

Girls Day Out

My cute mom wanted to take all the girls in the family out for a fun girls day out, so we got tickets to Disney Princesses on Ice. 

Here we all are before we headed out. I love that Meg's girls adore our kids. Makayla didn't want to have anything to do with me as soon as she saw Hannah, Maddie, and Sadie. 

I love my little girl. She's my bestest friend! :)

 We made it to the ESA and found our seats. Once the show started, Makayla was mesmerized!

 Me, Makayla, and Hannah

 And Sadie and Maddie. My mom and Meg went to get us popcorn, so they missed out on one of my many pictures.

 We all loved the show, but remember how my kids are really scheduled? Well it was almost 1 (when Makayla usually takes a nap) and I could tell she was getting tired. I tried keeping her up, but I eventually gave up and this is how she watched the last half hour of the show. It amazes me what kids can sleep through. It was so loud in the arena, but she was out cold.

 She missed my favorite part where all the princess came out. But hopefully this picture will do it justice! :)

Thanks so much for the tickets, Mom! We all had so much fun!

Potty Training

We figured an event as significant as this deserved it's own post!!

We've started the process of potty training Makayla last month. I wasn't going to start until the summer when I was home with the kids all day, but after her 2 year check-up, the doctor thought she was ready and didn't think it would take too long once she got the hang of it. 

We went to the store and Makayla got to pick out her own big girl underwear and potty seat. She picked "Tangled/Rapunzel" underwear and a princess potty seat that makes noises. When we got home she was so excited to try on her new big girl underwear.

 Then we tried sitting on her potty seat. She didn't like it at first and had no clue what to do. We just let her get the feel for it. 

 The thing Tyler and I decided right off the bat was that we would not pressure her in any way, so it has taken a few weeks and a lot of bribing along the way, but she is getting close. In the beginning if Makayla would wear her big girl underwear, she would get a sticker. Then we moved into stickers and fruit snacks if she sat on the potty. Sometimes she just sat on the potty while reading a book (sounds a lot like her dad). 

 After a few weeks, and a lot of accidents on the floor, she still wasn't going potty in the toilet, and I was getting a little frustrated. Then it was like one day she just "got it". She started telling me she needed to go to the potty and then when I sat her down, she just went! She got to pick her reward and she picked popcorn and movie. So now every time she goes, she says, "popcorn and mermaid!"

She's almost fully trained at home, then we'll work on going potty at daycare, and finally through the night. Now when Kayla goes, she insists on getting herself on undressed and getting on the potty by herself. Just one more sign that my little girl is growing up!

She's even so big that she insisted on typing a message on her potty post: 

dgv zaFFZXIZIR3VF43FYRF

Stay tuned and hopefully in a few weeks we'll officially be a one diaper family!

Playing Catch-Up

January and February flew by this year. We have been busy in the Evans house with a whole lot of random things. Here's an update of our cute little kiddos from the last two months. 

Caden is almost 11 months old now and is as cute as ever! He is getting such a fun personality and is genuinely funny. Sometimes just the looks he gives us can crack us up. Caden has discovered food and how to eat by himself. He thinks he is pretty big now that he can eat himself, but some of the messes he makes are unbelievable. Well, see for your self...

Good...

 Bad...

Not really sure if any of this food actually made it to his mouth in this one.

We usually have to hose him down after each meal. 

Tyler and I thought about getting a dog for about 2 seconds until we realized we already have one; his name is Caden, and he likes to eat food off the floor. 

The binkie is Caden's best friend. Remember how he was so attached to it up until three months old, then he kind of abandoned it? Well at 9 ish months he fell in love with them again, and now we can't go anywhere with out it.

This little stink bug is so close to walking. He likes to cruise on all the furniture, even the toilet and piano bench. I'm a little sad for Caden to walk because that means my little monkey is getting bigger and more mobile. 

 I think our biggest struggle with Caden is that he still does not consistently sleep through the night. He does great for three or four nights in a row, but then he will go in these spurts where he is up every couple of hours and the only way to get him back to sleep is to have him sleep in bed with us. I think Tyler and I secretly like him snuggling with us, but we complain about being so tired the next morning. One morning I woke up for work (Tyler was already down stairs working out) and realized why we never get any sleep. Yep, that's Caden sprawled out on the bed, leaving only half the side of the bed for me to sleep.

I try to act angry, but seriously, who can resist this? 

But do you want to know the most exciting news of all? Last month two little teeth poked through for this little guy!

I can't imagine teething is a pleasant thing, but he was such a trooper through it. I'm sure it will get worse as more teeth poke through, but the good news is that having teeth means that he can eat all sorts of new foods!  

Some other things about our little Cader-tot at almost 11 months: 

-He jabbers all the time

-He gives the best kisses. 

-Still hates it if he feels like he is alone in a room. 

-Will eat anything you put in front of him... to the point that sometimes we have to cut him off. 

-He is so good natured, especially when Makayla steals every toy from him. He just goes off to find another one. 

-Loves to crawl in the bathroom drawers and oven warming drawer. 

-Loves to pull everything out of the cupboards. 

-Is still the cutest little boy ever!! I can't wait for next month when we get to celebrate his 1st Birthday!!!

As for our little two year old: 

Sometimes I feel like Makayla has two personalities. She can be so, incredibly sweet one minute, and the next minute she is screaming and crying. We think a lot of her melt downs stem from her wanting to be a "big" girl and she gets frustrated when she can't figure things out or when we try to help her. I guess that's part of toddlerhood, right? 

Here's some of the moments when she is being her sweet self...

Makayla loves reading books. I love to hear her when she pretends to actually read it. It sounds like jibberish, but you can make out a few of the words, then she always ends with "the end!"

Her favorite book right now is Brown Bear. We have read it so many times I have the thing memorized! But this book has helped Kayla learn her animal sounds and colors. 

Makayla loves to try to get herself dressed now. She loves to put on her shoes, jacket, and pants, and of course she loves taking all her clothes off and running around the house naked. Sometimes she demands that she pick out her outfit, or bows. Now we just have to teach her to match her clothes and accessories. 

Makayla loves "movie parties". Usually on Friday nights for FFD we have been having popcorn and watching one of her princess movies. It is the highlight of our week for all of us!

 Kayla really is a sweetie, but if it looks like Caden is having fun with anything, she is right there to take it away from him. She get so mean with him and even kicks and hits him. Needless to say, Makayla is getting very familiar with time out. She even gets her blankies and toys taken away. One day she told me, "I go to time-out now". 

 Makayla is also a really good helper. She loves to help us vacuum the kitchen floor. 

 And for randomness, here's a picture of her on a horse at the mall. 

Some of our favorite things about Kayla: 

-When she refers to herself or if she sees herself in pictures, she calls herself "Kay-bugs"

-She loves naming people in our family and the kids at daycare. 

-She tells us daily "Addie bite" (a little girl at daycare) but I think she just likes to say it for attention

-One day she told us that "Boomer (the dog at daycare) went to the bathroom... so funny!"

-She asks us all the time, "What doin?"

-Now she is starting to ask us "Why?" after everything. 

-When you ask her a question like, "who wants a fruit snack?" she raises her hand and says, "me, me, me, me, me!"