Potty Training

Potty training time really hasn't begun in the Arnold household. Rebekah had a week in January where she wanted to sit on the potty, but since then hasn't even wanted to try. She totally understands what to do and she really understands the incentives we have been offering (various candy and ice cream). Today I even told her that after we say bye-bye diapers, she can go to Build a Bear and pick out her favorite bear (she just discovered this store in the mall and we walked in and looked around). She has even started requesting diaper changes after pooping in her diaper...but still shows no signs of wanting to try. She even loves cheering on her good friend Elise Erwin who has been potty trained now for months--go Elise!!

So today, Lydia at 16 months carried the potty seat out of the bathroom and brought it to me. I asked if she wanted to sit on it and she nodded. She was loving it and then Eve wanted in on it too. Who knows, maybe Eve and Lydia will beat Rebekah in the potty training. Enjoy these great pictures of some proud little girls...they did sit on the potty, but we are still waiting for any action to occur! We had a repeat of this afternoon potty adventure after baths tonight, we had to pull the girls away from the potty.

Rebekah time

I have been enjoying lots of special time this spring with my little Rebekah. Eve and Lydia have been taking pretty consistent morning and afternoon naps and Rebekah is only taking an afternoon nap about 50% of the time. This is leaving lots of time for the two of us.

So far, I have been surprised on (Rebekah wants to type: lkujhgf6yp;;ii;lklkkjhbc0000000000000000000000000000000000000) how much Rebekah is loving the outdoors and enjoying God's beautiful creation all around her. She is loving all the spring flowers like the bright yellow daffodils we have in our front year. Picking up sticks, bugs, coloring with sidewalk chalk is taking up much of our days. It is a joy to watch and participate in her discovery of all things new!

We have had several Rebekah "meltdowns" the last few weeks. Over silly things like she was hiding under the table after lunch playing house. I went down to try to wash her face and pretended to push the door bell on her make believe house and she just lost it. "Don't push the door bell" she screamed as she laid on the floor yelling and kicking...after I tried explaining I was just pretending and that I wouldn't push it again, she just kept going and going. After 3-4 of the meltdowns per day for a few days in a row, I was going to loose it. Ignoring her tantrum just wasn't cutting it, so I devised a little plan...yes it is bribery. After three days of no meltdowns, I told Rebekah that we would go to the new Candy Store downtown, Campus Candy. In four days, she managed to collect 3 stickers, and got to have a special treat. Here are some pictures of the new candy store, pretty impressive. She got a few smarties and some gummy letters. We also shared a small frozen yogurt and then enjoyed some of the downtown flowers. I wish I could say the meltdowns have stopped, but they still are continuing...any other suggestions out there?

Current Life

Before I share the fact that we have a blog, it may be nice to give an overview of where we are in this crazy wonderful life with three little girls.

Rebekah is currently 2 1/2. If you ask her how old she is she will say "I'm two, but at my next birthday, I will be 3!" She is so looking forward to having a birthday party, I keep explaining that August is still a few months away. She just loves celebrating birthdays and anything else she can get treats for. She is also very sweet on babies. She is so in love with her two little cousins, Rowan and Will.

Rebekah and Will (born in March 2010)

Rebekah and Rowan (born in Nov 2009)

Lydia and Eve are 16 months old. To be honest, the last year or so has been a little bit of a blur. But we are sleeping mostly through the night (or at least I get to, Randy hears the girls first and will get up if they need binkies put back in or if Rebekah needs to be re-tucked in..he is wonderful about letting me sleep!) The girls are at such a fun age. They are super mobile and can be found giving lots of open mouth kisses and hugs. They repeat almost anything you want them too. Eve is loving Elmo and calls him "Melmo" just like Rebekah used to. You can see from the picture below, that Eve can eat some cake! She has a huge sweet tooth, I am sure she gets it from me! She is a sweet little thing herself! I have already been impressed with her ball kicking skills--she may be our little athlete, but who knows.

Our sweet Eve
"more cupcakes please"

Lydia has picked up on the word "No" and drops her milk cup on the floor and then adds in the "no" before we can even say it. She is such a little ham--as annoying as throwing the milk on the floor is, she just makes you smile. One of our favorite Lydia tricks is her blinking ability, although we have about a 50% success rate when we ask her to do it on command for an audience.

A typical Lydia picture: hat on head, silly expression, and climbing on something.

Another great Lydia photo--here she knew she was being funny...turning her bib around and stuffing her bagel in her mouth.

It is amazing how much you can love three little blessings--even when your day is filled with cleaning, feeding, changing, and refereeing 3 little monkeys!

1st post

Why am I starting this blog? Good question and my husband does want to know. We seem to already have a lot on our plate with three girls under three. I should actually be doing real work on the computer and not finding more things to do online when I have a free minute to myself. Our girls, Rebekah (2 1/2), Eve and Lydia (16 months) are growing up so fast and continue to amaze us with the cute things they say and do. They also can wear us out and make us want to pull our hair out sometimes. Does daddy drink coffee? No he doesn't, but mommy sure does. This is one of the first things Rebekah asked Randy and realized it was funny since he doesn't drink coffee. She continually asks him just to get his silly daddy response. I haven't been very good at keeping any type of baby book or baby journals, so I am hoping to be able to record a little of life in this blog. We'll see how it goes.