Potty-trained!...knock on wood...

Well, I think it's (mostly) safe to say that Hannah is potty-trained. Yay! (Knock on wood--I know relapses are common.) It's been a bit of a long process, but I couldn't be more proud of Hannah. Over a year ago Hannah started having an interest in the potty, and so we bought her a potty and gave potty-training 2 good tries before Maelie was born. Both times Hannah did well with going poop in her potty but not so much with pee. So we decided to officially give it a rest after Maelie was born, and since then Hannah would randomly show interest in and use the potty on occasion. For the last couple of months, Hannah had been telling us that she would start using the potty like a big girl when she turned 3. So I decided that we would wait until after her birthday and the holidays to give it another shot. Unfortunately, Hannah and Maelie caught terrible colds at the very beginning of the year, so our plans were delayed a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Hannah stayed busy with her newest obsession--doing puzzles (she got a couple of them for Christmas). Then on Monday, January 13th, I told Hannah that if she went both poop and pee in her potty that day, she could go pick out a new puzzle at the Dollar Store that night. Well, that did the trick! She went both poop and pee in the potty that day (and every day since), and she has only had one accident (on the 14th) since then. We are so happy and SO proud of her! Hannah still wears pull-ups for naps and bedtime, but she is staying drier and drier. She has stayed dry for many of her naps, and she even stayed completely dry the other night. We have continued to motivate Hannah by giving her a small treat (Skittles or Sour Patch Kids)--one for trying, 2 for peeing on the potty, 3 for pooping on the potty, 2 for staying dry during naptime, and 3 for staying dry during bedtime. But I think her biggest motivation has been being able to pick out a new puzzle or toy at the Dollar Store after going both poop and pee in the potty for 1 day, then 2 days, then 3 days, etc. After being successful with this for 2 weeks, this past Monday we changed it so that she only gets 1 small treat for staying dry in the morning, 2 treats for staying dry during the afternoon and naptime, 1 treat for staying dry in the evening, and 3 treats for staying dry during bedtime. Plus, now she only gets a puzzle/toy at the Dollar Store if she stays dry all day (including naptime and excluding bedtime for now) for 1 day and then 2 days, etc. Hannah is seriously in heaven at the Dollar Store! Adorable! And cheap!

I can't believe how much older Hannah seems now that she is potty-trained. We are seriously so proud of her, and she is super proud of herself! So cute!! Hannah has an amazing ability to stay dry for long periods of time--including a 5-hour trip we took to Ogden last week when we met some of my mission friends for lunch. She has also stayed dry for all of church these past 2 Sundays, only to ask to use the bathroom when we pick her up from Sunbeams. Hannah has even stayed accident-free while having diarrhea these past 2 days. Amazing! I agree with Hannah's pediatrician--Hannah seems to wait to do things until she can do them perfectly (remember how long she waited to walk, only to do walk perfectly?). She appears to have inherited my perfectionism, but hopefully she won't be as much as a perfectionist as I used to be (I'm am a recovering perfectionist, after all, but that is a post for another day)...

Now for some pics...

Here Hannah is doing her Christmas puzzles (princesses and Minnie). She mastered her 48-piece princess puzzle within a couple of days--without looking at the picture on the box! (I still need to look at the picture when I do it with her!)

Here is our cute, proud Hannah with the first puzzle she picked out at the Dollar Store!

This puzzle is a little more "tricky" because not all of the pieces are interlocking (lame), but Hannah has been able to master it as well.

And here Hannah is with the rest of her Dollar Store treasures--a Bubble Guppies foam puzzle, princess maracas, and a new heart-shaped 48-piece princess puzzle that she quickly mastered. She also picked out a glow-stick magic wand today. Fun!

Bonus pic of Hannah "riding the pony" with Maelie.

Hurray for Hannah! And hurray for being potty-trained! (Knock on wood one more time for good measure.) We love our big girl SO MUCH!!!

Sassy 7-month-old!

Maelie is 7 months old today. Crazy! It was a low-key day, mainly because Hannah wasn't feeling well. I did remember to do a mini photo shoot of cutie Maelie...

Maelie sure has been acting older this past month, and boy is she sassy! She has become so opinionated and determined--way different than our laid-back Hannah was at this age. Maelie doesn't stop moving, and she pivots and rolls to get wherever she wants. And she gets really mad if she doesn't get whatever she wants. She screams and cries if we take something away from her or if she drops something and can't reach it or sometimes when I leave her sight. Maelie also loves to randomly scream and/or laugh while I am nursing her. Sometimes it's hilarious, and sometimes it isn't. :)  Maelie continues to absolutely adore Hannah. She really can't get enough of her, and she has a hard time sleeping or eating if fascinating Hannah is nearby. Maelie loves jumping like a maniac in her bouncer, as well as just standing in it. She also loves putting anything and everything in her mouth, and she love shaking things. She seems to like watching Dora almost as much as Hannah does. Maelie constantly pulls my hair, face, and/or glasses when I am holding her, and she's usually way too busy to snuggle, so I cherish her occasional cuddles. She loves sweet potatoes, green beans, bananas, and usually rice cereal and oatmeal. Maelie loves books, but she doesn't love it when I sing to her or try to do pat-a-cake with her--she'd much rather listen to her sister sing and play with her. Maelie's laugh is absolutely adorable and contagious. We all love and adore her so much!


Here are some hilarious bonus pics of Maelie and Hannah...

 Maelie-locks and Kyler

Maelie in this wig totally cracked me up, but what made it even funnier was that she actually didn't seem to mind it at all.

 Hannah-locks and Maelie-fro

Silly, cutie Maelie!

We are so happy that our sweet and sassy Maelie joined our family 7 months ago! We absolutely love her!


**I never posted Maelie's 6-month stats, so here they are: 16.89 lbs (65th percentile), 27 inches long (89th percentile), and 17.25 inches head circumference (89th percentile). Big baby!

6+ months!

Well, I just lost the long post I was about to publish, so here's a very condensed version. Super annoying...

Anyway, Maelie turned 6 months old a couple of weeks ago, but I never posted because we have been a bit busy with two girls who have had terrible colds. I only took a few pics, and here they are...

 The night before, Hannah and Maelie had a sleepover with cutie Katelyn.

Maelie tried solids for the first time, and she liked the rice cereal! It was a far cry from the tears we got from Hannah when she first tried solids (although she was only 4 months old then).

Maelie LOVES watching her sister and her cousin.

"Give me that spoon!"

I'll have to save the size stats and Maelie's likes for another post (I'm trying to get to bed before midnight this week--so far so good, but difficult).  Just know that we all absolutely adore our cutie Maelie poo poo! :)

Feliz Navidad

We had a very Merry Christmas this year. I know this post is 2 weeks late, but here are some pictures of our Christmas gatherings...


Christmas Eve with my family:

 We ate our traditional cheese and chocolate fondue dinner at my Grandma Meservy's house. And then the grandkids acted out the Nativity. Maelie was an adorable baby Jesus.

And Hannah just wandered around carrying Grandma's plastic baby Jesus. She LOVES baby Jesus (in all forms).

Cute picture of Hannah with her great-grandma Meservy.

Christmas morning with my fam:

We spent the night at Christina's house, and in the morning my entire family (except for Braydon, of course) gathered to open presents together. It took over 3 hours to open them all! Fun!

Pretty tree with tons of presents underneath.

Maelie loves her new castle/ball toy from Santa.

Hannah instantly changed her mind about Santa when she saw what he brought her in her stocking (not to mention all the other gifts). "Santa is sooooooo NICE!"

I love my sisters!

Christmas Day with Scott's family:

We hung out and ate and ate. And one of us slept.

 Hannah with her aunt Karen and great-aunt Barbara, enjoying her gift from her aunt Diana.

Being super silly with Karen!

 Maelie decided to officially sit up on her own (without eventually falling over) on Christmas.

Hannah played with her cousin Logan.

And cousin Brinton enjoyed playing with Maelie's new toy. (I can't believe I didn't get any pics of Isaac and Ben!)

  Family photo by the tree.

Hannah and Maelie's Christmas haul.

 

 How cute are they?!

 One last pic of my cutie baby in her First Christmas bib.

Feliz Navidad, Prospero Ano, y Felicidad!!!
(Pretend Hannah is singing this. She does so absolutely adorably.)

3 years! (and 3 days)

Hannah turned 3 years old 3 days ago! I seriously can't believe she is already 3! The night before her birthday, Scott told Hannah that he was sad that she was getting so old. Well, that made our sensitive Hannah cry. It took quite awhile for Scott to reassure Hannah that he really was happy she was turning 3. And then it took a couple of days of Hannah repeatedly saying, "Daddy is happy that I'm 3!" for Hannah to completely reassure herself. :)

Anyway, here are some pictures of Hannah's special day...

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Hannah happily woke up to a pile of presents

 

She got to open one present before breakfast and the rest afterward,

Scott took the morning off, but we all went with him in the morning to drop something off at his work. We then made a few quick stops at some stores. Hannah was thrilled by the birthday treat of being able to run in with me to every store instead of waiting in the car with her daddy and Maelie.

Unfortunately, I failed to take pictures of us at the library--one of Hannah's favorite destinations. We were too late for story time, but Hannah really enjoyed showing her dad where story time is and getting drinks in their awesome drinking fountain.

 After Hannah's request of lunch from McDonald's, she enjoyed playing with her birthday loot from us.

And Maelie enjoyed pulling her hair.

 Maelie also enjoyed playing in this for the first time.

Hannah loved licking the beaters after her nap (and in the middle of her requested dinner of Ramen noodles).

Hannah did NOT want "fire" on her cupcake. At least we don't have a pyro on our hands.

Getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday!"

Maelie chimed in a little.

Hannah loved her pink frosting and especially her pink (strawberry) ice cream.

Hannah insisted on taking a picture of her new Ariel doll. This is the shot (of her cute belly) that she took on her own. Way funny,

And this is the shot she got when she let me help her aim. :)

Later Aunt Jana joined us for a little driving and mini golf at Trafalga.

It sure was a fun birthday for Hannah. In fact, we all had so much fun that we celebrated again two days later with my fam...

Hannah in her cute ladybug birthday outfit, trying on her daddy's old Christmas stocking.

Party at Aunt Nina's...

Hannah picked out Ariel birthday stuff, but only because Zurchers didn't have any Dora stuff.

She also insisted on getting this birthday princess hat, but she ended up not wanting to wear it much.

More pink frosting and pink ice cream. Yum!

Opening presents with Clay,

Our other cute little ladybug.

Hannah got all of her cousins to color in her new Ariel giant coloring book with her. Cute!

And look at these cute snuggle bugs with their reindeer jammies from Grandma and Grandpa Clayson. :)

Happy Birthday to the cutest, sweetest, smartest, funniest 3-year-old in the world--Hannah! :)