A dog-gone fun birthday!

On Feb. 9, 2013, Kinzie turned T-W-O!! I still can't believe it...except for when she throws her tantrums...then I know she's definitely 2...haha!

The Happy Birthday Girl:)

Anxious to open her presents!

Daddy gave her a Dora and an Einsteins dvd!

 When I asked her what kind of a party she wanted, she said "doggie!" So that's what we did!

The Invitation!

We made Doggie and Bone sugar cookies!

My mom made this cake! thanks mom!

Kinzie's Doggie Cake!

They had some really cute black and white spotted balloons (reminded me of dalmatians) at Party Palace I was going to get, but when we went to get them, they were closed. Apparently they close early on Saturdays...now we know. HA. So we had to improvise with these:)

What would a DOGGIE party be without some hot DOGS??  

So we served hot dogs, chili, chips, and applesauce!

 She is loved by many and was very spoiled! She got clothes, a puzzle, hair bows, books, Dora tent, camping toy, Minnie Mouse camera, sticker books, play-doh ice cream kit, art supplies, high chair/swing & milk/juice bottles for her baby, stuffed animals, a Minnie Mouse sofa chair, hats, stickers, and more!

 Happy Birthday Dear Kinzie...Happy Birthday To You!!

I love how it looks like she's having a stare-down with the puppy!

Blowing out the candles!

I love this...Daddy getting Birthday Girl Snuggles:)

Thanks to everyone who braved the bad weather and came to help celebrate her special day!!

Kinzie's Potty Trained!

Kinzie had been showing "ready signs" since about Novemberish, but I didn't want to deal with potty training  during the holidays, so I just kept putting it off. For Christmas, we bought her this Hippo Potty Chair (lame present, right? HA. She didn't think so!) She loved it. She would sit on it all the time with her diaper and pants on. It came with a book and has audio buttons (the hippo reads the book to you and the lion says "hip, hip hooray"). She loved to sit on it and read the book/push buttons or when watching a movie.

 Then we took her to Walmart and let her pick out some cute undies--of course she picked out Minnie Mouse! She was so excited to get home and open them and try them on over her pants--over and over and over:)

Mommy also bought her a package of undies...not as cute, but much cheaper:)

 I had heard horror potty training stories, so I was dreading this process and put it off as long as I could. Finally I buckled down and just went for it! We did the 3-day method, where we stayed home for 3 full days, not going absolutely anywhere, just to potty train. And it worked. Thank Goodness!!

We started on the morning of Thursday, January 17th. I got her dressed, made a big deal about her getting to wear her new Minnie undies, fed her breakfast, then stuck her on her potty. And so it began. I left her on there until she went, which was 2 hours. 2 very long hours. But once she went, I made a big deal about it and explained to her what she had just done. Since she had just gone, I figured she would be good to go for a bit, but I was wrong...she went 3 times within the next half hour. ugh. After nap time, we went at it again, and again she sat there for 2 hours, finally went, and then went 2 more times soon after that. She did however go poop in her potty that night!! And since then she still hasn't gone poop in her pants. I am very grateful for that:)

Her favorite part was helping me dump it into the big potty, washing her hands, and of course, her reeses pieces treat!

While waiting for her to pee, we did a lot of sitting.

And a lot of watching movies/cartoons!

And a lot of reading and singing songs. But it was worth it:)

After Day 2, she was doing so good, so we celebrated with some yummy brownie/ice cream sundaes! She deserved it, and so did Mommy:)

I love this! I didn't do this on purpose either, but her undies and shirt match--white with pink hearts!!

Just a little recap of her progress for my own remembering:
Day 1: a couple accidents in her undies. went poop in potty!
Day 2: She would start to go in her undies, then hold it and tell me she had to go potty, and go the rest of the way in the potty!
Day 3: no accidents, but was stubborn about going in her potty. she would hold it forever and not go, but once we put her in the bath tub for bath time she went a lot. little stinker!
Day 4: we were in the kitchen, she went into living room and was playing.  A bit later we looked in there and she had taken off her pants and undies and was on her potty--she did it all by herself!! YAY:)  She also put her undies on all by herself!
The next week we went to my brother's basketball game. She had a pull up on, but before the game even started she told me needed to go potty. I took her to the bathroom, but she hadn't gone yet on a big potty, so I wasn't sure what to expect...but she did it!!  Big Girl:)
I believe we've only had one more accident since then. She is good about telling me when she needs to go, and she loves to go potty on the big potty at new places...always at inconvenient times of course (like when I'm in the checkout line at the grocery store)!
She is also very good about telling us during bath time if she needs to go...you'd think she would just go in the tub, but she doesn't. The one annoying thing though is that she thinks she needs to sit on the potty every time she toots. She'll tell us she needs to go potty, we'll put her on, she'll toot, then say she's done and get down. It's not a big deal til we're in a store or church or wherever and we hurry her to the bathroom just to have her pass gas. grrrrr. better safe than sorry though:)
I am very grateful that she caught on quickly and that she was potty trained within just days! It was nice to have her trained by the time she turned 2, and I was really hoping I'd have her trained by the time the new baby comes--it's a huge relief:)
Now just to work on staying dry during nap and bed time. Joy!

Popcorn Popping!

For Christmas, my mom gave Richard this awesome Stir Crazy Popcorn Popper. After you pop the popcorn, you just flip it over and use the lid as the bowl!! Richard and Kinzie are OBSESSED with popcorn--they Love, Love, Love it!!!

Also, one of Kinzie's favorite songs right now is Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree--she sings and does the actions and it's so stinkin cute! Not to mention the way she says "popcorn" is adorable:)

So, as you can imagine, Kinzie's favorite Family Home Evenings have been when we pop popcorn, sing the song, and eat popcorn while watching a church video!! 

Watching the kernels POP!

She seriously gets so excited when they start popping--it's so fun to watch her:)

Helping Daddy mix in the salt and butter!

Someone's got to be the taste tester...right?!?!?

Feeding Daddy some popcorn!!

Another Popcorn Night!!

Yum, Yum!

Guess she needed to relocate!...

....And have it all to herself:)

I love how she will randomly walk up to Richard and ask him in her sweetest softest voice, "Daddy, pop popcorn" as she is using her fingers to act out the popping. Just 2 nights ago we were up giving her a bath and she asked him in the middle of her bath, "pop popcorn?" 

We've also learned that popcorn works well as a motivator/bribery/reward. I'll tell her, "If you pick up your toys then we'll pop popcorn tonight" and that gets her moving real quick!!!

Sledding!!

On New Years Day, we took Kinzie out to Grandpa's Farm to go sledding!! The sun was shining, but was definately not putting off any heat. It was SUPER cold, so we didn't stay out long! But she enjoyed the experience:)

All bundled up and ready to go:)

This is one of the driving sleds we had as kids--it's kinda old;) 

We tied a string to it and just pulled her around, then we took her down the little hill in front of my parent's home a few times! She would yell "fast, fast" and Richard would pull her faster, then she'd squeal with delight!!! 

 What is she pointing and giggling at?

like her gloves? HA. I couldn't find her gloves when we were heading out, so she has an adult glove on one hand and a sock on the other!

 The kitty climbing on daddy, of course:)

And just for fun...Kinzie got some bath crayons for Christmas, and she absolutely loves them! Here was one night's artwork:)

New Car!

Back on October 19th, we bought a new car!!

It's a cyber-gray 2011 Chevy Traverse!

Kinzie was growing out of her infant car seat so it was time to upgrade her to a bigger seat. However, the way my backseat is angled in our blue Honda, it wasn't going to fit too well. Plus we needed more trunk space for vacations, camping, etc, so we decided to just get a bigger vehicle! 

Good-bye Chevy Impala. Richard sure did like this car!

So we sold Richard's silver Chevy Impala, used that money to finish paying off our blue Honda Civic that we bought 3 years ago, and bought the Traverse! Now Richard drives the Honda, which is great because it gets better MPG than his car was, which is good with all the traveling he's doing with his job.

We bought Kinzie this cute seat and it fits so nicely in the traverse!

 Not to mention...she loves it too!!! It sits her up a little higher so she can see out the windows a little easier, which she really enjoys!

Christmas 2012

Christmas was so fun this year! Kinzie found so much excitement in everything--trees, lights, music, Baby Jesus, snowmen, reindeer, santa, decorations, wrapping presents--her excitement was contagious! Last year she was terrified of Santa, but not this year. We visited him multiple times at the mall--the first time she was a bit timid and wouldn't go near him,(she let me carry her up to him but then she buried her head into my shoulder and wouldn't look at him), but he gave her a bookand that made her happy. The next time, she walked up to him but wouldn't get on his lap--she told him "book", he gave her one, she was starting to really like the idea of this man giving her a book! From then on, she got a bit more brave every time. By the end, she would run up to him by herself, jump on his lap, talk to him, always telling him she wanted a book for Christmas, get a book, blow him one of her Thank You kisses, and off she'd go! Every time we'd ask her if she wanted to go see santa or ask if she saw him, she'd always say "yes, BOOK!"

This was at Arbon Elementary at their Christmas Program!

 On Christmas Eve we went to lunch and a movie with family, then headed out to my parent's home in Arbon. We spent Christmas out there this year and had a great time! Here's Kinzie on Christmas Eve in one of her Christmas outfits!

These are her pjs she opened on Christmas Eve!

Kinzie woke up at 5:30, we told her it was still night time and to go back to sleep, so she laid back down, but at 6:00 she was wide awake and ready to get up. 

SANTA CAME!

All those fun presents and what does she choose to play with--a box. Looks quite comfy, eh?

Oh  look at those tired eyes. 

Santa brought her this doll and stroller!

All dressed up for Christmas Dinner!!

 We had an amazing Christmas and were spoiled/blessed beyond measure! Kinzie got a Leap Frog Counting Train thingy and a Kitchenette--which was a perfect gift from Grandma Sheri because she absolutely loves to help me in the kitchen and is always pretending she's making soup or pouring a drink, etc. Richard got a GPS and a popcorn popper! I got a roaster oven and a quesadilla maker! We also got a Triple Slow Cooker Buffet and Serve! Those were the main gifts! But we also were blessed just to spend time with family and enjoy the festivities and the magic that comes at this time of year as we focus on the true meaning of Christmas!