Toddler Chronicles.....Potty training!!

When preparing for baby #1 the focus is on the nursery, the registry, the baby book, the showers. When preparing for baby #2 the focus is all on helping baby #1 adjust!! 

In the Hill household this was no different. The months leading up to Beckett's arrival were all about preparing Braxton to be "big!" We started the process by evicting him from his crib but we sugar coated it by making a big "to-do" about his big boy room! He made the transition from crib with rails to twin size bed flawlessly in October and didn't discover that he could exit his twin size bed independently until January! Now Braxton consistently wanders across the house 1x per night and crawls into our bed. We proceed to scoop him up and take him back to his own bed and lay with him until he falls back asleep. Obviously getting up in the middle of the night isn't ideal but the way I see it is that Braxton will not want to cuddle forever so I should take advantage now!! Morning time cuddles are another story all together and I fully expect Braxton to come and snuggle in our bed once the sun is awake!!

Big boy bed with no paci!

Next we knew we needed to overcome the paci...Braxton had long ago given up his Paci except during nap and bedtime but he really relied on it during those times. Our plan was just to not replace pacifiers after they were lost or destroyed from toddler chompers. Christmas Eve morning, we were all snuggling in bed. Braxton had his very last paci in hand. Luke and him were rough-housing as usual and Braxton ended up biting a hole in said paci. He immediately looked at us with sad eyes and said "paci broken,""you get me another one?" I of course teared up because how sad is that. We told him no and that was that. For another month Braxton would attempt to suck on his broken paci at bedtime for 1-2 sucks and then would hand it to us and say "it's broken, you take it."

Last but not least Braxton needed big boy underwear instead of his diapers. I personally had no intentions of conquering this before Beckett's arrival but daycare had other plans. Ha

After an exceptionally hard week at daycare with hitting and pushing and yelling, daycare called and said Braxton was not being challenged enough in his toddler classroom and he needed to transition into the preschool room. The catch was that Braxton could not transition up until he was potty trained:(  Braxton surprised us all and did great with the transition. Accidents still happen and will increase when baby #2 arrives I assume but as of January, Braxton is in big boy undies all day everyday. Diapers are still used at home during naps and overnight. 

How cute are tiny boxer briefs!?!?

First outing in undies....Trampoline park!

What was our method of choice for potty training?? Well we pretty much flew by the seat of our pants....no books, no blogs, no true plan. Luckily is worked for us! We started by setting a timer and taking Braxton to the potty every 15 minutes. We allowed him to continue wearing his diaper but after each visit to the bathroom we offered big boy undies and talked about how "cool" they were. Braxton was resistant for the first 6 hours and then agreed to the undies. Once he donned the undies there was no turning back in our minds.....diapers were no longer an option. We continued to utilize the timer for the rest of the day and then sent Braxton to daycare in undies the next morning! Daycare set a timer for him throughout the next week. We increased the timer increments to 30 minutes the next weekend and by the end Braxton was pretty successful!! PeePee was an easier feat than poop. Braxton has only had 1-2 poop accidents but he is having a little trouble with constipation saying that "my poop hurts me" or "my poop too hard to get out." We have added juice into his diet which has helped and he has gotten more confident with sitting on the potty!

Overall, I feel super accomplished. We succeeded with the big boy trifecta...no crib, no paci, no diapers!! Whew! Now to start over with baby #2!!

Beckett Allen's Nursery

I guess its true what they say about the 2nd baby....procrastination happens. I have been so concerned with making sure Braxton is ready....changing to a big boy room, getting rid of the paci, and feeling like a big boy.  All of a sudden Christmas has come and gone and we have done nothing to prepare for Beckett!! AHHH!

We truly have all of the essentials because we saved everything from Braxton including all of his clothes but he is in need of a room. I had done some pinning here and there on Pinterest so I had an idea of what I wanted. January has been declared the month of Beckett. Luke has been painting and staining to get his room ready. He is also building me shelves and whatever else I decide Beckett needs. All the fabric has been purchased for Beckett's bedding and a friends mom is busy getting it ready for his arrival. I have been busy decorating, washing clothes, and organizing like crazy to ensure that both of my boys will fit in our really not big enough house!! 

Without further discussion, here are pictures of Beckett Allen Hill's room! I think we are now officially ready for him!! 

Let's Call Those Hogs!!!

I am a big fan of Razorback football but Luke really loves Razorback basketball! We searched the schedule for a Saturday game that did not interfere with nap time and decided it was time to introduce Braxton to Bud Walton Arena. Braxton has been to other Razorback basketball games but he was way too little to remember.

Braxton loved the energy and all the music! He watched the game intently, cheered for Woo Piggie Sooie after every score, and waved his pom-pom like crazy throughout. Braxton was also a pretty big fan of the cheerleaders and he truly participated in his first Hog call!

I hate to admit it but I am pretty sure Braxton enjoyed the basketball game way more than the football game this year:(

Home for the Holidays

Typically Christmas Eve is spent in Morrilton and Conway with both of our families but this year was a little different. Since we were coming home from Branson on December 23rd it would have been soooo much driving to go all the way down to central Arkansas and then back to Northwest Arkansas Christmas Eve night. We made the executive decision to just head home after Branson and spend Christmas Eve as a family of 3 in Rogers. 

Christmas Eve was a pretty uneventful day that ended with mass in Bentonville. We would have attended mass in Rogers but somehow we had the time wrong so when we got there it was nearing the end...whoops! After church we went to dinner with my mom and brother. Somehow I totally forgot to take a family picture while we were all dressed up for church...whoops.

Getting ready for bed on Christmas Eve

Santa's cookies!!

Just a little quality control taste test for Santa

Night Night sweet boy

Santa was busy while Braxton was sleeping

Christmas day was all about Braxton Cole!!! My mom and brother came over early to make sure they did not miss Braxton finding his Santa treasures. We all had breakfast together and stretched out opening presents through the whole morning!

Waking up on Christmas morning!!

Gobbles left "happy day" for Jesus' birthday

Dazed and confused

Slowly checking out his Santa loot

After nap, we decided that Christmas day would be a great day to take Braxton to see his very first movie in the theater. We saw Penguins of Madagascar and Braxton loved it! He also enjoyed popcorn for dinner with fruit punch to wash it down. HA

Christmas wasn't over on Christmas day for us this year. My dad and nana came up for the weekend. We enjoyed their company, ate alot of food, and did some shopping!!

Christmas this year was spent exactly how I like it.....spending lots of time with our families!