Not a lot; just life

Oh where to begin?! We are all finally healthy and I'm so thankful! The girls are growing so fast. 

Potty training progress: We are almost through our last box of #4 diapers and once we're done, we will be in pull-ups until completely trained. The girls don't go to the bathroom in their potty seats every day. I make it a point to encourage & ask them frequently, but at this point, I still wait for them to want to. They do like sitting on their seats & reading. They often pretend by sitting on their seats and making "going" sounds. Tonight while sitting in their highchairs, Kare said "ickypoo" & started pushing, so I rushed her to the potty & she went #2. She enjoyed the praise, treat & sticker that followed. When I got done with helping her, Kelsie said "ickypoo", so I took her and she did the exact same thing! They are getting to a point where being wet & dirty really bothers them and they've even begun tugging at a dry diaper as if it's uncomfortable. I'm also so thankful that they're able to communicate better and let me know when they need to go. I hope it continues.

Things that the girls have been doing lately:
name all our colors
preferred movies: "Lady & the Tramp" and "Backyardigans"
reading
helping Mama around the house
counting to 11
call the cat & dog by name
wiping up any mess
howl at any siren
coloring
love being outside, sliding & swinging
singing along with familiar songs
dancing
brush teeth
running
looking at the moon & stars
Saying, "Again", "Alright", "Wow-wee", "Hello", "Oh No", "Mess" and many other words.
really enjoy eating oatmeal

It is amazing to watch them grow! They are learning so fast. Ian and I are fascinated by them and feel very blessed.

Ian's always hard at work but he's enjoying his job. He also got the cool opportunity to meet Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in American history! He was at Hastings for his book signing. Ian was thrilled! 

And I'm just busy being a wife & Mama; two of the greatest things ever and I love doing them! 

Here we go!

We here at the Mader household are feeling so much better. Not quite 100% healthy, but we're well on our way. So thankful for all the prayers for our recovery! 

I'm not really one for New Years resolutions, but I do have a few goals in mind that I'd like to begin implementing. One of which is potty training. I've never potty trained a child before and certainly never thought I'd have to train 2 at once, so I'm sure it will be challenging. But I'm hoping to have Karis & Kelsie potty trained before their 2 year birthday in April, so I had planned early on to start in January and see how they take to it. 

Today, we went to Target & let the girls pick out their very own potty seat. There were some really cute, pink, girly princess ones, but the girls would have non of it. Kelsie picked out one with bells & whistles that plays music when she goes and Karis picked out a simple froggy potty. 

Both girls have been showing signs of being irritated when wet/dirty by pulling at their pants & saying "diaper", so we thought that we would introduce this concept since they seem to have an interest in remaining clean. We got them home, and Karis said "diaper", so I thought "what the heck, she's not going to go, but lets give it a try." She peed, Y'all; right in her froggy potty...as if she knew exactly what she was doing! I made a huge deal out of it. Praised her, clapped my hands & cheered, gave her a sticker to put on her responsibility chart, and she got 2 mini M&M's!!! Kels went in & sat, fully clothed, on hers and began making pushing sounds. :) 

I was hoping they'd catch on quick, but I never thought it would be this fast. True, it may still be a while before they truly catch on, but I am so excited that they're excited!! 

In the form of a reward, I came up with this: if one girl goes potty, she gets 2 M&M's and sister gets 1. This way we use positive reinforcement, it's fun for both girls, and gives them incentive to keep up the good work!!  Hooray for the pull-up stage!

It's so cute the way they've taken to this responsibility chart as well. Karis loves helping pick up toys & put the books back on the shelf when she knows she'll get to put a sticker on her chart! Kels likes helping too, but she is easily distracted & usually goes right back to playing. They're so much fun at this stage!

Not so Merry...

This Christmas will indeed be memorable, but sadly for unfortunate reasons. Here's why...

Dec. 22 - Ian and I in the E.R. due to what we thought was food poisoning. Vomiting uncontrollably since 2am, I decided to take Ian in to the E.R. at 1pm; already having thrown up twice myself. Ian was very dehydrated and having chest pains from the dry heaves. While getting Ian admitted, I vomit right in front of the nurse so they decided to check me out as well. They moved us into the same room so that we could be together & we were both given 2 bags of fluid via IV. We were also given a shot in the hip to stop the stomach spasms. We were there for the day & then they sent us home with zofran(anti nausea meds) along with a few others.
Dec. 23 - Recovering. Though sluggish, the vomiting stopped and we were able to get some rest.
Dec. 24 - Kelsie throws up. Dressed in her Christmas best and just about to head out the door to church for the Christmas Eve service, Kelsie vomits all over Dada. "Maybe dinner didn't sit well with her", was our thinking.
Dec. 25 - Thought we were in the clear. No vomit during the day. Evening was a different story. Surprise...Kelsie vomits!
Dec. 26 - Take Kelsie to doctor to find that she has an ear infection that's causing her to vomit. Doc puts Kels on amoxacillin & again, we think "she's on meds now. No more puke."
Dec. 27 - Surprise! Tonight, Karis throws up and so does Kelsie...3 times in one hour. Not ok.
Dec. 28 - Take both girls back to the doctor. They both have the "virus" that Ian an I had. Given a shot of Zofran to stop vomit cycle and we've them pumped up on meds to help them sleep. They seem so weak & lethargic. All they want to do is be held. They are both 22 lbs. and don't have much of an appetite. A liquid diet is not ideal.

It has been so hard to enjoy this time of year. My poor girls are so miserable and it's hard on this Mama's heart. Their painful tears are so hard to bare. This sickness, whatever it was, hit Ian and I like a freight train and that's why we assumed it was food poisoning. We never would've guessed that our girls would've gotten it. So far, this has been the most difficult thing that Ian and I have had to face as parents. He and I are operating on very little sleep and are still not 100%. We have so much to be thankful for despite this difficult situation. But we still have a couple of cruddy days ahead of us before the girls show signs of recovery, so we could really use your prayers. That's what we're relying on at this point.