Ahhh, October.

October, the greatest month known to mankind. Full of lower temps, sunny, windy days, pumpkins, costumes, my birthday, my anniversary and CANDY.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG! It's that time of the year! My favorite time ever...HALLOWEEN!! So, I love this time of year obviously. I will have to work, and also have class on Halloween this year, but I don't care. It will still be fun. KayleeMonster will be going as a candy corn fairy (wings and a tutu - that's all she wants). It's adorable, I will post pics when i get a chance.

Yep. So that's all. I just wanted to say, hey what's up? My birthday was two days ago. Big thanks to all my family and friends who remembered ( you know who you are ), for those that didn't - well, lets just say that the birthday gods are unhappy with you. LOL....

Anyway, MonsterGirl has her 3 year cleft clinic this month, so we'll see how that goes, she will probably need to start seeing a speech therapist soon. Her ears have been infection free now for about six months! That's awesome!

Yep, that is all really. Just been hanging out, relaxing, going to school and working overnights. That is a rough schedule. It is. But anyway...I do have to go. :)

Happy October!!!!!!!!!

MonsterGirl turns 3!

Today, my MonsterGirl is 3 years old. Holy moly....how time does fly.

My wonderful sisters Priscilla and Fabiola had pictures taken of Miss Kaylee today... they came out amazing! Some of my favorites:

So, then I said....

On the tummy.

Like an angel...

Strike a pose!

<3.

Smile big!

So, then we had nachos and cuppycakes for her birthday and it was fun. She had a blast being princess for a day :) I love my kiddo so much. She's just the most wonderful thing I have ever seen. <3

Happy Birthday MonsterGirl...mommy loves you!

I really must post more.

It's so busy working and going to school at the same time as having an  almost 3 year old. *sigh*

It's the beginning of September, and I haven't even written about July or August. Yikes.

Picspam.....

SO - I finished my CNA course. Just got this in the mail:

Neat right? 

I passed my written and skills state exam. So I am licensed to work as a CNA in the state of Colorado. Wewt. Go me! So, that's been my life. I started fall semester and am taking a pretty hefty biology course. My brain hurts a lot after class. Anyway, enough about me - more about:

Little miss woke me up to take "pitchers!"

Little Miss Monstergirl is going to be 3 this month!!!!!!! So, let's recap her July and August!
July:

On a giant bull at the fair. Daddy was right there to safeguard her.

Yeah, that's right. I'm on a bull.

Such a lady in her patriotic dress.

Looking for raspberries.

Pretty glasses, she loves these things.

Wearing a friend's monocle.

Fireworks! She's still too little for many kinds, so sparklers did her just fine.

She certainly didn't shy away from shaking them in the air.

Spent some time with MommyMonster...

...and DaddyMonster...

...and riding Ronan The Destroyer.

That was pretty much all of our July. Just hanging out. We went to a couple of bday parties, had a few of our own. That kind of thing. It was nice, and it was you know...summer.

August was pretty fun too! Not really. I mean it was mostly:

Hanging with mom.

Oh, no you didn't!

Yeah, I did.

Playing with cousin Azaria.

Talking.

Chatting.

Kicking back with cousin Chancho.

So,  yeah. That's been it so far. Not an entirely interesting year, but so far, better this year than last. Some real changes being made in our lives. Which is good. 

I still can't believe my Little Miss MonsterGirl is going to be 3. 3 long, but short, but long years. At least the potty training part is over. That was not fun. :) Anyway, that's it for now. Maybe I will take a night a week and try to blog more. *shrug* I'll give it a shot.

Alrighty Then.

My goodness. It has been a busy couple of weeks since last I wrote. My, my, my.

Where to begin?

Well we'll start with me: I started CNA classes at a community college here in town. This week we had skills finals and a written final tomorrow. I am putting off studying so that I can relax before having a test anxiety related freak out. I applied to take the state test, I will find out which day of the last week of July I will be taking it. After tomorrow's final though - I am a CNA. I just won't be licensed until I pass the state exam - and I totally will.

After that: Nursing School. EEEEEEK. So excited, but very scared. Anyway, now on to the subject you are all here for. Kaylee Monster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, she has been busy this month.

First, she tried to be Ms. Potato Head, she tried on roller skates, then swam, and (of course) was swinging.

Does this hat look funny to you? 

Well, this is......interesting.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.....

.......then start swinging, then start swinging.

Then, we drove to Texas, listened to music, and Kaylee Monster went on her first plane ride home (which I don't have a photo of because I was way more nervous than she was - more on that in a minute):

You know that picture is gonna be blurry, right mom?

I love the guitar, I love it. 

We flew into Denver from San Antonio. I thought she was not going to like the plane ride at all. I was worried she was going to cause a really big scene, but she did wonderfully. So wonderfully in fact that the flight attendants were impressed. She even went to the potty on the airplane. I was floored. She sat and watched "Brave" on the kindle most of the plane ride there, except when she got up to look at the "floor." She loved it! She was like, "we flying!"

Oh, side note: in Texas, my nephew taught her how to sing the ABC song! It was adorable!

Since then it has been nothing but hanging out, swimming and tea parties when mom gets out from class:

These are my cousins. That's right, I'm related to Spider Man!

Swimming, I love swimming! I'm gonna go down the slide into the pool!!!

Tea party, mom. Tea party. More tea?

Even the monkey is invited to the tea party.

 So, yep. That's what has been going on so far this month. I promise I will update more, but probably not next week. I  have clinicals next week. Eeeeek. I have to be up and out of the house by 5:15 am. :( That's too early, but it's okay. It's worth it.

So, that's about it. We've been busy. Oh, but the Monster is potty trained. Thank you, thank you very much. She is amazing. Without this kid, I seriously would be lacking in fun and awe in my life. :)

In any case - I have to go. I really have to start studying. See you later, Jess.

Potty Training Day 4 - Right on.

Well, I have to say: my Monster is amazing. She mastered this potty thing sooooo fast. I mean, she actually got it down. I am way proud of this kid - for pooping, for peeing - if there was ever anything odd to be proud of your kid for, I guess that's it.

That's all tonight. We had a late one, and now I'm off to bed. I can't function any longer. Have a good night all! <3

Potty Training Day 3 - Road to success.

Well, hello, ladies and gents.
I did not keep a record of our goings on today. We moved out of the office, so keeping track was a little more difficult. I am happy to announce that Monster is doing amazing at this whole going to the bathroom business.

She stayed dry for the night, last night. She went in the potty first thing around 8:15 this morning. She then didn't go until right before we left to go visit her aunties and cousins. The trip there is 40 minutes (give or take a few), and she was dry the whole way there. When we got to my parents house, she went to the potty right away! Then played and came to tell me she needed to go, she was just a bit wet, so we changed outfits and went back to playing. About two hours later, she came to tell me she needed to go again. Then right before we left to go home, she went again and then stayed dry on the way home.

So, I think we can say that we have a lot of SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!! She seems to be so much happier without a diaper on all the time. :) Tomorrow we are going to try going shopping for a few little things - and see how that goes. So, yeah. I have to say I am quite happy with our success, and I expect that things will continue to improve, although I am not naive in thinking that we're going to have some accidents here and there along the way. I'm smart like that!

Anyway, have some pictures and I'm going to bed. :) G'night!

I've got that "just woke up" kind of look.

Ahhhh, the joy of warm milk in the morning.

Oh, hai! I went pee! Aren't you proud of me?

Potty Training Day 2 - We're tired.

So, after a more accident than success day yesterday, I had a had time sleeping. I was listening to he baby monitor for any signs of accidents (crying, extra shuffling, whimpering, etc). So when my first alarm went off I was still up, anxiously waiting to see what happened while I lay there.

4:15am - dry as a bone, Kaylee Monster sound asleep.
7:15am - accident #1; I awoke to the sound of Kaylee crying from her room. She must have just gone.
11:53am - no accidents, but no success. It's like she refused to pee. Or doesn't need to. Except that she does, because she has had quite a bit to drink. *grrrrr*
12:02pm - SUCCESS #1; I guess I just needed to wait a few. I sat her on the potty and just made her sit. So....yay! Go us. This is hard.
5:30pm - SUCCESS #2; literally. She went poo on the big potty. She's still trying to hold onto her pee.
5:50pm - SUCCESS #3; Monster girl was coloring, I was making a scrapbook page, she walked over to the bathroom, pulled down the undies, got up on the potty and went. Without saying a word!!!! 
7:00pm - SUCCESS#4; peepee in the potty! peepee in the potty! 
7:18pm - accident #2; she was eating ice cream. It was a distraction.
7:25pm - accident #3; damned ice cream.
7:55pm - accident #4; corn dog was my enemy this time.
                          Also, noticing a trend. Our dinner hour is the most active of the night. Interesting, might need to focus on eating an hour or two earlier. 
8:14pm - SUCCESS #5; Pee in the potty.
                           Cutting off fluids, except sips of water. I think if I stop her from drinking an hour before bed, she'll be okay overnight. I'm still weighing the pros and cons of getting overnight sleep pants. But then she'll never train. So, no, I won't. But I kind of want to. No giving up! That's what I have to remember.
9:48pm - attempted to get her to go before she lied down for bed. No go. I'll be checking on her again in about four hours to see if she needs to, then every two hours after that. Yep. We're trying dammit. Hopefully the trend sticks throughout the week :) Fingers crossed.

Here is our night's ending picture:

Watching a little Cinderella before bedtime :)

Potty Training Day 1 - Commence!!!

This is how things are going to go down. I am keeping track of accidents and successful pees in the potty. Here we are - we used the very last diaper since she woke up until 11:00am.

11:30am - SUCCESS #1;  we went in the potty, only because Mommy Monster made Kaylee Monster sit on it for half an hour.

I drew a happysad on my hand. Markers are great!

3:24pm - accident #1;
5:30pm - accident #2;
6:45pm - accident #3; I noticed her grumpy face for no reason, figured she was gonna poop, and sure enough some was on it's way out. Put her on the pot and she finished pooing! She then freaked out a little bit. But hey - I call this a partial success.

Coloring my princess book still.

8:12pm - accident #4; all over my leg :(
8:25pm - accident #5;
8:36pm - accident #6;
8:54pm - accident #7; on some coloring books :(
10:09pm - accident #8;

Learning about toilet paper.

10:47pm - SUCCESS #2; She felt herself getting wet, she said "uh, oh" turned around and went pee in her potty for the first time! She laughed as she watched. Oh, gosh. I just got really proud of my kid for going potty. Her reward was a Cinderella Coloring Book!

Mom pretty much gave up on clothes after a while.

12:36am - accident #9; she won't sleep for some reason. She almost made it to the potty though. Good effort.

I am SOOO done with this today. Let me go nitenite!

12:47am - She has passed out for the night. I have an alarm set to wake us both up in 4 hours to take her to the potty. Then right back to bed we go. Wish us luck on our first night of potty training.

Day one conclusion: I got frustrated during the 8 o'clock hour because it was so many accidents. But overall, it's not too bad. She's getting the idea of what she needs to do, but we need to work on timing. So, yeah. It's been a rough day one, but we'll keep on trying. That's all we can do. We have zero diapers and I am not spending money to get more. So...we're committed. We have no choice.

I'm off to sleep for a few hours so I can get the girl up to empty her bladder. :) Tootles. **side note - get more washable markers. These suckers will not come off of skin. I've washed my arm three times and it still looks like this:

I suppose that is what I get for letting my 2 year old pretend to tattoo me :)

G'night.

Coloring! And, you know...stuff.

LOL...tried to post without actually posting anything :) It has been that kind of day.

Anyway, I thought I would post before the upcoming dread that is potty training.

Today, we have colored. This is the Monster's most favorite pastime, it really is ridiculous how much this girl likes to color.

Pretty "buffly."

Concentrating

Using a pen instead of crayon....same thing right?

The best thing ever is when she fins a large circle or oval...because then she does this:

She calls this a "happysad."

"Happysads" are the result of me drawing a happy face, then a sad face and then pointing to one and then the other and saying "happy, sad." So now, every happy face is a happysad, and every sad face is a happysad. It's freaking cute.

Now...to the potty training. I am going to try the 3 day method outlined by Lora Jensen. We're going to give it a shot. Mainly, because I am really tired of changing diapers. Secondly, since I am going to go back to school money is going to be tighter. Thirdly, I am really tired of changing diapers. So, I will be doing this starting tomorrow. If everything goes well, I will have a potty trained little Monster by Monday. If not, well, there really is no turning back at this point.

So...I will try to blog each night before bed to update you on the process, and results. Not that any of you really want to know about a Monster's potty training, but hey, you'll be the one reading - so that is on you :) <---happysad