Transitions...And Lots of Them

Brother buddies
Nathan's "cheese" face. Don't worry, Daddy's hand is there to protect Tanner...just in case.
How can someone so cute cause so much trouble? Today he and Kate stole the frosting for the cake and snuck it into Kate's room and were devouring it by the handful. Nathan had both of his fists caked in frosting. I had just put new sheets on the bed for guests that were coming over tonight. Let's just say they didn't make it and the kids were lucky they did.
This was yesterday when I let Nathan run around in the pull-up. Isn't he so cute?
Tanner and Daddy have become pretty good buddies since Daddy sprained his ankle. Daddy is my Tanner holder. That way I can get work done without having my baby crying. That breaks my heart.
He just loves tummy time.
Tanner at one month old. How handsome he is!
He doesn't suck his thumb much because he can't find it, but we have convinced him the last couple of days to take a pacifier. I think this will be very nice, especially at night when he thinks he is hungry but shouldn't be yet.
Nathaniel's foot over a week after the accident. I don't know any wife that loves her husband playing church basketball. It still looks pretty bad and it has been almost 2 1/2 weeks.
My cute kids- minus Kate. She was changing for bed. I wish I would have waited for her since this turned out pretty cute.
My big Tannerboy. Below it almost looks like he is smiling.
There have been A LOT of transitions going on around here. Katelyn is getting a violent shove into potty training and is doing REALLY well today. She finally did her business on the potty and so she got to stay up from naptime and make a treat of her choice - a cake with crunchy frosting (rainbow chip). She has been peeing on the toilet for a week now but hasn't had a single accident free day...until today! (But today isn't over yet, so I shouldn't have said anything.) She had a really disastrous accident the other day where she pooped in her pants and then took them off in her room and consequently ended up with poop all over her clothes (the ones on her and the ones on the floor she had thrown out of her drawers), the carpet, and herself. She came down the hall and told me she pooped but she wiped it up. I was about to be excited about it (thinking it had been down on the toilet) until Nathan went behind her and said, "EW!" while pointing to the back of her. I knew we were in trouble to say the least.
Nathan is on his 4th night in his big boy bed. The first night Nathaniel was gone at a scout dinner/cake auction and Nathan cried for 2 1/2 hours...no, I'm not exaggerating. He stopped literally 2 minutes before Nathaniel walked in the door. The next night I was gone at a RS activity and he cried off and on for 2 hours. He stopped 10 minutes before I came home. Last night our beloved friends Megan and JD came over to watch our kids while we went on a DATE!!! I felt bad for leaving them with our kids since Kate hadn't been accident free yet and Nathan cries for so long you start to lose sanity. I told them they could either keep him up and we would deal with him when we got home or they could just let him cry and ignore him. Megan took it as a personal challenge to get him to sleep before we got home (bless you, Megan, bless you!). She is a real live super nanny and every mother could learn some effective tips from her. She got him to sleep and he didn't even cry. Every girl needs a Megan. I will miss her dearly when we leave here. (By the way, Megan, I tried a similar approach today and it went much better. He barely cried!)
Today Nathan decided he wanted to try to go potty on the toilet like his sisters. As I was sitting folding laundry in the living room Nathan grabbed a pink princess pull-up and brought it to me. I had put a pull-up on him the other day after letting him sit on the toilet and he loved it. He looked SO cute in it and he felt like such a big boy. So, today when he brought it to me I figured why not? He looked adorable in his navy polo and pink pull-up. After a few seconds he poked at the front of the pull-up and I asked him if he needed to go potty. He nodded (remember he isn't real vocal) and I hurried him to the bathroom and put him on the little plastic potty. He sat there at actually peed! I was so excited I was yelling for Nathaniel to come and see and congratulate his son. He hobbled down the hall since his sprained ankle is still hurting. We all cheered and clapped and gave him treats. I think Kate doing her business today had something to do with her younger brother having success on the toilet at the same time she was potty training. I thought it was a fluke, but he kept pointing at his pull-up and I would run him to the potty but he never quite made it. He was very excited about it all day though. Then tonight he started pointing and I took him into the potty (which was in the kitchen...I know that sounds disgusting, but he can't open doors and when he points to the pull-up we don't have time to make it down the hall yet). I didn't think he had been successful so we put the pull-up back on. Later he wanted to try again and when I took him in, there was urine in the potty. I was surprised and really excited...until he hit it out of my hand and pee splattered all over the KITCHEN FLOOR! This is why we do not have portable potties in the kitchen. I was really mad then. It really negates the excitement when you have to clean up a big mess. I was still excited that he had gone, but I was honestly very frustrated (not to mention it was exaggerated by sleep deprivation). Nathaniel got Nathan ready for bed and I took my frustration out on the sack of potatoes that also were compromised in the accident. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but I have been trying hard to be more patient and keep on top of everything- housework, potty training, taking care of Nathaniel with his injured ankle, my calling, and the kids. I love it all and I am glad these transitions are happening, but usually they come one at a time. Oh, the joys of having kids close together!