Sully potty trained?

Well, that is the big question. Is this for real? We are on day 3 of operation Naked Sully! It has worked really well so far. He is going to be naked for a few more days when we are at home. We leave the bathroom door open and he will go in and go pee when ever he needs to and when I ask him to go in and try. He has a potty in the van and will go before and after we go in somewhere and we usually go at least once at the store so he gets used to going in public. He is doing REALLY well and really hasn't had any accidents. We thought he would only be ready to go pee on the potty, well, Sully surprised us! He has gone poo on the potty the past 2 days. Yesterday was a struggle and he cried for his diaper, but I stayed strong and he eventually went on the potty. We made a huge deal out of it and we went to Target and he picked out a Dora movie. That was a big deal. Today he was just playing and stopped what he was doing, ran in and sat on the potty and went poo! I didn't ask him or tell him...he did it on his own. So, the big question is...is Sully potty trained? Oh, I hope so! Cross your fingers!

I use this blog as a little journal for myself, so I had to make sure I made an entry on this big day so when Sully is grown up I can look back and remember how excited I was about a bunch of poo and pee! hahaha

Have a great day. We are headed to the Y to play in the outdoor pool so Sully can jump off the big diving board and Ansley can play with her friends in the nursery. It is so fun that they are both growing up so nicely, but a little sad at the same time. Can you believe Sully will be 3 in a few weeks? Time flies!

Sully and Ansley update!

Hey! We have had some busy days around the Palmer household! We are trying to potty train, trying to teach Ansley how to eat some solids, working on Ansley's sitting, and we are out and about enjoying all the fun activities during the summertime! Ansley had her 6 month checkup and she is very healthy and doing great! She weighed in at 15 lbs 3 oz. and was 26 inches tall. The doctor said that she is finally starting to slow down to a more normal breastfed weight gain, which is a good thing---at the rate she was going, she was going to be a butterball! She still has a ton of rolls to squeeze and very squeezable, kissable cheeks! Ansley is doing okay with her solids. We haven't really figured out a great schedule with her yet, but we are getting close. She still prefers her meals to be Mama, but we are trying to get a few of those meals to consist more of solids. She is getting better each day, but she sure is like her Mommy---she is particular and stubborn! hahaha! Here are some cute pictures of Ansley's first solid meal...

Doesn't really like rice cereal!

Sully had to get in on the action! He did a very nice job!

Ansley is doing a GREAT job sitting up. She can sit up for about 5 minutes now and then she gets tired and just topples over. Sometimes she sits straight and then others she leans forward and rests on her hands. Either way, we are very proud of her! She has progressed pretty fast. Only about a week ago she could only sit up for seconds at a time. Here are some pictures of her sitting for the first few times.

She is up...

and then she is starting to fall down. She works very hard!

Here are a few pictures from the other day. She is sitting much better in these pictures. She gets stronger and straighter every day!

She is so sweet!

Now, on to Sully. Sully has turned into a typical 3 year old--he is not quite 3, but he is close enough. He likes to do things on his own, yet really can't do them, so we have many battles throughout the day. It is a great thing that he is exploring his independence, but that doesn't mean Mommy and Daddy don't get frustrated from time to time. Twos were easy...oh boy for the threes! This year will be fun! He is finally starting to take an interest in the potty. It is still pretty slow going, but just this weekend we did the naked potty training. It has gone well, so far. We have poop issues, but we will cross that bridge later, we are just happy that he is peeing for us on the potty. I am hoping by the next blog entry, I will be able to say that he is pretty much pee pee trained...cross your fingers! Or, maybe I should wait a month or 2 before the next entry! hahaha!

Sully's swimming has just taken off! We are at the pool just about every day! He jumps in by himself and will swim to you in the water. He dives to the bottom to get pennies or diving rings. This week I am going to take him to the pool at the Y so he can dive off the diving board. I know he will love it, and I am sure he won't be scared to do it at all! He is swimming farther each day, I bet if we keep working all winter he will be ready to swim a lap across the pool next summer at one of my swim meets. So fun!

This past week we had a fun day at the Duluth Fountains with Sully's buddies. I snapped some great pictures of Sully having a fabulous morning. Enjoy!

Fun, Fun! He loved letting the water hit him in the head and up the back of his shirt! He was hilarious!

Sully just loves the water!

You can just tell that he was having SO much fun!

Sully and his buddies!

Sully had a fun spend the night party with Grancie, Pip, and Zizzie last Monday night. Mommy and Daddy and Ansley enjoyed the quiet evening! Sully was singing and playing the piano. Grancie said he was just having a blast! You can tell from the picture!

Wonder what song he was singing...

Enjoy the pictures! Have a great week!

xxoo Tracy, Brett, Sullivan, and Ansley xxoo

Ansley is 6 months old!

Can you believe it? Six months has gone by so fast! Ansley is really a sweet baby. She is happy most of the time and is a very good napper and eater. She loves to play with her toys and she is really starting to become best friends with Sully. They giggle together and she just lights up when he is in the room with her. She is going to start eating solids this week with some yummy rice cereal and some veggies. I am sure she will love it---she never lets me forget to feed her! :) She is still very unstable when I try to sit her up, but I am sure that she will get it soon enough--we practice every day. She is the master at rolling around to get where she wants, so we have to be careful not to leave her alone. She LOVES her doorway jumper and sometimes really gets herself jumping high. Sully loves watching her. We are really enjoying our sweet, little Ansley. What we used to do without her, I don't know! We are so blessed!

Last night we had pizza down at the pool and got Ansley in for the first time. I figured that she could have a half-birthday dunk. She loved the water and she didn't seem to mind when I dunked her. She has no choice than to get dunked...her Mommy wants her swimming in the Olympics one day! hahaha! Sully is really taking off with his swimming. Every day we go to the pool he just gets better and better. He LOVES going under the water and swimming---ever since he saw me teaching Kelli how to do the butterfly, he thinks he is doing the butterfly! He will say, "Mommy, watch me do the butterfly!" He is really just doing freestyle, but I won't tell him that! :) I am so proud of my little swimmer. We are going to work on potty training again this week--cross your fingers it goes better than last time. If not, we will try again in August. I am not going to push it, but I sure am sick of changing his diapers! :)

The pictures are of Ansley on her 6 month birthday...it is amazing how much they change in just a short amount of time...enjoy!

A happy, jumpy Ansley!

Ansley ready for the pool!

I'm ready...let's go!

Sully and Ansley were having fun at the pool!

Time for Ansley to swim!

After her dunk!
Yeah for a half-birthday dunk! :)

Enjoy the pictures and have a great weekend!

xxoo Tracy, Brett, Sullivan, and Ansley xxoo

Sully and Ansley's fun hiking adventure!

Hello! We have had an eventful month of June! I have been coaching my summer league team this month and doing some swim lessons, so life around the Palmer household has been much busier! We have also had a lot of fun visitors this month---Auntie Sara came in for a long 4 day adventure, Carl and Kathy were in for a visit, and Auntie Kelli came in this past weekend for a fun weekend! What a fun month for Sully and Ansley!

Sully is swimming! :)

This weekend was a particularly big weekend because Sully finally started swimming all by himself! We have been working so hard and he has finally started swimming! He jumps in the water all by himself and floats his way up to the surface, he dives down for pennies on the bottom, he can float on his back, and now he can stand on the bottom step and push off with his face in and paddle to us! He is SO proud of himself and loves our reaction when he comes up for air! We are not swimming across the pool yet, but we hope that will come by the end of the summer! We are down at the pool almost daily now, so I will keep practicing with him! After all of my hard work, I finally have a little swimmer! Maybe next summer he can join my swim team! Wouldn't that be hilarious to see him in a little swim cap and goggles!

Today Brett, Kelli, and I took Sully and Ansley to Amicalola Falls State Park in North Georgia. It was the perfect morning. We hiked a 1 mile path up to the top and then walked down another 1 mile path on the other side of the falls to get back down. Sully was a very good hiker. He did most of it by himself, but when we came to the 625 stairs to the top, he had a little piggy back ride from Kelli. Ansley was in the baby bjorn the whole time, so she had an easy ride! It was a fun hike and Sully thought the waterfall was pretty cool. We snapped some fun pictures from our adventures...enjoy!
Ansley looks so impressed! :)

Hey, look at that!

Mommy and Daddy with our kids The falls!

View from the top!

Kelli giving Sully a fun piggy back ride.

Ansley worked really hard to get to the top of the falls...she was very sleepy on the way back down...what a sweet, little Ansley Leigh!

Don't you just want to sqeeze those cheeks? :)

Here are some random pics from Kelli's camera...

Getting ready for bed...

Ansley loves her bath---she is almost 6 months in this picture.

Sully outside the icecream parlor...we went there each weekend we had guests...Sully loves the vanilla icecream with rainbow sprinkles!

Thanks for the icecream, Kelli!

No matter where we take Ansley, she is ALWAYS smiling! What a happy baby!

Enjoy!

xxoo Tracy, Brett, Sullivan, and Ansley xxoo

Sully's special day!

On Sunday, Sully had a special day with Mommy and Daddy. We took Ansley over to Grancie and Pip's house and took Sully down to the Fernbank Museum to see a Dolphin show at the IMAX! Sully was so excited to go and was not disappointed when we arrived. We had been there before to see the museum exhibits, but he had never been to the IMAX! He was so excited when he saw the huge screen and kept asking when the dolphins were coming on. He LOVED the show and talked all throughout the show asking questions and telling us things he really liked. It was SO much fun! After the show we had a little picnic lunch on the beautiful lawn in front of the museum and under a very old tree. It was the perfect day and it was extra special because it was just with Sully. He liked having Mommy and Daddy all to himself. We had not really had a big day out like that since Ansley was born, so it was a nice treat for all...even for Grancie and Pip because they had the chance to play with a sweet, smiley Ansley Leigh! :)

Here are some pictures from our fun day...enjoy!

Mommy and Sully waiting for the show to begin! Sully and his buddies!

Tickle time!

Sully had a lot of fun running around in the grass!

Here he comes...

Yesterday, Sully and I took Ansley out to the front porch to try out the swing. She LOVED it! She really can't sit up in it yet, but she leaned forward and rested herself on the front of the swing and enjoyed a nice swing. Sully was very gentle pushing her and she thought it was SUPER fun!

Hey guys, look at me! I'm swinging!

So fun!

Of course, Sully had to get in the action too. :)

Sully found a fun branch to swing on while Ansley was in her swing.

Hey, look at me!

Enjoy the pictures. We are looking forward to a fun weekend with a visit from Sara! Sully is SO excited to see her! Have a great rest of your week and weekend.

xxoo Tracy, Brett, Sullivan, and Ansley xxoo