Potty Training Update

The second day with her potty chair is going well. She has gone three times on the potty today already and it is only 4pm!! She has had two accidents. I'm so proud of her. Not even 2 and doing so well on the second day of actual potty training! I'll give you an update in a few days.

A Little Pink Potty

A little pink potty has made our house more colorful. We began with Bella just going occasionally on the big tiolet. She has started to get more in control of her urges to go so we got her a potty chair this last weekend. We put the potty in the bathroom. She has ran to the bathroom many times in the last couple days but she always goes before I can get her clothing off. Last night she was playing in her room while I wrote. I hear her coming back down the hall. I look over and she is carrying her potty chair to me. I hurried over and started yanking off her pants. She pooped right as I was taking off her diaper. I cleaned her up and let her sit on the potty anyway. That's when I realised that the problem for the last couple of days is the fact that it is in the bathroom. I moved it by her bed this morning. She got up, yelled for me, got on her potty, and urinated!! YAY Bella!! We will now be keeping the potty a little closer.

We are doing the M&M method. She was super happy to get an M&M for her troubles! I'll give an update on how it is going soon.

Grocery List for Week 1 Meal Plan

• 2 boxes cereal (We did Cheerios (with coupon $2.00 & store brand Raisin Bran - $1.89)
• 4 Bananas (Half for each person on the 2 mornings, sliced with cereal) - $0.75
• 1/2 pound turkey - $3.50
• 2 loafs store brand bread - $2.00
• 1 box of Whole grain spaghetti - $1.25
• 1 box frozen spinach - $0.89
• 1 large can crashed tomatoes (I make my own spaghetti sauce but you could buy pre-made for around the same price.) - $1.79
• 1 loaf cheap bakery bread (went w/ two small Italian loafs because it was cheaper) - $2.29
• Box of frozen whole grain Waffles - $1.50
• Bagged Salad mix - $1.10 (Coupon of 0.40)
• 1 dozen eggs (we had 1/2 dozen leftover from last week) - $1.29
• 1 Salad Dressing - $1.49
• 2 tomatoes - $1.52
• 2 cucumbers (1 for salad, 1 for snack) $1.38
• 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast - $4.14 (On sale for $1.99 a pound)
• rice (already had)
• Frozen broccoli -$1.00
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese - $2.29
• Shredded Italian Cheese - $2.29
• Shredded Mexican Cheese (Already had but it was $2.00 a bag)
• Whole Wheat Tortillas - $1.39
• 2 pounds Ground Round - $5.28 (Had a Coupon for $1.00 off & it was on special this week)
• 1 Bag frozen tatter rounds - $1.89
• Swiss cheese left over from last week
• Hamburger buns - $1.00
• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables - $1.00
• 4 Yogurt (2 yoplay (free w/ coupons) & 2 store brand for 0.40 cents each) - $0.80 for all
• 1 pack Kraft American Cheese - $1.99
• 2 cans of Tomato soup - $0.59 each
• 1 pack pork ribs - $3.77
• 5 pound bag potatoes - $2.49
• 1 can baked beans - $0.79
• Microwaveable Vegetable lasagna - $2.28 (super sale of the week & coupons)
• Pizza crust (already had)
• 1 bell pepper (green was cheapest) - $0.69
• 1 bag shredded pizza cheese - $2.29
• Pancake mix - $2.09
• 2 packs of whole grain Mac N Cheese - $1.50 for both
• 2 packs muffin mix - $1.00 each 
• small bag Grapefruit $2.50
• fish fillets (frozen) - $2.30
• 1 pot roast around 1 & 1/2 pounds - $6.00
• 1 pound red potatoes - $1.29
• 1 pound carrots (buy loose or "bulk" they are much cheaper) - $1.00
• 1 bag apples - $3.00
• 1 bag tortilla chips - $0.85 (had a 0.40 cent off coupon)
• Salsa (already had)
• 1 box crackers - $2.00
• 1 block cheese - $1.79
• 1 container ice cream - $2.50
• 2 gallons of milk - $1.25 per 1/2 gallon was best price so $5.00 for all
• Butter - $3.38
• Kraft miracle whip - $1.79

For a Grand Total of $97.55!

Feel free to ask anything else you would like to know. Hope that helps and Thanks for reading!

Weekly Meal Plan

I have decided to start including our weekly meal plan on here. I was inspired by the "Cooking for your family" group on Baby Center to do this. I will try to include it every week.

Monday-
Breakfast-Cereal & Banana
Lunch-Turkey Sandwiches
Dinner- Spinach Spaghetti & Italian bakery bread

Tuesday-
Breakfast-Waffle
Lunch- Salad and a hard boiled egg
Dinner-Chicken, Cheddar, & Broccoli Casserole

Wednesday-
Breakfast- Cereal and a banana
Lunch-Chicken (made the night before) & Cheese Quesadillas
Dinner- Swiss Burgers, Fries, and mixed vegetables

Thursday-
Breakfast- Yogurt & choice of fruit
Lunch- Grilled Cheese & Tomato soup
Dinner- Pork spare ribs, baked potato, and baked beans

Friday-
Breakfast- Eggs & Toast
Lunch- Vegetable Lasagna
Dinner- Mediterranean Pizza

Saturday-
Breakfast- Pancakes
Lunch- Whole Grain Mac N Cheese
Dinner- Free Choice (We tend to go somewhere every weekend)

Sunday-
Breakfast- Muffins & Fruit
Lunch- Fish sandwiches, Broccoli, and pasta salad.
Dinner - Pot roast, red potatoes, and carrots

I got fruit, tortilla chips & salsa, and crackers & cheese for snacks. I also get the kids one dessert item a week.  I let them pick. Ivy chose Baked Dutch Apple Ice Cream. It looks so good I may have to cheat a little!
If you want the recipes for anything just leave it on a comment and I will post them.

Broke 5,000 Hits Today!

I cannot believe this blog broke 5,000 hits today! With only one follower at that, lol. Whoever you are readers, Thank YOU!!!! Keep it coming!

Photographs That Make Me Smile!



I looked over and Bella was wearing my high heeled boots!



Crystal's Travel Journal

My travel blog is starting to take off! It has been up for just over a month. I am really excited! The only problem is that I am running out of photo room. I may need to remove the travel photographs I put on this blog. Many of them repeat on the other one. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. I will put a link to the other blog for the photographs. I really hope all my readers follow me over to my new place. I will still be using this one as my journal. Thanks for reading!

http://crystalstraveljournal.blogspot.com/  Please Join Me Here!!

Mommy & Daughter Photographs

  Those are some of the photographs of my beautiful girls and me. The ones at the top are more recent and get older as you go down the page.