Why I chose to let my baby sitter potty train my son.

I must of read multiple posts about "potty training in 3 days" "potty training before 1" potty training this and potty training that. I was so overwhelmed! I felt I had to conquer this before Asher was 1. Well Asher turned 1 and was not even walking. So I decided he wasn't ready. Next step was once Asher was walking, I HAD to have him potty trained in 3 days.

Asher began walking around 13-14 months. So I decided it was time to potty train. I was determined that in 3 days Asher would be potty trained. I took 3 days off of work and there we sat in the bathroom.
It was the most stressful thing ever! Asher was so upset and I was so frustrated. He was not ready at all!

Fast forward from 14 months to 22 months old.

I have the most AMAZING sitter! I really do! She has 3 boys. Her youngest is 6 years old. She only watches Asher. She dedicates the days she has Asher, just to Asher. They play, she teaches him things, & she interacts with him. Asher is 22 months old,he can count to 10, if you show him a number he can tell you what number it is, and he even knows 3 colors! (red, blue, Green)

My sitter and I talked and she thought around spring time we could give it a try. Asher started telling me when he would go in his diaper. I figured he was understanding what was going on.

After the last fiasco, I wanted to take a back seat. This honestly takes a lot of patience and consistency. I am a full time working mom. On my day off I typically have to get my "adulating duties" completed. I was going to have to be dedicated this time and learn patience myself. My sitter has already potty trained all 3 of her boys and a few other children that she used to watch. She knew exactly what she was in for and what she was doing.

Around middle of March we started. I brought over his little potty and all the supplies she had requested. Here is our method of potty training!

1st Week:
The first week was more of just transitioning and getting Asher comfortable with the change. She would baby gate her and Asher into the kitchen area and they would stay there pretty much all day. Asher was put in his big boy underwear and a shirt. That is all. She started by asking him every 20ish minutes if he needed to use the potty and would take him to the potty to sit. He was not fond of it was first. She would give him her Ipad to play a game or play music. He also always brought his cars with him! By the end of the week he was getting the hang on it

2nd week:
She noticed that when Asher would go it was going everywhere and that the little potty was not working very well. She bought a potty seat for the actual toilet. Still in the kitchen and Asher still in his underwear they stayed for this week. She did not take him every 20 minutes now. She would allow him to go longer stretches. Asher was getting the hang of it though and only had 2-3 accidents this week.

3rd week:
Asher was pretty much potty trained during the day for my sitter. He understood the process and did not need the Ipad to sit on the potty. This week Asher was allowed in other parts of her home because his accidents were very little to none. He knew where the potty was and when she would ask if he needed to go potty he would run to the bathroom and wait for her to put him on the potty. Asher will not tell her if he has to potty but he shows signs of needing to go. My sitter is very good at picking up the signs and immediately asks as soon as she sees he needs to go.

At Home:
So by now as stated above Asher is completely potty trained for my sitter except for nap time. It was NOT going this was at home. At home was AWFUL! There were tears of not wanting to use the potty, kicking, screaming, and running  away from the potty. I again found myself very frustrated, but I kept with it. Why won't he potty for me? What am I doing wrong?

4th Week:
Asher now is allowed everywhere at the sitter's and wears underwear and his pants at the sitter's. No accidents and uses the potty. I couldn't be any happier! At the same time I was beyond frustrated with how it was going at home. My sitter is so sweet and offered to spend my day off with me at our house potty training Asher! I woke up that Tuesday morning and was determined. I made it so I had no "adult duties". As soon as Asher woke up the big boy underwear went on and we started. We played all morning in the kitchen and dining room and finally while in the middle of playing Asher stood up and looked at me. That had to be a sign! I said "do you have to go potty?" Up the stairs he went to the bathroom and waited for me to sit him on the potty! Success!!

My sitter arrived 10 minutes after he used the potty for me. I was so excited to tell her the news. She stayed until nap time observing and telling me his morning routine at her house. He pottied the whole time she was there. No tears, no fuss, and no screaming.

I laid Asher down for his nap and my sitter left. I kind of thought Asher would not continue now that she had left. Once up from his nap I put the big boy underwear on and we were back at it!

From that day forward Asher now uses the potty all day long! He still needs either a pull up or diaper at naps and bedtime. He doesn't always tell us when he needs to go. Sometimes he says "potty", grabs himself, does a potty dance, or even just runs up to the bathroom. 

My goal was to have him potty trained before his sister arrived. Although he is not fully potty trained, i'll take that he is potty trained during the day!

To all the Mama's out there frustrated, just know that there is not a time frame that potty training needs to be accomplished. As you can see it literally took a month of being consistent and having patience to get Asher potty trained. Some would tell me that he was not ready. Asher was ready. He is very smart and knows what he is doing. He was able to tell me when he pooped in his diaper and understood that he sits on the potty to go to the bathroom.

I'm really hoping this helped some of you who are starting the potty training process or thinking about it!

Here are the links to the 2 potty's I purchased. Asher only used and currently uses ​the seat that goes on the toilet. 

Amber Petersheim is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

I typically like to provide Asher with a nutritious meal. He can be a very picky eater and 75% of the time does not eat what I cook for dinner. I usually have to make him something else (which I swore I would never do), but sometimes it's not worth arguing with a 23 Month old.

Who else remembers their parents giving them "pigs in a blanket" as a child? This meal consisted of hot dog and cheese rolled up in bread and baked in the oven. As a kid I loved it! 

For some reason Asher does love hot dogs. I feel alot of children do. I know hot dogs are not the best and maybe next time I will look into turkey dogs. Anyone ever use them?

It was one of those days that I knew Asher would not eat what I made for dinner and honestly I didn't feel like enduring the toddler meltdown. So mommy got creative! Here's my spin on the childhood 'Pigs in a blanket"

Ingredients:

• Crescent dough
• Hot dogs
• Velveeta slices

Directions:

1. Unroll your crescent dough
2. Lay cheese slices
3. Place hot dog
4. Roll up
5. Cut slits in top
6. Bake at 375 Degrees for 8 minutes or until dough is completely done and hot dog in warm.

Super quick and super easy!

I seem to always have crescent dough sheets on hand, which is nice for a quick kids dinner!

A Minnie themed birthday party can be so much fun! First of all I love pink, so the more pink the better! Here are some ideas for your child's Minnie Themed Birthday Party.

My best friend's daughter is turning 2! Her theme for the party is Minnie Mouse. Her decorations are so adorable! We typically work together on activities for our kiddos or anything in the kitchen. She told me her ideas for the party and from there we had to brainstorm of how to actually make them.

Honestly we went in blindly and had a few trial and errors, but these turned out adorable and taste delicious! She had bought 2 different cookie cutters. The Minnie head has a bow on it but for some reason when it baked you could not see the bow. It actually worked in our favor because we could use the same cookie cutter and make Mickey as well.

#2 Cookies:

Ingredients:

• Pillsbury pre-made cookie dough
• Pillsbury Vanilla frosting in white & hot pink

Other items you need are: #2 cookie cutter, rolling pin, decorating tip & bag

Directions:

1. Roll out your pre-made cookie dough
2. Cut out #2 with cookie cutter
3. Bake for about 7 minutes
4. Allow to cool
5. Once cooled use a spatcula and apply white frosting just on the 2 part
6. Using your decorating bag & tip, outline the bow and fill in with hot pink frosting
7. Outline the white frosting with your decorating tip & bag

Minnie & Mickey Cookies:

Ingredients:

• Pillsbury pre-made cookie dough
• Pillsbury vanilla frosting
• Melting chocolates
• Red food coloring
• Hot pink Sprinkles

Other items you need are: Minnie cookie cutter, rolling pin, decorating tip & bag

Directions:

1. Roll out your pre-made cookie dough
2. Cut out Minnie shapes with cookie cutter
3. Bake for about 7 minutes
4. Allow to cool
5. Melt your melting chocolate according to the package
6. Dip ears in melting chocolate
7. Use a spatula and apply white frosting just on the bottom part that is not covered in chocolate
8. Put some frosting in a small bowl and add red food coloring
9. Use a spatula and apply red frosting just on the bottom part of the Mickey cookies that are not covered in chocolate
10. Add sprinkles to Minnie Cookies​

So my mom used to be a baker! She used to make wedding cakes when I was younger. So when the bestie says she need's Minnie cupcakes & a Minnie cake, my mom was just the one for the task! My mom baked all the cupcakes and cake. She assembled the cake and did all the icing. I added the Minnie ears and bow!

My mom's recipes are top secret for the cupcake, cake flavors, and icing. Even I don't know the recipe for the cupcake flavors. I will not be sharing those, but she did make  vanilla and chocolate.

Cupcakes:

• Mini Oreos
• Pink melting Chocolate
• Bow mold

Directions:

1. First make yours cupcakes
2. Once cooled apply your pink icing
3. Add 2 mini oreos
4. Melt your pink chocolates; pour into bow mold; freeze until frozen; pop out of mold; place in between oreos
5. Use white icing to make the dots

Minnie Cake:

• 6 inch cake
• 4 cupcakes
• Icing

Directions:

1. Make your cake
2. Use left over cupcakes and cut them in half
3. Stack 2 cupcake havles on top of one another to make the ears
4. Do a base layer of icing over everything
5. Make rosettes
6. Finishing touch was my mom hand drew the white bow

Lastly my husband made a wooden #2. My bestie painted it and turned it into a Minnie! When our kiddos turned 1 he also made wooden 1's. I play to post them at a later date. He will probably end up making them a number every year.

DIY Wood #2:

• 1/2 inch plywood
• Jigsaw
• Palm sander
• 2 screws
• Drill
• Ribbon
• Black craft foam

Directions:

1. My husband is actually pretty crafty; he hand drew the 2
2. Use the jigsaw to cut out the 2
3. Sand it all down
4. Cut out a triangle
5. Use the drill & screws to secure the triangle to the bottom to make a support so the #2 stands on it's own
6. Paint the 2
7. Make a bow and hot glue it
8. Cut out circles for ears on the foam and attach

I hope you enjoyed this post! Her birthday party was so adorable! 

Amber Petersheim is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

I was unsure how this would turn out, but it is taste tester approved!! Asher love, love, loves this flavor! Wish I would of thought of it sooner.

Asher has always been a huge fan of Blueberry Baked Oatmeal. So why not make it into a smoothie pouch for him!? Great for on the go breakfast when we are rushing out the door.

Again I used my Infantino Squeeze Station. Which I absolutely love! I did not always have this squeeze station and it made the process more difficult.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Oatmeal
• 1 TBSP Brown Sugar
• 1 1/2 Cups Yogurt
• 1 Pint Blueberries
• 1/2 Cup Milk

Directions:

1. Make oatmeal according to package. Let cool
   
2. Wash blueberries
   
3. Once oatmeal is cooled add all ingredients to blender
   
4. Blend until smooth
   
5. Pour into your squeeze station!
   
6. ​Pouches can be frozen
   

I have read every method possible on lowering your grocery bill. From apps, to coupons, to watching sales, and honestly nothing worked for me. I tried couponing. I am not very good at it. Or maybe I just don't understand it. I know a lot of people succeed in couponing but I don't need 30 bottles of shampoo just because it was on sale. 

My household consists of myself, my husband, and my 22 month old. A week we were spending $250 - $350 a WEEK at the grocery store. That equals to $1,000- $1,400 a month for groceries. That is insane if you ask me! For the life of me I couldn't figure out what we were buying!

I literally cut our grocery bill in half all by myself! Like I said I read and read and read about all "magical" things that were suppose to help me save money, but nothing seemed to work. I'm sure if I now go back to those strategies I may be able to save even more. But for the time being I am going to stick with this method!

Here's how I cut our grocery bill in half!

1. Make an actual grocery list:
I would end up spending all this money at the store and end up coming home and still need items.

• Place a notepad on your refrigerator. (This way when you run out of an item it immediately gets written on the list)

2. Meal Prep:
By meal prepping I know exactly what lunches & dinners I will make for the week. Every Sunday I meal prep our lunches or snack boxes.

• Add all meal items to grocery list

3. Organize your grocery list:
Make categories so while your going through the isles it is easy to see which items you actually need.

• I use different colors for each category on my list

4. Costco:
I never understood the hype about Costco and BJ's, until I had kids, a husband, and started meal prepping! Once a month we go to Costco to stock up on items for the month. By stocking up on these items we are not buying them weekly, which saves us money every week. Now you still have to contain yourself in Costco. Sometimes If i'm really hungry and try samples I think that we "need" that item then. No you do not. Stick to the list and the meals you are trying to make.

• Once a month they send out a flyer with their sales. I will try to buy items that we use if they are on sale that month.
• Great for stocking up on drinks, baby items, snacks, paper products, laundry detergent, bulk fridge items that you are using that week for meal prep

5. Peapod:
Peapod has changed my life! Peapod is a service through Giant that delivers your groceries to your home. You must spend $60 minimum but can order as many times a week as you want. You get to pick your delivery date and time. The produce and meat is always super fresh because it comes right from their warehouse. Peapod is not available everywhere. You have to live within a certain range. You can find all that information on their website.
When you first sign up you get 60 days free delivery. After that their is a delivery fee. Typically it ranges between $7-$9. Also when you first sign up you get $20 off your first bill. You still receive the sale price if an item is on sale at the store and are able to use coupons! By not actually having to step foot in a store I immediately save.

• Huge time saver! Especially if your family is very busy or your a mom of multiples and want to avoid those meltdowns in the store!
• By shopping online I stick to my list. I'm not wondering every isle just adding items because I'm hungry and they looked good.

By using these methods here is what our weekly and monthly grocery bill is now!

Once a month to Costco: spend roughly $250- $300
Weekly: store trip using Peapod Service: $80-$100

I budget in weekly to send $100 through Peapod. I honestly am always under that $100 mark every week!

So that grocery bill went from $1,000- $1,400 a month to $570- $700!! What a difference!!

Also not allowing my husband to tag along to the store helped us stay on budget as well ;]

Amber Petersheim is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

I have really been slacking with coming up with new flavors! I typically like to do 3 new flavors at a time, but life has been crazy and Asher is really loving his peanut butter banana smoothie flavor. So I made another round of that and this peach-pear smoothie, which he is enjoying as well!

Ingredients:

• 1 peach
• 2 pears
• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Peel and decore peach and pears
2. Place fruit in saucepan with water and boil on the stove until tender
3. Add all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth
4. Pore into your squeeze pouches!

I absolutely LOVE my infantino sqeeuze station! I wish I would have got one when Asher was smaller and I used to make him baby food. I plan on using this for Aubriella and making her baby food in these.

This station is so easy to use and easy to clean. The only thing that I am not a huge fan about, is how the squeeze pouches are not reusable. But their size and top is exactly like the store bought ones. Which Asher loves the tops to the store bought ones for some reason. I've tried 3 different squeeze pouches. When he was smaller he didn't mind the Kiinde brand, but now he only like the Infantino ones.
Here is the link to my post with the Peanut Butter Banana smoothie recipe if you haven't checked it out yet!

Where you can purchase these products:

Yesterday while my bestie was here I was trying to keep track of my "kick counts" really well. Aub's has not been as active as she once was and it is concerning now. For a good 1hr & 45minutes Aubriella did not move at all. (which is what I have been experiencing, an hour or 2 of her not moving) My bestie said "let's try to wake her up". It took us 10-15 minutes of what I call "irritating" her and me jumping up and down to get one little kick out of her. The rest of the night I was lucky to get maybe 2 kicks an hour. My doctors say 10 kicks an hour is what they like.

At today's appointment I ended up getting the full work up due to this concern. I went for a non stress test and wouldn't you know she didn't want to move. The nurse had me play music on my phone and place it on my belly to wake her up. We then got a few kicks which was good!

Next was the ultrasound. They measured my amniotic fluid and it is still on the lower side. We are not in the danger zone yet, or they would of kept me. I am in the "concern" zone and they are going to monitor me closely.  I go back Monday for another ultrasound to measure my fluid and we will go from there if it has dropped any lower.

Meanwhile I am to continue to monitor her movement and call if she has not moved in 2 hours. I have 3 appointments next week. Monday is ultrasound, Tuesday is my check up, and Friday is another non stress test. They would like her to stay in to 37 weeks, which Monday is 37 weeks, but they don't think I will make it much past there. One day at a time is what we are doing right now!

I got some face shots of little miss today and she look exactly like her daddy. She definitely got the Petersheim nose. She has both of her arms up and is smirking.