Life is so busy...we haven't had time to blog about it!

Whew - the past week has really been busy around here, which brings me to why you haven't heard from me online! I usually think about what I would like to blog about throughout the day, but don't seem to find the time to sit down and do it as often as I woudl like. So, this blog will have the highlights that I meant to chronicle daily...but haven't.



First of all - Naomi Grace turned ONE on August 24th. Hard to believe my "baby" has moved from the baby-stage into the toddler-stage. She had a great pool party with several family members celebrating with us and she almost showed off her new trick of trying to walk. She took her first two steps the night before her birthday and I honestly think she would walk across the room if she wouldn't think about what she was doing. She gets too concentrated and then falls down on her rear. I am not wishing the time away and don't want her to grow-up any faster than necessary, but I am looking forward to her being on two feet as opposed to all fours crawling...just for the sake of cleanliness. Our baby girl just lights up our world with her precious smile and we have been so blessed by having her in our lives this year.



Potty-training with Natalie has gone remarkably well. She has such a mind of her own but thankfully it appears that she has made up her mind to use the potty. She had an accident-free day yesterday (and told us when she had to go) and so far today has been accident-free and also telling me when she needs to go. She is doing GREAT and loves her big-girl underwear. She also loves chocolate candy and I think the combination of M&M's and Princess underwear has really done the trick for her. She has earned herself a princess Barbie doll for all her efforts and has been telling us what a big girl she is every 5 minutes or so.



Nichoas has some VERY BIG NEWS! He is a KINDERGARTEN student now! We had made the decision because he is a July boy to hold him back a year and start K next year. We had him enrolled in a Peer Model classroom at The Center here in Pittsburg where he was suppose to be a role model kid in a class that was mixed with normal functioning kids and kids with special-needs. We thought this would be great for him but when we realized at Orientation last week that the other kids in his class were mainly 3 year olds, we decided that wasn't the best option for him. We were afraid with such an age difference that he would regress and not feel stretched to learn more. So on Friday we checked out our Kindergarten options and decided on the public school near our house - George Nettels Elementary. This morning when Momma woke him up and asked him if he knew what today was, he popped right up and said "YES, KINDERGARTEN!" He was pumped. The picture above is of Nicholas with his teacher Mrs. Sours. When Momma and Daddy left his room at school he wasn't even looking to make sure we were still there...he was off with Andrew (our neighbor who is also in his class) meeting new friends. It was probably a harder day for Momma...realizing my oldest baby is growing faster than I thought possible. It seems like just yesterday when I held him for the first time and he fit snuggly in my arms. Now he's waving good-bye on his first day of Kindergarten...and I would be lying if I said I didn't have tears in my eyes as I finish this post. :) I know you other Momma's understand...

I will *try* to update tomorrow with all the great insights and things he tells me that he learned on his first day of school. I am sure it will be a HOOT!

Let's make a deal!

There seems to be a lot of "deal-making" going on around the Brueggemann home right now. Let me fill you in.


Last week we started potty-training Natalie more seriously. By serious I mean that we are stripping her down naked or putting her big girl undies on and giving her as much juice and milk as possible so she pees a lot. Of course this involves the acceptance of puddles but I keep her on the hardwoods or tile for the most part and so far no accidents on the carpet! This strategy worked wonders with Nicholas and we seem to be having good luck with Natalie too...stay tuned for more on that. Of course like any self-respecting parent, we have rewards for actually putting pee and poo in the potty...which brings me to the topic of this post.

The organization freak in me has devised a "pay-out scale" for potty-training and it goes like this:

1. Natalie pees in the potty upon adult's request = 1 M&M.
2. Natalie pees in the potty after telling an adult she needs to go = 2 M&M's
3. Natalie poos in the potty (regardless of who initiated it) = 2 M&M's

Well, that has been working well over the course of the past several days however I am now realizing that Natalie has caught on to the pay-out scale and is in the market to play "deal or no deal" when it comes to using the potty.

Here's our latest example:

Momma: "Ok, Natalie let's go use the potty."
Natalie: "Hmmmm, 2 M&M's?"
Momma: "No, that's only if Natalie says she needs to go potty."
Natalie: "Oh, ok. No potty."
Momma: "Well, no chocolate."
Natalie: "Ok, Natalie go potty."
Momma: "Wonderful."
Natalie proceeds to use the potty...
Momma: "Great job, here is your M&M."
Natalie: "No, TWO M&M's..."
Momma: "No, Mommy brought it up."
Natalie: "No, Natalie did. Natalie say go potty."
Momma: "Grrrrr..."


Another example of deal-making happened last night with Nicholas. We were reading Tom Sawyer and we read about how his Auntie pulled his tooth. This subject worries Nicholas a great deal because the idea of one of his teeth coming out isn't pleasant at all. We have told him about the tooth fairy and we reiterated this last night. Our sensitive Nicholas looked scared to death so we said that the great thing about losing a tooth is that you get some money from the tooth fairy. Our conversation went like this:

Daddy: "It's great because when you lose a tooth the tooth fairy brings you money in exchange for the tooth."
Nicholas: "Did the tooth fairy bring you money?"
Daddy: "Yes, she sure did!"
Nicholas: "How much?"
Daddy: "Oh, I think about $0.50 a tooth."
Nicholas does not look pleased. He can smell a rotten deal...
Momma (seeing that he isn't thinking that sounds worth it): "Well, there's been inflation and teeth are worth more these days."
Nicholas: "How much are they worth now?"
Daddy: "Oh, I would say about $2."
Nicholas: "Or maybe $3 or $4 Daddy."