Potty Training tips {with Cottonelle Clean Care Routine}

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Cottonelle but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #CtnlCareRoutine  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO”

Last year I wrote a POST sharing my favorite tip and how we got my son to stop using his binky. It was a hit and I had a lot of other questions coming in that had to do with raising my toddler. I am no expert by any means in fact most of the time I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to being a mom, but when I find something that has worked I love to share it because well who doesn't love a little help every once in a while. Now that being said, every kid and mom is different but advice is good and you can always try it out or use parts of it. With my first son growing so fast I feel like it is always something new that we are doing or learning. After taking away the binky it was time to start potty training. We potty trained last September and today I am going to be sharing some of my tips when it comes to potty training, what worked and what didn't, etc. Now I have to start out by saying potty training was probably the thing I dreaded the most that I knew I had to do being a mom, next to cleaning up throw up. I was super nervous about it so I am going to share with you what worked for us so you can skip the worry and stress.

Cottonelle is the brand I love and I am always looking for a deal, I was in luck because there is a great coupons available. $1.50 off the toilet paper & $2 off the flushable cleansing cloths
and a $5 movie credit through Vudu when you buy both. Make sure to shop at Walmart to take advantage of these two great offers because well everyone needs toilet paper. Am I right? We might as well get the best at a great deal and a movie out of it too. When you purchase BOTH items in store in the month of February you will receive a $5 Vudu offer. Vudu is like RedBox and offers HD movies. To receive the offer you need to do the following:
Take a picture of the receipt showing that you purchased both items.
Text or email your picture to clean@drvsusa.com
You will receive a text or email back with a code valid for a $5 movie credit
You can get more information by going to www.DRVSusa.com/cottonellemovies
 
First things first. Do NOT push them. Now I say that with a little bit of caution. I am a firm believer in waiting until your child can understand what going in the potty is. Now that could be a different age for every child. Some may be ready quicker than others. I would not put an age of when you should potty train because like I said it all depends on them and you. For example my second son is 18 months old right now and there is no way in the world that he is even close to ready. Now that doesn't mean that we don't talk to him about it. We are always telling him what the potty is for and since he has an older brother I think he will be interested a little bit sooner, but for now we are getting him ready by talking to him about it. Now my first son never showed interest. I am dead serious. He was over 3 and about to start preschool and did not want to use the potty. We were waiting until he was showing interest and well that was going to be never. So I learned that waiting until they are ready is not the same as waiting until they show interest. He was not interested but he was ready. He was old enough to understand and he caught on so much quicker because of that. I would much rather wait until they can understand then push them too early and have way more headaches. Because we waiting until he was ready {which again can be different ages for each child} he was completely potty trained no accidents after a week and a half.

Next, what type of potty is the best to use while potty training? Well we used them all haha. I figured they were cheap enough that i would get both types. But really since he was so much older and caught on so quick we mostly used the attach to the big potty kind. The small sit on the floor potty is great to get them interested and to start out with. Most kids would be more comfortable with a potty more their size. Then we graduated to the sit on the big potty type, this one is great for when they are doing really well potty training but just don't feel comfortable going on the big potty yet. My son was scared he would fall in. Their bums are so little and I can see why that would make them nervous.We used that attachment until he was ready to go without it. Usually they will learn quickly to go on the regular potty after they have had to go at someone slse's home or at a store. I am not one to take a potty seat around with me every where I go, use moms have enough to tote around with us.

My next tip is to use a reward system. I think rewarding your child for good behavior is a great way to help them get excited about something new. I didn't want this to be all about the rewards so I caped it off to filling up two potty charts as soon as the charts were full we were done with the rewards each time. That again can be different on the progress of your child. If you feel like you need to go a little longer there is nothing wrong with that. The system for the chart I used was very simple. Each time he went #1 he put one sticker on the chart, each time he went #2 he got to put 2 stickers on the chart. But here is the catch if he had a #1 accident he had to take a sticker off, and if he had a #2 accident he had to take 2 stickers off. Each time he went he got a little penny candy or a couple m&ms, when he filled up a whole row {5 stickers} which he filled up really quickly he got a treat or a dollar store toy {we rotated each time, and when he filled up the whole chart he got to go to target and pick out a $5-10 toy!  

My next tip is to use Cottonelle Clean Care routine products to help for the comfort of your child. Not only is it more comfortable for them, because it is the softest toilet paper I have ever used, but the flushable wipes are a great transition from the baby wipes they have used their whole little lives.

I love the flush able wipes for potty training and for toddlers because they are so so easy, they are cleaner and they can do it themselves easier,then just patting themselves dry with the toilet paper.

Sometimes being a mom is super hard. I always say it is the hardest but most rewarding job out there. There is a lot to teach, a lot to learn, a lot of patients required, a lot of messes, a lot of mistakes, a lot of love, a lot of breakdowns from kids and mom, a lot of hard times, a lot of amazing times, a lot of practice and well we are just each trying to be the best we can and giving the best to our children. We simply want to be the best we can and are afraid of failing. But they love us and we love them and we learn from each other and from other moms. So give yourself some credit because well YOU do A LOT and you are AMAZING!!! I love all you moms and women out there I am learning from each of you so keep it up.

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DIY Wall Frame {Tutorial}

Remember this Huge Wall Decor from THIS POST in my boys' shared room? I have had some requests and emails asking me about how I made it so I thought the best way to share is with a tutorial. I loved this project and you can change it up using the same concept and use it in just about any room.

I saw a picture on google images about 3 years ago after I had Maddux while I was looking for some ideas for his room (this is before I had pinterest so I don't have it saved and I can't find it any where now. Dang don't you hate that?), but anyway, it was my inspiration for this project. They had taped off a huge rectangle on the wall above the crib and painted it a different color than the wall and then framed it. I loved the look and the idea, but we were renting and even though we probably could have gotten permission to paint it, I wanted to be able to take this with me when we move and not be so permanent. So that is when I came up with this wall frame that was actually movable and perfect for renters or even if you just don't want to have it so long term.

These are pictures from about 2 1/2 years ago before I was really blogging so they aren't the best bare with me, but it was really easy and pretty self explanatory.

 {Supplies Needed}

-MDF board (whatever size you are wanting) and you will want the thinner one so I got the 1/4 inch thick so that it looked like it was just part of the wall and not so bulky (you can get MDF board at any hardware store like home depot or Lowes)
-Paint (the color you want your board to be, I used some left over paint from the dresser in their room)
-paint brush
-Small foam roller

-Trim
-White paint


-Finishing nails and hammer

-Wood glue
-Screws or Hangman system to hang it on the wall
-level

{What I did}

Firs,t you are going to paint the edges of the MDF board I just used a foam brush (and yes that is my living room, I just laid out a drop cloth and worked on it while I watched some shows with the hubby and Maddux was sleeping).

 I painted just 1 coat on the edges because they will be mostly covered. The molding will cover them but you will be able to see them from the side so I wanted to make sure they were painted and looked neat and finished.

Next I just took my foam roller and painted the whole piece. Easy Peasy. I used a foam roller instead of a brush because it is way faster and it doesn't leave brush lines. When it dries you can't see any lines at all. You could also spray paint it but I already had the paint I wanted. 

 I did two coats of it on the front for really good coverage.

We bought the trim in just a long piece and then cut it to the sizes we wanted. We wanted the long pieces just a little longer than the width of the board and the smaller pieces just a little bigger than the height, so they over lapped a little bit.

While the MDF board was drying, I painted the molding. It came primed so all I had to do was do a quick coat of white paint. I just did it with a paint brush. 

Once all the paint was dry it was time to put it all together. We just used wood glue to attach the trim to the board and to attach the smaller trim to the bigger trim. Then we used finishing nails to make sure it was nice and sturdy. Once it was all attached we painted over the finishing nails with some white paint. They are super tiny so it was easy to just cover them with some paint.

To attach it to the wall we found the studs and screwed it into the wall. We still need to paint over the screws to blend it in. Now that I found this awesome system called the Hangman System when we move and need to get this up on the wall at the new place I will use this instead of the screws. It is awesome and they have one that holds up to 100 pounds and one that holds up to 200 pounds it is what we used to hang out headboard HERE. You can get them at either Home Depot or Lowes.

Once it was up on the wall and all secured we added some floating shelves (already white on sale at Target)  some decor and later on some Vinyl monograms (first letters of my boy's names)

Vintage top and music player // gifted from my mom) 

M & H // Made by me and my cutting machine vinyl

Frame // DI painted by me (picture of Holden in it)

Owl // Target dollar section

Temple Print // My LDS Temple

Cute right?! It was so easy, cheap and it can be used just about anywhere. I like how it gives that wall some character, dimension, color and texture. Again this is perfect way to bring in some color and paint for you renters out there. You could stencil it, paint it do whatever you want to bring in the color and design without it being permanent.

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How to Whitewash Wood {Tutorial}

Ekkk! I am working on something super exciting and I have to say I am pretty proud and I am so in LOVE. Here is your little sneak peek I can't wait to show it all to you next week. But for today I am going to share with you how I whitewashed my wood project.

This was my first time whitewashing anything and although I was really intimidated by this technique it is the look I really wanted so I put on my brave pants (well my painting pants anyway) and got to work. And can I just say it was not hard or scary at all in fact it was really quick and easy. Like I said this was my first time so I am not a pro or anything but I loved the way it turned out on the Secret Project I am working on so I must have done pretty good. Here are the tips I want to pass on to you if you are wanting to whitewash.

{Supplies Needed}

-1 part white paint (I used a 1/2 cup of white paint I had on hand)
-2 parts water (I used one up of water)
-Paint brush
-plastic bowl
-Dry Rag/cloth (I just used an old washcloth turned rag and it worked great)
 

{What I did}

The very first thing I did was sand my wood with some 220 grit sand paper and my electric sander to make sure it was smooth. Then I made sure all the dust was off of it by sweeping it off and wiping it down with a wet cloth.

Next you are going to poor your paint and water into a plastic bowl and stir it until it is mixed evenly.

Paint the white mixture onto your wood. I was working with pallets so I did one wood piece at a time. You want to make sure you work in small increments so it doesn't dry before you can spread it. Doing one section of wood at a time was the perfect space to work with.

After you paint your one section you are going to take your rag and are going to rub the paint in the direction of the grain of the wood. This will show some of the wood through the paint and make sure it is even.  Repeat the steps to every board.

For my project I wanted some of the original wood color to show through so I just painted here and there and spread it sparingly not getting too anal about getting into every crevice.

I also wanted each pallet to look a little different and have different levels of coverage. So some of them I did very lightly and others I put multiple coats of paint until I got the desired coverage.
This picture shows what it looked like before I whitewashed and then after. 

Here are my completed whitewashed boards. See how each have a little bit of different coverage. Oh my goodness I am in love. My project is huge and it took a little less than a 1/2 hour to complete. Pretty quick right.

Some fun things to whitewash are dinning room tables, coffee tables, pallet signs, photo backdrops, pallet walls, headboard, barn wood door, pretty much any type of furniture you can think of. If you love the shabby chic look you will love this. So what do you think? What are you going to whitewash?

oh and Holden says Hi. :) Don't you just want to squeeze him. Yeah he is pretty much gorgeous. He likes watching me do projects while he bounces and coos in his exersaucer. Perfect Baby.

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