Oh, the Joys #3

Yet another update on Mara. Tonight was a success! About an hour after peeing on the towel, she once again said "I need go potty", so I got her underwear off, and sure enough, she peed in the potty!! And she did it again a half hour later, all by herself!!! WAHOO!!!! But then after dinner she was in the toy room with me, she had an accident on the carpet and said "Oh, no, I spilled!" It was the cutest thing ever. Luckily my sister Karri was here and volunteered to clean the carpet for me. (Sisters are the greatest) So overall we have had a 50% success rate today!! That is pretty darn good for day 1 :)

Oh, the Joys #2

So, this morning started out like every morning. Mara goes running down the hall saying "I need go potty!" So after being in the bathroom with her for about 8-10 minutes, I decided to do my hair. After I was done, I was trying to convince her that time was up and we needed to put a diaper back on. She wasn't ready, so I asked her if she needed to poop. And then she did!!!!! It was so great!! (I haven't changed a poopy diaper in 3 days!!!!) She even let me wipe her!! I made a big deal out of it, but she still didn't care. I decided that we needed to call Mana and tell her what happened. So Mara talked to my mom and told her that she pooped. (And Mara still didn't care) So I talked to my mom about it and she suggested that maybe I put her in underwear. I did and she had 3 accidents all morning. The first time she didn't even notice that she was all wet, then the other two she told me that she pooped. At least she was in the kitchen all 3 times. So finally before I put her down for a nap I made her sit on the potty, which I moved into the kitchen. And sure enough she peed in the potty!! But once again, she really didn't care. So I got a diaper on her for her nap and got her dressed and put her to bed. I don't know if I will do this again for awhile (the underwear thing) I want her to want to do it. And so far it has really just been pooping. She has been doing good as far as wanting to "Go potty" I just don't know if she really understands or is really all that ready. She isn't even 2 yet!!! I guess, I really don't know what to do at this point. Xander was never like this. I would love it if she were potty trained, but I am just hesitant about the whole thing. I figure that she will catch on and decided to do it when she wants to. But so far, it's going well!!

Update: Mara has been up from her nap for about 30 minutes, she just told me she wanted to go potty. So we took off her pants and diaper. She sat down for a minute. I turned around and she was standing up right next to the potty and she had peed on the towel that the potty was sitting on!! She almost made it!! If she could just sit still a little longer, she would have made it in the potty. I guess that it's starting to click! Kids amaze me! Especially Mara. She is just growing up so fast :(

Oh, the Joys of Parenting!!

This is how our day started! I got Mara this way cute hat at the Disney Warehouse up in Salt Lake on Union Park Ave. It was only $3.oo, regularly $14.00 in park. (They sell older merchandise from Disneyland and California Adventure. I try to go up every few months and usually find some really good deals.) So anyway, I got out the hat and she loves it!!! I just hope that she will wear it alot to make my 3 bucks worth it. LOL

And then, for the past month, Mara has decided that she needed to go potty. Nothing has happened yet, but it is an every day thing. She will go running down the hallway towards the bathroom and say "I need go potty". So I run after her with a new diaper and sit her down and we wait. (Her diaper is usually already wet, so I think that her brain just isn't catching on fast enough to get to the potty in time.) After a few minutes I tell her that we are done and then try to get her to put a diaper back on. This is when the battle ensues. She will stand up and say that she is done and then the moment I show her a diaper she will say "I need go potty" and sit back down! Now this lasts for another few minutes, until I have had enough and then I fight to get a diaper on her, which I usually have to pin her on the floor or try to put it on her while she is standing. (This is not fun, she is almost 2 and has started into the tantrums) So today after her nap, she ran to the bathroom and the process began. After a few minutes I decided that I needed to get a picture of her at least sitting on the potty to scrapbook and blog, even though nothing has happened yet. (don't mind the hair, I didn't re-do it today) When I came back into the bathroom I could smell something!!!!! Sure enough, she pooped!!! So I made a big deal and cleaned her up! And she still didn't want a diaper on!! So at least there has been some progress. So anyway, I had to share!!

If you don't want to see a flash of poop in a training potty don't watch the video!!! LOL

New Family Pictures

Last week we went to Target and did our first "real" family picture. I say "real" meaning, professional, in studio, actually paying someone to take our picture. We usually just have my mom or sister take our picture in the backyard or something. But I just love the look of studio pictures! And my kids are more behaved when we are doing things like this. I know that I put the pictures on the side bar, but I felt that they needed a post too! We get to pick up the pictures next Monday, and then I can complete my wall of pictures, and finally post that too :) Little by little I am making the space that we are living in feel more like MY home then my mothers.

What Princess Are You?

I found this on Kristen's blog, and thought it was cute!


You Are Cinderella!

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Dinosaurs!!!

I am a little behind in the blogging, but on Wednesday Pat didn't have his afternoon classes. But he had to do some school work, in the form of visiting historical sites for his Utah History class. So we ventured to Salt Lake for most of them, on the way we went to Thanksgiving Point and did the Dinosaur Museum. This was the first time we have taken Xander, so he was excited and had alot of fun. Here are some of the highlights :)

More Birthday!

"You Are My Cup of Tea"

Pat gave me the rest of my birthday present last night!! Here is another Disney Park Exclusive Precious Moments figurine. I am very lucky to get this one. My sister Karri was in Disneyland in December, and was looking for the Mickey one that I got on sunday, and saw this one! She called me and sent me a picture and I told her to buy it for me. So she tried, only to find out that you could only buy it online for 4 days!!! So I jumped online and bought it from a Disney website!! We were so lucky!! They had another one that was a little girl riding in Dumbo, but I liked the Minnie one better (since I was getting the Micky figure too!) I love Precious Moments, and have bought or recieved 8 Disney figurines since last May when I went to Disneyland and found Aurora!! I will have to take pics and post what other figurines that I have.

Birthday

I just want to say a very heart felt THANK YOU to Natalie. You are so awesome to take my kids for me, and even pick Xander up from school! My pedicure was great, and a nice way to start my birthday :)

Today is my 27th birthday! I started the day with the above mentioned pedicure, then I went to the mall and got a few new shirts :) Then I got my kids and met up with Pat and his sister Lana for lunch! THANK YOU Lana for lunch! It was great :) After getting home and putting Mara down for a nap, Xander and I watched the live-action Peter Pan!! Pat got me this movie for a late christmas present. I love the music to it. (listen to "I do believe in fairies" in my playlist) They use the music from the movie in the Disneyland commercials!! And my sister Karri even made the music into a ring tone, so I have it on my phone!!! I LOVE IT!!!! Now I am just waiting for my mom to come home, so Pat and I can go to dinner and a movie!! (we are seeing "Definetly, Maybe")

Birthday's are fun. I was just going to hang out at home and do nothing today, but Natalie surprised me with watching my kids, and the day has just snowballed!! It is nice to know that I am loved and have great friends and family that can help make my day special :)

ZzZzZzZz...

I am very grateful for good sleepers. Both Xander and Mara sleep through the night, which is heavenly!! Xander only started sleeping all night long regularly when we got him a twin bed last spring. It is a very rare occasion that he wakes up at night. We were able to teach Mara at a young age to sleep all night, but she will wake every so often, and when she does it takes awhile for her to go back to sleep. We usually just turn down the room moniter and go back to sleep ourselves. But last night was different. She woke up around 1:30 and just called out "mom" alot. So of course I just laid in bed, waiting. We try not to get her out of bed unless nessecary, because she definetly won't go back to sleep! So after a few minutes, she began to cry. And the great husband that I have, got up to check on her :) It ended up that she had wet out of her pj's and needed a change of diaper and clothes. When Pat went to put her back to bed, he noticed that her sheets were wet too. So then we had to change her sheets!! And through all this, Xander didn't even move!! He is amazing! He is able to ignore her during the night, or he just sleeps really hard! LOL Mara was able to go back to sleep, but it didn't last long. She woke up at 4:30 needing a drink of water. Pat had forgotten to put her cup back in her bed after changing the sheets. At least that second waking didn't last too long. So I am a little tired today, I am used to getting more sleep because my kids are great sleepers :) At least Mara slept in until 8:30!! (8:00 is the usually waking time for both kids) I just hope that they will always sleep well! :)

Early and Late Birthdays

Last night we had a birthday celebration for me and Pat. Pat's bday is on the 5th and mine is on the 20th, so we always celebrate them together with my family. We both got mainly cash (which is awesome!) But I did get a few items :)

Here is our family effort at blowing out the candles :)

My mom gave me this awesome card from Hallmark that playes "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from Mary Poppins!!! (It is one of my most favorite movies) And Mara was dancing on my lap to the music :)

My mom also got me this wall hanging that says:

"I believe stars in the sky are openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy"

We saw this when we were at Swiss Days in September, and it made me cry because I thought of my dad.

Then Pat gave me this sweet Precious Moments figure from Disneyland. (Thanks again Karri for picking it up for us!!) I love it so much!! It has the theme on it "Where Dreams Come True". Oh how I love Disney :)

So happy late bday to Pat, and happy early bday to me :)