"Real Life Bowling"

On Monday we went to Jack & Jill's bowling in AF to have a family night in "celebration" of my dad. It was a lot of fun and there were even some strikes for everyone (I think). We had told Xander over the weekend that we were going bowling (real life bowling, in comparison to Wii bowling), so he was really excited about it. There were just so many pictures from that night that I decided to make my very first slide show!! (Aren't you proud?) Mara wasn't the happiest person there, and was getting in everyone's way, so we had to get out our stroller and strap her in so we could all enjoy the evening. As long as she had food in her mouth, she was happy (thank heavens for Yo Go's) After we were done, we came back here and had cookies. My dad loved fresh cookie dough, so we each had our bowls of cookie dough before my mom baked the rest of it. :) It was a great night and I look forward to the day that Mara will be more well mannered and actually be able to participate with the rest of us!!

Things I miss...

I Miss My Dad.

I have been thinking about this day and dreading it. I can't help that it comes around every year. It has been 5 years since my dad died. I get so emotional when I think about him lately. It is harder this year, because it is 5 years, if that makes any sense. And it's also the same day of the week that he actually died. It has been hard, thinking about what I want to say, and to convey my thoughts in an orderly manner. But with emotions involved, my thoughts are sporadic. But these are the things that I miss...

• I miss his smile, no matter what, he could always make me smile with him, even if I was having a bad day. He could always make me happy
• I miss his hugs, he always made me feel safe


• I miss his sense of humor. It was definitely one of a kind


• I miss his enthusiasm. He would do things whole heartedly, like fly fishing and tieing flies, or his garden train, or any household repair.


• I miss his love for Halloween :) Our house would be the coolest house on the street for Halloween and kids would love to come and see what was new.


• I miss his love for music. He loved Celine Dion and Gloria Estefan and would just listen to them with the volume up all the way :)


• I miss his love for good movies. After I got married he converted the family room in the basement into a home theater. There are movie posters and seating for the whole family. He was so proud of his work that he would show it off to anyone who came over. He would show certain clips from his favorite movies to show off the sound system :) If we watched a movie with him, we would have to be silent. He would shush us if we talked :)


• I miss his love for my mom. When he looked at her, you knew he was in love and would do anything to make her happy.


• I miss that he isn't here to be a Grandpa. My nephew Max was 6 months old when he died, and I was pregnant with Xander. That has always been a hard thing for me. I wanted my children to know him, because his dad died when I was about Mara's age, so I don't have any memories of my grandpa.


• I miss the way he ate M&M's :) He would take a handful and shake them around in his hand then pop a few in his mouth until they were all gone


• I miss the way he would always support us kids. Even when he didn't agree with what we were doing all the time, he still showed his love for us.


• I miss the little games we would play, namely he would say "Guess what?" Then I would say "What?" And he would respond with "I love you!". I came to find out that he only really did this with me, and in turn I have started to do it with my kids :)

I'm sure there are more things that I miss about him, but I can't think of them right now. He was such a great man, and a wonderful example to me.

I Love You Dad!

Oh, the Joys #4

Today Mara has been doing OK, she had 3 accidents all within an hour, but had 1 pee and 1 poop on the potty!! I guess it is easier to poop on the potty since she gets more warning for it, and you have to push it out!! With pee, she hasn't developed the muscles to control when it comes out. So after the accidents, I put her back in a diaper. But when she needed to poop we took it off and she did it in the potty. So I am glad that going back and forth from diaper to underwear isn't really affecting her right now.

When we potty trained Xander at 3 1/2, he was old enough to really understand what was going on. We had to make a sticker chart with prizes on it and had a party at the end for him. Over all it took him a month to really get the peeing down, and he has only wet the bed 2 times in a year!!!!! I am most excited about that :-) He still has tough time with pooping (he has constipation problems) but we are working on it.

I am just surprised that Mara is even interested, but she see Xander and her cousin Conli use the potty and she is at that age where she wants to do what everyone else is doing. And something that I have learned is not to fight about the potty. Your child will do it when they want to and you can't make them any sooner. With Xander we had tried on and off for about 6 months before he really wanted to do it. So since Mara wants to, I'm going along with it :)

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.