A monkey and his bed!

So, these are not the best of pictures, but it's about memories I suppose. Every once in a while, Dylan and Madelyn will want to play in Dylan's crib. They love to JUMP! This is them jumping. Maddie saying, "Boing! Boing!" All the while. They are so funny how they always laugh and play together so good in there. When they have a whole house to roam and separate themselves from each other, that's when they do the fighting! Go figure :) Anyway, it's rare they want to play this little "game" and thank goodness, I am not sure how much jumping Dylan's crib can take! :)

Ok, ok, I know all toddlers get to this point. The point to where they learn how to climb out of their cribs! Dylan is nearly 28 months old and I guess I should be happy it took him this long. I was hoping to wait till he's closer to 3 for the big boy bed. We will have to see now. Last Thursday morning I was only half way to consciousness. I could hear Dylan making little noises in his bed...or was it just a dream? I wondered as I was not fully awake yet. And it being just a littler earlier than his usual wake up time. Then I heard a little thud and the precious pitter patter of tiny feet. I opened my eyes and there he was! Smiling and obviously over joyed at what he had just accomplished! I was happy to be greeted by such a sweet face first thing in the morning. But that only lasted for a moment. I then began to think, oh crap! Once again, a mothers heart pangs of her baby growing up :) He climbed in bed with us (Preston had the day off) and snuggled into the covers. We looked up at the stars on my ceiling and he pointed to the planets and said, "circle!" (Yes, yes, I Do have those glow in the dark planets and stars on my ceiling. I wanted them as a kid and never had them. Just making my dream come true! Lol! It's strange, but I like 'em!)

Dylan is just so adorable!

I was also getting excited to report that Maddie has not had an accident since Sunday. But then, she did have one tonight. :( She was being watched all day by Preston's mom. Preston and I were able to spend the day together in Logan (post to come) to see my brother and his wife sealed. Anyway, I was nervous about leaving her and leaving potty watch for grandma to deal with. But she did just fine! She didn't have the accident until well after we got home. I am very proud of how well Maddie is doing with her potty training. She stays dry a little too well. I think she has begun to hold it a little too long now. Anyway, I am maybe just being a worried mom, it's going to all work out. She even stays dry thru the night and at nap time some of the time. :) Good job Maddie Boo!

Adventures in potty training

Madelyn has been on the potty training train for a week now. She was 26 1/2 months old when we started. I ALWAYS had the philosophy of wait until they are a little older and it will be easier on both mom and kid. Well, I know of several girls who have been potty trained much younger than Maddie, so I pressured myself into starting this circus! Just kidding! It has not really been that bad. First of all, I read the book "toilet training in less than a day" twice. I took notes and had a game plan. I felt I knew this method pretty good. And had my notes to fall back on. She EASILY passed the test to see if she was ready, so I figured what do we have to loose here? Even though Maddie is younger than Dylan (only by 4 weeks) I had always planned on potty training her first. Just for the simple fact that everyone says girls are easier and ready at an earlier age. I didn't really want to do them both at the same time either, just cause they would be at different stages in the potty game. Apparently "very active boys" become ready much later than a lot of kids.

Hmmmm, we have a VERY ACTIVE BOY HERE! :)

Let me back up just a little. When I first began to read the potty training book I had a mini panic attack! Just the thought of it made my heart pound, I got sick to my stomach and I began to sweat. I got that nervous jitter you get in your tummy before speaking in front of a crowd (for some people) It was weird! I was scared to death of potty training! I think part of it was because a little reality was setting in. They are growing so fast! In a strange way I will miss diaper days. Somehow in my mind this is a way to hold on to babyhood!

So here it is, all our supplies. Not really a fan of the pull-ups. I think diapers or no diaper. No in between. But, I bought them just in case...

For a few weeks prior to beginning the training, I taught her how to pull up and down her pants on her own, she went to the bathroom with me while I explained things, learned to flush the toilet and said bye to the peep! Which she loves to do :) taught her the difference between wet and dry, made her practice listening to instructions and following through which she was already pretty good at, when she feels like it. She is a two year old! Anyway, I feel like I did everything I could in advance to prepare. So, this picture above is on the first day (and supposedly the only day???) of training. This is when we taught the baby doll to peep in the potty. Makes sense, I always learn more by teaching. She was real into that! She loves baby dolls.

Then we ate salty snacks to promote drinking, which will promote peeing!! :) We needed to make training opportunities. She drank and drank. We talked all about potties and potty training and how she will be a big girl! And that daddy, grandma, grandpa, Elmo, and Clifford (etc..) will be so proud!

Then, it was time for our first try. She sat and sat. OR I should say wiggled and wiggled and WIGGLED around on the potty. Nothing happened. Many tries and nothing ever happened. I could tell she even needed to go. She just would not relax. This was a PROBLEM. The book failed to mention anything about your child's inability to sit still! Maddie definitely has trouble sitting still and concentrating. Have you ever seen this girl at church? Lol! Well, that day she was watching a DVD for kids about potty training. (btw, I know they are not supposed to watch TV or have any distractions during training according to the book. This was later; after the supposed 4 hours it should take. We were exhausted and needed something else to look at/ talk about. I was prepared w/ a potty DVD to stay close to the project at hand) At the end there was a part for parents. The doctor talked about one of the signs that your child is ready is their ability to sit still and concentrate. Dag nab it! I know what you are thinking, "Carrie! Duh, that's an obvious one!" But I was putting all my faith in this "In less than a day" book and I swear it did not talk about this issue. I had heard miracles come from this book! Anyway, the doctor continued to talk about like 10 more readiness signs, she shows them all. I was a little discouraged, but decided to continue what I had started.

Uh-oh! Maddie peed in her chair!

Now she's upset at the camera in her face. Can ya blame her? Actually she caught on to the "gotta keep my pants dry" thing fast. I never got angry (of course) or yelled at her. She just disliked the feeling of being wet and knew that I would be disappointed. It was hard first day, and a hard second day. She would not, did not pee in the potty AT ALL! She kept her pants dry for long periods of time but would not go on the potty. She would wet her pants with in minutes of me taking her off usually. She just would not relax on the potty.

So, a funny thing happened at the end of the second day. I was giving the kids a bath and all the sudden Dylan says, "Momma, I poop in the potty." I was like. "say what?" He asked again and seemed to mean it. I was surprised because I had not even talked to Dylan about any potty "stuff". In fact, Preston and Dylan left for half the day while I was training Maddie at first. So I sat him on there and he peed and peed and peed a river!

Then he peed some more! I was so excited and celebrating like we had just won the lottery!! I had been trying to get Madelyn to squeeze out even just a drop for two days and here he was just freely flowing!!! I went to get him off and he said , "No, poop." So, I was like ok, whatever you say. Then, that little tyke began pushing and...there ya go! He peed and pooped! With no prompting on my part. His idea!!

He was SO EXCITED and you could just tell how proud of himself he was! I kept looking at Maddie in the tub. I wanted her to notice the HUGE CELEBRATION that was going on here. She could have cared less. Well, it looked as though I'd be training two kids at once. I was ok with that, since this one was showing a little more promise! :) Since it was the end of the day and bedtime, we decided to start first thing in the morning.

We went through the whole plan. He loved feeding the baby and making her pee. But that was about the end of it. :( He showed no interest in going near that toilet. In fact, he showed GREAT dislike for going potty like a big boy. He wanted nothing to do with sitting on the potty the way he had the night before. What had gone wrong here? He peed in his pants and thought it was funny and cared less about it. Hmmmm. Not ready. I did not want to force him into it. I think if I did, we would actually set him back. So it was just a fluke before. But that was ok, he can be my baby boy longer! That was the original plan anyway :)

So, this is the beginning of day FOUR! Pee Pee in the potty FINALLY!!! She had dry pants for two mornings in a row! Which NEVER happens. She's always quite wet in the mornings. I knew something must be going on here... as in somethings clicking. I did not/ do not expect her to stay dry at night. That is not usually even mastered until age 4 and sometimes 5 and beyond. But, I knew it was a sign that our persistence was working. In this picture the flood gates are finally opening! HOORAY! BIG Celebration and a treat for Maddie! At last!! After that, she kept dry for two days straight and continued to pee in the potty :) We have had accidents here and there but nothing like those first few days. Sometimes they are my fault though! Like the one that happened while she was strapped into her chair and I was getting ready for church. I was flying solo that morning. If her daddy would not have been to work he could have helped her out with that. Dang it. Accidents will continue to happen. Btw, when do you consider your kid to be fully potty trained? Maddie and me still have work to do. She won't even do number two in the potty yet! Yikes! Any tips on that? Sorry, TMI?

Sometimes we like to sit on the big potty with Elmo and look at a book. She obviously prefers her little froggy potty though. That's where she does all her peeing :) For whatever reason she feels more comfortable there. I originally was NOT going to get a training potty. I did not want to clean that up, and how unsanitary right? Well, not really, it has not been too bad at all, No biggie.

Going potty at grandma's. Funny how this less intelligent furry friend next to her was potty trained faster! Maddie's still a work in progress. I was pretty hard on myself about the "toilet training in less than a day" thing not exactly panning out at first. But you know, every kid is different. If it takes her a month to potty train I would not trade her for anything! Preston was sure I did something wrong. Thanks a lot! But I think how could there be a method that works for all kids across the board? I don't care what their study said, Maddie was not in it! :) (for anyone who's read it, yes, I did the 10 practice sessions for every accident, and she cleaned up the mess herself-with a bit of mommy's help. She is two! :) I feel as though I did it all just how you are supposed to.

Dylan "pretending" or should I say pee-tending? {I dumb ;P haha} in the background. Don't let this fool ya, he's really not the least bit interested. You can lead a horse to water....

With lots of hugs and support me and Maddie will get through this! Lol!

Moments like this always end all too soon. He was actually hugging her while she was on the potty. But I was not quick enough w/ the camera.

Luckily the huggin continued a few seconds longer :)

Too Cute!

So, that was a novel! I apologize. I think it would be interesting to read something like this that my mother wrote about me and my potty training experience. I am thinking after seven kids she probably does not remember. Hopefully I will follow through with this whole plan of printing out my blog to use as a family history. Does anyone know how to do that? I have not looked into it, I just know it is possible to print it out in a book form. Let me know what you know about that, or potty training for that matter! ;)

Tagged: 6th photo: A boy and his toy...someday.

So, I was tagged a few weeks ago by my friend Christy. It took me a little too long to git er done, but here it is. You are supposed to post the 6th photo in your 6th folder from your computer. Which got me to thinking, I REALLY need to get these burned to disks! I used to keep up on that so well.

What has happened here?


This picture is from April 28th of last year. We took the kids out on a 4 wheeler ride for Preston's birthday. This was not right on his birthday, because I believe he had to work that day. But when we were finally able to celebrate, this is all he wanted to do. Preston's FAVORITE thing in the world is riding 4 wheelers. Except spending time with his family of course,

so why not combine the two right?

Dylan looks like a lil stud muffin in this picture, I think! He's such a cool little dude. That boy LOVES 4 wheelers as much as his daddy I am afraid. And trust me, I am not saying "I am afraid" as a figure of speech, I am saying: I am afraid! If he sees one while riding in the car being towed by a truck he freaks out, if he sees one diving by our house or people riding in the church parkig lot, he freaks out! If he hears the little backyard neighbor kid riding his in his backyard he freaks out! If he hears anything that remotely sounds like a 4 wheeler he runs to where he thinks the sound is coming from and wants to be apart of it! Preston took him to a 4 wheeler shop that sells kid ones. He had to sit on EVERY SINGLE ONE and then freaked out because it was time to leave. If his feet could touch the floor boards I am not sure if they would not have walked out with one that day! His little electric Fisher Price power wheels is just not cutting it, he wants the real thing! See, I am afraid!

FiRsT dAy Of SpRiNg!

Today is the official first day of SpRiNg!

Let's celebrate!

I have been counting down for a while now.

Got the garden tilled and I am ready to go!

How 'bout you?

It's time to wake up and spring back into action. The world around us is coming to life again and now is the time to renew, recharge and freshen up the world around us. Spotting a hummingbird, watching bees land on flowers, rearing tadpoles into frogs, playing outside and spring cleaning!

Lookie here! My bulbs are about to be BLOOMIN! :)

Spring comes in between the 19th to the 23rd of March and at different times. It changes on a yearly basis because the first official day of spring is the (Spring) Vernal EQUINOX. This is when the sun is directly above the equator. It rises due East and sets due West and does not do so on the exact same day every year since the calendar is not exactly 365 precise days every single year. In 2009, spring will arrive on March 20th, as stated above and the sun will be above the equator, crossing to the northern hemisphere at 11:47pm (ish)

Click here to take the SpRiNg quiz.

Craft-a-Roo

A few weeks ago I made these paper mache letters for my kids' bedroom doors. You may remember the JOY letters I made at Christmas time. They inspired me for this project. On my kids' bedroom doors they used to have these deflated mylar balloons from when they were born. An "It's a boy!" one and an "It's a girl!" one respectively. I never planned on them staying on there for 2 years! Maybe a few weeks. So it was good to get these done. Much cuter, and age appropriate :)

For Dylan...

For Madelyn!

Would you like to make some too? Here's how I did it.(As taught to me by my sister Lindy when we did our JOY's.)

First you paint your letters. They are going to be covered in cute paper of your liking. But paint them a coordinating color because the sides will show. With my JOY ones, we did not paint them. The cardboard look/color is cute too. Just depends on the desired outcome.

Then you are going to trace and cut the paper to fit your letter. Remember to trace on the paper w/ the paper upside down so that it will match up. Since the letters are not perfectly symmetrical, even when doing an "O" or an "M". The paper I chose is double sided. So, this picture shows a pattern on the side being traced. This trace and cut will actually be for the blue polka dot part. I hope this makes sense. I did not know how to explain. Often times you will have to trim a little here and there to get a good fit after you have initially cut it out.

So, after you have your paper cut out and trimmed to fit, you are going to glue it on. MOD PODGE is wonderful for this. Just use a small foam brush and get the glue all over the back.

This part is optional. I like to antique the edges (and even the surface a bit). Either using antiquing gel or a stamp pad. Just use a sponge and dab and streak it on. I used the stamp pad this time. I used the gel in the past. With the gel, just remember to wipe off the excess and it will look great.

Then, MOD PODGE over the ENTIRE letter. Front, back, sides. I like the glossy as opposed to matte. I did not have any on hand. So, I took an extra step after I MOD PODGED all over and coated it with a lovely shiny glossy varnish. That step is NOT necessary if you have glossy MOD PODGE :) Note to self: plan ahead. Note to self: good that you used the glossy varnish you already had on hand. Lol! MOD PODGE goes on white and dries CLEAR. Love that stuff.

This is the fun part. Gather any ribbon, buttons, glitter, jewels, charms, flowers, brads, eyelets, etc.! That you have. Embellish away! I should have taken the picture later. This is the stuff I started with. I had three times as much stuff pulled out by the time I was done!
What a mess maker I am.

Viola! Finished projects. I embellished a little on the light side. I think I like things a bit simpler. You can go crazy with it and it will still look SO cute! I took these pictures weeks ago, Maddie's actually got some more bling added. I put tiny red jewels in the center of the flowers where there is a red dot. And I added three jewels going down the right side of the top of the "M". Fun and easy! I then attached them to their doors using the 3M Command adhesive strips for hanging pictures and crafts. Oh my! I LOVE these things!! You know how Oprah has her "favorite things?" These are among the top of my favorite things list! No holes in your walls! Comes off clean and holds tight. Wonderful! I should work for them or do a commercial. Haha!

Choose Adoption...

I saw these stories on Fox 13 News today and Just wanted to share them. I am not a huge news watcher and always make fun of Preston for wanting to watch hours of news. I usually call him "grandpa" when he does this! I am however, a huge fan of Dateline, 20/20, 48 hours. Just not your local news. Can't explain it, don't know why...? I do like Big Budah in the mornings, but still rarely ever watch it. I am usually watching Reading Rainbow and Clifford the Big Red Dog! :) Plus, my kids don't get up until 8:30, so I be lazy and wait till then to get up as well. :( or :) however you want to look at it.

These stories are less than 4 minutes combined, so they won't take too much time if interested.

So, I am sad the Choose Adoption Plate did not pass. I would have SO wanted that one. But, a Choose life one is great also.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you ARE a REAL person upon conception. That's my view anyway. Always has been always will be. Of course a fetus can feel pain. And fear. And love. And rejection. As a mother who has two adopted children (you have heard me say 100 times I never think of them that way, they are mine-period. I will NEVER forget that they are adopted, but yet, I always forget.) I know my views on this subject are passionate. I am EXTREMELY grateful for the blessing of adoption. These children are perfect and beautiful. Their birth moms were brave and selfless. I can not even try to think of what this world or my life would be without them. No one else is like them, no on ever will be. Abortion would have taken life from them and from me. They are my life. I promise I am a well rounded person, but you know what I mean. There is nothing more important to a mother than her kids.

I saw this video on You tube a few weeks ago, I thought it went well with this post.

I know that the decision to place a child for adoption is not an easy one. It is probably the toughest decision and toughest thing to do that the girl or boy will ever have to face. I would never judge a mother who decided to keep her baby. I realize it is not something that every potential birth mom would choose. I think that education about choices is the big key here! LDS Family Services is big on education and letting the birth parents make their own decision. That is a wonderful thing. The only way to do it. (abortion NOT being one of the choices, of course)

2007 abortion statistics:

There are about 3,700, every DAY in the US. That equates to 1.37 MILLION per YEAR. Worldwide, there are approximately 46 MILLION per YEAR.
Only 1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest. 6% occurs because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child. 93% of all abortions, performed in the US, are for social reasons.

Just think of what 46 million could do for the adoption world! Does it bug anyone else that the words abortion and adoption so closely resemble one another?

Freeze Dance. No Hammer, No Ice.

So, some of you may be wondering if I went to that MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice concert. ? The answer is no. :( I only found out about it five days prior and did not make the necessary plans in order to attend. I did try and win tickets from Good Things Utah. I decided if I won the tickets I would make it work. Anyhow, my husband worked that night and I was not sure who I would have taken. I STILL however, spent the night dancing with some of my favorite peeps. My nieces: EmmaLee and Elizabeth, My nephew: Derek, and Dylan and Maddie.

My sister and her husband went out to dinner to use a gift certificate that was about to expire and I watched their kids. I wanted to do something fun, so I decided to play some freeze dance.

Freeze dance, of course, is when you dance (real funky I might add) and when the music stops you freeze.

My little Dylan loves to dance. His moves are awesome. He learned them form me of course! Good thing kids are not judgemental about dance moves! We all had FUN!