One of Those Days

Today we are all home-bound because Ethan is sick (running a fever, coughing, throwing up, etc), Cambria acts like she is coming down with it and it's raining outside. Lucky for Trevor a friend of ours invited him to come play at the NW Kid's Club with her kids. We probably won't be leaving home for a few days. :) Since I'm home I decided that I may as well get a few things done. So far the laundry is almost done, the bathroom has been cleaned, and I've gone through some piles that have been driving me crazy. A reason to be positive...right?

Here's a little potty training up-date: there is no change. Cambria is very sweetly refusing to go potty on her own and until she decides she wants to, my hands are tied. I thought my will would win over hers but after 8 days with no improvements I give in (at least for now and until everyone is better again). AND, she WANTS to wear diapers! I don't understand... I just have to keep telling myself that see is not going to start Kindergarten in diapers. Eventually she will go to the bathroom on her own. {sigh}

Even though things are on the down hill right now, we had a really fun weekend. We were able to drive down to Medford for Katie's (my cousin) baby blessing. We have lots of family down there and it was great to see everyone. Grace Elizabeth is an adorable baby and Ethan was a horrible traveler. Life contiues on and the kids continue to grow...funny how that works!

Potty Training...Yuck!

I've decided that it's time to get Cambria potty trained and it's so not going well. I thought after Trevor that the others would seem easy...so NOT true! She is as bad as he was! I'm starting to think that it's me...that I'm not taking the right approach. But seriously! How hard can it be to get a kid to pee in the pot! For the last few days we've been talking up going potty like a big girl and watching movies about it and reading books about it. She was all excited especially because I told her when she puts pee-pee in the potty she gets jelly bellies (her favorite candy in the whole world). We started Monday...zero success and I was cleaning the carpets where she had her accidents. I was expecting that. Then yesterday, we practiced ALOT and after I had her sit on the potty reading books and singing songs for almost 45 minutes, she got up ready to be done and peed on the floor less than five minuts later about 5 feet from the potty! We haven't had one success and I'm wondering if maybe she WON'T go in the potty. Not that she can't...that she won't for whatever reason. I think I'm going to try for a few more days and if she still won't then I'm going to wait for a few more months. {sigh} I think potty training is on the very bottom of the what I like to do list. Does anyone have any miracle ideas that worked for your kids? I'm VERY open to suggestions!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Hard to believe that it's already here...Ethan is 1 year old! He is a tough little guy who knows how to make his unhappiness or displeasure known by screaming at the top of his lungs and it is LOUD! Here are a few things about him at 1:
- He doesn't crawl...he scoots on his bum everywhere he goes.
- He can pull himself up and stand as long as he has something to hold on to (couch, chair, etc).
- He loves music and will stop and listen whenever something or someone is playing.
- Loves his blue, soft, blankie and will not sleep without it.
- Won't let a stranger hold him willingly...he's a mama's boy!
- Hates baby food but doesn't have a single tooth yet (he gags on every bite of baby food).
- Follows Trevor and Cambria around the house, hoping they will let him play too. (Usually they don't)
- Is Healthy, Happy, a good sleeper, and we are so glad he's a part of our family!

Here are some pictures of our party we had for him:


He didn't love his birthday cake...in fact he didn't like it at all! He didn't like the way it felt on his hands and he didn't know how to get it off so he just kept grunting and growling. He did let me feed him though... He didn't get as messy as I thought he would.

Happy Birthday buddy!

Blessings

On our way home from church today I was asking Trevor and Cambria about what they learned and what they did in their classes. Cambria kept saying "Do As I'm Doing"...that's what she learned and what she did. Trevor said, "We talked about putting your hands on my head when I'm sick for a blessing. It's so my head will remember to NOT get sick." I laughed quietly to myself all the way home.
Trevor, Cambria, and Ethan are three of the greatest blessings I have (since we're on the topic of blessings...). They are so pure, innnocent, and teachable at this age and sometimes I worry that I don't take advantage of that enough. Every day I laugh at something funny one of them does or says and I wonder why it's so easy for me to forget t that this is precious time that will be gone before I know it. Sure they require much of my attention, and yes they make messes that I have to clean up and it's my job to dress, feed, clean, and groom them, but hey! Soon enough they won't want to sit on my lap anymore or spend time with me because I'm "embarrassing" them (hopefully it won't be that bad). So my motto for right now and the near future is ENJOY THE MOMENT--it won't last forever. Littles are lots of work, but just maybe the rewards will be much more than we think!

Anniversary

When I look back over our married life, six years is not very long at all. It's amazing to me, though, that we've managed three kids and two major moves to two states in six years...that makes it seem a little longer than it is. I really have a great guy for a husband...Tyler is such the perfect match for me and sometimes I forget that. Maybe that's why we make such a big deal out of anniversaries...so we can remember what a good thing we have and cherish it. I love him so much and feel so blessed that he wanted me to be his wife. He's the calm in the storms of my life and the rock that never moves. He's funny, talented, smart, and just totally amazing, period.
To celebrate, we are going to see "Wicked" up in Portland in a few weeks and I'm SO EXCITED that I get to spend the whole evening with him and that I get to see a show that I LOVE! (I talk about Wicked a lot and he's glad he'll finally know what I'm talking about). I'm sure that he would much rather go to a Blazer game or something like that, but he agreed that going to Wicked would be fun. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Discipline

Does anyone have any good strategies for helping a sweet but sometimes stinker of a two year old not hit? Cambria has turned into the "terrible twos monster" who hits Trevor on a regular basis and knocks poor Ethan over just because she feels like it. I've started time-out for two minutes in the corner for her but she doesn't really seem to care. (Trevor sure likes it though...he's so glad it's not him in trouble that he looks at her and just smiles while she's serving her time.) She's also started doing this thing where she just totally ignores me (and I know she can hear and understand) when I ask her to please do something or not to do something. She is still our sweet child but I think she's practicing her autonomy and it's making me crazy. So, now I have Trevor with a very indepenant personality and a one track mind, Cambria who makes the other two cry just because, and Ethan who scoots around on his bum everywhere he's not supposed to go, cleaning out anything he can open up and get into. Fun for me...{sigh}. It's just a good thing that they are so darn cute!

Happy Love Day!

Happy Valentines' Day! At our house we have been looking forward to this day all week. Cambria has been saying "Happy Valentines' Mom!" multiple times a day since Monday. Since Tyler had to be out of town this weekend, I decided we would do lots of fun kids kinds of stuff to celebrate this day. We were going to start the day with heart pancakes but then I discovered that we were mostly out of pancake mix. So instead we had scrambled eggs and bacon with juice. Then we made kids valentine cars...

The finished product...lots of fun to make and very easy!

After the cars were finished we went out and delivered them to Trevor and Cambria's friends in the neighborhood and in our ward. Trevor had so much fun giving them out he danced to each door and shoved the car into the faces of his surprised friends and shouted "Here, this is for you! I made it!" Then I had to remind him to say Happy Valentines' Day. As a mom it's very fun to watch the whole social interaction thing when the kids are 4 and 5 years old. It's awkward but they don't care one bit!
Trevor and I just finished building his new lego helicopter he got from Nana for Vday and is very excited...maybe now is the time to get some dishes and house cleaning done! Hope you all had a happy filled love day!