Mission Accomplished

I would dare say we have one potty-trained little boy, and I have to admit it was pretty dang easy!! He was EXTREMELY against the whole idea until the first time he actually did it and once he did there was no going back!! He was so proud of himself and we have maybe had three accidents in the last two or three weeks. He's even got the pooping thing down as well. We still get him up a few times in the night for fear he won't wake up on his own, but other than that we are diaper free around here, for a few more months anyway.  

He's been pretty funny about the whole process. For the first couple days every time he went he would jump off his stool and yell "Woot, Woot" with his arms in the air. He picked up on the standing up thing pretty quick and one time when he was finished he said, "Look Mom, I just peed bubbles!"  

Barely being able to clear the toilet means his aim leaves much to be desired. It's a whole different experience with a boy, but I'm not complaining. I am just so grateful it's done. It's been a goal we've had for quite sometime and I just so glad we've finally accomplished it. 

Here's the mandatory potty picture he'll hate me for when he older!!

Night

Grandma and Grandpa Felix gave Jase a really fun new book for Christmas called The Tickle Monster and it has become one of our more favorite books. There's hardly a night that goes by that this book doesn't get slipped into our nightly routine somewhere.  It's definitely highly recommended!

Our Favorite Past Time

Without a doubt our favorite go to activity is a picnic at the park. I love it because it's free, it's close and it's entertianing. The kids love it because they love anything to do with a picnic, they love to play outside and it's always a good time. We took advantage of a no school day and surprising found a vacant park considering the city has been taken over by the soccer tournament players for the weekend. 

 Have you noticed I can't get a decent smile out of Jase when I am taking his picture? I don't know what it is about being asked to smile, but he just can't quite get it. I have to get him laughing or in a candid shot to get his real smile. 

 Kylie on the other hand has no problems at all. The girl would pose for the camera all day long!!

Shoes

From the very beginning Kylie has been obsessed with shoes, whether is was playing with our shoes or picking out and wearing her own.  She has had her eye on a pair of Twinkle Toes for quite awhile now and it wasn't until Grandma and Grandpa Hansen caught a glimpse of them that her luck changed and for Christmas they surprised her with a pair. She has loved them and I have never heard of anyone getting so many compliments as she gets when she wears them...if only she could tie them herself I think I would love them as much as she does!

Work

"The GREATEST work you will ever do will be within the walls of your HOME" 

-Harold B Lee

Something I Hate To Do

I hate to unload the dishwasher. I don't mind doing the dishes after a meal and loading that sucker up, but I hate when the dishes are actually cleaned and I have to unload it. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who doesn't seem to mind or he is just very nice not to complain when he comes home from work and immediately heads to the dishwasher knowing it needs to be unloaded and does it for me.

It Does a Body Good

 I grew up in a house where we would go through at least a gallon a milk a day and had anywhere from 6 to 8 gallons in the fridge at any given time. I still love milk. It always sounds good and I prefer it over any other drink, but I have really tried to be better about drinking more water. I have learned that if I am good about filling up my water cup a few times a day and I drink it through a straw that I am much more likely to drink it more often and I have to admit I've grown rather fond of it. It's a good feeling to guzzle a large glass of ice cold water to quench thirst and become refreshed!

Something New

Kylie has finally mastered her new trick. She has been dying to figure out how to blow a bubble with her gum and has tried and tried and tried forever to do it. You can't imagine the look on her face when she finally got it and now she's become an old pro!

Phone

This phone was put to great use today including phone calls to dad when Jase went potty in the toilet and to call Grandma Hansen so we could wish her a Happy Birthday!

Happy V-Day

Cupid ended with a bang this morning. His last gift was a couple books and little toys for each of the kids. It was so fun playing cupid. The kids loved waking up to see what he brought each day. Most of the time it was a little candy or a note telling them of something fun they were going to do that day. I think it's something we'll try and do every year.  The only sad part is that the kids really thought it was a cupid leaving the gifts and sometimes I kinda wished they knew it was us leaving them the gifts just so we could show a little extra love to them. There was one night when Kylie was really upset with us and while she was sulking in her bed she said, "No one in this family loves me, except Cupid!" Maybe next year Mom and Dad will fill their mailboxes. 

I had a chance to help in Kylie's class with her Valentine's party which I love to do. It's so fun to watch her in her little school environment with her friends and teacher. The best news Kylie has got in a long time is when her teacher told her she is building a house across from us. She came home so excited and it's all she talked about for the rest of that day.

We definitely had a day full of goodies. I got a few fun surprises through out the day including something from my sweet young women and of course the hubby didn't disappoint. I love a day that helps us really focus on the ones we love and gives us a chance to go the extra mile.

Around the House

 Nothing exciting here, although as I look at this picture I notice that black, white and grey take up half of my closet. I wonder what that says about me.

 About a month ago my parents came up to visit on their way to Salt Lake for the weekend and they graciously accepted the task of helping me paint Kylie and Jase's rooms, which I appreciate SO much!! I have been putting off taking pictures and writing about it because I haven't done much to decorate past the painting. Poor Jase's room looks so blah, but I love his blue wall. It's definitely an improvement over the bright pink although I loved it for Kylie. Jase also loves the blue. I think he mentions it every time we walk in the room. Really, if he had his way he would have chosen green, but I think he is just glad for the change.  Hopefully soon I can spruce it up a bit.

 I absolutely love the color of Kylie's room. I toyed back and forth whether or not I should paint her whole room this color. I was sure if it would be too overpowering. We decided to just paint half of it, but I think now I wouldn't mind doing the other two walls.  Her room also lacks some serious decorating! We've just put up the decor from her room before which I love the pink with the greenish walls, but of course it definitely needs more. I have mentioned before how much I love home decor, but I just wish I had a better knack for it. Hopefully I can come up with a plan and finish these rooms off and then move on to the nursery. 

Playing Catch-up

It's been a crazy busy few days around here. We had a ward Valentine's  dinner party on Friday night that doubled as our Young Women Fundraiser this year and my advisor and I were responsible for all the food and decorations. It was a huge undertaking, but I think everything turned out great. We had awesome support from our ward and earned the money we needed for camp. It feels really good to finally have it done, and as soon as New Beginnings is over with in a couple weeks (which I am also in charge of) we will be sitting pretty for awhile...I hope!

On Saturday, I finally felt like I could relax a little bit so with a prompting from Cupid we headed to the park for lunch. It was such a beautiful day!! The temps were perfect and it made me anxious for more of this warm weather. Life is good, even in the craziest, busiest, sleepless night moments when I'm a huge stress case, I can't help but notice the things that truly make me happy and I could't be more grateful for them.

Sun

The sun has been amazing the last week or so. We've enjoyed the park and pulled out last year's flip-flops. The morning and evenings are still pretty chilly, but during the afternoon when the kids want to play it's perfect. I hope we're not just getting teased, but for someone who hates the cold I could get used to 60s in February.

Buttons

This photo is courtesy of Jase. More often than not, when I go to upload photos from my camera there are at least 5 or 6 pictures taken by my kids. Jase has been specially obsessed with my camera lately and he's taken some pretty funny ones. Most of them are of his mouth or the TV or any other object in his close vicinity.  Most are a blurry mess, but every once in awhile I get a gem or two...kinda how my pictures turn our most of the time too!

This is Sad, but True...

We keep it simple,VERY simple around here!

By the way, I missed Day 5. The prompt was 10 am and we were still in church and I forgot, but my sister's was cute. Check her's out and you can read about her morp date too!

The Weekend

Our weekend was spent driving up north, seeing family on both mine and Jeremy's side, participating in Jeremy's nephew's baby blessing, playing in a tree house, climbing on a stranger, building forts, sorta watching the Superbowl, eating delicious food, experiencing a frosted over car for the first time (the kids, not Jeremy or me) and then driving back home...sound fun? It was!!! Here's proof...

 Zack was the man of the hour. He was blessed by his dad who is Jeremy's little brother...oh yeah, and he's only two months old!

Busy Hands

This morning the kids woke up to stickers and the supplies to make Froot Loop necklaces from good ol' Cupid, so when Kylie got home from school we spent some time making them. Kylie loved the idea of edible jewelry and Jase just loved having the convenience of cereal around his neck.  

They were a hit, the only problem Cupid didn't think about first was crumbly cereal that didn't quite make into little mouths strung all throughout the house. Good thing we own a vacuum!

By the way, Kylie is dressed in her pajamas because her class worked really hard for a popcorn party and they finally earned it so she got to wear her pajamas and have a little party today... Kindergarten is the best!!

Words

Ever since both of my kids were really little they have loved telling us secrets. Kylie would always tell us she had a secret and then whisper "pssssssst" for a really long time in our ears. Sometimes she would really have something to tell us, but say it so quiet we couldn't hear what she was saying.  Jase is just about the opposite. He comes up to us and tells us he has a secret and then talks in our ear in his normal voice.

Usually the secrets are about nothing, but for some reason I think they are special and I love being the lucky recipient of them. Someday these kids will grow up to be teenagers and I'm afraid it will take all I have to get them to tell me anything so I am soaking up everything I can get out them now!

Cupid's Mailbox & Photo-A-Day

For me, January is kinda blah. I don't know if it's because we're coming down from the highs of the holidays or if it's because I am anxious for warm weather, but whatever it is I just know that I really look forward to February. I have high hopes of warmer weather and of course this year each month checked off the calendar means one month closer to meeting our baby girl.  

I also knew I wanted to do something fun to celebrate the month of February and Valentine's with the kids and I was excited to get it going.  I recruited "Cupid" for help and when Kylie and Jase came down for breakfast this morning much to their surprise they found two mailboxes and a note. The note told them that if they would decorate the boxes and each day show love to those around them, then he would leave them a treat or prize every night until Valentines. They of course thought that was awesome and we spend a good part of the afternoon decorating them up.

The finished products turned out great with each of their own personal touches. They were excited to leave them out and can't wait to see what Cupid has in store for them. 

My little sister Lexie and I thought it would be fun to take on a photo challenge I read about on one of most favorite blogs House of Smiths. Certainly not because I have an awesome camera and any amazing photography skills, but just because we thought it would be fun. I feel like I have been kind of in a blogging funk lately and I have hardly picked up my camera so I am hoping this helps me snap out of it. Plus I think it will fun to see what Lexie and I come up with as we each interpret the daily prompts listed for us in our own way.

This is often my view. One of the kids' favorite things to do is have a picnic, so some days when the weather isn't permitting for one outside or we don't have a lot of time, we have one in the family room. Today was especially fun because I let them finish watching their show while we ate.