I am MOM...Hear Me ROAR!!!

 I promise this will be the last you will hear about my potty training adventures!!

I have always thought it was so dumb when friends and family would put pictures of their little potty training 2, 3 and sometimes 4 year olds on their blog.  After all, who really wants to see a kid sitting on the pot or in his/her under ware.  Now here I am, day after day blogging about my 2 year old pooping in the potty.  What is happening to me?  What has my life come to?  One word I guess...POOP!  I will try to make this the last post on this gross topic but do keep in mind, this is my blog and I want to record the day to day events so that one day down the road when my teenagers are in therapy blaming me for all their issues, I can whip out my little boring blog and show them how dedicated I really was to them. I need proof that we did do some fun things! Maybe when my teenagers send ME to therapy I can read back on these crazy times and realize they weren't so crazy after all. Heck if I can make it through potty training, I should be able to make it through other tough issues right?   Here we go:

After 2 loooong agonizing weeks you're not gonna believe what happened this morning.  I was talking with the Cox Cable guy about why our phones and Internet have not been working the past 2 days, and I was not paying the least bit of attention to the potty trainee.  All of a sudden I hear Ledger saying, "I go stinkies in the potty!!" "Look Mom, I go stinky poop in the potty YEA!" Just like it was no big deal, there it was, on his own without my help!  I seriously almost cried...right in front of the Cox Cable man!  Following this little turkey around the house for 2 weeks might actually be paying off!  We did the potty dance, hugged, kissed and called Sugar to tell her the good news.  Now I will continue to watch and hope that this little man is ready to keep using the potty all on his own.  Keep your fingers crossed for us...for ME!!  The End!!

FYI:   I finally shaved my legs and I smell lovely with my deodorant on.  ROOOOOOAR!

Bike Safety

Have I mentioned how much I love Case's preschool teachers?  They are so kind and wonderful! This month they have been learning about bicycle safety.  Today they had a Trike-A-Thon to raise money for St. Jude Hospital and to demonstrate all the skills they have learned.  Case took his awesome bike and helmet and showed me just how smart he is on his bike!! It was great fun for this bike loving kid and his tag along little brother.  Way to go speed racer Caser!!

Case was the only preschooler today that rode a bike without training wheels! He is super!!

His medal for finishing the bike safety course.

Jefferson, Case and tag along Ledger who thinks he's just part of the group.  He does have his preschool shirt on, I guess that makes him a little part of the group!

A Bumbo and a Dumbo!!

I'm the Dumbo for not getting one of these little Bumbo's (in pink or course!) sooner.  Miss B. loves hanging out in it while I'm cooking, eating, or helping someone else.  Hooray for the Bumbo...and the saucer...and the bouncy chair...and the play mat!!  Does anyone else think Miss B. is starting to look like my Mom?  Hey! Maybe that means she will look like ME!  Wouldn't that be weird?

Berkley 5 months

Waiting Game

Potty training is the worst thing ever!  It is truly one of the most frustrating things about being a mom.  For the past week I have done nothing more then follow a little potty training 2 year old around the house waiting for him to poop.  Seriously!!  Guess what happens the very second I turn my back to help Miss B. ...POOP!  Not on the potty though.  Poop on the grass, poop on the pavers, poop in the new Mickey Mouse under ware.  It's disgusting and awful.  You would think it would be pee all over the place, but it's not.  In fact, it's been almost one week since this whole adventure began and only one pee pee accident.  It's weird!!  I'm not giving up though, I will fight, and I will WIN!!  So now I sit on the potty (seat is down) and blog while I wait...and wait...and wait....

Ledger needed his Mickey Mouse "puter" to keep him occupied while he waited!

I'm Baaaack!

Being without the Internet STINKS!  It has been 1 week since we switched Internet carriers.  During that time I was completely shut off from society.  I have not been able to blog, check email, or see what's going on in the news.  It's been awful!  But I'm back and ready to blog stalk all of my friends and family.  So much has happened this past week.  Let's start with Brody's first grade program last week.  It was called The Unity Tree.  Being that I taught 1st grade, I have strong opinions about what goes on in Brody's class.  Enough said,  don't want to hurt any one's feelings or start a riot!!

Brody was a cat in the program.  He did a super job.  

How do you like his whiskers and nose?  The teacher had me paint the kids faces with REAL paint.  I'm glad it's not my day job!

Brody and Jackson performing The Unity Tree.

Valentine's Day was perfect this year.  First we went to church.  I was in charge of sharing time which was fun.  After church, Jeremy the kids and I headed to the grocery store where they got steaks and potatoes for our Valentine's dinner.  They all gave me flowers that they picked out.  It was wonderful.  We ate dinner outside and played Valentine's Bingo.  It was perfect!

Look at these LOOONG stemmed roses my boys got me.  They were taller then them.  Ledger is missing from the picture because he was throwing a fit so we made him go to his room.

I wasn't able to get any pictures of Miss B. in her cute handmade Valentines Day skirt and shirt. She looked adorable in her red leg warmers, red onesie and vintage skirt.  Here is a funny picture of  her and Case.  He loves to hold her while standing.  I can't tell if she likes it or not?  She looks a little frightened!

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly!!

The Good!

This little cutie is 5 months old today!  She is the happiest little thing ever! She is super wiggly and busy for a little girl.  She loves when I hold her facing me and bounce her up and down.  She giggles and squeals in delight.  It's awesome!! She loves being talked to.  Yesterday at the grocery store she was getting a little fussy and the sweet woman in line behind me talked to her for a good 10 minutes while I unloaded my groceries on the checkout thingy.  She smiled and talked right back.  It's hilarious!!  She can spit up better then any baby boy I've raised.  It's disgusting and stinky!  She smiles through the whole thing which means changing her formula is unnecessary.  I will just have to live with it and smell like baby throw up for the next 7 months or so.  She has decided that sucking her thumb is comforting and exciting.  It's actually really cute that she has figured out her own way to comfort herself.  She loves to lay on her tummy and kick her legs.  Maybe she will be a swimmer like her Dad.  It scares me to think she will be crawling soon.  She is ready to be movin and groovin like her big brothers.  Me on the other hand...not so much! Berkley is a great sleeper.  She takes huge 2 hour naps all day long and still sleeps through the night (7:00 pm-6:30 am) Miss B. eats every 3 hours and is still at about 5 ounces each feeding.  Rice cereal is coming soon, we'll see how that goes. She continues to be the love of every one in this family.  She is happy, healthy, and way too cute!  We love her tons!!

The Bad!

We started potty training Ledger on Tuesday.  I seriously HATE potty training.  I think kids in diapers are way easier then potty trained kids.  Think about it.  They mess their diaper, you change them.  Easy peasy!  When they are potty training, you have to watch them every second of the day in hopes they don't sneak out of sight and mess their pants.  And when they do...GROSS!! It's messy and gross!  Gross, gross, gross!!  Not only that, but when they do go in the potty, they can't wipe themselves which means you have to do it anyway. Public bathrooms gross me out too.  There is nothing worse then taking your 2 or 3 year old to a public bathroom where they have to sit on the toilet while having a death grip on the toilet seat because they are afraid of the automatic flusher. They touch everything in sight, their clothes usually have to be totally off to go, someone has usually stunk it up right before you walked in that stall and for some reason when a kid has to go...THEY HAVE TO GO...right NOW!!.  Am I right or am I right? I'm all for diapers.  Way easier and convenient!!  So this is weird.  Yesterday was the first day of potty training right.  Not 1 pee pee accident.  I've done this 2 times now...this is unheard of.  My other boys usually pee themselves all day long while potty training.  They can't figure it out.  Ledger on the other hand had the pee pee thing down.  It's the poop that he can't get yet.  Pretty common I remember. Did I mention how much I like kids in diapers?

I'm convinced that the best way to potty train boys is to let them pee all over the backyard.  They think this is super cool.  I mean, grown men think this is a cool concept too right?  Yesterday, Ledger peed on every bush and tree in our backyard.  He even peed on a tree at baseball practice last night.  Good times around here!!

The Ugly!!

Life with 4 cute kids is crazy!  We started baseball this week which means the fun is just getting funner (not a word...I know!!)!  Brody practices on Mondays and Wednesdays while Case has practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  To make things even more exciting, Ledger will start his practices on Saturdays!  Last week I ran out of deodorant.  I haven't been to the store to get some so for the past week I have been without.  I have smelled like I just finished my workout only I haven't worked out.  It goes pretty well with my new baby spit up perfume! Awesome! Would you believe me if I told you I can remember the last time I shaved my legs.  Let's just say it wasn't last week on Valentine's day.  A single male friend asked me one time what my husband thinks about my unshaven legs.  I laughed out loud when I told him he hasn't even noticed.  Yep folks, rubbing my smooth newly shaven legs doesn't happen anymore.  Besides, it's winter. My unshaven legs are either hidden by jeans or tights.  I will tell you, I've been warm as toast this winter!!  (Has your gag reflex kicked in at all while reading this post?)  We think Case might have asthma.  He is coughing like crazy and real wheezy.  He has an appointment with an allergist next month.  We'll see what happens.  I'm goin to buy deodorant and shave my legs this week...It's my new goal.

Not so lucky 13

My husband thinks the number 13 is a lucky number.  He was born on December 13th which is why he says it's lucky.  13 just so happens to be how much weight I need to loose in order to fit into my cute jeans and shirts again.  Not so lucky for me!  What's interesting about the whole weight thing is that I really  don't feel like I'm 13 pounds overweight.  Sure, I still have unwanted stomach fat but I did just give birth to my 4th baby.  We all know it takes more time with each pregnancy to loose the weight right? After all, it took 9 months to put on that 40 pounds, it's not gonna just fall off.  Well I'm sick of looking like I'm still preggo.  I looked all over my garage and guess what I found in the heaps of toys, tractors, bikes, trikes, boxes of teaching stuff, and junk...

It's my treadmill.  Oh treadmill...I've missed you so much! I didn't run on you while I was pregnant because my old tired body couldn't handle it!  But I'm back and ready to get in shape.  Can you help me? 

Breakfast in Bed

It has been tradition in our house to have breakfast in bed on your birthday.  Since Brody went to Payson to get snow with Jeremy on his birthday, we had to celebrate the day after. He requested his usual pancake with orange julius.  He loved eating in his bed ALONE!! 

Heartprints

Heart-print:  the impression left behind by a deliberate act of kindness.

A Heartprint is formed when you do something kind.  Your love touches others, leaving heartprints behind.

After reading my post last week about the book "Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch," my friend Jody asked me if I have the book Heartprints by P.K. Hallinan.  She let me borrow her copy which lead me right to Barnes and Noble to order my own (don't worry Ash, I ordered you one too!).  This book is such a good reminder of ways to be kind and show love towards others.  So for FHE last night, we read this story and discussed all the ways Jesus shows His love for us and the ways we can be like Him by showing love toward others.  We then played a fun LOVE game and had treats by the fire pit while wrapped in warm blankets.  It was a wonderful night for our family.  So....how many heartprints will you leave today?

I'm so happy last week is over...

This is why:

Monday:  Went to Costco to get things for party #1.  Ledger threw a fit on the way out cause he didn't want to leave.  "Don't Go Yet!" He screamed for 45 minutes straight in that horrible, high pitched Ledger voice.  "Why don't you want to leave Ledger?" "Why do you want to stay at Costco?" I kept asking him. "I would miss you so much if you stayed here without me." "Wouldn't you miss me?" "NOOOO!" "What are you going to do if I leave you here?" (truth be known, I wanted to leave him there and drive off into the sunset!!)  "I want to stay and eat grapes!" "Wedger (as he calles himself) wants to stay and eat grapes!" We've never eaten grapes at Costco before but hey, there's a first time for everything right? 

I was so frazzled by his 45 minute scream session while driving home that when I finally did get home, I dropped my brand new Blackberry cell phone in the toilet!  Yuck!  That's what I get for trying to avoid another bladder infection by going to the bathroom more frequently!!  I convinced my cute neighbor Madi to watch my wild turkeys for an hour so I could run to the T Mobile store and get my pee stained cell phone fixed.  Bad news, it will take 2 days to arrive and cost me $130.00  SWEET!

Tuesday:  While brushing Brody's teeth this morning, I decided I couldn't stand that wiggly front tooth any more.  Still reeling (how do you spell this anyhow?) from yesterday, I yanked that puppy right out and sent him off to school.  (not before I took this super cute picture of him!!)

I then decided I need a sitter so I could try and find an outfit for Jeremy's party. BAD IDEA!!  When you're 20 pounds overweight from having your 4th baby 4 months ago, nothing looks or feels good on you!  I was depressed the rest of the day! Took hot chocolate and rice krispy treats to the pack meeting at the park this night.  Thought it would be fun to take Brody and Case to the event since Brody will be in Scouts next year.  BAD IDEA AGAIN!!  Both Brody and Case were so naughty and out of control that I wanted to cry.  Actually I think I did cry to Jeremy when I got home.  It went something like, "Our kids are out of control!" "What are we doing wrong?"  "Why aren't we focusing on the more important things in life?" "What have we done to deserve this?" Yadda yadda yadda!! Why why why?  Still no cell phone!!

Wednesday:  Run a hundred more errands with the LOUD 2 year old and fussy 4 month old.  The Brown Man delivers my cell phone...HOORAY (He's not as cute as your Brown Man Sara!)  Now back to T Mobile to get it reprogrammed!

Thursday:  Another sitter to watch the kids so I can help Jeremy set up for Prospero 2010.  The balloon lady blew up the balloons for Brody's party instead of Jeremy's, so had to wait half the day for black, red and silver balloons instead of blue and white! I felt so bad for the poor women at the balloon store.  She popped all 36 blue and white balloons in front of me...with her ink pen...I think she was not very happy!!  The party was great but I was exhausted!  It's been so long since I've worn high heel shoes that my back and feet were killing.  I either need to get out more often or wear cute high heels around my house while being  stay at home Mom! Either one is probably gonna happen so I should just give up huh!  At least I have a cell phone! Here is what Jeremy's Prospero 2010 party looked like before the guests arrived! 

Friday:   Stay home to get ready for Brody's 7th B-day party.  Clean my house, wipe down tables and chairs, another trip to Costco (another Ledger freaking out when we have to leave), call my Mom on the way home from Costco with Ledger scrrrrreaming and ask her what the jail time would be for leaving a screaming 2 year old on the corner of Country Club and Main.  She tells me it would be very long and that after they throw me in jail, they would  take away the other 3 kids.  SHOOT!  When I get home, I cut veggies, make dip, call Mattas, unload my car from Jeremy's party the night before, oh and feed that sweet baby girl every 3 hours in between all of this chaos!!  I'm worn out! 

(and wanting to put that charming 2 year old for sale on Craig's List!)

Saturday:  Brody's 7th Birthday!  The party was exciting to say the least!! Crying kids, other kids getting chewed out, snowballs flying through my front door, kids playing with fire and long Smores sticks with points on the end... AWESOME!!  Clean up most the night and finally fall into bed around midnight!  This is the only picture I have of the party decorations.  Sugar, Chase and Taylor sure look cute!

Sunday:  Get up and get ready for church!  Laundry all  over the place, dishes piling up in the sink, toys covering the house, can't find the boys black church socks (why do they each only have 1 pair!!!) I'm super grouchy and Jeremy is exhausted and grouchy too. 15 minutes before church is to start, we call Jeremy's Sunbeam partner and tell him we are not going to make it.  We take a mental health day by catching up with our kids and the house.  Although I feel super guilty for bailing on my Primary President and First Counselor, I needed time.  Time to recover and relax.  Time to de-stress.  It made me feel better!  I'm doing better!  Happy it's over!!!

Another Painful Well Check

Heart beat sounds good!  

Doesn't my baby look huge on the scale?

Measuring from head to toe.

Last week, or the week before...I can't even remember, Miss B. had her 4 month well check up.  As you know from previous posts, I dread these appointments. While I love seeing how long she is, how much weight she has gained, and how big her noggin is, I hate hate hate those immunizations.  As expected, they juiced my sweet baby girl up with 5 shots in her chunky little thighs.  It was painful for me to hear her cry, but even more painful to think about why we are giving our little babies so many shots at one time!   I won't go on any more about how I hate immunizations so here are some exciting things from the 4 month appointment.

Weight:  13 lbs 7 oz (42%)

Height:  25.8 inches (92%)

Head Circumference: 15.9 inches (28%)

Shots given: DTaP, Hib, Prevnar, Rota Virus, and one other I can't remember!

You've Got Mail!

Last week for FHE we read a sweet story titled, "Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch."  If you haven't read this one, I highly recommend it!  I cry every time. After we talked about ways we can show love toward others, we decorated these darling mailboxes and wrote each other love letters.  We decided the letters can be signed by the person who wrote them (or colored in some cases) or left blank.  This whole week we have all been receiving letters from each other.  It is seriously fun when I see the flag on my mailbox up and realize someone loves me. Of course most of the letters are signed "sikret emier." (that would be secret admirer.) but I secretly know that since Brody is the only one who can actually write words, they are from him! What a fun way for our family to show our love for each other!  What ways do you and your family show your love?

Does anyone know a good Lawyer?

I think we're gonna need one!!

On Saturday, Brody celebrated his 7th birthday with a snow party in our front yard.  He did the same party for his 5th birthday and it was so much fun, he wanted to do it again.  The day of the party, Jeremy, Kunkle, Jeff, Craig and Jim took Brody and Case to Forrest Lakes to load up the snow.  They left at 6:00 in the morning which was a good thing since they got a flat tire in Payson.  Anyhow, Jeremy took his Bobcat along with 3 trailers to gather snow.  The boys had a blast loading the snow in the Bobcat.  This could have been the best part of the day!  

It took 4 trucks, three trailers, 1 Bobcat Tractor and 9 guys to get the snow for the party!

Thank goodness for the Bobcat!

Brody had a blast throwing snowballs while waiting for the guys to get the snow.  Case loved helping to get the snow in the Bobcat.

Since we had done this type of party before, we knew what to expect. Apparently we hadn't 

thought it out well enough because within 5 minutes of the party starting, Brody was crying saying, "This is the worst birthday party ever!" Our cousin Jacob had a black eye and large road rash type scrape down the front of his face from a snowball hitting him, Jeremy had to take away all the snowball makers because they were making such hard snowballs that everyone was getting hurt, and most every kid at the party was crying! We really know how to throw a party huh! I guess when all the kids who come to the party are 2 years older then the last time, it makes for stronger more wild kids. Since there were about 50 kids ranging from ages 4 months-18, it makes for a super out of control snowball fight!! That and the fact that since it was Brody's birthday, all the "big" kids felt it necessary to really cream him with snowballs.  He was getting pelted all over!!  Poor kid!  He eventually got over it (after Jeremy had a talk with some of those "big" kids) and the party turned out great! We had Mattas for dinner, Krispy Kreme Donuts, Ice cream, Smores, Hot Chocolate and Candy for dessert.  It was so yummy!  Brody got a new DSI and Bakagans for gifts and he was beyond thrilled!   

We got blow up snow shields for protection from flying snowballs!

Even the Dad's were getting into the action!

Everyone loved sledding down the snow hill...especially the birthday boy!!

Poor Sugar was a target every time she came out of the house!

  Case was having so much fun at the party! Berkley, Ledger and I were in the middle of the battle field at one point.  It was each man for himself at this dangerous party!

Brody LOVED having Krispy Kreme Donuts for his Birthday dessert.  
Who doesn't love making Smores when it's cold outside.  Besides the fire pit, I was able to find 8 Smores makers to go on each of the tables for the kids to roast marshmallows after they ate. 

It was so fun! 

Devin Stewart, Priscilla Fernandez, Wyatt Crosby, Preston Crosby, Drew Felix and Chloe.

After it was all over, everyone left happy including the birthday boy who was beyond exhausted from getting up at 5:30 that morning and then getting pelted all evening from cold snowballs.  We haven't gotten any calls from our friends Lawyers yet, so that's good right?!?!  Happy birthday sweet Brody.  I love you tons!

Run Brody! RUN!