Potty trained!

Nicholas has finally decided that he is ready to use the toilet. Praise the Lord!!!!! Thanks to all our friends, family and Nicholas' church prayer partner for the prayers lifted up the past couple of weeks. It has certaintly worked.

Two weekends ago Nicholas told Burt that he wanted to wear his underwear. We told him sure, but that meant he needed to use the toilet. He of course said ok, but only once did he use it in the time span of Friday to Tuesday. I was trying not to get frustrated again this go around and did pretty well with it I think. I did get him to sit on the toilet a few times and coerced him with lollipops and stickers which seemed to work this time. I was up for anything that would at least get him to try. The only downfall to that is Joshua "needs" one everytime too. Oh well.

So, finally on Wed I think something just clicked for him. The first time he went for the whole day was at 4pm. That is weird in itself, but at least he told me in needed to and actually sat on the toilet. He was very proud of himself and I was proud of him too. He wore his underwear to church that evening. He went with me to try a couple times, but nothing. When we got home around 8:30pm he said he had to go. By this time he had already started, but we were able to make it to the toilet to finish. Progress. Then, on Thursday morning when he woke up he went straight to the bathroom and from then on he has told us when he needs to go, goes in there, does his business, comes out yelling "come see what I did" and then yells "bye bye pee!" when he flushes the toilet. It is cute. He also gets his lollipop. I am trying now to cut down on that, but we will see when. It has now been five days with no accidents and he has even pooped twice on the toilet. Burt and I are very excited and I know Nicholas is too. No turning back this time. My big boy has finally had the light switch turn on for him. What a huge milestone.

Regret?

Now, before you read any further, if you are expecting some profound and deep thinking message here, stop reading. We finally decided to get Joshua a haircut after much deliberation. I was okay with having it done knowing it would grow back, but I think it might have been a mistake once it was over with. We loved the curls and now he looks like such a big boy. sob sob.

Joshua's very curly hair after being in the pool and letting the sun dry it really fast. This is how I liked it the most. The ringlets were too cute. They would be adorable on a little girl.

Before
After

He kept the same dumbfounded look on his face the entire time. He did very well sitting by himself in the chair, but I am not sure he knew what was going on. And, the haircut is growing on me now. It has been a couple of weeks now and has had time to grow slightly or just lay better. There are also some waves still and the back of his hair is starting to curl up again. Fun times. Maybe this time it will grow out the same length so we can keep the curls. The mullet look when wet was just not good.

Hey, what's the big idea?

Now, this phrase can be used in many instances, with many different parts emphasized. Just imagine this coming out of a three old now, funny isn't it? At least I think so, but others might not when they hear him say it and take it out of context. This phrase comes from the show Imagination Movers and never is used in an "ugly" way, but sometimes when Nicholas uses it, it is almost in a context of, hey, why are you doing that. I find it too funny. It was especially funny this morning at 3:30am. Now, normally I would be not so happy, but first of all, he didn't come in our room just because, he actually had a good reason. His diaper had leaked and he was all wet. So, Burt brought him to our bed and turned on our bathroom light so he could change him and this is what I heard.....Hey! What's the big idea? Hilarious I might say. Oh out of the mouth of babes.

And, don't you love it when you go to see what your child is doing and he looks at you and says, "I'm just pooping" before you even say a word. Why on earth will he not go on the toilet???? I might have to start trying again with him because waiting on him after our first go at it is taking forever. Hmm....I will have to think on that one.

Lastly, the other night Nicholas told Burt that he wanted two Annie and Clarabels and Joshua needed two Annie and Clarabels (trains). When Burt said it was bedtime and plus that required money and we didn't have any, he responded with, "Daddy, you need to go get money". Okay then.

Trip to Arizona (better late than never)

I don't know why it is so difficult for me to keep up with blogging....maybe because I choose to read others before working on mine and then the kids wake up or it's my bedtime, but I figured I would try to post these pictures from our Arizona trip way back in May. We all packed up and flew to visit my Grandma, Aunt, Aunt and Uncle, cousins, and my Dad and step-mom flew in from CA to meet up with us too. As an added bonus one of my best friends lives in Phoenix so I was able to spend half a day with her too. It was actually quite relaxing given we only were there from Thursday night to Monday morning. Since we were only there to visit family we were not rushing from place to place to see stuff and could just enjoy being "still". The plane flights were the longest part of the trip, but the boys did really well. A few people gave us looks when they were being loud, but wouldn't you prefer loudness over crying???? So, without further ado here are the pictures, finally.

Four generations

One of our main reasons for visiting, besides to see family we haven't seen in over five years, was to try to get a four generation picture. My Grandma is the only grandparent that is still alive for Burt and myself. Seeing as she hasn't been feeling 100% lately and my Dad was about to have surgery we finally just picked a date and went. Not that we thought anything was going to happen to either of them, we just knew it was way over due. It was hard to get all of us to smile at the same time, to look in the same direction or even stay on the couch, but I think we did okay.

Great Grandma with her great grandsons. I can't remember how many this makes for her, but I think it is around 12 or so.

Grandpa building ships and "train tracks" with the boys. Nicholas loved to knock the creations down. My Grandma had these blocks in her closet from many years ago. She says she pulls them out whenever the great grandkids come to visit. It was a lifesaver to keep the boys entertained while we talked.

Lots of pool fun at my Uncle's house. It made it not so hot in the 100+ degree weather. I didn't really notice the heat that much, especially with their being no humidity.

We tried again with the picture of the five of us the next day.

Stacey came to my Uncle's house. Logistically this was much easier and this way she was able to see Burt and the boys. It was great to see her even if it was only for a few hours.

Uncle Ken with Nicholas.

Joshua trying to tackle Uncle Ken.

All the kids joining in.

What's better than a popsicle and juice???

Emily and Nicholas

My cousin Nicole has three children. We tried to get all five of the kids to sit still for us so we could have a 2nd cousins picture (I think that is right). This is what we got.

All and all it was a wonderful trip. We had some great conversations, tasty food and lots of relaxation. The boys slept well, thank you, and we were able to catch up with my family. The only thing is I didn't get a picture of everyone else. Next time....and hopefully that won't be in another five years.

Cutie pie

Click here to see pictures of Joshua. Our friend Anita took them and once again she did a fabulous job. She captured his personality perfectly. He's a ham even if he did take some prying to get these pictures taken. Although, he did love it when her husband came into the room. Go figure. Enjoy!

New Phrase

Nicholas has a new phrase around the house now when someone does something interesting or funny mainly.

(He, Joshua, that, etc)...is flat out silly.

Wonder where he got that expression???? The boy is a sponge these days I tell you. It is funny when he says things like this, but other phrases aren't so wonderful. We definitely have to be on our toes about words we use that's for sure.

Joshua- 18 months

Wow, is it that time again already. I can't believe we are already in July. On the 3rd Joshua turned 18 months old, crazy. We went to the Dr's today. All is well. He now weighs 24lbs 11 ounces (30%) and is 32 and 3/4 inches tall (70%). He says about 5 words that everyone could probably understand and 5 or more words that we can understand. He also signs about 5 or so things. He is a very active child. Loves to be outdoors doing anything, climbs like crazy, can almost do a somersault and loves to wrestle. He has some of the funniest expressions and still has curly hair. He is a hoot is all I can say. He definitely keeps me on my toes. That's all for now. Just wanted to give a short update on his progress. He is still a lightweight compared to Nicholas, but you can't tell him that since he doesn't seem to notice at all. Guess that's the second child syndrome.