He did WHAT?

Jaxon peed on the potty!

Jax is 22 months old and for the last month or so, he makes us let him sit on the potty when we change his diaper. He would not actually do anything, but he had to sit there. Then he would rip off a piece of toilet paper (not wipe, just rip it off), drop it in the toilet, flush and wash his hands. It was actually a time consuming activity since he had to do it 3 or 4 times over and over before you could put his diaper back on.

I knew he was too young to worry about potty training, so I just let him do it to get in the habit, or entertain himself. Well, last week, I went in the bathroom, and wouldn't you know it, there was a yellow wet spot in the middle of the bath tub. WHAT? He will pee in the tub but not on the potty? Then a couple days later, same thing in the shower.

Today, we were having our thanksgiving festivities, and he pooped 3- count them- 3 times, in an hour. So the third time I was changing him, he once again wanted to sit on the potty. So I let him, as I gathered up the diaper bag. All of the sudden, I hear the most beautiful sound! The sound of a toddler peeing where he is supposed to pee! It was glorious. It was music to my ears. I looked over and sho nuff, boy is peein' on the potty! I was ecstatic! I cheered and hugged and smooshed him, telling him how proud I was...

that's all. Probably won't happen again for a long time. But it was cool.

Ashlee and Pete- really?

Bronx Mowgli Wentz?

Seriously people, have mercy on the poor child.

Beyond Blessed

I felt the need to write this blog. I talk all the time about the happenings in our lives, particularly those of our children. But the last year has brought some different stresses on us.

Daniel works in the mortgage industry. Need I say more? Well, I will anyway. He actually works for a Mortgage software company. Suffice it to say that his company has not been immune to the impact of the mortgage crisis. As the past year has gone on, and we have seen the outlook for the industry getting more and more grim, and as we have seen so many companies close their doors, and others who can barely leave them open, we have seen without a doubt how blessed we truly are.

Daniel loves his job. He truly has a passion for what he does and has no desire to do anything else. I think he would be happy if he never worked anywhere else the rest of his life. I addition to that, he has been able to make a suitable living for us, where our bills are paid and our children are taken care of each month. In an economy like this one, that's more than many families can say. While it has certainly been a stressful time for him, we are both so grateful that he has been blessed with continued employment. With a new baby to pay for, a toddler who spent some time in the PICU recently, and all of life's other expenses, I know how tough it would be if he were one of the many people in his industry who lost their jobs.

So first of all, I want to thank the Lord for blessing us so generously. Even though I'm sure there are so many others who deserve those blessings far more than we do. And secondly, I want to thank Daniel for working so hard to provide for this family, for dealing with these new stresses the best he can, and for being willing to do whatever it takes to weather this storm.

This situation has certainly opened my eyes to the importance of being prepared (which I will add, we really aren't), and to living within our means. To be honest, it's scared the crap out of me (can you use the word crap in a blog about blessings?). I've become more committed to finishing building our years supply, to cutting costs where we can, to paying off bills as quickly as possible, and to putting money away in case of hard times. We certainly are not anywhere near as prepared as we ought to be, but I can say that at this point, we can say we are making progress, and that we are committed to getting there.

Jaxon's bum

Jaxon calls spoons "bums" for some reason. And like a bad mom, I mimic him when I say it back. Here was our conversation this morning. It wasn't until I had said it all that I realized what I was really saying.

Me: "Jaxon, do you want a bum? No, that bum is too big. Hey- that's MY bum! Your bum is the little one. Mine is the big one. You want my bum? It's too big. I dont think that's going to work.
I would take the little one but I dont think you can make the big one work for you."

Project: Remodel- The Beginning

Daniel and I are about to undertake a very slow, very time consuming, very frustrating and stressful project :) We are doing a bit of remodeling to our home. It's only 9 years old but it's just time for some updating. We will be replacing all the flooring (tile in the entryway and bathrooms, hardwood in the kitchen and dining room, carpet throughout the rest of the house). We are repainting. We will be finishing 2 or 3 more rooms, including a bedroom (which has to have a window cut in, a closet framed in, and then can be finished), a bathroom, and the laundry room. And then some smaller cosmetic things throughout the house.

Tomorrow, the first big thing happens. The window is getting cut into the bedroom downstairs. When we moved into the house, there were 2 really large rooms downstairs in addition to the family room. One was made to be a bedroom. The other, well, Im not sure what it was going to be, but it didnt have a window or closet. Daniel and I had decided to make it our home gym, so we went ahead and had it drywalled, taped and textured. But then Baby Jayden made a surprise entrance into the world, leaving us one bedroom short. Since we like him a bit and want to keep him, we figured another bedroom would be more important than our gym. So now, after all the taping and texturing is already done, we have to go back and have the window cut in, the closet framed in, and re-drywall, tape and texture parts of that room.

So I plan on taking many before and after photos as the project moves along.

Please, wish us luck with this one :)

8 Things Tag

I was tagged by Carrie for this one. I love tag, but Im kind of slow at getting to them sometimes.

Eight things I'm passionate about:
1. My family and everything they do.
2. The Gospel
3. Triathlons
4. Photography
5. Taking time out for just me and the hubby
6. And on a related note....lol
7. Health and Fitness
8. Improving who I am and what I do

Eight words or phrases I use all the time:
1. I love you more the most, more than toast
2. JAXON WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
3. Oh no Jaxon!!!
4. Will you two stop fighting?
5. Jaxon get down from there.
6. Can you please put your shoes away?
7. Jaxon how did you get that?
8. What is that on the carpet?

Eight things I want to do before I die.
1. See every moment of my children's lives (well, almost every one. Im sure there are a few I will prefer to skip)
2. Lots and lots of traveling
3. Get my degree
4. Have a 6 pack
5. Get both babies to nap at the same time
6. Be a missionary mommy
7. Be great at something- anything :)
8. Do a half ironman triathlon

Eight things I currently want or need:
1. To get the hardwood sample from the floor guy so I can make my final decision
2. More time in the day
3. To eat something
4. Our remodel project to be done (and we aren't even started yet)
5. Warm weather year round
6. My back to heal up
7. A good run
8. Alone time

Eight places I want to visit:
1. Cancun (again)
2. Japan (again)
3. Europe
4. Hawaii
5. Puerto Vallarta
6. New York
7. The Bahamas
8. Any place warm and with a beach

Eight favorite restaurants:
1. Tucanos
2.Taco Johns :)
3. Outback
4. Wendy's
5. Johnny Carinos
6. Jaliscos
7. Garcias
8.Wasabi

8 TV shows I watch:
1. 24
2. The Office
3. CSI
4. Wife Swap
5. The Unit
6. Supernanny
7. The Mentalist
8. Criminal Minds

Eight People I tag:
1. Alida
2. Tiffany M.
3. Mason
4. Savannah
5. Tiffini
6. Sally
7. Brittany B.
8. Loots

Mason funny

Jaxon is standing there, diaperless, playing with himself. He thinks it's fun to flick it with his hand and watch it bob up and down :)

Me: "Nice. Is that a fun toy?"
Mason: "We should get you another one of those Jaxon!"

Halloween, Halloween, Trick-Or- Treat

We had a great Halloween- amazing weather, which is rare here. We usually trudge through snow, sleet, ice and hail on Halloween ;) Thought I'd throw up some pics.


My wonderful neighborhood did a fun thing. We had a dinner party at Betsy's house at 4:30, and then loaded the kids on a hay-filled trailer. We took them up our road (about 30-40-kids were on it) and stopped at each house. They would come out to the trailer and give each child their candy. The kids didn't have to get off. The neighbors only had to answer the door once. And everyone could go visit grandma, or family, later in the evening. It was so much fun.



Did I mention that I looked hot? Check us all out. Try not to drool too much ;)

Here I am with my blue eye shadow, my dark blush, my side pony tail, huge, belted shirt over leggings, layered sock and high tops, as well as radical earrings :)




Baby Jayden in his Kangaroo costume.
Savannah was a kitty. And yes, this is the same costume I wore to Hidee's party. Except I didnt wear her leotard or leggings :)


Jaxon was a lion. The hood stayed on just long enough for me to snap this. You can see his hands are already on it, and off it came about 1/3 second later.




Mason was a skeleton. He's trying to hold Jayden but pooe Jayden wasn't loving it.




Here is a pic of all the neighborhood kids on the hayride, going from house to house. Why didnt our parents think of this all those years ago? What an efficient way to get some snackage!

Jaxon got tired and was dragging around his blankey, sucking on the fringe, as he does when he is tired. So cute.