My African Princess

Tonight we had our missions dinner at church. I decided to dress Monica in a kanga and tie her baby to her back. She loved carrying around her baby . She looked adorable.

Not day 2 of potty training

I have been really bad at updating my blog. My mom has said she is tired of seeing day 2 of potty training so here is an update. Monica is fully potty trained. I am 6 weeks away from having Olivia. My parents came to visit this past weekend and it was a blast. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Swimming with ShoSho
Relaxing with babu
Playing boxing with Babu
We went to chuckie cheese. Here shosho is playing deal or no deal for tickets.
This was a big donkey kong type machine that dares you to hold on while it "shocks you" in high voltage. It is very intense vibrating. Mom held on through the whole thing and here dad is trying to do the same while mom laughs at him. It was very funny!

Adventures in potty training- Day 3

Day three of the "cold turkey" potty training was one that I was most worried about. This was a busy day for us as Monica had a doctor's appointment and then in the evening Daniel had a 2 hour open house at his school. I was tempted to put Monica in a pull up and ditch the underwear at these events. Brandon reminded me that we decided to ditch diapers and that we have to see how she does.

So this morning we sat Monica on the potty before we left for her doctor's appointment and she went potty! About an hour and a half later she returned in the same pair of pants she left in. I was so proud of her. I had a brain laps though and did not put her on the potty right after we got home, so she did end up having an accident. This was the first time that she was really upset about having an accident. I got her all cleaned up and told her that she needs to tell mommy when she needs to go potty.

Sure enough soon after I sat her down for lunch she told me she had to go peepee. I swooped her up and sat her on the potty. She went right away! I could not believe she told me she had to go. Throughout the course of the day we continued to work on going, and she did not have an accident all afternoon.

Then came the time I feared, the 2 hour open house. I tried to get Monica to go before we left with no success. About an hour after we got there we took her to the bathroom and she went. I was so proud that once again we had left the house and came home in the same pair of pants. Then after her bath tonight she told daddy that she needed to go potty. Shortly after he sat her on there she pooped! I am so proud of her. It seems that everyday gets a little easier and we get a little bit closer to the status of "potty trained". Let me remind you that this girl one week ago would throw fits if I tried to sit her on the potty, and now she is telling me when she needs to go and actually going.

Summary of day three: 8 potty chart stickers, 6 successful trips to the bathroom, and one accident. GO MONICA!

Adventures in potty training part 2

Today is day two of potty training Monica. I was able to do laundry last night and I got all her wet pairs of pants cleaned and ready to go for another round. First thing this morning after she woke up we placed her on the potty. She was NOT a happy camper. The first thing Monica wants to do every morning is eat. After her fit this morning it was clear that the LAST thing she wanted to do was go potty. After much persistence she finally went pee! Yeah! So we put her in underwear and started the day.

About every 30-45 minutes I would take her in to the potty. Sometimes she would go with no problems, sometimes she would throw HUGE fits. I found out that the times she throws the fits are the times she needs to go potty. Through out the morning she went one more time and had no accidents. Before lunch I sat her on the potty and she cried and cried. I figured I would give it a rest and let her eat. Well that back fired because while she was in her booster she had an accident. After lunch I put her back on the potty and she threw the biggest fit so far in this process. She actually cried so hard that she spit up her juice that she had just had with her lunch. After she calmed down she had her first poo in the potty! GO MONICA! After fighting her all morning that was the encouragement that I needed to keep trying. I rewarded her heavily with two stickers and 4 smarties. I then put her in the "big girl nap time underwear" (a pull up) and laid her down.

After nap she was a little wet but I still sat her on the potty. She threw another HUGE fit. She was pushing herself half off the potty, or sitting sideways so her bottom was half off the toilet. Well one of the times she was half off the toilet she peed and it went all over the floor. I sat her straight and explained that she needs to sit correctly on the toilet. She cried but then ended up peeing even more in the toilet.

This afternoon she has gone potty several times. We are still in our second pair of underwear. It is 7 PM, one hour until bed, and we are way ahead of where we were yesterday.

Summary of day 2: 13 potty chart stickers, 5 successful trips to the potty, and so far only 1 pair of wet underwear! Maybe this method does work! We will see how tomorrow goes.

Adventures in Potty Training Part 1

Monica just recently turned 2 and Brandon and I have been discussing potty training her for awhile. I do not want to have two kids in diapers and now with only three months until the arrival of our newest addition I decided that this would be the time to try to potty train Monica.

Monica knows the concept of the potty. She is always following me in the bathroom and then clapping for me when I go. A few times we have put her on there, and even fewer times she has actually gone potty. When Daniel was about 2 we started training him and after a long 6 month process we finally go him trained. I decided to try a new method with Monica. We call it "cold turkey". We learned this method from a friend at church who had great success with it with her two year old. Her daughter was trained in one week using this method! The concept is that on Monday morning Monica woke up and was placed on the potty and then in underwear. We said good bye diapers forever no matter what! Well except at nap and bedtime.

So yesterday went as expected. Monica had many trips to the bathroom, and many accidents. She cried a lot and did not like sitting on the potty. I made her a sticker chart and every time she sat on the potty even if she did not do anything she got a sticker.

Summary of day one: 15 potty chart stickers, 7 wet pairs of underwear, one successful pee in the potty and A LOT of fits. We will see how day two goes!

I LOVE CRAIGSLIST!

I love Craigslist. It seems that if you wait long enough you can find what you need for more than half the cost of what you would pay in the stores. I have been searching for bunk beds for my kids for the last few months. I had a specific thing in mind. I wanted wooden beds that could separate into two separate twin beds. I also wanted a bed with drawers under the bottom bunk. After months of searching I finally found EXACTLY what I wanted. Thanks to Babu and Sho Sho for giving the kids an early christmas present we were able to get the beds. Now after Olivia is born we will be able to fit all three of our kids in one room. I feel so blessed to have these beds. They were brand new in the box and I bought them for $425 LESS than I could get the same set in the store! Here is a video of the beds! Enjoy!

Daniel Learning to Skate

As Daniel gets older he is embarking on new adventures. His new interest it wanting to learn how to skate. Brandon loves to skate and Daniel wants to be able to go out to skate and play hockey with his daddy. Brandon has taken Daniel out several times to teach him how and each time Daniel gets a little better. Tonight Daniel asked if his daddy would take him outside to skate. I decided to take a few pictures and a couple videos so I can update my blog to make some certain family members happy. So here is my big boy doing his best trying to learn how to skate! I am proud of him.








On an unrelated note it was a nice day today and we spent a long time outside playing and getting nice and dirty. When we came in to get all cleaned up I found out that we have NO hot water. So now it is time to be creative on getting the kids cleaned up and ready for bed tonight.

Wipe Out

ABC has a show called wipe out where people go through an obstacle course and they usually end up falling down. The kids think that it is the funniest show ever as they watch people fall all over the place. I decided to film them watching it last night. Enjoy the laughter.