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.

Camping

This past weekend we tried camping as a family for the first time. We went with a friend who camps every year and had a ton of camping gear and knowledge of how camping works. I was a little scared at first how the kids are going to do but I will tell you that we had a blast. We got to the camp site on Friday afternoon. We took an hour or so to set up camp, and then we headed into town to find a bite to eat. It was so hot and humid that day that by the time we set up camp we were all a sweaty mess. We found a local place that had pretty good food. Before we left Brandon and I took a picture in the cardboard cutout of a surfer holding his girl. It thought it was a funny picture. The first night we got the kids down in the tents and were excited about spending sometime together as adults playing card games and talking. Unfortunately things did not turn out like we planned. It was not long after got the kids down that it started pouring down rain. I mean POURING! We were in a screen tent that covered the picnic table and we got DRENCHED. Finally we called it a night and went into our tents with our scared children. I am very thankful that we did not get washed away in the storm. I found out the next morning that there were 2 tents in the camp ground that were flattened by the storm, not to mention how many people had everything they owned soaked. After taking a shower, yes I showered while camping, we headed back into town. Brandon took Daniel and Jessie fishing while Cori and I took Monica and hit the shops. We did not buy much but it was fun to hang out together. After a day of fun downtown we went back to the camp and then down to the beach. The kids LOVED the beach. Daniel and Monica had a blast and could have stayed there all night. We did leave around 7 and got them all cleaned up and then made a campfire dinner, smores and then got the kids off to bed. Then Cori, Brandon and I sat by the fire looking at the stars and enjoyed conversation with friends. We had a great time and I look forward to doing it again sometime soon. Down at the beach.
Brandon, Jessie and Daniel heading out to go fishing. They did not catch anything. I think the storm the night before scared all the fish away.
Our tent that we got for $50 of craigslist. I think that we got a great deal. It is big and very waterproof!

The Petting Zoo

I posted pictures of our time at the zoo on facebook, but I thought I would post a couple of videos of the kids at the petting zoo. I like the first one because if you listen close you can hear monica say cow and goat.



Monica in the petting zoo saying "cow" and the walking over and saying "goat"




Monica and Daniel petting and brushing the cow.

Artist

This evening we decided to do a little painting. I decided the easiest thing to do is to get out our easel and have Daniel on one side and Monica on the other. Daniel painted a picture of Larry Boy, and Monica took a modern approach to her art. Daniel and Monica both had a blast and did not want to stop. We will have to do this more often.

A month of no blogging

It has been a while since have updated my blog, and at the request of my mother I am here trying to do just that. The reason I have not been updating much lately is I just feel so brain dead and I don't feel like I have much to say. I know that just a couple of pictures would be nice, but sometimes with our slow Internet that is hard to do. All that to say I am sorry and I hope to do better in the future. I know that my family enjoys coming on here and finding cute pictures of my kids and stories about our day. Here are a couple of pictures from Daniel's night with the arts at Mejier gardens with his school. I love the picture of Monica as a caterpillar. The girl in the picture with us is our friend Jesse.

Motherhood

I have found that being a mother is full of interesting experiences. My day is filled with chasing little ones through the house, cleaning up messes, breaking up fights, and struggling to keep some sort of peace and sanity in this house. Speaking of which I broke my son's poor little heart in a about a million pieces a couple of days ago. I have not been to the grocery store in a little over a week and we are starting to run low on things to make for dinner. I was rummaging through the fridge when I saw the prefect thing! There before my eyes were 8 very colorful very carefully decorated hard boil easter eggs that would be perfect for egg salad sandwiches. I paused for a moment knowing that if Daniel was to find out that mommy "killed" his easter eggs he would be heart broken. I justified my actions by saying that if we don't eat them they will go bad soon and I would have to throw them out anyway, and what a waste right? So I got them out, cracked each one open and made my egg salad. When I called everyone in for dinner Daniel asked "mommy what are we having?" I calmly replied "Egg Salad." His eyes grew really big as if he knew that mommy used HIS eggs! He looked right at me and said "did you use my easter eggs?" At that point I was not sure what to do. I could not say "yes" because that would be admitting to my crime, and I could not say "No" because that is lying and around here we get into BIG trouble for lying. So I said nothing. Daniel then ran to the fridge swung the door open and in a frantic shuffle began looking for his eggs. Knowing that he was not going to find them, I tried to encourage him to stop going through the fridge and I would help him later. That was good enough for now. He sad down and we all had a wonderful dinner of egg salad. After dinner Daniel immediately got up and went to the fridge again. I knew that I could not hold the truth from him any longer. I went up to him and explained to him as sweetly as possible that eggs are food and that if we did not eat them they would go bad just like other food. Mommy made his Easter eggs into egg salad and we had them for dinner because if I did not I would have had to throw them away. I them handed him the 4 googly eyes that I pulled off his two favorite eggs and told him he could keep them for another art project. Daniel looked down at the googly eyes in his hand and them burst in to tears. He ran into the living room mourning his Easter eggs! I immediately had flash backs to my childhood where I remember eating a wonderful dinner only to find out that it was my pet rabbit Rodger! Oh my poor Daniel! I went in there and tried to console him by again explaining that food has to be eaten or it would go bad. Then I told him I had a good idea. We could take one of his plastic eggs, and he could decorate it however he wanted, and he could keep that egg as his special egg for ever and ever. He was so excited and soon he forgave mommy for braking up his Easter eggs and feeding them to him for dinner.

Boogerless

I decided that I needed to repost a picture of my beautiful children on Easter morning with a booger hanging out of Monica's nose! So here you go, the boogerless Monica!

Happy Easter- Our Lord has RISEN!!!!

Easter Morning!
Easter Egg hunt!

Good Friday

"The Power of the Cross"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

(To listen to Kristyn sing this song click here)

"Beneath the Cross of Jesus"
Words and Music by Keith & Kristyn Getty
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I find a place to stand,
And wonder at such mercy
That calls me as I am;
For hands that should discard me
Hold wounds which tell me, "Come."
Beneath the cross of Jesus
My unworthy soul is won.

Beneath the cross of Jesus
His family is my own—
Once strangers chasing selfish dreams,
Now one through grace alone.
How could I now dishonor
The ones that You have loved?
Beneath the cross of Jesus
See the children called by God.

Beneath the cross of Jesus—
The path before the crown—
We follow in His footsteps
Where promised hope is found.
How great the joy before us
To be His perfect bride;
Beneath the cross of Jesus
We will gladly live our lives.

Monica Talking

Here is a glimpse of Monica talking. In this video she said "Hi", "Please", "I don't know", "Daniel", "Daddy", "Mama" and her favorite word "NO" which she said when I asked if she could say "bye bye".

Monica saying hi to Babu and Sho-Sho

Blogging..or lack there of

I am finding this blog to be a hard commitment for me. Our internet is slow and unreliable and when I try to get on here it usually just frustrates me. Even as I sit here to write this I have been told I have been disconnected from the internet. On top of that every time I sit down during the day someone under 3 feet tall needs my assistance. Then at night I am so brain dead I can hardly think.

So what have I been up to? I have traveled the world and come back home again. Ok not really but I did go across the USA. We left here on a Friday afternoon and drove the Kansas City. That was a long drive and Monica was not happy about it. We did not realize that the foam in her car seat had warn down making it very uncomfortable for her. She cried for most of the trip making it hard for everyone. I just wanted to take her out and hold her!

After a couple of days with nanny and papa and of course daisy dog we got on a plane and traveled to Boise! I was so excited to finally spend a few days with my sister. I could be on here all day if I tried to write all the things about that week, and if course I do not have that time right now. After four days we got back on the plane and back to Kansas City. Then after a day of "recovery" we drove all the way back to Michigan.

So just a quick recap in 10 days I traveled about 4,096 miles, traveled on four planes, sat in the airport for a total of 9 hours with small kids, kissed and hugged a few beautiful children, had wonderful conversations with my sister who I miss terribly, saw beautiful mountains, saw beloved grandparents, went out with my sister in law, had a wonderful family dinner that my mother in law worked so hard to make for all of us, and so much more! It was a fun, exciting, and exhausting ten days!

Digital Scrapbooking

I love to scrapbook. I think that it is a great way to keep up with family pictures. The problem is it is very expensive. It is also very hard to do with kids around. If you are a scrapbooker you know what I mean. You get the tote of stuff out, get everything out and organized and little hands are grabbing at everything "helping mommy!" I found a whole new way to scrapbook that I am starting to LOVE. I am using Photo Shop and learning digital scrapbooking. I figured that I could get 20 pages put together, upload them onto Snapfish, or Shutterfly, order a book for $20-30 and I could have a wonderful book of memories with half the work, and a lot less mess. I am a rookie at digital scrapbooking and this is my very first page. I hope to get better at it as I learn how to use Photo Shop. It is an amazing program but kind of hard to figure out. I am working my way through a tutorial CD that my friend let me borrow. It is a lot of fun. So I welcome myself to the world of digital!