Potty Training, A Mother's Nightmare !!

So we have been trying to potty train Kaden, for like, forever !! I have threatened, YES, what a great mother I am. We have put away most of the toys and now he has a new basketball outfit that he loves and today it was taken away because he pooped in his pants. Needless to say, he had a total meltdown. Daddy has also taken away the tractor as well. I bought the Diego Potty seat, I have done the reward system, where I created a calendar and each time he went potty he would get to put a sticker on the calendar. That worked for like ONE day !! I have done the bribe with candy, M&M's, any kind he wanted, and that doesn't even work. So I decided that I would leave him without a pull up on one day, surely he would not PEE or POOP on the floor ?? I thought it was a great idea for the first couple of hours, then it happened. I was BF Jaxon and asked Kaden if he would go and get me a burp cloth, the next thing I hear is "Mommy, I peed !!" My reply: "What !!?, where did you pee?" Kaden: "In Jaxon's room on the bag. There was a bag on the floor and he went on the bag and a little on the floor. So I stopped feeding the baby and got the carpet cleaning spray and put him in time out, still without a pull up on, but I thought, it had to just be an accident. Not more than an hour later, I am in the laundry room folding clothes and I hear: "Mommy there is POOP on the floor and it is on my foot !!! " As he comes running from the bonus room, down the hall to the laundry room and deposits a nice little brown dropping right in front of the laundry room door. I could not believe it !! I assessed the damaged and thankfully it was not too bad. Cleaned him up, the mess on the floor, put a pull up back on and put him back in timeout. I know that I need to be more patient, but it is SO hard sometimes. I know he understands, but I guess he will do it when he is good and ready, he's a little stubborn at times, wonder where he gets it? So with that said, I am praying for more patience with Kaden and the potty training and hope to have good news soon !!

Saying Goodbye to Grandma Olsen !! :(

It was great to see my mom, but also sad to have to say goodbye. She came to visit a couple of weeks ago with my Aunt Vicky and her girls MiKayla and Keira. Kaden had a ball with the girls. They went to the splash park, road the tractor, bikes, and jumped a lot on the trampoline. They tried to have a slumber party one night, but Kaden wouldn't stop talking. So, needless to say, he had to go and sleep in his own room. Which caused a total meltdown !!

I kept telling mom that Jaxon wouldn't eat anything, needless to say, she had no problem getting him to eat !! She said it was because Grandma just had the right touch !!

Someone didn't like peaches !! What a funny face. We couldn't stop laughing !!

You can definitely tell Grandma was hear, hence the perfect lipstick marking on Jaxon's chubby cheek !! :)

I wish I would have thought to take a picture with her. I will miss her terribly !! She moved to Omaha, NE to work for Dennis and Michelle in their new dental practice. I know that it will be a good opportunity for her and Todd, but it was so nice to know that I could just drive 4 hours to spend a week with her. It was also nice to be that so close to family again. With each move we have made it is so hard to not be able to see our families as much as we would like. I know that Grandma Giles and Leroy (they live in Lincoln, NE) and Grandma and Papo Ferrara are excited, (they live in Wahoo, NE) they hope it will mean that we will get to see them more often. I know they REALLYwould like to see more of their great-grand babies. Today is actually Papo's birthday, wish we could be there to celebrate with him and the rest of the family. It is great to have such wonderful and special grandparents. They are mine through marriage, but I feel like they have always been a part of my family. I hope we are able to see them soon !!

Dallas Aquarium and Rain Forest

While we were in Dallas grandma and papa took Kaden, Jaxon, Daddy and Mommy to the Dallas Aquarium and Rain forest. The first thing out of Kaden's mouth was: "Mommy it doesn't smell too good!" And he instantly plugged his nose. He had it plugged for most of the time. I have to admit, it really smelled horrible. We saw alligators, penguins, sharks, monkeys, etc. And I think I actually saw the biggest tarantula ever !! Good thing it was behind a very think piece of glass !!

Kaden and a very BIG SHARK !!

Kaden also loved the penguins !!

Here is a picture of Kaden and Grandma with a leopard !!

Jaxon just chilling out in his stroller !!

Motivating Spin Class

Well, I finally made it to the gym yesterday !! After a night of no sleep, Jaxon up at least 4 times, and he and Kaden up at 6 am, Yes, I still made it to the spin class with my hubby !! I decided that the excuse of being too tired will always be the case, but I have to do something about this post-baby FAT body of mine !! Jaxon was great in the daycare and Kaden is now old enough to go outside with the older kids. He has been telling mommy that he wanted to go to the gym and run on the treadmill with her. I told him that he would be able to go outside and play with the kids. His response: "Mommy, you go workout with the other mommies and their Booies", and Daddy will work out with the other Daddy's. YES, my son is obsessed with Booies !!

I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through the hour long spin class without passing out, that is just how out of shape I am. But my motivation for the day was a woman in our class. She was an amputee !!! Yes, she was doing a spin class with only one leg. I thought for sure, if she could do the class with one leg, then surely I could make it through. Can you imagine the strength you would need to do the climbing portion out of the saddle, with one leg !! It was truly amazing !! SO, I say thank you to her for being in the class and being my motivation to make it through and not give up !!! Also, it was fun to be able to spend some time with Jeff again, like in the pre-kids phase of our marriage. I hope it is something we can continue to do !! SO thanks honey I had a great time, even if I thought I was going to pass out a couple of times !! :)

Visit to Dallas

Daddy, Kaden and Billy on the Train !!

We recently made a visit to Dallas to see Grandma, Papa, Ashley, BT and Tyler over the Memorial Day week. Here we are taking a train ride on a old steam engine train through the town of Grapevine. It was a very hot and humid day, but Kaden had a blast !! They actually had a train robbery as well. Here is a picture of Kaden and the train robber. I don't think he really knew what was happening. They also had robbers outside of the train on horses with guns a blazing too. It was pretty exciting for Kaden !!

We also had lots of fun swimming in Grammie and Papa's pool !! Grandma was teaching Kaden to swim. He liked to use the noodles and sometimes he would actually forget that he wasn't using one and swim by himself.

We also got to visit with Auntie Ashley and Uncle Billy. Kaden loved running around the house and using the walkie talkies. Ashley took Kaden and Jaxon to feed the ducks and then swimming.

Kaden enjoying the crackers we were feeding to the ducks !!

Yes, that is Kaden chasing after the geese !! I think he actually thought he could catch one !! Daddy would be so proud !!

He also loved to hang out with "His Kasey", Yes, he thinks Kasey is his dog !! Sorry, BT, he may have a new best friend !!

Today is the Day

I have finally decided to get started with the online journaling. Several of my friends, (Jamie and Jensa) have been trying to get me to start one for a while. But the other night I was talking with my sister-in-law, Becca, who recently started a blog all because of a very sad story. She told me of a little girl in Park City Utah, who recently passed away. Her mother had started a blog before she was even born http://www.jacksonparkcity.blogspot.com, and I thought to myself, WOW !! What if something tragic were to happen in my family? Would I have a journal of all of the beautiful memories of my family to treasure, NO !! This really brought it home that life is short, and it has convinced me to stop with the excuses and take advantage of each and every moment I have with my family. Having a blog will provide me with just that, a lasting journal to archive all of the wonderful precious moments in the life of my children and family. It will also allow me to keep our family and friends up to date with all of the happens in our little family. I am not promising that my posts will be funny or interesting, but I hope that through this journal I will become a better mother, wife and friend, by taking more time to listen, live and learn all I can about my kids, my friends, my family, and myself each and every day. With that said, here goes !!