Potty Training

For months now Rylie has shown all the signs of readiness to be potty trained. I have been leary to start in fear that my result would be the same as Tristan. It took us a year to train him. It was likely my fault for starting before he showed readiness signs and literally trying every method. It finally clicked by just making him run around naked. Now, he is fully trained and goes himself. I never worry about him. Anyway, back to Ry. 3 days ago we were at Target (surprise, surprise!) and she adamantly told me she had to potty. I will admit that I was a little skeptical at first but she was adamant. So I rushed to the bathroom where she immediately went and I discovered her pull up was dry. It was then that I realized I really needed to start with her. So, start we did 2 days ago. Hardcore. Undies only all day. That first day she had 2 accidents but still told me every time she had to potty. Wow. Day 2 was yesterday and she did great. 3 accidents in the morning where she started to go in her undies and the rest in the potty. She still told me every single time. Wow!! Today is day 3. I will continue to follow her around constantly reminding her to tell Mommy if you have to go potty' but I think she is very close to being done. I will say however that she tries to sit on that potty all the time to get that M&M. She has gone way more than necessary but I don't mind. Today is the real test. We have to go to the bank and pick up a few things at the grocery store. I will bring a few changes of clothes just in case but I'm sure she will be great! All this makes me wish I had started with her months ago.. Oh well.

Doesn't she look adorable with her little undies!! She is super cute!

Scared

Every few weeks Jay and I decide we are going to go out and do something fun with the kids. This past Monday we decided we would take them to the Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk. We knew the rides would be closed but thought it would be fun to miniature golf with the kids. I
should realize by now that I always have this grandiose idea of what we will do and how fun the kids will think it is.. Because we are dang good parents! It never works out that way. Problem number 1- it was loud. The golf was inside the arcade. Tristan hates loud. Problem number 2- Tristan looked up and at the entrance of the golf there a skeleton dressed as a pirate that totally freaked Tristan out. He was so scared he was crying hysterically and would not let go of us. Nice.
No golf. So we thought we would walk around the arcade. All kids love that, right?! Wrong. He wouldn't play anything. In the picture below Jay and Ry are playing skeeball but this is how Tristan looked. The whole time. That is, until we left the arcade and bought a licorice rope. He was all better then. I should be used to this by now. Poor Rylie wanted to do everything. Either she didn't see the skeleton or she is braver than her brother. I'm starting to believe the later is
true..

Stinker

Tristan's new favorite thing is to make a 'house' using all the pillows from both couches in the playroom. I feel like I clean them up at least 10 times a day! Maybe I should just leave them.. Clearly he loves it... Dang he is cute!

Auntie Stacia

Many of you know that Jay's sister, Stacia lived with us for 3 or 4 years in Georgia. She had a super busy schedule but still managed to help out a TON (more than i realized at the time, but do now!) with the kids and the house. The kids love her, and really miss her. . praying for her every single night. In fact, she is not only my sister in law, but i consider her a really great friend.

I was giving the kids a bath tonight when there was a knock on the door. I was leary to get up, thinking it would just be a solicitor. I am glad i did though because right outside of my front door were two large boxes. A care package from Stacia. It was huge, really. The first big box was a super cool pool with a slide. The second box had a Nemo slide, small ipod speaker (for the beach!), plates (I just said i needed more of the seperated ones today!) and a mug for Tristan, a cute bathing suit for Ry and a dress, a pair of shorts for Tristan and 2 shirts. Seriously?! What an awesome surprise. In true Stacia fashion i am sure she got insanely good deals for all of it. But still, she thought of us and that means a lot! We miss her. So much. And not because she always buys us super cool things. It is days like this that remind me there are people who care about us. So, thank you, Stacia. We love it!

Short end of the stick

Sometimes i find my self complaining that Rylie isn't more "girly". She doesn't really like to play with dolls (maybe because we haven't bought her that many) or most of the typically girly things. She would rather play with cars (with her brother) or wrestle. I realized this morning that i am not helping the situation by putting her in Tristan's old pajamas, that are obviously all boy. Luckily, she doesn't seem to mind. I guess this is what happens when you have a boy and then a girl. It will be interesting to see what kind of girl she turns out to be. For the record, i did paint her nails pink yesterday so maybe there is still hope for a girly girl after all...

Beachside Retreat Reunion

We just got back from a wonderful mini vacation in Long Beach with my family. It was the first time i have been with all of my siblings at the same time in literally like 5 years. My grandma Wilcox, few of my Dad's siblings, and my sister Nicole's boyfriend Danny came too. We stayed at the Beachside Retreat which is an apartment complex right on the beach. Many thanks to Muriel for putting it all together and allowing all of us to stay. We were spoiled for sure. Lots of food, sun, sand, and fun! I am hoping we can do something like this every year. I suppose the real reason we all got together was to celebrate my Grandma, Dad, and sister Natalie's birthday. It really was a great weekend!! Check out the pictures!

Back from the dead!

The past week has been brutal to our little family. A week ago on Monday Rylie got sick. Violently sick all of Monday night. It was bad. She woke up doing pretty well and after pretty much washing and wiping down the whole house i was thankful no one else seemed to get it! Then, Thursday night before bed Tristan kept saying his tummy hurt. He would go in the bathroom and put his face over the toilet like i had assumed he saw Rylie do a few days before. I thought it was a genius tactic for him to stay up and continually told him to go back to bed. Bad Mommy. Then, Jay got home around 9:00pm and Tristan ran over to say hi (he was still awake). He immediately ran to the bathroom and straight to the toilet he went with the same head over pose. But this time, he wasn't posing. That's when it hit me!! He really was sick, and his tummy really did hurt, and he was really trying to tell me the whole time. Dang i felt so bad!! He continued to visit the porcelain throne a few more times throughout the night. At the same time Jay was complaining he didn't feel so well and wanted to go to bed. I told him to stay in Tristan's room so he wouldn't get sick and Tristan could stay with me in our bed. Seriously, it wasn't even 10:00pm before Jay was in the bathroom completely sick as well. Perfect. 2 sick boys on the same night! Luckily Tristan was done about 1:00am, but i really can't say the same for Jay as he was up at least every 45 minutes. So sad. As with Rylie, the next day Tristan was in good spirits and acting as if nothing happened. Well, he did have the occasional bout of exhaustion but that is to be expected. Jay, however, SLEPT. The entire day. Seriously, i think we saw him for all of one hour and he was back to sleep. It was crazy. We have spent the weekend trying to recover and I really cannot believe i did not catch it. Especially since i was the one taking care of everyone!! God is good. Anyway, yesterday was the first day everyone felt well enough to get out for a bit. We weren't up for going to church yet (which, by the way, is where i think we caught it to begin with.. such is life) so we relaxed in the morning and then headed to Islands for lunch, walked around the mall for a bit, the kids got their face and hand painted, went to Rite Aide for some ice cream in a cup, and then hit up Petco to look at the pets. After all of that it is safe to say we were all ready for a nap. Anyway, I am so glad the flu has left our family and I am still praying i don't get it. Here are a few pictures of the kids with their paint. Rylie wanted a cat and it turned out awful, but it was because she moved a lot i think. This is when it looked the best. Tristan asked for a spider (looks more like a scorpion?!) on his hand and was so funny after.. he didn't want to move his arm at all. Too cute.

I love my kids!

I think sometimes I complain a little too much about my children. Yes, they are 2 and 3 and only 16 months apart (which I admit is very challenging) but I love them so much. I thought I would dedicate this post to them and 10 things I love about them!

1. The smiles on their faces when they wake up and see me in the morning. Complete joy.
2. I love their cuddles and sweet hugs and kisses.
3. I love that they pray for their Mommy and Daddy and sweet friends every single night.
4. I love to hear Rylie call Tristan "Brother"
5. I love hearing Tristan tell me to "Leave Rylie alone" if I have been too hard on her.
6. I love how quick they are to forgive me when I lose my cool.
7. I love that I look at them every day and see how much God loves me.
8. I love to hear Ry Ry shriek (very loudly) when she sees a balloon or birdie or something outside.
9. I love to hear them call me Mommy.
10. I love watching them hold hands and play together.

There are obviously so many things I love about my kids. This only scratches the surface. I needed to write this for me though. It is easy for me to get caught up in the messes and fights and little things like that. But I am blessed. I love them. So next time you hear me complain remind me of this...

Our beautifully dirty girl.

In awe that she caught the bubble. I love her.