Potty Training Success!

I thought the day would never come when I could finally say this, but Skyler is officially potty-trained! Yeah! We had tried potty-training a few months ago, but kind-of gave up after some on-again, off-again attempts. But, we finally got brave enough to give it one more go...

We decided to jump full-force into potty-training and just started putting Skyler in underwear 2 Mondays ago. Let's just say that by the end of the day, I was ready to give up once again. But we stuck with it, and luckily, by that Friday, he had just about figured it out, other than an occasional poop episode (yeah, of course, the fun ones to clean up!). He still occasionally has an accident (like the other day when he got really excited to see Laron come home), but for the most part, he has done REALLY, REALLY well! I definitely can't take too much credit though...
I think Skyler was just ready. But boy are we proud of him (and happy for ourselves)!

"Mommy Time"

Skyler has always LOVED his Daddy, and sometimes I get jealous. So recently I created something called "Mommy Time". It's just a time everyday that I try to really spend some one-on-one time with just me & Skyler. It doesn't sound all that complicated, but with having a second baby around now, sometimes I find that a whole day has gone by without me really sitting down to play with him. Now that I created "Mommy Time" though, and Skyler will beg for it all day long, somehow I enjoy making the time more.  Sometimes we just play with toys or play hide-and-go-seek (one of his favorites lately), and other times I try to do a craft with him or teach him about a new letter. It's pretty fun though to see how much kids just like to spend time with their parents when they're young. So I figure I'd better enjoy it while I can, because Skyler is sure growing up fast on me!

Fascinated with Cell Phones

Skyler has always been fascinated with our cell phones, but especially lately. He'll ask to borrow our phone, pretend to dial a phone number, and then have a 5-minute conversation with some pretend person. It's pretty funny to hear him say the same phrases as we say on the phone... "Hi, Chris home?... Oh, he's at work?... Oh, okay... See you later... Bye, bye." Then he'll say, "Click" to hang up the phone.

Well, the other day Laron had just left somewhere & Skyler was home with Kimberly and I. Pretty soon, Kimberly started crying and Skyler asked for my phone. I quickly gave it to him, hoping to make at least one child happy, when I soon heard him pretending to talk to Daddy on the phone. "Um, Daddy?," he said ever so seriously. "Can you come pick me up?" Well, Daddy must have said yes, because Skyler quickly ended the conversation with a "Thanks... bye," and then announced that Daddy was going to come pick him up. With how much Kimberly was crying at the time, I couldn't blame him. Maybe I should have called Daddy and had him pick me up too!

How Come Everything is so Fun to a Kid?

Skyler loves to scrub walls. I remember my mother telling me that her brother used to have to do that as a punishment, but no, Skyler loves it. In fact, I usually have to limit him to WHICH rooms he's allowed to scrub the walls in.

It's usually when I'm getting ready in the bathroom that Skyler decides the walls need scrubbing (or maybe he just needs something to do). Next thing I know, Skyler's grabbed his stool, his squirt bottle, and his scrub-brush & is hard at work. Man, I wish I had the same enthusiasm for life's menial tasks as HE does!

We're Buying A House!

Well, tomorrow we're signing papers for a new house in Clinton! We're super excited to finally have a house of our own & are planning on moving in on March 6th (less than 2 weeks!).

The house was built in 1980, so it's definitely not brand-new or anything, but we knew it was the one for us as soon as we walked through 2 rooms of the house... It just "felt" right.

It is in a cul-de-sac, which we like, it has 5 bedrooms (one of them is technically an office), it's on 1/3 acre, it has a nice big backyard with 4 fruit trees (apricot, plum, apple, and pear) as well as grape vines and a garden. It was remodeled on the inside 3 years ago (new carpet, paint, and bathroom fixtures) & a new shed was built a year ago. It doesn't have a garage, and like any house, we've already got a list of things we can do to improve it, but we love it anyways and can see ourselves being happy there. I've only got a few pictures for you now, but I'll post more later once it's really "our" house with our stuff in it.

Saying Prayers...

Skyler decided last week that he no longer needed our help to say his prayers at night. This was his first prayer on his own:

"Dear Heavenly Father, bless Mommy, bless Daddy, bless Grandpa, bless Kimberly..." Then he got up off his knees and looked at the front of his bedroom door where he has a snowman decoration he made, as if to remind himself, and then came back to finish... "Bless snowman, bless peanut butter,
bless toys, bless Daddy, Amen." Once again he got up off his knees,
then quickly went back down and finished with,
"Oh yeah, one more... Bless Kimberly."

He then stood up, pretty proud & confident of himself,
waiting for the praise he knew he was about to receive.
Wow Skyler! We're pretty proud of you!

Kimberly's Baby Blessing

Well, Kimberly's Baby Blessing went well on Sunday. We enjoyed getting together with family, we enjoyed showing off our newest edition, but most of all we enjoyed taking the time to be grateful for our little Kimberly & the blessing she is in our lives.


Kimberly was blessed in the same dress as all the women in this picture, as well as her Great-Great-Grandmother! Only the very first girl born in each generation were blessed in it, so it's pretty amazing.





A big thanks to everyone who came to the blessing & made it a special day!

2-years-old

This is how Skyler shows how old he is. For some reason he likes using his pinkies better than his pointer fingers... It's cute though!

 

Muscles

Skyler loves flexing his muscles. I'm not sure that he knows what muscles ARE, but he loves doing it nonetheless. Our routine that we used to do with him was, "Give me five... Give me knuckles... Show me your muscles!"

My Kids are Growing Up

So the other day, Skyler tried on my shoes and started heading out the bedroom door, announcing that he was "going to buy milk." I asked him if he had money to pay for the milk. He thought about it for a minute, then headed over to one of our dresser drawers and went right to the container we keep our change in and grabbed a few coins. My mouth just dropped... How did he know that's where we keep our change, or how did he even know what money was (since he usually just sees me use a debit card)?

And then Miss Kimberly is getting SO big too!

Mommy vs. Michelle

Skyler recently discovered that I have another name besides just "Mommy". Apparently I wasn't responding to "Mommy", so he decided to try out "Michelle", to which I had to do a double-take... "What did you just say Skyler?" It's pretty cute to hear how he pronounces "Michelle", but it just sounds so informal and un-loving when he calls me "Michelle". So we've now had the conversation that other people can call me "Michelle",
but to Skyler, I'm just "Mommy".
And somehow, being called "Mommy" feels good.

Phrases

Like most kids, Skyler has a few favorite phrases that he says a lot lately. One of them he says is, "I'm a lucky boy!" whenever he gets a piece of candy or gets to do something fun (obviously we've TOLD him several times that he's a "lucky boy").

Another phrase he picked up from Laron is "Let's DO it!", and then he now adds very matter-of-factly, "That's what Daddy says."

The other day too, as we were playing a game, Skyler blew me a kiss as he left the room and said, "That's what Grandma says." Apparently Grandma must blow him kisses from time to time!

Another phrase he frequently says is, "Oh... I forgot!" while dramatically placing his hand on his forehead & then reminding us about whatever it was he forgot. What a silly boy!

Imitating

Skyler sure picks up on everything, and feeding and burping the baby are no exceptions! I don't even have to teach him what to do, he just does it... And I must say, he's pretty good at it (although I'm glad he has his OWN baby doll to practice it on!).

Handsome vs. Beautiful

The other day, Skyler told Kimberly that she was "handsome." It was a very sweet comment, but then we had to have the conversation about boys being handsome & girls being beautiful. Since then he's been practicing up. At least once a day for the last few days, Skyler has stroked my face and told me that I'm beautiful. How precious! And lately he finds the quiet moments to tell me, "I love you Mom." AND, as the cherry-on-top, he really likes to brush my hair lately. It's those moments when he melts my heart like that that motherhood pays off & it all seems worth it. If Skyler continues being such a sweet guy, he'll have a very happy wife someday!

Reminded of the Past

The other day we decided that maybe Kimberly was old enough to appreciate the bar over the top of the bouncer that plays music, so we tried it out. As soon as I turned on the familiar music, I felt like I was transported back in time to when Skyler was a little boy. Suddenly I could just imagine being back in Logan in our little front room, with Skyler's big wide eyes staring back at me. I enjoy life now, but I kind-of had to hold my breath & hold back a tear or two as I reminisced about the memories of the past. Hmmmm.

Reading "Scriptures"

So a couple weeks ago Skyler found this book of "Tom Sawyer" in with Grandpa's kids books, and excitedly opened it & showed me the text inside & proclaimed, "Mom... Scriptures!" I was confused for a moment, but then realized that the only other book that he's ever seen without any PICTURES was the Scriptures! So now Skyler gets excited every time he sees that book & he pretends to read his "Scriptures." What a smart boy!

"Not so Bad"

The other day we took Skyler to the Doctor. He's always been pretty nervous about the Doctor's office & starts screeming as soon as they start doing ANYTHING (yes, even weighing him and checking his height). But the other day when we took him, he did SO good & was so brave as the Doctor listened to his chest with the stethoscope and looked in his ears with the light. Then, after getting his sticker for being a good boy, he walked down the hall like he knew exactly where he was going, turned slightly back to me & said thoughtfully, "Not so bad." Finally, the message that we'd been trying to tell him for months had sunk in... going to the Doctor is "not so bad."

Me & My Girl

There is something about having a little girl that is just fun... When I see the way that Skyler imitates Laron doing things & following him around, I look forward to the day when my little girl will do the same thing to me. It's not always easy though taking care of a needy newborn, but it's these special moments when she cuddles against my cheek or something that I enjoy her the most!

What a Big Boy!

Wow, my little boy is sure growing up fast! I think it's even more obvious now that I have a newborn baby to compare him with. But the other night when I was putting Skyler to bed, he announced to me that he could pull up his own covers... and my heart broke! For the last 2 1/2 years I have been wishing for him to get a little older for some reason or another, and now, I just want time to stand still while I cherish the sweet, cuddly boy I now know & love.

Don't grow up too fast on me Skyler!

So Helpful...

Skyler loves routines, and he especially loves reminding us of our routines. When he wakes up in the morning, he goes through the list of what needs to be done before we can eat breakfast... "Scriptures, prayers, dressed." When Laron wakes up (from sleeping during the day after doing a night-shift) Skyler kindly reminds HIM of what he needs to do... "Scriptures, prayers, dressed." And when he goes to bed, he once again loves to repeat back to us the list... "Scriptures, prayers, dressed, brush teeth, push buttons (for his heater)."

And what's even cuter is when we forget a portion of the routine and he remembers later, he puts his hand up to his forhead and says, "Oh, I forgot!"

My Talented Kimberly

For just being a month and a half old, Kimberly sure is able to hold her head up well! It's amazing how such small things can seem like such huge accomplishments!

A Much-Needed Break

After a long night and a busy morning, it is so nice when both of the kids take a nap at the SAME time!



If only I could get a nap in myself...

High Self Esteem

It's amazing how cool most kids think they are... And somehow, that's okay. Lately Skyler will out-of-the-blue just start naming off all the people that like him:
"Daddy likes me."
"Grandpa likes me."
"The baby likes me."
"Mommy likes me."

Or if someone smiles at him at the Grocery store, he'll turn to me and say, "Mommy, they like me!"

And when we come home from somewhere he'll now remind us how much we missed him:
"Daddy missed me."
"Grandpa missed me."

To which, of course, we agree and tell him how much we missed him.

Lego Choo-Choo Train

Skyler got some legos for Christmas & was playing with them the other day like normal, when he started lining them all up in a row. He then excitedly over to show me his creation and said it was a "Choo-Choo Train." Wow! It's always impressive when kids can come up with new things like that on their own... or maybe my kid's just smart!

Discovering His Eyebrows

So Skyler recently discovered his eyebrows... It's been funny to watch him purposefully try to raise them up and down.
What a cutie!

What a Sweet Older Brother!

Skyler sure loves his new little sister! I can already tell by the way he treats her that he's going to be a "lady's man". He is so sweet with her, especially when he lovingly strokes her face... Precious!