Potty Party

I had no idea this was all going to happen this week, it just sorta happened…..

….we have started the adventure of potty training.

On Wednesday I asked Dax if he wanted to sit on the potty and surprisingly he said yes. What’s even more surprising is he actually went when I put him on the potty. He was so proud of himself and so excited, so I decided I better just run with it. We’d been reading "Once Upon a Potty" for a few months now, and he knows all about “Joshua” and his “new potty”. I remember when I worked at Media Play (kinda like a Sam Goody) when I was in college seeing this book in the Book section and laughing at how funny it was. It’s all about how everyone has a “body” and this body “has many nice and useful parts” and unfortunately, I have it memorized, but Dax loves it and insists we read it all the time. Whenever we talk about anything related to the bathroom, he ends everything I say with “like Joshua”, the little boy in the story. It’s like they are friends; it’s so funny. All the “potty” phrases we use are from this book.

Other than "Once Upon a Potty", I have not done any reading or studying up on potty training. I only know what I know from friends and family experience, horrible and successful. Everyone has different solutions and techniques that have worked for them, but the one thing that was consistent with everyone I talked to is that Dax needs to be rewarded like crazy. So after he went potty on Wednesday we made a mad dash to Target to pick out his “special treat”. I couldn’t help myself when he went wee wee (that’s what we call it thanks to Once Upon a Potty)to do a little celebrating. So, I invented a little term every time we entered the bathroom and told him that we were going to have a little “Potty Party”. He thought that was fun. So when we were at Target I bought a few extra things to really make it a party.

We got some cool “undies” and some foamy soap that he was real excited about. We were looking for Diego or Mickey Mouse, but the only foamy soap character we found was Sponge Bob. He’s never seen the show but knew exactly who he was, and even though I am not a fan, I thought the foamy soap would be perfect for our Potty Party. Then we got some drinks and treats and he picked out a very cute 3D Fisher Price Memory Game with animals and hay stacks complete with a plastic egg carton carrying case. A very good choice if I do say so myself, and I may have had a little influence over it. Let's be honest, the boy does NOT need another truck for heaven’s sake!

After he went to bed Wednesday night I made his “Dax’s Potty Party” chart and hung it in the bathroom. Whenever he goes wee wee, poo poo, or sits and tries, he gets to put a star on the chart. I showed him it when he woke up on Thursday and asked if he wanted to put on his undies. He was so excited and couldn’t wait. For our “potty party” I bought cookies for when he goes wee wee and cupcakes for when he goes poo poo. We don’t stock a lot of treats in our house so these were especially special. His eyes lit up when I showed him the plate.

It’s been a few days now, and besides the very first accident on Thursday morning, he has successfully gone wee wee in the potty every time. I figured out that he wasn’t going to tell me he needed to use the potty, and after the first accident I discovered what the pee pee dance was, running in circles was, and crossing the legs was. Those all meant he had to go. It is a little hard to distinguish these moves when he kinda runs in circles and jumps around anyway because he is such a wild boy, but I think I got it, because every time I would run him on the potty, he would go. We even have a nice little routine down now---Run to the bathroom, drop undies to the ankles, fling undies off ankles and laugh extra hard when they land on your head, go wee wee in the potty, do our Potty Party song and dance (which baiscally consists of saying "potty party" lots of times real fast with a few "woo-hoos" thrown in), pull a little toilet paper from the roll and drop it in the toilet more like a salute or farewell because we all know boys don’t need to wipe, flush the potty, wash our hands with foamy soap, put a star on the chart, and get a treat from the plate.

So far so good! The poo poo part is going to be tricky, I can tell. He fooled me today and I won’t go into details, but let’s just say he was a little extra sneaky when I was distracted with Wyatt. Any suggestions? Overall, not too bad except the fact that I am going a little house crazy. The baseboards in the bathroom are spotless, the linens closet is clean and organized, and I have mentally redecorated the bathroom from paint color to accessories.

I think we’re headed down the right road, a diaper-less right road that is! Yea Dax!!

Disclaimer: Don't mind Dax's attire, he insisted on wearing his "muscle shirt" all day, even if it meant his Batman jammies. And, he needed to stand on a "tall tall tower" to wash his hands, hence the stool AND the gallon of paint. Nice, I know.

Our Rock Star

I did not grow up with much of a musical upbringing. At one point I think I was interested in taking piano lessons, but I think that was more because my older sisters had taken lessons and I thought it was only fair. The lessons didn’t last. I guess my mom thought it was a waste because the piano teacher only came once for me. My mom would never tell me I was a lost cause, but that must be the reason. She probably couldn’t stand to listen to me practice. But I don’t blame her; I was probably nails on a chalkboard bad

I can’t hold a tune, not even close. I’m not even an “okay” singer. I am horrible. Just horrible, and I’d admit it to anyone. I disclaimer whenever I sit next to someone other than my husband at Church that I stink.

I don’t even know anything about music. I don’t know how to read it and I don’t know how to lead it. I honestly don’t remember learning any of this, even though I know they teach it. I must have been absent that day. I remember enrolling in a Music 101 class my first year at BYU because it filled a general requirement and figured it would be easy enough. I remember looking over the syllabus at what we were expected to know, and I couldn’t even stay in the beginners class because I didn’t know how to count music, I couldn’t tell one note from another. Treble clef, measure, quarter note, sharp, flat, what is that?? I’m pathetic.

I can barely keep a beat, and even that is hard. I have no coordination, therefore I only lasted in one jazz class as a child and that has even left scars because we wore atrocious costumes that involved red spandex, bare stomach midriffs and crimped hair. Even lately I gave it another whirl with a hip hop aerobics class and I am telling you, it was soooooo embarrassing.

Austin is pretty much the same. He never played a musical instrument and focused on sports when he was younger. I actually think he has a really nice voice, and has the confidence to sing fairly loudly, even at Church, but he would never join the choir or anything like that.

Basically, our children are doomed.

At least that is what we thought.

There have been quite a few situations arise the past few weeks that give us a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, our kids have a fighting chance at having a well rounded childhood rather than one that is tainted only with sports. Dax has given us a world of hope. Here are three examples how:

1. Dax has been playing at a little friends house on Tuesday’s and the other day I went and picked him up and they were listening to the Kidz music channel on TV and dancing. He was having such a great time and rocking a pretty nice beat. He actually looked pretty coordinated and not like a total spaz like his mom. He even threw in a few twirls just for me when I got there. I usually turn on the radio when we’re cooking dinner and lately he has loved having a little dance off in the kitchen while I cook. Even when we were in HB on the pier there was a little concert with some Reggae band, and Dax had no problem busitn’ a move in front of hundreds of bystanders. So, he has rythym! Hooray!!

2. A few days ago we were at Austin’s parents and Dax and his little cousin were providing the entertainment as usual. Jett brings out the Guitar Hero guitar, presses the hand to one of his stuffed animals which is a gorilla that sings “Wild Thing” and pretends he is playing the tune on his guitar. He held the guitar perfectly, stood with one foot in front of the other like he was doing a hard core solo, and was banging his head as he played, and he’s two in a half! Dax’s turn was next, and instead of pressing the gorillas hand for a mock concert of “Wild Thing” he belts out every word to “I Love to See the Temple” rock style. We couldn’t stop laughing. On Sunday his nursery leaders told us he did the same thing with the play guitar in his class, and they couldn’t stop laughing either. So, he has an interest in instruments and loves to sing! Hooray!!

3. Yesterday as we were cleaning and getting ready to leave for the day Austin turned on his iPod. We were all singing and dancing and Dax runs out of the room. He comes back with a turkey baster and proceeds to sing in it like a microphone. Austin and I get distracted with something and Dax takes his place in front of the full length mirror in our room to watch himself sing and dance. He is singing a song, but nothing I can make out. He keeps saying the same phrase over and over again. I can’t quite tell what he’s saying, something I’ve never heard before. The only thing he has been singing lately is “I Love to See the Temple” and even though it is a great song to be sung, it’s been making me a little crazy!! Austin and I have a quick conversation that goes something like this;

Dax singing in the background

Bryn: Austin, what is he singing?

Austin: I have no idea.

Dax still singing in the background with the turkey baster.

I listen really hard to try and make out the words…
Its two butterflies…..?

Its takes two …??

Dax still singing in the background with the turkey baster, jamming in front of the mirror.

Austin stops what he is doing to try and make out the words.

Dax still singing in the background with the turkey baster, jamming in front of the mirror, and singing so unbelievably loud.

Finally Austin picks up what he’s saying.

Dax: “It’s tooooooo laaaate to apooooologiiiiiize. It’s too late….” (the song by OneRepublic)

Are you kidding me? We laughed so hard. Where does he come up with these things?

We concluded that we might just have a little Rock Star in our home.

My mom has told me lately that a singing child is a happy child. Dax is definitely happy. And when he sings like that, so passionate and so fervent, so are his mom and dad.

Go Dodgers!

This weekend Austin and I went to a Dodger’s game. Everyone else in our group may say that we went to a Diamondback’s game, but when you grow up in Southern California, there’s an unwritten rule that you will always root for your California team no matter where you live; whether it’s college football, MLB or the NBA. Once you’re a fan of a team in CA you will be until the end of time.

A few weeks ago a friend of ours called us up and invited us to the game. She had reserved the Owner’s Suite at the Diamondback’s stadium for her husband’s birthday and was inviting about 25 of us from the neighborhood to come along. We couldn’t wait! We knew everyone would be rooting for the Dbacks of course, so just to have a little more fun, I ran to the good ol’ local Wal-Mart and bought ourselves two brand new Dodgers shirt to have a little fun with everyone.

If you remember a few months ago, this was the same couple that had the amazing Halloween party in October and gave away iPod shuffles, so we knew it was going to be a fun group and a great time. We met at their house at 3:30 in our bright royal blue shirts and instantly were heckled. “How many straight games have the Dodgers lost?” Ohhh, that’d be 8. “How many games are the Dodgers behind the Dbacks?” That’d be 4 ½. “What was the score of last nights game?” Dbacks 9 and Dodgers 2. Yes, it stung a little….okay a lot, but we were sure we would bring good luck.

We carpooled to the stadium and lucky for us, it was Hispanic Heritage Day at the ballpark (funny, I know) and they were giving out “Los Dbacks” (notice the Los because of Hispanic Heritage Day :)) hats with hair Velcro'd into to look like their star Eric Byrnes who also has a show on Fox. To make the heckling even grander, they were also handing out huge red signs that read BEAT LA and the group definitely took advantage of that. Austin loved the trash talk, but up to this point he really didn’t have much to defend our team.

The cute little lady escorted us to our suite. Amazing! Couches, 5 TV’s, all you can eat, all you can drink, Haagen Daz ice cream (to die for) and great seats above home plate. Tina, the birthday boy’s cute wife, had Diamondback hats for everyone as well, and even though we had on “those ugly t-shirts” she still shared two with us. The night got really fun when Manny Ramirez homered in the third inning. We stood up and danced and everyone tried to hold their signs in front of our faces. The Diamondbacks answered right back in the bottom of the third with a run of their own. We heard the cheers and trash talk loud and clear. It’s kinda not fun being 2 Dodgers against 28 Diamondback fans. Lucky for us, Ramiez homered again later in the game, and for fear of sounding like ESPN for too long, the Dodgers came out with their first victory in quite some time. We won!! The final score ended up being 6 to 2 and we attributed this sweet little victory to two little fans sporting Wal-mart Dodger shirts!

Austin was psyched (how long has it been since you heard that word?). He really was going crazy. The rest of the group were good sports and in the end we took a big group picture, and even though they were all supposed to be holding their BEAT LA signs and crying with Austin and I standing tall and proud in the middle, you can tell we all had a great time.

Just to rub it in a little more, Austin thinks he’s going to wear his Dodger shirt under his shirt and tie today to Church. Nothing like a little sportsmanship! For me, I’m just glad I had a fun distraction from leaving Wyatt home with his first official babysitters (yes, we had two!) Look at these two in their new Eric Byrnes hats!!

"It's this face that keeps me outta trouble"---Wyatt

The Beach

Finally. It was finally here. It was finally time to go. It was finally time to spend a week at the Beach. Finally….finally…finally…

We plan for our annual beach trip in San Clemente for an entire year. We go each summer, almost 50 of us, and camp for a week. We pick a theme for the next year at the end of each week. This year’s theme was Superheros, and we go all out! We even have committee’s for everyone to pitch in and make the week a memorable one. We have food, decorations, activities, service project, “convenient store” and reservations.

This year the site was decorated like Gotham City, with murals of skyline vinyl table cloths tied to the fences to give us the feel of the city. There were blow up’s of Spider-man, Batman and Superman surrounding all the picnic tables. We had a great menu with lots of yummy food and fun activities for the kids to make capes, dress up like Superheros and run an obstacle course and some fun trivia games and even a Boggle tourney for the adults.

We even added a few extra days to the trip to visit HB and go to Disneyland.

Here are some highlights:

--We met my best friend since kindergarten, Ashley, in HB to start the week off. It had been years since we had seen her and we spent the day downtown enjoying the sun and each other’s company. I think I’ll refer to her as Aunt Ashley from now on; the boys adored her and she was so cute with them. Dax loved walking down the pier and watching the fisherman and surfers. Ashley even joined us for one of our days at Disneyland, which was really fun!

--Although Wyatt’s bottom two teeth broke while we were at the beach, no one would have known. He slept so great; I think the crashing waves were like music to him. He loved playing in the sand and he had no problem splashing in the cold water. He happily wore his hat at only got a little sun-kissed on his nose the first day. He was a great mini-Spider-man and loved all the kids playing with him. He loved the baths we gave him in the outdoor tub-like sink at the bathrooms. Someone said he probably had the most sleep out of any of the campers that week, and I think they were right. He was such a good baby!!

--Dax on the other hand had a little tougher of a week. He got a crazy diaper rash that really put him on edge. I don’t blame him… A diaper rash + sand does not = a happy camper. This threw him off with the majority of everything. He would hide out in grandma and grandpa’s trailer for as long as we would let him. He thought the waves were “scary” and was perfectly happy playing in the shade in the sand. He wasn’t happy taking showers and cried every time we put his trunks on. This carried over to Disneyland. He wouldn’t even ride the carousel. Miraculously, after two days of being at the park, he did stand next to Mickey Mouse for a picture.

Good thing next month we will be back in California at the beach in Oceanside for some better attempts at pictures on the beach and Dax semi-close to the ocean because this trip was a total bust at a family picture. Cross your fingers for us, because if not, you'll all be seeing this picture in your Christmas cards. Oh help us please!

Jell-o

There are so many moments throughout the day that I wish Austin were here to see. Of course there are the meltdowns and the mini-tantrums, but there are so many more of the ones that I can’t wait until Austin gets home to tell him about something funny Dax said or did. Tonight, I couldn’t stop laughing at Dax and his funny comments and facial expression. Here’s what happened….

I called Dax to the dinner table and his face lit up as he saw a bright red bowl of jell-o. I hate to admit it, but I honestly don’t think Dax has eaten jello before. It jiggled as he sat down on his chair and he looked at me and smiled. And when Dax smiles, it lights up his whole face and even his eyes smile. I love his smile. I could just tell he was so excited about all this red jell-o.

Before even taking a bite, he says, “I yike this mom.”

I said, “Oh, good!”

We said a quick prayer and he dove right in. And just a side note so you don’t think I am even a worse parent then you probably already do for not having ever fed my 2 ½ year old jell-o before, he wasn’t eating just jell-o for dinner. He had a nice proportioned plate of leftover turkey roast, rolls, and some cooked veggies---I get real fancy when Austin works late. But all that could wait. This jell-o was calling his name.

He took a big spoonful, which took a little maneuvering because of it’s jiggly-ness, and shoved it into his mouth. I could see his eyes smiling again as it slid down his throat.

He says, “Yat’s good mom!” These days every sentence ends in mom.

I said, “I am so glad you like it. It’s jell-o.”

He repeats me and says, “It’s yeyyow”. That’s how he says yellow, without the ll’s.

Before I could correct him and say, “No, not yellow, jjjjjjeeeeeellll-ooo”, he looks at his RED jell-o and then looks at me like I am full of bologna, but says in a way that you would maybe talk to a senior citizen who you know doesn’t quite understand what you are saying, and corrects me very sweetly and thoughtfully and says, “Uh, I yink it’s RED mom.”

I died. I love this little guy!!! It instantly fast forwarded me to his pre-teen years when he’s on the verge of knowing everything and I’m still just going to be the mom full of bologna. At least tonight he looked like he had a little bit of pity on little ol’ me.

Time

Yes, the time has come to….

…shield all electric outlets with safety caps
…move the refrigerator magnets up
…keep Dax’s toys hidden
…buy locks and latches for all cabinets & drawers
…discontinue projects on the floor
…close all the doors
…move the glass vase from the side table
…pick-up all random pieces of food and scrap pieces of paper from the floor
…vacuum more often
…leave no drinks unattended
and don’t forget
…crawl around on all fours "thinking" like Wyatt for anything I might have missed!

This little man is starting to crawl!!

Go buddy! Go!

Utah

We left. We drove. We played for 4 days. We drove some more. We’re back. We’re sad.

As “summer” comes to a close around here (school starts in just a few weeks), we finally took our first vacation of the season. It was well overdue. We hadn’t had days off as a family since last September, so when my parents invited us to Park City with them for a few days, we couldn’t wait.

For Christmas, my mom and dad had given all the couples in my family a 7-day trip with just the two of them and they were to take place over the next 2 years. Well, for those of you who read my other sister’s blogs, know that 3 out of us 5 girls ended up taking their trip with my parents this past May for a week long cruise in Alaska. To tie Austin and I and my other sister and her husband over until our trips next year (we can’t WAIT to find out our destination and itinerary), they rented a time share in Park City and invited us to come stay for a few days. We tacked on a few more days to spend some time with Austin’s parents and brothers and sisters and off we went.

I wasn’t sure how the car drive would be with TWO boys. Luckily, I packed the three things that ended up being a surefire way to keep Dax happy: a DVD player, an Aqua Doodle, and ring pops. He couldn’t be happier. Wyatt had a few minor melt downs, but all in all he did a great job for his first road trip.

I love Utah in the summer. I definitely miss those mountains. It’s strange how Utah is still a little more familiar to me than AZ, but that is slowly changing. I love how we still run into old friends at Magelby’s, at the carnival days in A.F. and see familiar faces in Park City. We almost did a drive-by our old house in Lehi, but couldn’t quite bring ourselves to do it. I loved that house; I loved living in Utah; I miss our old friends. It was good to be back.

The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect chance to ditch this crazy AZ heat. We had a great time with our family. Austin’s parents spend half the year in Utah and the other half in Arizona. It was great to catch up with them! Wyatt met a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins for the first time, and Dax made fast friends with his cousins that he doesn’t get to see very often. It made us even more excited for our annual beach camping trip coming up next month to see the kids running around after each other. Lucky for us, we even had a few hours with my twin, Jamie, and Joe and the girls as they made their way home from a stay with Joe’s family.

Park City is so beautiful. We had some great meals at our favorite Mexican food restaurant that Jamie, my mom and I swear we discovered more than 10 years ago before it turned into a local hangout. We love walking down Main Street and seeing all that has changed since we first had our condo there in the early 80’s. Austin and Dax rode the Alpine Slide for the first time and that was, of course, a hit. Austin even got in a little karaoke at the club house.

We wish we could have played for a lot longer than 4 days. They went by way too quick. I was so glad to have come back on a Wednesday and only have to face a 2 day work week. We are so glad we will always have family and wonderful friends to visit in Utah.

Anyone who is reading this and lives in Utah that we didn’t call or come see, please don’t be upset. We seriously devoted our short 4 days to family and promise to make it up to you on our next trip which is already being planned and is without a doubt, longer than 4 days!

Wyatt

Wyatt is 6 months old! Wyatt is 6 months old!!!! I have to say it twice to believe it.

Yesterday we had Wyatt’s 6-month check and he is tall and skinny just like Dax was. He weighs a whopping 15 1/2 pounds (10th percentile) and is 27 inches tall (75th percentile). He has officially found his tongue and loves to stick it out and blow raspberries. He talks and squeals and get this, scoots! He can get to anything he wants now by rolling and scooting. He just wants to get down and play when anyone is holding him. He is king at arching his back, something that is NOT my favorite when they learn. He is over his baby rings and soft chewy toys. He wants Dax’s trains and dinosaurs. He grabs at everything---yanking the toothbrush out of my mouth and sticking his fist in a spoonful of food on the way to my mouth. He giggles and laughs and loves to be in the pool (thank goodness). He is a getting so big and is as happy as can be!

I can tell that Dax is realizing that he is getting bigger too. Wyatt managed to get over to his tower of checkers and knock it over the other day. And this morning, Wyatt grabbed onto Dax’s shirt with a death grip and Dax couldn’t even pry his fingers off. How do you explain that Wyatt is still a little baby for some things, and doesn’t purposely knock over his tower, but is getting so big all at the same time?

I find myself saying these things to Dax all the time,
“Wyatt is still too little to wrestle with” but, “Wyatt is too big for you to carry”.
And Dax, “Wyatt is still too little to play with certain toys”, but “Wyatt is big enough to play with other certain toys that you now must learn to share”.
Oh, and Dax, “Wyatt is big enough to eat cereal, but not big enough to eat your kind of cereal, only his own special cereal so don’t try and feed him.”
And, “Wyatt knows how to grab onto things, but hasn’t yet learned how to let go, hence the death grip on your pajamas this morning.”
Seriously, this is not logical. Dax looks at me like I’m not making sense, and I can see how in his little world this doesn’t make any sense at all!

I guess for now I’m going to enjoy the things that still make Wyatt little to me. Like burying his head in my neck when I’m singing to him before he goes to bed. And how he sleeps with his little bum in the air. And the way his face scrunches up when he cries and the silly sounds he manages to make. And the way he pumps his leg when he gets excited.. or mad.

For now, I’m just going to have to enjoy all these little things, because each day, no matter what I do, he's getting bigger.

All in a Day's Work

I think this is what Wyatt was trying to tell me today…

Well, I think this world
Is a real nice place (I have been here for 6 months now)

But I think that it's a crime

That I should have an older brother (named Dax)

Who picks on me all the time (to be fair, it's only some of the time)

So, next time he's sleeping in his room

I’m goin' to sneak in and tie him (I'll recruit someone to help me)

Then I’ll take him out into the street

And see if someone will buy him

My brother’s for sale ('cause he body slams me too hard)

Only fifty cents

Brother for sale ('cause he yells in my face too often)

He's not a big expense

You can hug him

You can bug him

You could buy or rent

Brother for sale, ('cause he plays a little too rough, and I'm just a little guy)

Only fifty cents

But wait...

He will always pick me up (or at least try)

When you take a fall (or in my case, if I roll onto the tile)

And he's good at showing you

How to catch a ball (or just putting it in my lap)

He always tells these funny jokes (mainly just sings silly songs)

And does this crazy dance (yes, definitely crazy dances)

Hey, wait!

He sounds like a pretty nice guy... (and pretty cute if I do say so myself)

Let's give him one more chance (mom's favorite saying too!)

My brother's not for sale

Not for any price

My brother's not for sale

I guess he will suffice

I like to hug him

I like to bug him

He's really rather nice

My brother's not for sale

Not for any price!

Treasures

I love anything that has a story; a treasure I like to call it. I love a toy that was so loved it’s been handed down for generations, or a baby dress that your grandmother wore. I love a treasure in my house that has once been in my parent’s house, or grandparent’s house, or great grandparents house.

When my parents and grandparents sold our condo in Park City a few summers ago, I was lucky enough to inherited one of the beds. It was the bed that my grandparents always slept in downstairs and it belonged to my grandmother’s father’s sister, Aunt Lil. (Pheeew, did you follow all that?) When my grandmother’s aunt passed away my grandma inherited it. When we sold the condo, I inherited it, a true treasure to me. It is a beautiful white wrought iron headboard and footboard. I can’t wait one day for a little girl to sleep in it again. I love that I have it and know where it came from and who it belonged to and where is has been. I hope it stays in the family and with someone who appreciates it for a long long time!

There are a few treasures like this at my parent’s house that I am sure all my sisters would happily display in their home. The two I am thinking of are my dad’s train set and my mom’s glass clowns.

My grandpa bought my dad a 1946 authentic freight train set when he was 3 or 4 years old. I know it is probably one of my dad’s very few prized possession. It was always around my Grandparents Christmas tree each year for all the kids to enjoy. We LOVED it, and now our kids love it. A few years back, my grandpa gave it to my dad for his home and his grandchildren to enjoy. My dad takes very serious care of his train and the kids have strict rules when they are around it. But my dad always gives the kids turns tooting the horn and carefully stepping over the track to make a tunnel for the train to ride through. Dax absolutely loved his grandpa’s train last Christmas. I loved seeing the joy my dad had in his eyes seeing the kids playing with it and I loved that way I felt watching Dax play with it, and I loved the absolute delight Dax had in his eyes playing with it.

At grandma and grandpa’s house, my mom has a wonderful playroom for the kids. There is a closet full of games, toys and puzzles. She has some great vintage Little People sets that all the kids still love paying with, no matter how old, and a lot of the toys us girls played with when we were little. The whole entire playroom came to shape around my grandmother’s glass clowns. My mom’s parents passed away when we were little, and there are only a few select memories I have of them, but one is definitely seeing those little clowns on the end tables in their little apartment next to a dish of peppermints. They sit up very high in the playroom so that none of the kids can reach them. They are adorable. Practically every time we are at my mom’s playing, Dax asks for the one with the balloons to get down so he can play with it. I love that he recognizes how special they are.

The reason I have been thinking about this lately is because I think I know what one treasure I will be passing onto Dax. It’s his Airplanes. When I was pregnant with Dax Austin gave me this adorable mobile for Dax’s room that probably cost more than most birthday presents he buys me. I had been eyeing it for a few months and desperately wanted it, but couldn’t justify paying more for a mobile than just about any other thing we had bought for his room. When I got it for my birthday I was elated. It didn’t play music; it didn’t have a nice arm to hang from the side of the crib. It simply hung from the ceiling. It has 4 vintage model airplanes in green, blue, red, and yellow and that is all. I loved it because it didn’t say “baby” to me. It looked like any boy, of any age, could love. We instantly hung it over the crib. Since the day Dax started sleeping in his crib, he has slept under this mobile. Now that he is out of his crib and into his twin bed, it still hangs over him when he sleeps. When we transitioned Dax into a bed, I spent a few nights sleeping under those planes, and I can see why he loves them. He still falls asleep looking at them swing.

The other day I caught Dax standing on his bed reaching to get his planes. I smiled as I watched him through the crack in his door. He loves those planes. He’s had them since he was a baby, and I think he will enjoy them for a really long time. I can’t believe one day he will have a son of his own, and I can’t wait to give them to him so he can hang them in his own son’s room.

What "treasures" do you hope to pass along to your children??

July

We're smack in the middle of Summer. Although the 4th of July is typically one of my favorite holidays, something about 115 degree weather dampers that just a little bit. I guess it's the fact that you are sweating watching fireworks. Err go, we still love wearing red, white and blue and celebrating the freedoms we have in this wonderful country! It's a little late, but wishing everyone happy wishes this month!

4th: Happy 4th of July

18th: Happy Birthday Ally

19th: Happy Birthday Mom

30th: Happy Birthday Shannon

Little Bums

When did this happen? How is this possible? What does this mean?



The boys can fit in the same size diapers!! This can only mean two things….

1. Wyatt is getting way too big way too fast
and
2. Dax seriously needs to get potty trained


How do I make time stand still for one and skip into the future with the other??

Disclaimer: The boys fit in the same size diaper, but they don't wear the same size. To give Dax some credit, he does wear a size 5, I just thought it was funny that if I did get in a bind, they could wear eachothers.

Wake up Call

The house is quite as Dax plays quietly and Wyatt sleeps soundly in his room.

Suddenly, Wyatt wakes up and he’s happy. He chatters softly and squeals at his animals in his crib.

Realizing Wyatt is awake, Dax takes off down the hallway towards his room; the area of the house he has been forbidden to play in for the past hour in a half.

I follow closely behind reminding Dax to be soft as he barges into Wyatt’s room.

As soon as the door opens, Wyatt stops talking and listens and waits.

Dax climbs onto the crib and peers over the side.

Wyatt starts squealing again and kicks his legs and flails his arm.

Dax looks back for me to inform me, “Wyatt’s awake, mom”.

Then he looks back down at Wyatt and says “Hi Baby” five times in a row.

Wyatt smiles and keeps kicking and flailing.

Dax says, “Wyatt’s happy to see me, mom.”

I say, “Yes!”

Dax says, “Pick Wyatt up, mom”

I pick Wyatt up and proceed to kiss his face off.

I kneel down so Dax can kiss his face off.

Dax says, “He’s proud of you, mom.”

Dax goes running out of the room.

Wyatt and I follow.

We find Dax sitting on the couch with his arms out, “I hold him, mom.”

I sit Wyatt in Dax’s lap and they both smile at me.

Then Dax says, “Take a picture of us, mom”

I get the camera and snap away until Dax pushes Wyatt off his lap and says, “You hold Wyatt, mom” so he can see the pictures I took.

Wyatt whines because Dax manhandles him.

Dax says "Wyatt's tired again, mom".

Then I go into a mini-speech that includes how "we need to be soft" , "Wyatt's just a little baby" and "when he squeals you need to stop whatever you are doing to him".

Dax says, "Okay, mom"

Then the same things happens at least one more time each and every day. You can imagine the number of pictures I have of these two sitting on the couch!

My Tag

My cute friend Amera tagged me with this game a few weeks ago and I totally ignored it (I’m so sorry Amera!!!). I was just too lazy to play. Then my sister tagged me with it too, so I thought I better put on my thinking cap and get to it. So here it is…..

How To Play This Game of Tag:List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprising facts about yourself.Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

Joys:
1. My little family. They themselves alone bring me more joy imaginable, but I instantly came up with three things each of them does that brings me joy. When Austin comes home with flowers. He does this on occasion for no reason at all, and it isn’t even so much the flowers that bring me joy (even though I love the way they look on the table), but that he stopped on his way home and got them for me. When Dax sings. He has just started doing this and it melts my heart. His favorite is Row Row Row Your Boat and I love the way he tries to say “merrily”. After each song, he says, “You like that song mom?” YES! Wyatt’s smile. He has the greatest smile. It melts my heart.
2. When I successfully bake something. I don’t know what happened, why I’ve been plagued by this, but I cannot bake worth a lick. I cook well, but baking is a whole other ball game. Cookies aren’t soft, cakes don’t rise, and cream cheese mixtures never get smooth enough. I can follow a recipe perfectly, but somehow, 9 out of 10 times I can’t get it right. So, that one time, when I bake something successfully, that brings me pure joy!
3. Taking a child to Disneyland. Last year we took Dax for the first time and I have never had more fun there ever. I grew up with a season pass; I’ve been a hundred times, but nothing beats watching a child experience it for the first time. This summer, when we go back, I think he will love it even more!

Fears: (NOTE- This was no fun thinking about)
1. When a new baby is in the house I cannot help but think about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. That would be one of the worse things ever to experience and for some reason with Wyatt I thought about it almost constantly when he started sleeping in his own room. This is definitely one of my worst fears.
2. I fear the day that one of my children, for whatever reason, don’t love me and cut me out of their life. I have no idea why that would happen, but I’m not sure there could be a worse feeling then your child not loving you back.
3. Memory loss has always frightened me. That would be awful to experience or to see a love one experience it. I couldn’t imagine not remembering who people are, or wonderful memories about childhood. I dread getting old for this reason!

Goals:
1. I really want to learn how to make baby food for Wyatt. I only have a few weeks to figure this out, so I better get started. I think it would be so fun and rewarding and probably save a little money along the way. Anyone have any tips?
2. Like Nicole, I would love to get Dax potty trained by the time we go beach camping in August. I think I can handle only changing one sandy diaper bum rather than two.
3. I would love to put up crown molding in our living room, so I guess this goal would be to get Austin to do it for me!

Current obsessions/collections:
1. I wash my hands A LOT. I wouldn’t diagnose myself as OCD about it, but I think I’m probably pretty close. In turn, Dax gets his hands washed all the time too. I know most moms probably try and keep their kids’ hands clean, but I probably over do it a little bit. I know Austin has given me weird looks before about this one.
2. My closet is color coordinated and all my clothes all hang in the same direction and usually in the same spot. It throws me off when Austin puts laundry away and hangs a shirt up in the wrong spot.
3. This is all the fault of my dear friend Kat. In her kitchen she has all plastic utensils in one drawer (spoons, spatulas…), all rubber and wooden utensils in another (spatula, wooden spoons), and all metal utensils in another (knifes, whisks, pizza cutter…). In Utah we didn’t have enough drawers in our kitchen to do this, but since we’ve been in this house that is absolutely the way things are organized. If something gets put in the wrong drawer, it makes me a little crazy. I love when Austin helps out, but sometimes it just makes more work for me to go back over what he’s done. But I still love him for trying! J

Random surprising facts about myself:
1. I can’t blow up a balloon. I seriously can’t. It practically gives me a headache to try.
2. I hate anything new that comes sealed that you have to peel off using a tiny tab. Like a brand new bottle of syrup, ketchup, mayonnaise, and lately the milk at Costco. I always manage to pull off the tiny tab, and then have to get a knife to puncture the thing and then get my finger all gross trying to peel off the rest of the seal. It makes me crazy!
3. Up until a few months ago I did not like olives, not even a little bit. The smell even grossed me out. Now all of a sudden I do. Kinda random?

Now, if you want to play, tag yourself!

Happy Faces

"One big circle. Two dots. And a smiley face. Look mom. Look dad. I draw a happy face.”

Holy crap! That’s really good.

Dax doesn’t color much. He just doesn’t. He plays more with the crayons then actually uses them. They fit perfectly into the bed of his trucks and make a nice track for his Hot Wheels. We’ve bought coloring books for him and had little lessons on staying in the lines, but he really doesn’t care. His nursery pictures come home with one blue line. One. He just isn’t that interested in creating a masterpiece I guess.

He does love his little Doodle Pro though. I think this is our third one and it keeps him more entertained during Church than anything else I bring. He will sit on Austin’s lap and tell him what to draw. A shark. A dog. A crocodile. A lion. A bee. A lizard. A snake. A daddy snake. It’s mostly animals, but sometimes there is an occasional transportation something. A choo choo. A plane. A car. Then, after each picture, he shows me, so proud, as if he drew it himself. I never draw on those things. If Dax wants me to draw, which is only if Austin isn’t around, I stick to the alphabet and numbers. Once he called my dog and elephant, I gave up. I have no artistic ability.

Yesterday we were hanging out on a normal Sunday afternoon and he was drawing on his Doodle Pro. He asked me to draw a picture. Austin was sitting right next to me and he asked me to draw a picture. Talk about pressure! I stretched my artistic abilities as far as I could; a happy face. I said, “One big circle, two dots, and a smile.” He laughed. Then he tried. One big blob, 65 dots/marks, and another squiggly somewhere outside the “one big circle”. Then he laughed again. We erased it and did the same thing over about 30 times. I would show him how to do it, and then he would try. We got the 65 dots down to a few, but they were nowhere close to resembling eyes. Nothing in fact was really resembling a happy face. Austin helped a few times too. Then we got distracted while Dax kept working…..

“One big circle. Two dots. And a smiley face. Look mom. Look dad. I draw a happy face.”

Holy crap! That’s really good!!

So, here you have it, Dax’s first masterpiece!

P.S He was so proud of himself. I can NEVER get him to smile like this when I'm trying to take a picture.

His Shadow

In Arizona, one of the major questions when you are buying a house is the direction it faces. When it faces north/south, you’re in pretty good shape, but when your house faces east/west, it’s worse because it is the same direction where the sun rises and sets. And, with the Arizona sun being so blazing hot, this makes for VERY hot mornings and evenings. Lucky for us (read: NOT so lucky for us) the home we fell in love with was facing east/west. I’ve whined about this little predicament since about the day we’ve moved in. We’ve added sunscreens, added ceiling fans, added thicker curtains and blinds, but to no avail. The sun still blazes through those windows at dinnertime and makes me miserable. It’s the hottest time of the day and during these summer months, I hate it. That is, until last week. Who would have guessed that that blazing sun would be the destiny for our son’s new best friend?

Yup, Dax has a new best friend. They play together so well. Dax is always happy when they are playing. This friend does exactly what he wants him to and they never fight. It’s so nice when he comes over to play. Lately, it’s every night around dusk.

If we leave our bedroom window blinds open, stick Dax in the doorway, and face him towards the wall, this is where you will meet his new best friend, his shadow.

Austin rarely picks up the camera, but I have to give him credit for taking this picture. Dax was so mesmerized seeing his shadow on the wall and watching him do all these silly things. He liked touching his head, and then his toes, then turning to the side, then dancing, and seeing his friend follow right along.

Now that he and his shadow have met, he’s showing up everywhere. He’s there when the TV is off and Dax sees himself in the screen, when he’s running through the house and sees him in the window, when he’s playing soccer outside and sees him on the grass, when he’s riding his bike and sees him on the sidewalk.

We really love this new friend. He makes Dax so happy.

Now, if we could just figure out how to deal with all the crashes and accidents he’s causing around here because Dax is too busy watching his shadow to pay attention to what he is doing!

Lemon Juice

I used to be naturally blond. All my older sisters had darker hair like my mom, but Jamie and I were blond. I guess we inherited it from my dad because he was a cute blond little boy. Plus, I lived at the beach. I went ALL the time. That natural sun bleached my hair during those long summer days next to the Pier at tower #3. It always felt so good to be sun-kissed with glowing hair. I also played softball nearly every weekend for close to 8 years. My pony tail would always be blonder than the rest of my hair.

Then, I moved to Idaho. No more beaches, no more sun, and no more blond. That summer after my freshman year I headed back to the beach with dark hair and pasty white skin. It was awful.

The solution? Lemon juice. I don’t even know who told us about this, or why we thought it would work, but everyday me and my sister and whoever was with us would go down to the beach. We took a spray bottle filled with lemon juice and a comb. We would spray and spray that lemon juice until there wasn’t a drop left, comb it through every piece, and then we would sit. We would sit on the beach waiting and praying it was making our hair blonder. And while we sat hoping to be blonder, we looked a complete hot mess.

Long hair, plus sea-salt air, plus ocean breeze, plus lemon juice = one crusty, tangly mess.

Miraculously, we thought it was worth it. We would get home, shower, blow dry our hair and convince ourselves that this lemon juice solution was truly turning us blonder. Who knows if it ever did?

Well, I’m a bad mom. Last week I put it to the test. No, not on myself, on my two year old son. We were headed to the pool before swim lessons and I knew it was going to be a long day in the hot sun. So I lathered Dax up with sunscreen, and I pulled out the spray bottle. He looked at me funny, but I have a trick. Referring any shirt, shorts, shoes, sandals to “surfer”, and I get my way. When he doesn’t want to put a shirt one, I tell him it’s a cool “surf” shirt and he puts it on. He never wants to wear shoes, but cool “surf” sandals he likes. So when I started to spray his hair and he wouldn’t hold still, I told him he was going to have awesome “surf” hair.

We played out in the sun all afternoon. Even after the pool and swim lessons we played on the slip in slide in the backyard. It was a long day and we were exhausted. After Dax’s bath I patiently waited for his hair to dry to see if he was blonder. I couldn’t tell. A little later Austin came home from work, not knowing what I had done. Within a few minutes, after saying all his hello’s, he looks at Dax and then at me and says, “He looks so blond to me right now.” What? Lemon juice really does work!!

Just so we don't think we're crazy, he really does look blonder, right?

before lemon juice

with lemon juice

after lemon juice

Just Me and My Dad

We went camping, just me and my Dad (and the rest of the Fathers and Sons in the Ward)

Dad drove the car ‘cause I’m too little (even though I put up a big stink and layed on the horn a few times in protest as I climbed into the back seat).

On the road I ate Twizzler and drank Dr. Pepper ‘cause dad said we were on a “road trip” (and mom wasn’t around).

When we got to the campsite, I was dirty in no time. Dad said that just meant that I was a boy and was having fun.
We roasted hot dogs for dinner, played Frisbee and got more dirty. I found a tree stump that I really liked.
When it got dark we started a fire. Dad said not to get too close so I wouldn’t fall in. Anyone who knows me, knows that that was good advice!

After playing awhile it was time for bed. Dad bought me my very own, brand new alligator sleeping bag that I thought was so cool. Cool, until I figured out dad was sleeping in another sleeping bag next to me. I gave my dad a big hug so he wouldn’t be scared (wink wink) and decided to sleep with him in his sleeping bag on a twin air mattress. I went right to sleep.

I made lots of new friends and everyone in the ward got to know my crazy personality a little bit better. Mom made me take a bath right when I got home.


We had fun camping-just me and my dad.

--Dax, age 2 1/2

A retold Little Critter story, Dax's favorite books

June!

Happy June! My little guys adore their dad so much, obviously Dax wants to be just like him. Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! Wishing everyone happy wishes this month---it's a BUSY one!!

2nd: Happy Birthday Mom MacGillivray

3rd: Happy Birthday Scott

4th: Happy Birthday Kobi

10th: Happy Birthday Ryder

15th: Happy Father's Day

16th: Happy Birthday Michael

21st: happy Birthday Joe

23rd: Happy Birthday Misti

25th: Happy Birthday Josh & Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad MacGillivray

29th: Happy Birthday Trevor