Lighting McQueen and Doc Hudson

For Christmas this year Jack was given some Cars characters from the Disney movie (which he loves BTW) from his aunts and cousins. Ever since Christmas Jack has been totting these cars around. He mostly hangs onto Lighting and Doc though. Lighting and Doc get to do EVERYTHING with him. They go to bed and take naps together. They eat lunch and have snack-time together as well. He loves those cars and doesn't want to leave them out of anything he's doing.

Last week Jack and I were having a bit of a power struggle. Anything I asked him to do was answered with a NO or talking back, or just plain and simple a two-year-old-tantrum. So I decided to change tactics. I started asking his friends Lighting and Doc if they would like to do things...a MIRACLE occurred, Lighting and Doc were so agreeable and helpful.

I was on the phone with my sister-in-law and I was telling her about this new found motivation for Jack- I jokingly mentioned that if only Lighting and Doc could go #2 in the potty then life would be FANTASTIC. She said why not try it. Have them sit on the potty and drop some raisins in and see of that does it. MIRACLE #2 (no pun intended) but that worked too.

Thank you Lighting McQueen and Doc Hudson for being good examples and great friends to a two-year-old little boy who thinks you guys are pretty cool.

Potty Training 101

This past Thursday Jack asked to go Potty on the Big Boy Potty. I was floored. I didn't think he was ready, nor had he shown any interest in the past when we'd talk about it. Anyhow, he did it- first time no big deal. I talked things over with my mom and she gave me the pep-talk I needed to go and try this. It actually has been doable. This was one of the things I was not looking forward to as a parent. I don't do well with messes- especially of the human kind.

I'm not saying he's Potty Trained in one weekend, but we've made some great progress!

On a side note; hence the potty training it has made us stay inside for the past couple days. I am not the sort of person who stays at home. We always get out of the house at least once a day and most days we are gone for a good portion of the day. I have to confess that I have probably let him watch too many movies and play too much Wii, but he has been happy. Today we are going to make play dough and build forts- then for the big reward of going #2 in the potty off to Kangaroo Zoo tonight for a Potty Party!

Things I've learned thus far about Potty Training (this is for me in the future)-
- You as a parent have to be trained to be calm and not pushy, and make it fun and exciting
- Consistency of getting him on the potty
- Bribery works!
- Be creative
- Expect accidents and rejoice when they don't happen!
- It never hurts to pray for strength- I know that might sound silly, but there is NOTHING to trivial for the Lord's help.

As for the "Be Creative" bullet listed above, I have to expound on that a little. Jack has this Winnie the Pooh movie that he loves to watch. It's actually a compilation of some video's that we had and watched as kids. I've always loved Pooh Bear. There is this one experience that Pooh has of getting stuck in Rabbits front door/hole after eating too much honey. Rob and I were watching this with Jack a while back and there is this cute song that comes on after Pooh budges. It goes something like this "Hooray for you, hooray for me, hooray, hooray, the Pooh will soon be free". At this point while Rob started laughing and laughing- I didn't quite get it :). After a little explanation from Rob- BTW he ruined that movie for me, I started laughing too. It had been a couple days since J-man had gone #2. I was getting a little worried and anxious. I'm sure Jack could sense this. I wasn't quite sure how to get him to sit long enough on the toilet to get the job done. #1 was no problem, but how to get him to sit... Last night I had a thought. Get the portable DVD player and bring it into the bathroom. It worked! I'm not saying the song had anything to do with it, but it probably didn't hurt either!

Here's to good thoughts and continued success in the potty training world!

New Year BLAH!

I should be catching up and posting about the fun Christmas we had...I'll get there sooner or later. Right now I just have to say does anyone like this time of year? The decorations are gone, the excitement from gifts has worn off, the sky is SO GRAY and yucky and to top it all off- I'm tired and fat! That sounds really awful, but just had to ask if anyone feels the same way.

I should know that this time of year always gets me a little blue. I'm not saying I'm going to do anything drastic, but I might need some sunshine soon!

Now that I've got that all out of the way. Tomorrow I think I'll go buy myself a new bag and some fresh flowers. That should do it, okay maybe I need some ice cream as well!

Happy January :) !

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2009

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Since we've been married each Christmas I choose one of our fun pictures (mainly from some fun trip we took) to put in our Christmas Cards, well...the past couple years I've looked through my plethora of pictures and I can't seem to find one of the entire family. There's PLENTY of Jack, some more of Jack and me and then some of Jack and Rob, but all of us together- FORGET IT! Not that we don't do things as a family, we do, but capturing the moment with all three of us is not a task that usually gets crossed off the list. Anyhow, this year and last year the picture looks quite similar, it's taken in our home by our dear friend Becca (thanks again!). Next year I'll get on top of getting entire family pictures taken- before the Christmas Season starts and we can continue on the tradition Rob and I started as newlyweds. Here are some Christmas pictures from the past for your viewing pleasure!

2004 Jackson Hole, WY

2005 Red Castle, Uintas

2006 NYC

2007 Utah Football Game

2008

Split Personality

This child can be so charming, sweet, loving and kind...and then his EVIL twin comes out. Is this normal for a two year old, or does he seriously have a split personality?

Random Update/Pictures

Happy Thanksgiving and fun time hiking in Jackson Hole with Grandpa Gary!

Jeremy and Carrie decorating Gingerbread houses- Thanksgiving TRADITION!
Rob and Jack Rockin' out!

Jack and Luke with their Turkey hats!

Making the Turkey hats!

Hiking with Grandpa Gary.

You Know You're Pregnant When...

You know you're pregnant when...
- You start to put the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard.
- You start to get "emotional" watching Football with your husband.
- You drop just about everything!
- You can't remember simple words like, well I can't seem to remember :)
- Dill pickles dipped in ranch dressing tastes AWESOME!
- Your FAT pants become the ONLY pants.