Huge milestone

Yesterday, while enjoying the super bowl at my sister and brother-in-law's house, (Scott and Teresa's), we achieved a huge milestone in our lives! Mayley finally pooped on the potty!!!!!

For the past few weeks she has been good with peeing on the toilet...but not so much when it came to #2. Wade and I have tried all forms of bribery...nothing seemed to be working...and to say, that we were ready to be done with diapers, is a huge understatement. But last night after her Daddy told her he would take her to the store if she went poop on the toilet, she came and announced she needed to go. Then after using the bathroom she ran back into the room where everyone was gathered, watching the game,  and proudly announced her accomplishment. She received lots of applause and cheers from the crowd, and had 2 very happy parents.

She then said to her dad "Can we go now?'...she was ready to head to the store for her new toy. We explained to her that it was Sunday and the stores were closed.

This morning she woke up and the first thing she said was "Are the stores open today?" I said that they were. Then she asked "When is my Daddy going to be home?" I told her not until 5. She spent the rest of the day checking to see how much longer before her dad came home.

She was super excited when he finally arrived to take her "shopping". And this is the doll she picked out at the store. Small price for us to pay for actually going on the toilet:)

And I thought I wouldn't have anything to blog about today....

The kids had a day off from school..so we slept in, then Taylor and I went to do chores at the farm. It was especially foggy this morning, and we knew that Grandma Lindley had a hair appointment, so we stopped by her house and offered her a ride to her appointment...she reluctantly accepted. We dropped her off with the promise of returning in a 1/2 hour to pick her up. We then went to the farm and did the chores, but when we finished and walked back to the truck, the doors were locked and the keys were inside. Taylor thought that maybe he could crawl through the back window of the truck and into the cab...but the window was locked. I thought about having Ryan drive the gator over and pick us up...but the fog was so thick I worried about his safety...  I looked at my watch and we only had 15 minutes before we needed to pick up grandma. So we decided to walk. Luckily it was in the low 30's today, (as opposed to the below zero temperatures we've been having lately)and Taylor was a trooper. We quickly walked home, got the van, and picked up Grandma.
 We had a spare set of keys at home so when Wade got home we were able to go get the truck. And I did enjoy walking and talking with Taylor. So it really wasn't that big of a deal...just made for an interesting morning.

Colby recieves his arrow of light

I wish I could tell you that we are a scouting family. But scouting is kind of lost on us. Thankfully Colby has had an amazing scout leader that does have a love of the scouting program and has worked hard with these boys to help them earn their "Arrow of Light" awards.

Colby and his good friend Austin Downs

I don't know who this young man is(he is from another ward).
But he came and did a cute program for the award ceremony tonight.





Colby with his scout leader Brother Robert Low

This is one of those times that I am thankful for the talents that others have shared with our family. The leaders did a fabulous job putting this together. Colby was excited and I am proud of him for all the hard work he did to earn this award.

mayley moments

I'm not very good at keeping a journal...so I've decided (at least for now), that I will use my blog to "journal" all the "moments" that happen...the things that make me smile...sometimes cry...or want to scream. But memories that I want to keep none-the -less.

On Sunday, December 30th I was really sick and headed to insta-care...  meanwhile, the rest of the family had an appointment for tithing settlement. Because I was out of commission it was up to Wade to fix Mayley's hair. Here's how the conversation went:

Wade: "Come on Mayley, we need to fix your hair before we go."

Mayley: "I want princess hair."

Wade: "I don't know how to do princess hair."

Me: "It's actually quite simple...she just wants you to gather it into a ponytail then twist it and put a
         clippie in it. Even you can do it."

Wade: "I  didn't understand one thing you said... but just go, we'll figure it out"

A few minutes later I received a text from Wade that said " I just got a "Well, that doesn't look pretty."

Starting Over

To say that it has been way too long since my last post would be a HUGE understatement. And while my OCD is telling me that I need to "catch up" on all that has been missed...The more sensible side of me knows that, that  is a daunting task, that will only cause me to become overwhelmed and fall off the blogging bandwagon before I even get back on. So here is to a fresh start and a new beginning:)

On January 2nd...we kicked off the new year with a celebration of Mayley's birthday. Mayley at age three is all girl. She will only wear dresses...and already has a strong opinion of what "goes together". She loves all things princess and has a very vivid imagination...I often hear her asking "her boys"..."who will be my prince charming?" She is quick witted and has us laughing often. Wade and I are still trying to decide if she is keeping us young or sending us to an early grave...but we love our little mayley girl.

 

I found it really amusing that at age 3 she already had some definite ideas about what was needed for a proper party. In my mind a simple dinner at home with our family and Grandma Lindley was all that was necessary. But at 3:00 (an hour and a half prior to having dinner)

 

 Mayley announced "It's time to get ready for the party!"

 

Me: "What do we need to do to get ready for the party?"

 

Mayley: "Well, first we need party decorations."

 

Now mind you...years ago I was more of a "whistle and bells" kind of girl...but it was lost on my boys... and time and practicality won out. I racked my brain for what I might possible have on hand that would pass for decorations. I went to my craft room and luckily had some pink and black crepe paper for streamers and I pled with Ryan to use his artistic skills and draw her a crown for our centerpiece. It was really sweet watching her boys scramble to put up decorations while I finished dinner. Luckily, Mayley was impressed with our efforts and had a great birthday.

 

 

Then on January 17th we were able to celebrate Colby's 11th birthday. I can't believe how quickly the years have passed. Colby is a great kid. His passions are soccer, his ipod, and reading. This year in school he has gotten excellent grades and  participated in newspaper and jump rope club. He is currently playing futsol and taking piano lessons (much to his chagrin). He is quick to play with mayley and is her favorite "prince charming". We love our Colby and are pleased with the young man he is growing into.

 

 

We celebrated Colby's birthday with dinner and fazookies (instead of the traditional birthday cake) at firehouse. Grandma Lindley was able to join us for a great meal and then back to our house for opening presents.



Happy birthday Mayley!!!!!

Grandma Lindley is amazing. I honestly can't think of a  thing she can't do! One of her many talents is cake decorating. She was kind enough to share her talent and make Mayley's cake.

 Mayley( with grandma lindley) showing us she is "1" year old.

Mayley receieved this toy for christmas in hope it would help motivate her to learn to walk...but she would rather sit in it and have Taylor push her around. Luckily Taylor doesn't mind.

Christmas was great for helping Mayley in her gift "unwrapping" abilities.



Mayley was more interested in eating the paper she tore off her gifts than she was to unwrap them and see what was inside.

 

This little piggy bank ended up being her favorite gift. Once she opened it, she wasn't interested in opening anymore presents and she got upset if anyone tried to take it from her.

 Ready to have some cake!

 She started off just eating the frosting with 2 fingers.

Then she moved on to handfuls.

 She was upset...She actually got some cake in that bite!



Happy Birthday Mayley! We love you and are so glad you are  part of our family!!!!

Happy New Year 2011

This year we celebrated New Year's Eve with a candle light dinner at home. We enjoyed Chinese food from Wok on Wheels (complete with chop sticks) and Martinelli's sparkling cider. During dinner Wade asked everyone to tell us what their favorite thing  about 2010 was. My first thought was that Mayley survived RSV. Wade agreed and added our family trip to yellowstone where we were able to see a black bear. Ryan said our family trip to yellowstone. Colby said his birthday (which broke my heart because that's when we were in the midst of driving back and forth to salt lake dividing our time between home and being with Mayley in the hospital. Thank goodness for my mom! Some how she managed to make it a wonderful day and made him feel special, in all our chaos!) Colby also was grateful he was baptized. Taylor's highlight was getting Daisy ( our  border collie puppy). so over all I think we can count 2010 as a great year.

 We gave Mayley a bath and got her ready for bed...

Then Wade and I played some games with the boys.

The boys were determined to stay awake until midnight, while wade and I thought sleep sounded more enticing.

Then today we joined Scott, Teresa, and Brad at Wade's parents house for the annual  New Years Day feast and football tradition. Where we eat lots of yummy food, visit and and watch football.

I took my camera to take pictures of all the yummy food we get to enjoy....but when I got home I realized the only pictures I took was  Mayley letting Grandpa hold her. For the past several months anytime grandpa would put his arms out to Mayley and offer to hold her, she would crinkle up her nose at him, whine, and turn away. If we forced her to go to him she would burst into tears. So I was very happy today to watch her sit contentedly on her grandpas lap.