Wanted: Someone to Potty Train a Stubborn 3 yr old

This lighthouse cookie jar only means one thing in our house........ potty training time

Steve proposed to me at a lighthouse. So when we got married, this was one of those funny gifts that someone gave to us. I'm not sure why I kept it at the time and the lighthouse was put away in a box until 4 yrs later when it came time to potty train Preston. And then 3 yrs later for Taylor. When you push the button on top, the light comes on and makes a fog horn sound. Same when you open the jar (which is great because no sneaking treats without me knowing). Preston and Taylor LOVED getting their treats from the lighthouse after they went potty. It worked wonders with them! 1 day and 3 days to potty train, to be exact!

Well now it's Mason's turn and unfortunately the cookie jar has been on my counter way too long and isn't seeming to work in my favor right now. The hard thing is that he is so smart but too stubborn! This is why I KNOW he gets it.....

Today I took him to his audiologist apt. I couldn't leave him alone in the waiting room so I took him with me to use the restroom. When I was done he looked at me, clapped his hands and said "Good Boy Mom."

If anyone has any advice, PLEASE............ I need it. If he isn't wearing anything (I mean NOTHING) he is usually pretty good about going on his own. But as soon as I put on underwear, pull-ups or diapers, he won't use the toilet. Unfortunately with apts, kid's activities, errands, etc. I can't stay at home all day everyday to train him.

What do I do??

If I Only Had A Brain

Okay, so the title of this post is not very nice, but it is funny.

One of our closest friends, Ed, was in town this week for business and was over for dinner on Monday night. After dinner we let the kids go down to the basement to play Wii while us adults visited. All of a sudden we hear Preston get upset with Mason and runs upstairs to tell us that Mason put 2 Wii CDs in the console.

Panicked, I went downstairs and pressed the eject button and nothing came out. I unhooked the console and brought it up to Steve and Ed to fix.

The guys spent about 30 minutes taking the console apart. I was hoping that they'd be able to get the CD's out because I knew there was no way Steve would buy another Wii after this incident.

Well, they get it apart and press the eject button. It makes the sound of ejecting but nothing comes out. This happens a few times. I then asked them if there was even a CD in there?? Steve just looked at me! I called out to Preston to come here. I asked him where the CD's were that Mason put in the Wii. His reply "downstairs"
Ed and I laughed, Steve just shook his head. Sure enough, all the games were downstairs and the Wii console was empty.

Yes, if someone only had a brain!

Steve and Ed proceeded to spend about 45min trying to put the console back together.

Taking the Show to Starbucks

The temps only got up to about 15 degrees yesterday. I can only take so much of being inside and then I've got to get out!! Steve was going to be home a little later than usual so I decided that after I picked kids up from school I would take them to Starbucks.
The show went like this:
I get to the counter to order.... impossible for kids to make up their minds, not a surprise
Mason decides to try to climb up on the refrigerated display, trying to get to the "cow" (carton of chocolate milk) while I am trying to get the other 2 to decide what they want
Mason gets mad when I take him down (more than once)
Mason takes off his boots and socks (something in his boot was bothering him) and starts running around Starbucks while I try to pay
Mason decides to sit on the table instead of his chair or stand on his chair instead of sitting on it
Mason refuses to keep the lid on his chocolate milk and I of course let him keep it off
Mason doesn't want his coffee cake but heaven forbid he let anyone else have it
I take Mason outside to scold him in the freezing temps for misbehaving
Preston tries many times to take Mason's food (even though I told him not to touch Mason's food) and Mason freaks out over Preston touching his food
Finally Mason lets Preston have his coffee cake
Taylor just sits there, enjoying her hot chocolate and coffee cake
Mason leans over the table and spills his chocolate milk all over, including on Preston
Taylor gets up to get napkins
By now I'm sure that everyone is Starbucks is staring
I sit Mason over to the side and tell him to sit, he knows the tone of my voice is not good and DOES NOT move
We start to clean up the mess and my sweet Preston says to me "Mom, we'll get this. It isn't fair that you have to clean this. You brought us here and paid for our drinks and food. Let me do this."

We quickly cleaned up the spilled milk. I loaded the kids back in the car and took the show back on the road to home!

Happiness

Today I am HAPPY because..... after being stuck in the house for a week while Mason had the croup, I am FINALLY going to the gym! That may sound silly but the gym is where I find my sanity and something that I do just for me. So here's to wishing you a HAPPY MONDAY and I hope you find the time to do something that makes YOU happy!! (and no feeling guilty)

Last night our good friend's, Jeanne and Robert, daughter was baptized. You know those events that you attend where you feel the Savior's love so strongly and you know you are in the right place doing the right thing? That's how I felt last night. I left the baptism with a renewed dedication to try to be a better person each day. I am thankful that I was able to be apart of Chelsa's special day and to feel the Savior so close in my life.

Jeanne, Patsy, Suzanne, me and Chelsa

Remember my blog last week about college football season being over and looking forward to a break? And then I posted about being totally wrong and told you about the recruiting luncheon Steve was asked to go to last weekend??

Well, guess where my hubby is AGAIN today, right now as a matter of fact (on a Saturday, right in the middle of the day, the only day out of the week that we don't HAVE to be somewhere and the only day we can go off and play as a family or get to do's done) If you guessed recruiting luncheon, YOU ARE RIGHT! UGH!! Frustrating? Actually yes! (at least he takes Preston with him and Preston loves it just as much if not more)

When he asked if I minded that he went, I asked if he really wanted to go. Of course he said yes so I said yes! I am now having to hope that this does not become a Saturday afternoon habit! And last night as we were going out to dinner he spends the entire time in the car talking to his buddy about football, he is now going to help with the football camp this summer (which he's done in the past and is a lot of fun) and has planned our Super Bowl party for next weekend.

I was CRAZY to think that football season ever ended! I think today I have to come to terms of the "year around" theory! Somethings never end~

Okay, I'll get off my soap box now! But there are no guarantees that I won't back on it anytime soon!

Happy 3rd Birthday Mason! You have somehow managed to grow up way too fast!

2 days old

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

Here are some of my favorite things about Mason

Our family can't get enough of him! He truly is the baby in this family.
He gives the FUNNIEST faces, even his mad faces are funny
He can play for hours with his Thomas trains, cars and GeoTrax
He has the cutest little manners.... at the table he'll ask on his own "May I be excused please" he hardly ever misses a "your welcome" he'll often remember to say "thank you" and he's funny when he's grouchy at the kids and says "please don't do that"
His prayers ALWAYS start off "Heavenly father, thank you today" and despite when everyone else folds their arms, he interlocks his hands and bows his head
I love when he says to me at night "rock me Mommy"
He loves his "blankie" and has to be tucked in every night with his "blankie" and "sippy" of water (the only one out of the 3 who has even been clingy to anything)
His 2's weren't too bad... even though he did throw the biggest tantrums out of the 3.... body on the floor and all. Or if you were holding him, his body would just go limp. I would have to walk away because they really were funny.
I love when he kisses and hugs me throughout the day and says "I love you." Or if I say to him "I love you Mason." He'll quickly say back "I love you too."

Mason, Happy Birthday to you and many more!!

Mason's Birthday

Mason's 3rd Birthday

A day at the park with friends

Listening to family sing happy birthday over the phone

His favorite movie and toys right now, Cars

Friends over for cake and ice cream

Opening gifts

Happy Birthday buddy! We love you

Laughter.. something I can never get enough of!

Taylor and Hogan

Taylor loves our dog Hogan. What is so cute is the way she carries him, on her hip like someone would carry a toddler!

I want candy

Today we went to a candy factory in Denver, Hammonds

Then downtown Denver for lunch

We ate at a fun resturant on 16th St.

A fun day!

I looked out the window and what did I see.................. you have to see it to believe it!

Side note - we are in the mist of potty training~

Meet Hogan

This is Hogan, our newest addition

Taylor has been asking for a dog. I can maybe count on 2 hands the # of days in 2008 that she DID NOT talk about getting a dog. In October I asked Steve was he thought about getting a dog for Christmas. His first response was "NO." Surprisingly, I wanted one more than he did. I thought for sure Steve would jump at the idea of having a pet.... after all he was the one that grew up on a farm, but the idea of having to take care of a pet was not very appealing to him. It wasn't too long after that he wanted to talk more about a dog!

I only had 3 criteria: good with kids, small and NO SHEDDING! Steve agreed and our search began. Well, try finding a dog that meets those criteria! We came close to buying a little yorkie but decided against it.

Santa promised the kids a dog when we returned to Colorado. On our drive home from California, Steve wanted to stop at the Humane Society. After being in the car for a total of 18 hrs, I just wanted to get home. But I was outvoted 4-1, so we stopped. It was a good thing that we did!

We found the perfect little dog for our family. He is a 2 yr old miniature poodle mix. He was a stray for who knows how long. He was shaggy and darling. He never once barked at us and was a so timid. We knew as soon as he walked into the room with us that he was just what we were looking for.

The kids could not have been any happier, especially our Taylor-girlHe has become the baby in the family. Taylor cannot get enough of him (although he can sometimes get enough of her) I overheard her talking to him the other day and telling him "I'm happy I have you."
This picture was taken Wednesday morning before we took him in to get groomed

And here is his after picture

I think he lost a pound of hair.
Thank goodness he's low maintenance, we needed at least 1 low maintenance something in this house!

Good Report Cards - Cold Stone Here We Come