Potty Trained!!!

Bransyn is officially, 100% potty trained!!!

He has been going pee in the potty off & on, for quite some time now, but it was ALWAYS when we took him. He has refused {and I mean completely REFUSED} to poop in the potty, and I actually think he was kind of scared to.

For the past week or so, I have had him in undies and he has been doing SO well with going pee in the potty, but he would continue to poop in his undies.

It was making me CRAZY. I tried everything to get him to just *try* pooping on the potty, but he wouldn't.

He has once before, so I don't know why he was still scared to do it.

On the 16th of this month, he finally pooped in the potty again, after refusing to for so long.

We had been trying different things to get him to not be afraid of pooping in the potty, but he just wouldn't believe us.

So I tried something I swore I would never do:

bribed him with the thing he loves the most - chocolate milk.

I told him that the days he pooped in his undies, he couldn't have chocolate milk that day.

But when he pooped in the potty, he could have chocolate milk.

Well, the very next time he pooped, it was in the potty, and has been ever since!!!

{I know this sounds SO mean... but it worked, and he didn't even cry when I told him that!}

He is now going potty COMPLETELY by himself. We don't even have to ask him or remind him anymore. When he feels like he has to go, he stops what he is doing, and goes potty!

We are soooo proud of him! He is pretty proud of himself, too, which is pretty awesome! (:

Now to just work on the night time potty training! We still put a pull-up on him at night, but usually 5 out of 7 nights, he wakes up dry! I'm sooo tempted to just put him to bed in undies to see how he does, but we'll wait a big longer, until he can wake up dry for an entire week.

HOOOORAY FOR BEING POTTY TRAINED!!! (:

Yet another appointment with the specialist...

I had to take Bransyn back to Dr. Kaddu {pediatric GI specialist} today, because he has been throwing up WAY too much lately! Ryan and I went to Vegas with some friends for an event last weekend, and when we were on our way back, we got a text from Ryan's sister saying Bransyn wouldn't stop throwing up. We found out when we got home, that he had woken up out of a deep sleep to throw up, THREE different times. And after each time, he would just cry and cry, saying his tummy hurt, and was just miserable. I felt HORRIBLE that I wasn't there with him, but I'm glad he was in good hands. The next night, same thing happened. He woke up a few times to throw up and was up just crying for a good 45 minutes after each time, saying his tummy hurt. Of course, I made sure he didn't have any signs of sickness, and he didn't. So first thing this morning, I called and got him an appointment with Dr. Kaddu. They were able to get him in right away. When we got there, I explained to Dr. Kaddu what had happened, and I was VERY ready to straight up demand more testing, because this has gone on for WAY too long. But luckily, right as I got done explaining everything, ready to tell him exactly what I wanted, he said he wanted to have some testing done, because this just should not be happening if it IS CVS that he has, and it has been going on long enough. I was SO glad he thought that, made it easier on me, and of course, I couldn't have agreed more! The only hard part, is right now we are having issues with the insurance and he's not covered right now. {even had to self pay for this appointment, but it was worth it for sure!} And the two 'tests' he wants to do, are very pricey and he said something about the 2nd test having to have the money up front. So he said the minute everything is figured out with that, to call and get him on the schedule for the first test. Hopefully that is SOON. The first thing he wants done, is an Upper GI x-ray, to see if they can see anything in that. If nothing shows up there, they will send him to get an EGD {where they basically put a scope down his throat to see if they can see any problems that wouldn't show up in an x-ray} He said if nothing shows up in that, than all we can do is assume it IS CVS. If something does show up, then we take whatever action that is needed to deal with whatever it is. Until then, I just hope and pray he doesn't have anymore sleepless nights due to throwing up. As of now, we are taking him off his medication as well, because it's not helping at all at this point.

Oh, and also, he is STILL only 27 pounds. SOO ready to figure out what the heck this is so my baby can start packing on the pounds!!!

Fair 2011!

 We had so much fun at the fair this year! :)  Brans was actually able to go on more rides, and he had a blast! 

(sorry for the horrible pictures... Ryan and I are still very much learning to use my camera! haha)

Carousel.

*I* even had fun on this roller coaster! B-man LOVED it! I was a little nervous to take him on it at first, but he didn't want to get off when it was over! He laughed and smiled the whole time, and didn't get scared one bit! :)

 It was well past a cute little girls bedtime, and she was not happy to be there! 

We had so much fun, and I just love seeing my little man so happy and excited about things! Can't wait for next year, he should be able to go one even MORE rides by then! I remember all the crazy rides I used to go on pre-B & T. I look at them now & I want to vomit at the thought of ever going on one! haha. I'll stick to the little kiddie rides with my baby man for now! ;)

Rec Center pool!

 The kids & I went to the Washington City Rec center to swim today with my friend Sarah & her son Brydan, and we all had a blast! It is SO COOL in there, I don't know why we haven't gone before (it is FAR from where we live, so that's probably why :( )  Both of my kids just love swimming, but there was more stuff to do there, than just swim in pool. Taislee got to go in a little swing, and she was soo relaxed in there, she LOVED it! Brans even got in them a few times, too, and he had a ton of fun... who knew a little baby swing could still be fun to a 2.5 year old?! :)  There was a little kid slide, that B went down about a gazillion times. He was even able to climb up the stairs without any help. It's so crazy my baby is big enough to do that already! Then there was a bigger play area, with "tunnel" slides, and a big huge bucket that fills up with water & dumps it out every so often. Brans loved going down the slides! I even took Taislee down them, and I SWEAR I heard her giggle one of the times! She was smiling as soon as we got out of the slide, even though the water was splashing up in her face, haha. Then there was a whirlpool, that was pretty cool. Hopefully we will go there more often, and a LOT more next summer! And I hope Ryan will be able to come with us one time, too, to see how much fun the kids have there! :)

Swim, Swim, Swim!

I took the kids swimming today with my friend Sarah & her little boy!
It was Taislee's 2nd time swimming, but since I suck at life & wasn't able to take care of 2 kids in a pool by myself AND take pictures of her first time swimming, I had to settle for pictures of her 2nd time. She has loved it BOTH times, I am SO happy that both of my kids are water babies! (:

I got this floatie for Taislee, but of course Brans just HAD to have it for himself, haha. He had so much fun kicking his legs to get the floating to move around.

I wish we had a pool that we could swim in every day! I seriously didn't want to get out!

We went to the carousel.

Have I mentioned that I am SO happy we have a carousel in town now? And even better? it's located right next to B's favorite place in the world... the water park. Oh yes, an OUTDOOR carousel. I've taken Brans on it twice now. The first time I forgot my camera battery, so no pictures. But I made sure I had it this time. The sun just wasn't willing to move so that we could get non shadow-y pictures. Oh well. My stink bug is still cute ;)

LOVE♥

Yay for colorful fake horsey's going around in circles! (:

My baby girl. . .

Has officially laughed for the first time!!! (:

And of course, it at mommy! Ahh, I am so excited, I can't wait for her to do that ADORABLE little laugh all the time!

Tais is 3 months!

I can't believe my baby girl is already 1/4 of the way through her first year! Time is seriously just flying by, I can't even keep up it seems like. It makes me a bit sad that she's already out of her newborn stage, but she is just getting to be so much fun, so that makes up for it (:


• she is OBSESSED with her hands. she is constantly sticking them in her mouth.

• she is starting to reach for the toys on her bouncer! it's so fun to watch her do it, cause she doesn't have total control over her arms/hands yet, so they're so 'wobbly' but she is so determined to get those toys!

• she tries to sit up ALL.THE.TIME. it's amazing how strong her neck is already. when she does it, she can usually get her head and her shoulders up.

• she loves sitting up. she's not a fan of laying down {unless you're talking to/playing with her} or laying on her tummy. I really need to get her a bumbo... she would LOVE that!

• speaking of laying on her tummy, she pretty much hates it. I *try* to do tummy time a few times a day, but she just gets really mad & freaks out. her neck muscles are already really strong, so i'm not too worried about that part of tummy time. i thought she probably wouldn't roll over for a while if I don't do it, but she tries to roll over more when she's on her back, than she does on her tummy.

• she gets pretty close to rolling over some days, she'll roll onto her side, but she just can't quite get over her arm to roll completely.

• she is very vocal lately. if I talk to her, she will usually 'talk' back. so fun! (:

• she isn't laughing yet, but I can tell she wants to so bad! she does squeal, screech & coo when she gets excited, though.

• she is still the smiliest little baby ever. and she has the best smiles in the world! it seriously makes my heart explode every time she smiles at me. ♥

• she is definitely a mama's girl! if she's crying/fussing when someone else is holding her, as soon as they had her to me, she stops. she'll also just sit & stare at me if someone is holding her, she's in her bouncer, laying on the floor, ect. I love it!

• she has officially started to reject bottles. if you try to give her one, she will just push it out with her mouth & start crying. she definitely knows what she likes, and she likes her mama juice fresh! makes it a little hard for me to go anywhere, because I worry that even if she's hungry, she's going to refuse the bottle & starve herself.

• she is the BEST little sleeper in the world. she has been sleeping from around 9:30-10pm to 5:30-7am since about 6 weeks, but lately she's been sleeping until anywhere between 8-9:45am! she usually takes really good naps, too. she'll take a few 1-3 hour naps through out the day. she loves sleep, just like her mama ;)

• if you put your fingers in her hands, she will grab them & instantly start pulling herself up. it's her favorite thing to do, and she gets SO happy & proud of herself when she makes it up (:

• she has the cutest little voice ever.

• she is still sleeping in her swing. I know, I know... I need to switch her to a bed. but she just sleeps sooo good in it! haha. i've actually been wanting to get her into her crib, but right now we don't have ANY room to put it :(

• when she takes a bath in her little bath seat, she always scoots herself down so that her body is more in the water.

• she is definitely a water baby, just like her brother! she LOVES being in the water! I took her swimming for the first time a few weeks ago {and got 0 pictures of it, because I had 2 kids to take care of in there & no one to take pics :( } and she was in heaven! she was so good the entire time, just laid there & enjoyed the nice, cool water!

• ryan's way of 'playing' with her, is getting really close to her face & making kissy noises and/or kissing her cheeks. sometimes she likes it, but sometimes she gets SO annoyed & starts yelling at him! haha, it's the funniest thing ever to watch!

• when I go to pick her up in the mornings when she wakes up, she gets the biggest smile on her face!

• her eyes have officially turned to brown.

• she kicks & moves like crazy when she's playing in her bouncer, or on her play mat. for the past few weeks, she has even been scooting herself all over on her play mat, cause she moves so much! haha

• she still LOVES to be held. she'll even wrap her arm around the top of my arm when I hold her, like she's holding onto me right back (:

• she absolutely ADORES her big brother. she always just stares and smiles at him. it is so sweet ♥

• sometimes when she cries, she will say 'muh muh' or 'maaa' I know she's not really saying 'mama' but it's so funny, cause she's SUCH a little mama's girl.

• she loves to be outside. doesn't matter if you just sit on the bench & hold her, or if she is just sitting in her car seat... she just loves it out there!

• she has lots of nicknames these days! I call her tais, taisbug, tai, toots, punkin, baby girl, baby sis, babes, love bug, cutes, honey, pretty girl, taisers, princess {even though I SWORE I would never call her that, haha}, buggy boo... there's lots more, but I can't think of them all right now! haha. daddy always calls her sweetie (: and B usually calls her taisee, or whatever he hears me calling her.


we just love this sweet girl to pieces, she most definitely completes our family ♥

Bits of Bransyn

• this boy of mine sure is a comical little creature these days. he is always saying the silliest, most random things! the saying 'kids say the darnedest things' really is true!

• he is a parrot. if he likes what he hears, he repeats it.

• he is completely & overly obsessed with nutella. and chocolate milk. and now, thanks to potty training - granola bars.

• oh. and he's potty trained. well, pee potty trained. he's still too scared, or something to poo in the potty. we started about a week and a half ago & now the only time he has accidents is when he's mad at me for making him take a nap, so he'll pee in his bed on purpose. other than that, he's been doing amazing & we are NEVER going back to diapers again. well, except for night time. he DOES wake up dry, though which is a shocker! but still... not taking the chance! haha. he has even made it through NUMEROUS trips out of the house without any accidents.

• today he has been calling me 'lesha' I walked by him earlier & he told his grandpa 'this is lesha' little turd.

• his faaaavorite song is 'teach me how to dougie' EVERY time we are in the car & he realizes there is music on, he says 'nooo, teach me dougie!' then when the song changes, he has a fit. good thing i'm pretty obsessed with that song myself ;)

• I have FINALLY gotten him back into taking naps every day. he definitely still needs them {as do I... that's my only free time it seems like! haha} this whole week I have been putting him down at the same time. sometimes he falls right to sleep, sometimes it takes him an hour, or two. but he has taken a nap for 5 days in a row! i'm hoping being consistent with him will get him on a better schedule! he has been is MUCH better moods this whole week, it's amazing!

• he is obsessed with going to the water park. he asks to go there all.the.time.

• he is a pro at riding his four wheeler. he puts that sucker into full speed & whips around the porch like it's no one's business. sometimes I get scared that he's gonna run into the pillars, or the outside table, or the swing, but that kid is a maniac & gets super close, then turns really sharp & completely misses them. I think he does it for the thrill. future stunt man?! oh I hope not!

• he LOVES helping his grandma cook & bake. almost every single time she is preparing something in the kitchen, he goes to the pantry, gets the little step stool, drags it out right next to her & climbs up to help. maybe he'll be a stung man AND a chef? so funny, cause ryan has told me that he wanted to be a chef once upon a time! haha.

• he also loves helping his grandpa water the lawn & plants outside. he seriously adores his grandparents.

• when we first moved, he would randomly tell me 'I want to go home!' it was SO sad & just broke my heart. he had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to the move. he has loved being here with his grandpa & grandma, but I think he missed having his own room, where he could play with EVERY single toy he had whenever he wanted. but now I think he's loving everything he can do here, that he couldn't do at our house {like ride his 4-wheeler alll around the back yard, play golf out back, he has a MUCH bigger area to ride his bike... just stuff like that!}

• he is 100%, the best big brother ever! he just loves his little sister so much. he always asks to hold her, loves to give her kisses, hold her hand, play with her... anything! I absolutely love it.

•

• earlier today, we were sitting in the living room playing with his mega blocks. he grabbed a block out & handed it to Taislee. it was just one, so I grabbed a few more & stuck them on it. brans looked at it & said, 'huhhh! it's handy manny!' so excitedly! haha. then I pulled out another one & asked him what it was, he told me a dump truck! he was working on putting a bunch together, and told me it was a choo choo train! I was so curious what he was gonna say they all were, so I pulled out a few more, stuck them together & asked him what it was & he said a truck. haha, then after he was done putting the 'choo choo train' together, he goes 'chugga.... chugga... choooo choooo!' Such an imagination this little boy has (:

• he usually always says he's making a 'Mac Truck' with his blocks. he's obsessed with Mac trucks!

• my mom got him a little mater truck, and he is pretty obsessed with that as well. he sleeps with it, takes it in the car with him, takes it outside with him, he even takes it potty with him. earlier today when he went in to go, he set mater on the counter, & did his business. when he was done - before he flused - he grabbed mater off the counter, made him 'look' into the toilet & said 'see, mater? see?' haha, I almost died of laughter!

• we have a routine we do every night, to say good night. after every phrase I say, he'll repeat it back to me. it goes like this:
me: goodnight
him: doodnight
me: sleep good
him: sleep dood
me: sweet dreams
him: sweet deams
me: i looooove you
him: i yuuuuuuv youuuuu
he has even started saying it to tais every night (:

• after we do that every night, I usually try to give him a kiss {he's not big on kisses anymore, not even on the cheek or forehead! :( } well the other night, I told him 'can you give mommy loves?' and he said no. so I just kissed him on the side of the head, then as I was getting up, he said to me 'waiiiit, I want yuvs!' ♥ so cute.

• lately he has been wanting to brush his teeth before I do. normally I would be fine with this, but you see, if he does it himself, he will suck the tooth paste off of his tooth brush before brushing. so I have to do it first, so that tooth paste actually gets on his teeth. but in order to let him let me do it first, I tell him that mommy needs to do it so that he doesn't get bugs in his teeth. bugs = cavities, but if I told him that, he'd be like 'i yike cavities', or something like that, because he has no idea what that means. but if we tell him if we don't brush his teeth realllly good, then he will get bugs in there, he lets us do it. this kid isn't a fan of yucky bugs.

• the other day, he told me 'my somach hurts... i need some chocolate milk' trying to be a tricky little thing!

• he hasn't been throwing up very much lately! I think he only has twice since we moved! that is SUCH an improvement! i'm hoping that means that all he really does have is this dang vomiting syndrome. I mean, it still sucks if that's what it is, but that is so much better than having something seriously wrong with his stomach, or other insides. he is still taking his medicine for it, but he has another appt with the specialist next month & I think maybe a week or 2 before, I will stop giving it to him, just to see if he still throws up when he is off of it {because that's not supposed to happen. he's supposed to be able to take it for a couple months, stop taking it & be fine for at least another couple of months. last time we tried taking him off of it, he got 10X worse. so if he continues to throw up after I take him off of it again, I will be requesting more testing.}

• 75% of the day, he is the definition of 'terrible two's' he throws fits, whines, doesn't listen, DEMANDS everything, hits, kicks, won't calm down for anything - pretty much all day long. he has been doing better since he started taking a nap EVERY day, but he still has his moments.

• we are trying to teach him that if he wants something, he needs to ask for it & not demand it. like normally, he would say 'i want chocolate milk!' so instead of just saying 'what do you say?' expecting him to say please, we correct him 'you ASK if you can have some chocolate milk. say can/may I please have some chocolate milk?' {or whatever else he wants} he really is a very polite kid, 90% of the time he will say please & thank you without being told to do so. but I just realized that he can't go around just TELLING people what he wants, he needs to ask politely for it. so that's what we are working on now.

• we are also {still} working on not whining when he doesn't get what he wants. I think the hardest part about having a toddler, is having to deal with whining. I can not handle the whining! haha. but he is getting better with it. whenever he starts, I tell him that he is NOT going to get what he wants if he whines. most of the time he will calm right down and talk in a straight voice, telling me what he wants. before, he would just kick & yell. there are still a few rare times where I have to literally hold him down because he wouldn't quit whining so he didn't get his way & he ended up in a full blown temper tantrum. that usually only happens when he is SUPER tired, though. then he just falls asleep 2 minutes after he has calmed down.

• a few weeks ago, he kept telling me it was his birthday & he needed cake. NO idea where he got that from, haha. but since we were on the subject, I asked him what kind of birthday party he wanted this year & all he would tell me is he wanted cake {funny kid, he won't even eat cake! ha!} hmm, Dr. Seuss birthday party it is! (:

• every time he see's a coin/dollar, he says 'i have hun-ned dollar. you want hun-ned dollar?'

• he loves running errands with his grandparents. every time they tell him that's what they're going to do, he wants to go with them!

• if he's being naughty, like tells us no when we tell him to do something, doesn't listen, hits us - we tell him what he did wrong, then send him to time out. usually he will go, whine for about 30 seconds, then come out saying 'i'm sorry, i be a nice boy now. i not do ____ anymore'

• he has a couple little golf clubs that we keep in the back yard, along with some little wiffle balls. he loves going out there & hitting them. and boy, can he hit them! he seriously hits FAR for a 2 year old! like, all the way across the yard far! he loves it, I can't wait 'til he is old enough to go golfing with his daddy. Ry is gonna love that!

• he also throws balls really far! probably further than I can. embarrassing.

• most of the time he puts his shoes on himself, and he puts them on the right feet every time.

• he likes to do the chest clip part on his car seat. he gets mad at me if I don't let him do it.

• he apparently also knows how to UNDO that chest clip. there has been 2 times now that I went to get him out of his seat & the clip was un-done. {I always double check that thing to make sure it's clipped all the way, so I know I didn't just forget} good thing both times we didn't go very far & made it there safely!

• one day when we were going somewhere, I had him climb up into his seat in the car so that I could go snap taislee's seat into her base, then I was going to go buckle him in his seat after. well I totally spaced it {first & only time EVER} and got in my seat & was about to start driving. apparently my son is smarter than I am, because before I could even put the car in reverse, he yelled 'BUCKLE ME UP!' I am SO glad he realized that he wasn't buckled & that wasn't right so he said something. I would of been a wreck if I had realized it while driving, or when I went to get him out. needless to say, I always always ALWAYS triple check before I get in my seat.

• he calls emergency vehicles {police car, ambulance, even just utility trucks... anything with lights on the roof, besides fire trucks -he calls those by name} woo-woo trucks. at first I didn't know what the heck he was talking about, but then I realized he calls them that because of the sirens (: haha

• he has the BEST memory, ever. something will happen, or he will see someone, a few weeks will go by & he will randomly start talking about it again, just out of the blue.

• whenever I'm getting ready, he will come in the bathroom & tell me 'I need get ready, too' he has also developed an obsession with my make-up brushes. every time I have them out, he swirls them around his face. it's a hard thing, trying to tell a 2 year old boy that only girls wear make-up. he just tells me 'i'm a dirl'

• he all of a sudden HAS to have the crust cut off of his sandwiches.

• he loves making the 'i love you' sign with his hands. and lately, he likes to touch you on your forehead with his pinky when he does it & he'll say 'I yuv you ____' so sweet ♥



I love this little stinker so much, I don't know what I would do without him! ♥

Paint in a bag

I got this fun little idea from pinterest... paint in a bag. All you do is put some paint in a bag, & let your kids draw pictures in it, squish it, squeeze it... pretty much anything! & the best part is... there's NO mess! (: Pretty quick & easy, and it's something fun for the littles!
I do recommend using the BIG strong freezer bags. I just used the little sandwich bags & they worked just fine, but just to be safe next time I'll use stronger bags.
I also put tape on the top {mainly to make sure B didn't try to open the bags & get paint everywhere!} and I wrote what color each of them were on the tape. He knows all of the colors we did, so seeing the name of the color written down, will also help him recognize how they're spelled! (:

Oh, and if you aren't already on pinterest I highly recommend you get an account! It is the MOST addicting site ever, but I have found SO many great ideas on there! And it is awesome for organizing ideas you have for something {like events, organization, photo ideas, recipes, ect} or if you find something online that you like, you just 'pin it' to your board & it saves the picture AND it will link you right back to that page. I'm tellin' ya, it's awesomespice. Check it out. And follow me, if you'd like! my pinterest.