One Guess

I'll give you one guess at what we have been tackling this week...

Yup, POTTY TRAINING!!!!

I was so dreading this and pushed it off for just about as long as I could. With Lilly starting preschool it just seemed like we should bite the bullet. So we headed to the Dollar store to find stuff for a potty chart, a "pee pee" timer, a candy jar and other fun rewards. To my surprise Lilly was all for it. We set the timer for every thirty minutes and would sit in the bathroom for about ten minutes reading books, putting on makeup, whatever I could do to keep her busy. I have cleaned that bathroom from top to bottom probably at least 10 times in the last week because I was so grossed out about Barrett spending so much time in there with us crawling around and pulling up on the toilet, yuck! She had a couple of accidents the first two days but by the third day she was telling me ever time she had to go...even poop! I can't believe how easy it has been. She still wears a pullup for naps and night time and to preschool, church and other errands. She can hold it for a good 2.5 hours, but she has not wanted to go in a public restroom, so that will be our next challenge. YIPPEEE, we are just so proud of our big girl!!!

Lilly Goes To School

Today was the BIG day...Lilly started preschool. And to some that might not seem like a very big deal but this preschool is at the elementary school and meets every morning so it feels like kindergarten almost. I just can't believe that my little girl is old enough to go to school. Lilly was super excited this morning...woke up at 4:30, and here I was all worried that we were going to sleep in and be late. Nope, we were ready to go a whole hour early. We were the first ones there this morning and when Miss Erin opened the door Lilly walked right in like it was no big deal. We were also the first ones to pick up two and half hours later. Miss Erin opened the door and there came my Lilly girl just bouncing along waving and shouting goodbye to all her new friends. Lilly is the only little girl in a class of 10 boys. Her teacher and speech therapist both said that Lilly did fantastic...what great news to hear!!! I am so proud of Lilly and so excited to see her progress. And of course the first thing Lilly says to me when I pick her up is "I wanna ride the bus!" (funny because its the exact same thing I said to my mom on my first day of kindergarten) We will see about the bus...not quite sure if mommy is ready for Lilly to be growing up so fast.

Hawaii 2010

We have made it back from our Hawaiian adventure. Now its back to reality and back to school...ahhhh! Our trip was fantastic, both kids did great on the flights. I was prepared for the very worst but neither of them cried and they both slept most of the time. Lilly was so funny about saying Aloha to anyone and everyone. She would continue to say it until the person actually understood what she was saying and said aloha back. She had absolutely no fear of strangers on this trip...a little scary for mom though. She made fast friends with a few kids that we kept running into at the beach and playground. I know the day when we show up at the resort and have her yell, "k mom I am going to meet my friends at the pool" as she runs out the door is fast approaching...we will just have to send B-man with her to be her bodyguard. She loved loved loved the elevator and pushing the buttons. She new exactly which buttons to push when we were going down (down button, number 2) and back up (up button and number 15) then she would run out of the elevator and say LEFT as she turned left and headed to our room. It just cracked us up...she was miss independent on this trip. Barrett was a good sport, he loved his stoller rides and all the snacks that mommy kept at hand so he would be a good boy. He loved playing in the sand and ate less of it than his sister did the last time we were in Hawaii. Both kids loved being in the water so that is where we stayed for the majority of our trip. My back and arms are tired from holding my big boy for most of the trip. I am so happy to be back sleeping in seperate rooms from the kids. Now we are just trying to adjust to the time difference, getting everyone back on good schedules so that we can start school on a good note!!! Enjoy the pictures in the following post!

ALOHA!!!!

To my suprise the kids did great on the flights...seriously slept most of both flights and no crying...we've got some good little travelers.

I think Bubba is ready for a little Hawaiin baseball
Killing time in the hotel lobby
So happy to be off that plane
The whole gang

Took a picture at this exact same spot with Lilly two years ago.

The LONGEST day ever...left the house at 5:30am...flew to Hawaii and landed six hours later at 11:30am Hawaii time. Check in at the hotel was not until 4pm (7 phoenix time), so that is why there are so many pictures of us in these outfits :)

First time in the ocean
Our little family
They had fish feeding every morning at 7:30. Lilly and Aunt Jessica are ready to feed some fishies

Praying to the Hawaiin Gods for more shaved ice...
One highlight of the trip was Lilly and how easily she made friends. She was so good to ask kids to play with her...another sign that her social skills are improving. This little boy and Lilly played for about an hour together.

When we weren't playing in the water we were playing on the playground.

Good morning...hey how did everyone end up in one bed!!!

Lilly and daddy swimming in the ocean!!!
Barrett taking a nap on the beach

Lilly making sand castles
Yes, we went snorkeling each morning. Amazing what is under you when you are swimming in the ocean. We saw tons of tropical fish, big angel fish, yellow tang fish and sea turtles too.

Playing at the "beach". The hotel has a kid pool with fake sand (the grains are square). Lilly liked the real beach much better.
Watching the torch lighting ceremony with the Chief of Samoa...those are our bodyguards behind us :)

Barrett enjoying the evening at Fia Fia
Lilly enjoying her mac n cheese at the Luau, Fia Fia (a happy celebration)

Lilly learning to make fire at the Luau. She also got to learn how to do the hula and weave baskets out of palm frawns.

A turtle made its way up onto the beach and then all the people around spooked the poor thing so it just sat there for like 3 hours. Finally people moved away and she crawled back into the ocean. We saw an even bigger turtle while we were snorkling.

Me and Lilly in paradise

Barrett loved eating the sand. We had to watch him pretty closely. He also got two more top teeth while we were on vacation. The highlight of the trip was watching how much Lilly loved swiming and playing in the ocean. Such a little fish...next trip we will be able to ditch the tube.

This is Barrett "body surfing". Really I was just trying to get all the sand off of him but it turned into a game once I realized how much he loved it.

Beach Buddies

Mahalo (Thank you) Hawaii for another awesome family vacation.