Glorious Words

Some words are more glorious depending on the stage of your life. When you have a toddler toilet-training, "Mom! I have to poop!" are the greatest words you have ever heard. We have tried off and on over the last 6 months, but we never had consistent success and between being pregnant and having a newborn, I didn't have it in me to keep pushing. But now that he's 3, I decided it was time ... and I remembered something that had worked with Benjamin. We decided on a day (Grayson and I) and starting on that day there would be no more diapers. We picked a Monday (only a week away) and all that week when you asked him what happens on Monday, he would respond, "NO MORE DIAPERS!"
Monday came and away went the diapers and on went the underwear. That was 10 days ago and I think we can classify him as toilet-trained. We had 2 major accidents in the first 6 days, but there were several days he had no accidents, and he's been accident free for 4 days now. Even when we go out he wears underwear and he is great about telling me when he needs to go. He's made it through church, being at a friend's house (without me) and running errands all over town. He even stays dry for his naps, but we are keeping the diapers for overnight right now.
Needless to say, we are very excited to have reached this stage with Grayson. The process of toilet-training is a part of motherhood that I REALLY dislike ... but the success is awesome! Three boys down ... one to go. Thank goodness I have a couple of years before I have to tackle that one. Here is a picture of Grayson at Cold Stone. We decided to go out and celebrate Grayson's success last Friday night by getting some ice cream. He thought it was a great idea!

Thanks, Nanny & Pappy!

Here is Grayson opening his packages from my parents (aka Nanny & Pappy). They were lego sets and he was so excited to get some guys of his own. With my boys, it's all about the cool guys they get with the sets. Grayson got Anankin, R2-D2, lots of storm troopers, and Indiana Jones. His brothers were excited for him (a little jealous that he got them and not them - but still excited because this way they can play with them too). And Bry was more than happy to build the sets for him. Grayson is still too young for that. There are 2 videos because the first package was missing the Indiana Jones set so that came the next week. Grayson thought it was great to get packages a week after his birthday!

One of these things is not like the other ...

While we were on our little vacation, all of the boys were sleeping in one room. When I walked in, they all looked so cute I couldn't resist taking a picture of each one.

They really were asleep and not posing.

And then I got to Connor! I had just fed him, but he's usually back to sleep when I lay him back down and I thought it was so funny after seeing the other boys.

Thank You Grandma & Grandpa!

These may not be exciting for all of you, but we wanted his grandparents to be able to see him open the presents from them.

Thank you, Brig and Karen. He loved all of the baseball stuff (I'd never seen that book before - it's great) and the shirts. He was disappointed he couldn't wear the train shirt 2 days in a row. I think I will be washing it frequently.

Happy Birthday, Grayson!

Grayson turned 3 last week and we had a little family party to celebrate. Cake, ice cream, presents and decorations equals a very happy little boy.

He requested a motorcycle cake this year and this is how it turned out. It was my first attempt at this style of decorating and it wasn't perfect, but I was pretty happy with the results. And more importantly, Grayson loved it! (He just walked in and saw these pictures and said, "My motorcycle cake! Happy Birthday to me!")

While he was eating lunch, I decorated his room a little bit. It did take him a little longer to fall asleep for his nap, but it was worth it for the look on his face when he walked in and saw it.

Happy Birthday, Grayson! We love you SOOO much. Our family wouldn't be the same without you.

Brothers

I wanted to share this picture of all the boys together. I don't seem to get many of these. I guess when I have all 4 together I'm too distracted to think of taking a picture. And believe it or not, I only took 3 pictures and in 2 of them they were all looking at the camera. That never happens! I usually have to take 20 pictures to get that! I put both of these shots up to show that we had to move Connor around. Everyone wants to be the one to hold Connor, so they take turns and we take multiple pictures.

This is going to be a full week for us. Today (Monday) was Benjamin's first day of Tball. He has been counting down to this day for weeks. I meant to take my camera to take pictures, but forgot it so I have no pictures to post. But as Bryant told me, I can take it next week. Tomorrow is Grayson's birthday and Bryant's first Tball game - he has been having practices for a couple of weeks now. It should be a fun day. Then Wednesday evening, we are going out of town for a few nights. We are SOOOO excited! We had too many things come up this summer to squeeze in a trip to visit family, so instead we are going a couple hours north for a mini vacation. We found an inexpensive cabin (not on but near lots of lakes) tucked into the woods with lots of space for the kids to play and even a fire pit to have campfires at night. It should be a lot of fun. I even convinced Rehn to stay over on Saturday night, which makes it even more of a vacation, because he won't have all of his Sunday meetings.

So I have a lot of cleaning and packing to do between Tball and birthday celebrations. Guess I'd better get to bed so I won't be exhausted tomorrow. Doubt there will be time for a nap!

Stories with ... Bryant

My mom just sent us an email begging for votes for an Orioles player to make it to the All-Star Game, and it reminded me of this story from a couple weeks ago.

Rehn's work had given all their employees tickets to a St. Paul Saints game (Minor League baseball), but of course it was the same night the Bishops were suppose to go up to Girls Camp so Rehn couldn't go. I decided I would still try to take the boys myself. Yes, that sounds crazy (me and 4 boys at the baseball game), but I'm starter than the average bear, so I asked a couple of Laurels to come along. (I've been going through withdrawal since I was released from YWs, so it was a fun to hang out with them before they leave for college. And they were lifesavers ... I couldn't have made it through the game without them!)

Anyway ... we are at the game and one of the ushertainers stop to talk to the boys. (Ushertainers are people that work for the team and dress-up and go through the stands adding a little more entertainment to the game.) So he walks up and sees Bry's Orioles hat on. He says, "Orioles fan?" And Bry immediately says "No, just the Twins. My grandparents just sent this to me." The guy then tried to convince him it was okay to be an Os fan, but it was all lost on Bry. He is just for the Twins.

Another story ... the little boy sitting next to Bryant asked him where he was from. Without hesitation Bry said, "I'm from Logan." He was born in Logan, UT but we moved here when he was 3 months old! He's never back to Logan! I tried to tell him that he is from Minnesota, but I think he likes saying he's from somewhere else. But this is an improvement ... he used to say he was born in the mountains, because we had told him Logan was in the mountains.

First Time Rider

I had a moment this winter when I realized ... I have a 7 year old and we haven't tried to teach him how to ride a bike without training wheels. (In my defense, last year all he wanted to do was ride his scooter.) It was then I decided that learning to ride a bike must be a priority this summer. Today was the day, and Bryant did great! This is after about 15-20 minutes of working with him. We started with a smaller bike, so he wouldn't have far to fall, but the tires wouldn't keep air in them and that made it harder. So we got out the bigger bike and off he went. Rehn helps for a couple of seconds to get him up to speed, but then he can keep it going. I think we will be having many nights practicing ... he loved it and can't wait to go again. It even made Benjamin want to try (I'm actually hoping to teach him this summer, too).

Stories with ... Grayson

Last week Grayson was momentarily left alone with Connor. As I went to get Connor, Grayson was walking toward me with his doctor's kit asking me to open it. When I questioned him about his intentions, his reply was, "I'm going to fix Connor!"

(Side note: Grayson absolutely adores his little brother, so I'm sure he had no intention of harming Connor. But who knows what a physical from Dr. Grayson would include!)


As the days have been getting warmer, we started heading to beaches. Well, our first day at a beach was a little windy and cooler than we expected, so I opted not to have the boys in swim suits, but still allow them to play in the sand and maybe get their feet wet. It wasn't long before they all had soaking wet clothes, but Grayson took it one step further. We were there with friends and all of the boys had worked together to make a "lake" about half way up the beach. They dug quite a wide hole and then carried up bucketfuls of water to fill it. After they had it done, Grayson thought it was a great place to play. So as I'm helping one of the boys, I hear the life guard behind me say, "I see you're sitting in it." I turn around to see Grayson's shorts on the sand and he is sitting in the "lake." My first thought is, "At least he left his diaper on." So I gather his shorts and shoes and as I'm walking toward our blanket, my friends start laughing, and I turn around to see his diaper on the sand and a bare bottom Grayson sitting in the "lake!" I immediately returned to put his swimming suit on him, but apparently a 12-18 month swim suit is too big for my nearly 3 year old. It would not stay on his skinny little waist and every time he stood up or kneeled we had a full moon on the beach! It was quite the scene ... I did get pictures, but I'm not sure all of them would be appropriate for this site; I'll include one of Grayson sitting in his "lake." Life is definitely not boring with Grayson around.

And Connor makes 4 ... 4 boys!

The family picture isn't quite complete. I was about 5 months pregnant there, but now we have Connor with us, so it's only fair that he have a picture, too. Here he is last week on his 2 month "birthday."

Here we go!

I've done it! I finally entered the world of blogging. I don't know if I'll be any good at it, but decided it was worth a try. It seems like a great way to keep people updated on what's going on in your lives. I do love the family websites we have (and will continue to use them, I promise!), but this way I can keep friends and both families up to date on what's happening with us ... all in one place! So here we go ... off on my first blogging adventure ... should be fun!