Potty Training??

I'm not sure why but apparently Thomas has decided it's time to potty train.  He's not even two!!  In other words, we disagree on this subject.  However, considering the fact that he is very adept at getting his clothes off and will wander around naked and try to climb on the potty by himself, I've agreed to humor him.  The little potty has entered the home again and in fact he did poop in it once.  So far there have been no accidents on the floor but I really think it's just a passing fancy.

I couldn't resist.  Isn't that little bum just pinchable???  Admit it, he's dang cute, even from the back!

Izzy's Birthday Party

For Isabelle's birthday party this year she chose to go to Lowe's Extreme AirSports.  The whole family went plus Amy Chappell, Melissa Eddy, Hannah Fairbanks, Emeri Moore, Melissa from school and Lauren VanAkin (from school).  They had a blast and then we came back here for birthday cake.  Izzy requested a monster cake and was pleased to help decorate it. 

 

Cleaning the Shower

My showers don't get cleaned nearly often enough and I've discovered why.  As I scrubbed my shower Thomas kept himself busy near my side.  He played with the shampoo and the soap containers and I kept thinking, thank goodness he's not opening anything.  Then he decided to dump the comet in the tub but of course I just thought it was helpful and I scrubbed away.  Then I got really into and stopped paying quite so much attention.  Therefore...he used Scott's toothbrush and the handsoap to clean the sink, sampling and spitting occasionally, he found the Windex and started spraying the curtains and wiping them clean with his hands (I was quick to take care of that), he found the Windex again and sprayed the sink - to clean it of course (quickly taken again), he found the Windex again (I know, seriously I need to put things away better - in my defense, they usually locked under the cupboard, but I was cleaning!!) and started heading out the door - this time I really put it out of his reach so he switched to the toilet paper.  I kept thinking - just hurry and finish!  If you don't finish now you won't finish it at all!  So while I hurried to finish he took trains of toilet paper - which I kept reaching over and breaking off - out the door to who knows were.  In the meantime Ashley decided she needed to go potty so she took care of business and just in time Tommy was back for more TP and noticed the open toilet, so in went his hands, post flush thank goodness.  Again, I stopped that, washed the hands and went back to work...so did he with more toilet paper.  Finally I finished and rinsed everything and popped my two littles into the tub to enjoy that nice clean slippery tub and then went to clean up the missing toilet paper.  I found it of course clogging the other toilet with puddles of water around the outside.  Luckily, he's now in the tub and that toilet was cleaned previous to the shower debacle.

Phew...any questions about why my showers don't get cleaned very often?

Tommy's ear tubes January 24

After his 6th ear infection in 11 months (5 of which were in the previous 6 months) we met with an ENT.  The doctor confirmed what we suspected, Tommy needed tubes.  The next day we headed to the hospital (incidentally, while we were in the hospital, Utah had a freak Ice Rain Storm, there were accidents all over the place and Izzy saved Grandma at our house by discovering the ice covered steps - on her bottom - before Grandma and Ash would leave to a neighbors house.).  Thomas was a trooper.  He was awakened early, not fed and taken somewhere strange, dressed in strange clothes, had his vitals taken and then was given a medication to help him relax before they took him away.  After they took him away they gave him anesthesia and the actual procedure to place the tubes was very quick.  After recovering a bit they brought him back to us.  He was disoriented and upset and thirsty but immediately threw up what he drank.  He slept for a bit and after he awakened again he did much better.  He was kind of mellow the rest of the day but he did so well.  We were quite proud of our brave little one.

 Before the medication

 Pre-throw up

Sleeping off the medicine while getting a snuggle from Dad...not to shabby.

St. George Mini-Vacation

Before heading back home to the bitter smoggy cold we stopped to have a last few minutes of sunshine.  It was heaven.  We enjoyed the park.  The boys tossed around the Frisbee.  All the kids rolled and played in the sand volleyball pit.  It was so sad to climb in the car to head home.

We definitely all agreed that we love "Sunny Days".

Izzy's Birthday evening Cake and Ice Cream

 The birthday cake Izzy had on her birthday was made by our friend Valeri Jones.  I neglected to get a picture of Izzy with the Jones but the cake was delicious.  It was a concoction of chocolate and oreos and it was delish!

 Hannah joined us for pizza and cake and ice cream.  Izzy loved having her over.

Grandma and Grandpa and Carolyn joined us as well.  It was so fun to have them over and Izzy felt loved.

Happy 9th Birthday to my Beautiful Isabelle Ila

Some of Izzy's current favorites:

Color: Purple

Music: Adele

Friends: Hannah, Shayleigh, Emeri, Lauren

Activities: Creating, bike riding, playing Poptropica on the computer, playing school or salon

Teacher at school: Mrs. Ahlstrom

Foods: oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, treats, hot cheetohs 

Wishes she had: a puppy and her ears pierced

Things I love about Isabelle:  She is creative and ingenious.  She is super helpful when she wants to be.  She likes to play with the little kids often and takes good care of them.  She tries very hard to keep her room clean.  She works hard at school and her teacher enjoys having her in class.  She is very smart and can accomplish big things when she puts her mind to it.  She is a delight and a treasure and I'm am so thankful to be her mother.