Potty Training Blues

How in the world do you potty train a kid?! We've been trying to get Gwen to use the potty for a while now, and recently we bought a princess potty to go on the toilet and princess training pants, which she absolutely loves, but still she refuses to go. She asks to sit on the toilet multiple times a day, but still nothing! She'll be three in a month, so what do I do? Tell her she can't start preschool until she uses the potty? I've tried bribing her with chocolate, even. Nothing's working. I'm sure she'll get it eventually, right??

Seriously. Any tips?

Ducks!

Because of the gorgeous day today, we walked to the Nature Park for some fun. The girls get absolutely crazy being cooped up all the time in the house, so it was a much needed adventure. We ran into a bunch of ducks and got to feed them our cracker snacks we brought us. Those ducks were brave. They came so close to us, I couldn't resist taking pictures. We could have hand fed these ducks if we wanted to. But we didn't. I've seen enough funny home videos to know that these things can get grumpy and attack. The girls were very excited to see quack-quacks up close.

Gwen never fails to make me laugh!

Sometimes Gwen can make me want to jump screaming from the window (good thing we live on the bottom floor) but this girl can make my day brighter in an instant. One minute, I'm pulling out my hair and the next I'm practically rolling on the floor laughing. I love this crazy one.

Right before Logan and I go to bed, Logan goes in to Gwen's room and tucks her in. This is how he discovered her the other night...

How in the world?? Which reminds me - Gwen's been "reading" up a storm lately. She has three books that she wants read over and over again lately, and last week I told her to read "Go, Dogs, Go" to me (I was sick of the story.) So she began to recite the book back to me word for word! She was startled, I could tell, that should could "read" the book. She kept laughing hysterically after each page and jumping up and down excitedly. She now doesn't let me read it to her anymore. All I have to do is turn the pages. She can also recite "PJ Funnybunny" and a lot of "Are You My Mother?" She's a clever little girl!

And the other day while I was making room in her closet and making a pile of things I was giving to DI, she found her old diaper changing pad, strapped herself into it, and walked around in it for over an hour. She would even lie down in it to watch tv. When she was a baby, her changing table would settle her down out of the most terrible crying tantrums. I guess it proved to be still comforting. Now another baby will get to be comforted, as I still gave it to the DI. She doesn't miss it...

I just love it when she lets me put her hair up!

In other news -

Last week, Logan and I had eye doctor appointments and we got new glasses! Well, Logan got new glasses, I got glasses for the first time ever. Before I got pregnant with Gwen, I had great eyesight and prided myself that I was the only one among my friends who didn't need glasses. Well, pregnancy hormones made me near sighted, so now I have my own pair of corrective lenses.

Logan's hot, new glasses. I don't know if you remember, but his old glasses were silver and slightly too big for his face. Now he's even sexier, don't you think? Yes? I thought so.

I'm not quite as stylish in glasses. Not all all. I think they're too big, or something. Maybe I just need to get used to them. I look like a strict librarian.

Good thing I don't need to wear them all the time. Just when I want to see at a distance, when I'm watching tv, at the grocery store, or while driving. Stuff like that. Logan needs his all the time. He's going blind. Sad day. Good thing he looks so good in them!

A New First

Gwen must have caught a stomach bug from nursery a couple of weeks ago, because last week she woke up in the middle of the night sick. It took her a couple of days to get over it. She was so quiet and cuddly. I hate it when she's sick, but a calm Gwen is something special. She would pull me over to the couch, saying "my tummy hurts," and that was my cue to sit and cuddle with her and watch tv. She's pretty much over it now. Sometimes she'll come over to me and pout, "My tummy hurts!" because she wants special hugs. She's adorable.

Last night, Phoebe woke up in the middle of the night with the stomach bug! It was so sad. Her first tummy sick. I had to bring her out in the living room and stay up with her for hours. Gwen was never sick like this when she was a baby. I'm not exaclty sure how to handle it, but I think we're managing. She sleeps a lot, and though it's hard for her to keep anything down, I make her drink her water. I give her cuddles, wipe downs, and extra loves, and I don't think there's much more any one could do. She's weak, but sometimes she'll get on the floor to play for a couple minutes. I'm just glad they didn't get sick at the same time. Now I'm praying Logan and I don't get it. (We will. Who am I kidding?)

Since Phoebe is anti-crib, I set her up on the couch. I had to surround her with all her friends, because she misses me when I don't hold her, even when I'm just in the kitchen. Her friends made her feel better.

Gwen thought it was pretty neat and wanted in, too.

While I was putting Phoebe down for a nap in her crib (she's still in there!) Gwen covered herself up on the couch to drink some milk. I surrounded her with the toys. She gets pretty jealous of her sister, so, even though Gwen's not sick, I have to give her all the extra care I've been giving Phoebe. Oh, well. Who doesn't need extra hugs once in a while?

This picture has nothing to do with stomach bugs. I've been trying to get Gwen to use the potty, and she's pretty determined not to. But Phoebe seems all for it. She get's mad when Gwen is on it for too long and she'll try to push her off. Then she climbs onto the potty herself and stays put for a while. At this rate, I'll be potty training them both at the same time. I can't wait. I'm so sick of changing diapers. Almost three straight years now! Is it silly to fast for your child to use the potty? Because I'm seriously thinking about doing just that. Either that or throwing away all her diapers and strapping the child down until she goes. That sounds like a really good idea right now.Oh well. I guess she'll go when she's ready.

Seems like Phoebe's ready now, though.

Easter Day

We hope everyone had a great Easter/conference weekend! We certaainly did. The girls got baskets and pigged out on candy all Easter morning. We stayed in jammies most of the day and cuddled up on the couch to watch the conference talks. Gwen was excited to point out "Present Monson" whenever he appeared. Even though it was just the four of us for the holiday, I wanted to make a big meal. It was my first big, holiday meal ever, so I was extremely pleased that everything turned out yummy. I jump on any reason to pig out. The only leftovers we have are rolls and apple spice cake, and they will be gone before the end of the day. So freaking good! Thanks, Patti, for the delicious spice cake recipe! I will be making that often.

Of course, Gwen didn't completely understand why we celebrate Easter. I told her we celebrate Jesus coming back. Through out the day, she'd say "Jesus is in the sky. He came back!" I love it when she gets excited to learn about Christ. The talks given in conference touched a lot on teaching your children in the home. I'm not sure how to make a 2 year old understand most things pertaining to the gospel. I'm not sure how to explain some things. I'm sure Heavenly Father will help us!

Gwennie was all too eager to help share Phoebe's basket.

The girls had a ball playing with all the bunnies the Easter bunny left to guard the baskets.

Happy Easter!!

Easter Dresses and Bubbles

Since GC is Easter Sunday this year, I was very pleased to dress the girls up in their Easter dresses for church a week early. It was very hard taking pictures of these two. I'm planning on taking more on Easter and hopefully they'll stand still for me. But we got lots of comments from people at church. I was surprised that not more people dressed up in pastels and whatnot for Easter. Maybe it's because we don't have church on Easter this year. When I was little, my mom went all out on us girls. She pranced us girls into church in matching dresses, hats, gloves, and purses. Logan wouldn't let me get them hats. They wouldn't have worn them for very long anyway. Still, they clean up nicely, huh?

Gwen's really into bubbles, as most kids are. She's been practicing doing the actual blowing. She's pretty good at it now. She calls it "bubble potion" like they do on Super Why. That or "Mr. Bubbles" from Lilo and Stitch.

Her cheeks crack me up.

Yay for warm-ish weather!

The weather warmed up a bit this week, so I took advantage and took the girls to the park. I wasn't sure if I would be the only parent there with her kids, feeling like a dork, desperate for some fresh air. But, actually, there were a ton of people there. Even though the weather was still a bit cold, as soon as the tempeture rose above freezing, everyone flocked to the playground. Gwen didn't mind the cold at all. She loved being able to run around and make friends. Gwen is the most hyper child I know, and yet when it comes to playground safety, she is a champ. She won't go near the sides, she's very cautious going over the bridge. She used to army crawl over the bridge. Then when she felt a little more confident, she clutched onto the railings. When she felt braver, she clenched her fists and stomped acrossed it. She's hilarious. She had to cross that bridge to get to the slides. That's basically all she does while we're at the park. She can go down the slides a hundred times and not get bored.

She'll sometimes stop her sliding to run around with another kid and scare him or her for while with her excited laughing. The kids don't know why Gwen's chasing them. She usually chases five to seven year olds. I say they need to toughen up. She also loves the swings. I get my arm workout from just pushing her in the swing for 20 minutes. She screams and laughs very loudly. Other mother's smile over at us, saying how cute she is, but after five minutes of screaming, I don't think they find it very cute anymore. It's the park, people.  Kids scream. Especially mine.

The next day the weather was even warmer, and since Logan had the day off, he came with us to the park. Phoebe woke up from the stroller ride this time, and she had a ball going down the slide. She figured out how to lean forward and slide down by herself. She did it many times with absolute glee. I can't wait for consistent warm weather. I'll go to the park every day. I'm so sick of being cooped up in the apartment all the time.

Here are some pics I thought were pretty funny.

Phoebe chowing down on string cheese.

Gwen doing something. Maybe dancing. She insists I put her in the little skirt thing, and she runs around, twirling.