No Wet Diaper

Last night Spencer kept his diaper dry!!! I decided it was a good time to give him his prize of a blow up bat, tee, and ball. I hope this is a good sign:)

And I Almost Gave Up

I REALLY dislike potty training. I don't like dealing with accidents, I hate the pee smell, and I know I shouldn't get upset when accidents happen but I often do. Spencer is kind of nonchallant in the potty training business. He doesn't really care. If I have him go and sit on the toilet he'll go but he's not going to tell me when he has to go. So I feel like I'm the one being potty trained in the sense that I have to remember to take him.

After yesterday of three or more accidents, I'm not sure how many but I know there were at least three, I was wondering if I should continue. Jared was sooooo easy. What should I do? Spencer doesn't fight me when I make him go but all this time he's only told me a few times when he had to go before actually going.

But after today I'm determined to keep going. He's told me at least 4 times that he's needed to go and he didn't have one accident today (and today I decide to start him out with a pull-up and no underwear!)

Jared and Spencer made it a kind of game today. If one said they had to go they'd race to the bathroom (Spencer's been going on the big toilet but will go on the little one if Jared and him go at the same time.) And one time I heard them talking and saying, "I'm going to make a bigger pile." It's all about competition, gross! So tomorrow we may have 3 or more accidents but today was good for me because I finally saw progress in Spencer realizing he had to go without me reminding him or before it was too late. I'm not saying we won't resort back to diapers but for now I can persevere at least for a little bit longer...

"Mom...

...I like your hair... you look pretty." You made my day when you said that Jared:) How sincere and sweet his comment was and it was out of the blue. He told me this one morning last week in the morning and it was a great start to my day. This morning I was reminded by this comment when he asked me, "Mom... will you put your hair down so it can look pretty?" I'm glad he thinks I'm pretty:)

St. Patty's Day and the Park

Last week was gorgeous! We even had a day that was suppose to get in the 70s:) And guess how our weekend was... SNOW! We spent almost everyday outside soaking in the rays. Here's the boys on St. Patty's day. We're all ready for the warm weather to stay. Enjoy the pictures:)

Miles Stats

This little guy is so fun. All I have to do is smile at him and he laughs or smiles back. I wish I had my camera with me the first time I put him in a swing... he giggled and absolutely loved it!

This week Miles will be 7 months! CRAZY! He's had his 4 and 6 month check ups and I haven't recorded anything so here's both and in two months we'll do his 9 month stats:)

4 months:
weight: 14 lbs 7 oz 40%
height: 25 in 25%
head: 50%

6 months:
weight: 16 lbs 12 oz 50%
height: 26 1/2 50%
head: 75%
He sits up great but doesn't roll lots. He has yet to roll from his back to his tummy. The doctor wasn't concerned though since he sits up well. I think part of the problem is now that he sits I hardly ever put him on his belly anymore. I'm trying to be better at giving him tummy time still.

I love you Miles!!!

Potty Training

So Spencer could so be potty trained but it's in his ball court. He's ready, he can do it, but... he's head strong so I've been waiting for him to want to do it. For a long time he's been using the toilet occassionaly when Jared goes. He can control his bladder and he knows what he's doing. But any time I tried to suggest underwear he strongly protested. Until... Monday he was excited to wear underwear out of the blue. I think he was the one that even suggested it. And how did that day go? Not one accident and he even went #2 almost every time.

He calls #2 Piles. Awhile ago on one of his random trips to the potty he went #2 and I said, "Wow! Good job Spencer that was a huge pile!" Now after going he asks, "Huge Pile?" Or before he goes he says, "Make a pile." So now when I ask him if he needs to go I ask him if he wants to make a pile and go water.

So day one went well but day two he refused to put underwear on. So we did a pull-up and he wet it, granted I didn't ask as much because I didn't worry about the mess I'd have to clean up. Then day three he was ready to wear underwear again and he had one accident at dinner time. Day four he had an accident during his therapy session and then he pooped his pants at a park. Changing a poopy diaper is one thing but poopy underwear is horrible. Then today he didn't have any accidents till dinner.

I hope he doesn't change his mind because he can do it! But if he doesn't want to I can't make him. He is a strong willed child and I don't want to fight him yet so I'm crossing my fingers that he will continue to be excited to be a big boy with big boy underwear making big piles:)

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

This last Wednesday through Sunday we had Chris' parents in town. I LOVE visitors and so do my boys. Jim had meetings and stayed at the hotel downtown while Cherie stayed with us and spent time with the boys. We had fun hanging out, eating good food, and playing the wii. Grandparents are the best!

Spencer Therapy

We had Spencer tested for his speech early December through Early Interventions and he qualified to have a therapist come into our home once a week. Often when there's a speech delay there's often other areas of developmental concern but Spencer was more than fine in the other areas so it was just speech we were targeting.

I really struggled whether I should do therapy or not because he's only two and I knew he'd eventually talk but I decided to because it gets so frustrating to communicate with him because it's a guessing game and we both get frustrated cause we can't understand each other.

Spencer struggles with c, k, g, n, and sometimes b and p sounds. He also would start saying words but not finish the end consanants of words. But the day before we started, early February, on our way to school he pointed to a truck and said truck, with the end "k"! I had him say it a few times excitedly. There was no denying that he was improving.

This last month Spencer has made huge progress saying all the sounds he's struggled with. Granted he's not saying them all the time but he can. He's saying 4 to 5 word sentences and we're able to understand so much more. I've wondered how much therapy has helped because I feel he was on the brink of a breakthrough regardless of therapy. But the more I've thought about it the more I've realized that was the best timing for therapy because he was a sponge soaking it all in.

He's come a long ways and I'd be fine taking him out of therapy but his therapist has assured me he still needs it and she'll only keep coming if she thinks he needs it. My biggest hang up is he's two! He'll get it with time and at least now I can communicate better with him. She's also commented that Spencer is her fastest learning and eager student. Granted though I think Spencer is one of her easiest students and didn't need it as badly as her typical student. So for now we'll keep him in it:)

Lookin' Good

A few weeks ago we had a major accident with Spencer and his diaper. Chris left to change it and came back so we could have four hands tackle the mess. His pants were a mess so we improvised kudos to Chris' creativity here's what we came up with. Our little man in a kilt! And he liked it and didn't want to take it off.

A couple weeks ago the boys wanted help getting dressed into their winter/summer attire. We've loved the snow and we're ready for the sun and lake all at once!

Jared Stories

Tonight (I wrote this two weeks ago!) we went to an open house for some friends leaving Chicago and got home an hour after bed time. As the boys sat on Chris' lap and I got them ready for bed we were talking about things we like. Chris and I sided together on a sports team while Jared wanted to like another team. He was upset and proclaimed, "I want my family to like my team even more!" and then he got the saddest look on his face and started to cry and then said, "I'm just so tired! I want to go to bed." Such the sweetest and saddest thing I've seen in a long time. I love that boy.

While in Idaho over Christmas I was able to spend time with my sisters and their kids allowing my kids to play with their cousins. One day while at Valerie's house we were getting ready to leave and I told Jared we needed to run home real quick. My in-laws live a mile or less from Valerie's house. He started to cry. I told him he could stay if he wanted but he protested. As I was buckling him in his carseat he looked at me and said, "So you were just kidding that we were going to "run" home?" I started laughing and said, "Yes, we're going to drive?" The English language is very confusing for a 4 year-old.

I don't know where Jared learned this:
But one day I caught him drinking straight from the jug.

One day when taking Jared to school one little girl, Amaya, saw him and excitedly shouted, “Hi Jared!” and then embarrassed from her salutation hid behind her dad. It was evident to me that this little girl liked Jared, whether a crush or just liked him I don’t know but indeed liked him. A couple days later after school I asked Jared if he had any “girl” friends at school. He said no. I asked him about Amaya. He said, “No, she’s Anna’s friend.” (We do a lot with Anna and her family.) I then told him he could have lots of friends and people can have lots of friends too. Amaya could be both their friends. He then exclaimed, “Lets write her a letter!” They made mail boxes at their school and give each other “letters”. So we set out to write Amaya a letter. He started out by writing her name at the top and then didn’t want to write anymore but he told me what to write. It said, “Will you be my friend. Please send me a letter.” Signed Jared. He took it to school and I assumed he put it in her mailbox. Well he must have because a couple days later before he went into the classroom he came running to me with a letter. He opened it and had me read it to him. It said, “Yes I want to be your friend. “ Also included in the letter was a picture she colored and a wallet size school picture of herself. CUTE! I gave him a cute little smile and he ran off. I looked up and didn’t see Amaya but caught her dad’s eye and we just smiled at each other. Too cute. It reminded me of that country song when it says, “check yes or no”. I’m pretty sure Jared doesn’t have a “crush” or anything because he didn’t seem that into it or overly excited but it was fun for me to know a little girl likes my boy even if she just likes him as a friend.

Another story... One day I asked Jared to do something and he said, "Yes Pam!" What? I asked him if he knew a Pam and he said no. I asked him why he called me Pam? He said dad said to say Yes Sir and Yes Pam. Click! I got it! I then corrected him and said it was mam.

And... Jared has stopped sucking his thumb!!! It has been two months and only one or two quick relapses. Seriously this is amazing because it was soooo habitual for him and he stopped cold turkey with no yucky polish just a strong mind set to stop before his teeth moved too far out causing "buck teeth". I'm so proud of him and I ache for him too. Every now and then he'll say, "I want to suck my thumb so bad." To which I tell him that I know it's hard but I'm so proud of him. He earned an airplane transformer as his reward as well, but that's not why he did it.

Warning...

No posting for a month= post overload and more to come...

Brotherly Love

This is story is long over due and is quickly fading in my memory, but thanks to a paper and pen I still can accurately record the sweet communication I heard two nights after putting Jared and Spencer to bed. This happened about two months after Miles was born and the boys were struggling go to bed for the night. I told them I was going to lock their door if they didn't stay in bed. Well they didn't stay in bed but my threat was a tricky one. I could lock the door but they know if they wiggle it enough they can open it and unlock it. So I decided to lay outside the door blocking it so they couldn't open it. Two of those nights here is what I heard Jared say mostly through tears:

I can't open the door.

Lets go to bed. Do you want to go to bed with me?Spencer, you need to stay in bed so mom will unlock the door. Do you understand? You understand?
No don't turn on the light; that's our light over there (pointing to night light)
(now back in bed): We can't cry... but mommy (little sniffle)... MOMMY!!!
Spencer: Crying?

Night two:

Do you want me to get in bed with you?

She will come down in the morning I promise.
(in bed together) We can cry (not much crying)
Do you want me to tell you a story?

I wish I had a tape recorder because it was how Jared was saying things that really brought meaning to what he was saying. Jared had such a protective big brother tone and was so concerned about his brother. Since then Jared and Spencer have been sleeping together whether it be in a twin bed or queen bed. These boys are friends and that my friends is any mother's best pay day:)

Paternity Leave

Miles is now 6 months old and Chris just barely tapped into his 6 weeks of paternity leave. After finishing up with a big case he was on he finally had time to take off and we did it! For part of the two weeks we went to Wilderness Territory in Wisconsin Dells. The hotel had three indoor water parks (water slides, wave pool, kiddie toys, and more), an arcade, a huge play area with multiple levels and mazes like a McDonalds but cooler (for kids and adults!), a candy store with so much deliciousness inside (I really liked the choclate sunflower seeds), and minature golf. We were there for three days and two nights and had a blast. The first night was rough but the second we all zonked out. Here's some pictures of the trip:

While he was home it also snowed so we went sledding together:

And the first week of Olympics was on so we watched that. It was great having dad home and it was a rough week after he went back to work. We LOVE our dad and are so grateful for his hard work and even though he comes home mentally and sometimes physically exhausted he still has enough energy to wrestle and play with our boys. Chris you're the best!

Christmas Take 3: Snow Boarding

My main gift to Chris was for him and me to go snowboarding at Sun Valley. I really like skiing and boarding but haven’t gone much since having our family. I feel like it’s too risky now. I’m not bad at all, in fact I’m decent, but no matter how good you are you can really hurt yourself. In fact the better you are the worse you can get hurt because of speed.

But because I knew Chris really wanted me to go I decided the biggest part of the gift was for me to go since I would prefer staying home. So the Monday after Christmas we headed to Sun Valley with Jordan, Baillie, Andy, and Brandon. I had a lot more fun than I thought I would until… I was cruising down a run and it was really icy so I was going a little slower and came down right on the tailbone. OUCH! I wasn’t going pokey slow by any means but I definitely wasn’t going fast but it was the ice that really did me in. After the fall I was really timid and afraid of falling and hitting my already throbbing bum. I soon got a headache and stopped for a late lunch and tried going on another few runs but I my head really hurt and I was boarding too timidly which hurt my bum more so I opted to sit the last few hours in the lodge. My head killed so I just found a table and put my head down. Soon after getting situated my mouth starting salivating and I knew I was going to need to throw up. I tried lying my head down but soon realized I needed to find a bathroom quick before embarrassing myself. I started looking around and couldn’t see anything and asked someone who told me it was upstairs. I started to run to the stairs and then took the stairs two at a time and ran to the bathroom and as I’m running for the bathroom I’m feeling the urge to let it out. Somehow I’m able to keep it down and run through the door but all stall doors are shut and I have another urge coming and I’m sure this one I won’t be as lucky. Right then a girl walked out of a stall and I run in and not any too soon. I felt much better stomach wise but still had a killer head ache so I continued to keep my head down the rest of the time.

I knew I’d hurt my bum pretty good but I hurt it really good. It took several weeks for it to not bother me when sitting and almost a month for it to return to normal. But it was fun and I’ll go again maybe sooner than I did last time

Beautiful Idaho! Chris and JordanProof I was there: Chris, Andy and me
Jordan and Chris
Brandon
Baillie

Miles' Blessing Day

Miles was blessed December 27th while we were home for th holidays. The blessing he received just reinforced how special this little boy is. I wish I had the blessing word for word but the mood and feeling was overwhemling as to how calm and sweet this little man is and will continue to be. He really is my therapy. He's so easy going. He loves to be held and cuddled and yet I can put him down with little complaint (most of the time.)
Grandma and Granpa Bingham (we didn't get one with Grandma and Grandpa Meservy:(
Grandma Meservy, Miles and Grandma Bingham Camille and Mike Sword fighting with cousin Micah
All of Chris sisters helping prepare the lunch afterwards (Andy, Miles, Mal, Ashley, and Baillie)
Life with three is more than difficult at times and Miles is my therapy. I can be yelling at the boys or frustrated and then I look down and his twinkling eyes just warm me up and make me forget, for a moment, the now. I'm so grateful for Miles and the sweet, sweet spirit he adds to our family.