Potty Training 101

Holy cow! Who knew potty training could be so tough {they don't warn you sufficiently before you embark on this journey}?!? In Cael's room at daycare {school} they work with him on potty training because he is not allowed to move up to the pre-school room until he is able to go to the bathroom in a potty rather than a diaper. Recently Cael had started crying when it was time to go to school and would cling to my legs and beg for me to take him to work or to just leave him in the car. I knew something was wrong and the teacher informed me she thought Cael was just bored and ready to move up to the next room. We decided to do the 3 Day Potty Training method and set a date {July 24, 2010}. Ryan woke up with Cael Saturday morning and after explaining that Cael was a 'big boy' and it was time to start going in the big boy potty, he took off Cael's last diaper and put him in underwear.

The rest of the weekend consisted of us reminding Cael to tell us when he had to go potty {never asking him if he had to go} and telling him what a big boy he was and how proud of him we were. We must have asked and said those very things over 200 DIFFERENT TIMES during the course of the two days. It was intense. The idea behind the method is to teach Cael to recognize his body's signs of having to 'release' and then letting us know so we can rush him to the bathroom as fast as we can. The method is supposed to take three days, but Ryan and I couldn't afford to take a day off of work so we just hoped and prayed that by Monday morning he would be almost completely trained. It was the most frustrating, disheartening and intense experience of my life. On Sunday afternoon I must have ran him to the bathroom about 8 times in the span of 15 minutes {because Cael kept telling me 'uh oh', which had become his way of saying he had to go potty} only to have him PEE ON THE COUCH!!!!! ARGHHH! Suffice it to say we spent a lot of time outside {bubbles were our friend} and by the end of the weekend all of us {including the dogs} were exhausted.

By Sunday evening Cael had gone potty all by himself and we were on our way to being diaper free {and haven't looked back}. He is doing really well and we are so proud of him!!! In the end, it really was all worth it {but I am glad the worst of it is over}!!!!

Dam Dog

Bodie has medical issues that cause him to leak urine. We are working on a solution with the lab rescue and all I can hope for is that it is an easy fix that won't cost us (or the rescue) a lot of money. I love this dog (both of us do), but I am about at my wits end with the pee. One on hand I want to cry because I don't want to get rid of him, but on the other hand I AM SICK OF THE CLEANING AND THE URINE AND THE FRETTING AND WONDERING. It makes me feel gross and it makes me feel like an awful {dog} parent because I choose my kids over him and I can't have them crawling around on carpet that is tainted with urine. We have an ultrasound tomorrow {the rescue is paying for} that will hopefully give us some more information because right now he is getting WORSE not BETTER :( He is the sweetest dog and such a lover, but I am not sure how much more I can handle. I am making myself sick over this and keep wondering {in the whole scheme of things} what we are supposed to do in this situation?!?!?!?

She's moving {army style}

Aveyn has been 'crawling' for the last couple of weeks, but more in army form rather than regular form so I have held off on making the announcement that she is actually crawling. Either way, she is DEFINITELY mobile and knows exactly what she wants. I guess I was waiting for her to proceed in more of a normal fashion (i.e. on her hands and knees), but it appears she is doing just fine with her army crawl. She is so cute and looks like a little lobster/soldier as she moves from one side of the room to the next. We put her down on the floor and before we know it she has maneuvered herself to a completely different area. She is a quick little thing and I have a feeling Ryan and I are going to have our hands full once she figures out how to walk. I remember Cael rolled for the longest time to get to where he wanted to go and didn't end up crawling until much later so it makes sense that Aveyn would follow in his foot {knee} steps! It's not the form, but the destination that matters!

{I had a video to post, but I am having technical difficulties - I will post as soon as I can}

NaNa, NaNa, NaNa

My mom came out to visit for a few days and as always it was great to have her here. She arrived on Thursday and unfortunately I came down with a stomach bug early Saturday morning and spent the weekend 'recovering'. She wasn't feeling that great on Sunday and Ryan actually left work on Monday because he wasn't feeling well. All in all, not a great way to spend the weekend, but given a choice, I will always choose to have her here with us. We didn't take very many pictures just because none of us were feeling that great (and we didn't really do anything that was picture worthy because of how we felt). Regardless, the weather was gorgeous and we spent several evenings out on the back porch with the kids and the dogs. We were sorry to see her go and hope she comes back to visit again VERY soon (hint, hint)!

The Oxton Family

Ryan and I went to a Creighton Alumni event about a month and a half ago and met some really great people. I have only been to two (this being my second) and was very surprised to meet not one, but two couples our age. Geoff and Ashley were introduced to us right away because Ashley works for Wells Fargo as well in the Private Banking sector. The two of them and their two (plus one - Ashley is pregnant with their third) kids had just moved to Colorado a couple of weeks prior to our meeting. We hit it off immediately and made plans to get everyone together at a later date. We invited them over on Sunday July 11th to go swimming (neighborhood pool) and enjoy some burgers and hot dogs on the grill. Their daughter Avery is four and she and Cael were instant best friends other than the fact that Cael had a hard time sharing any of his toys. Their son Davis is only a month older than Aveyn, but is already walking around. It was fun watching the kids and also get a chance to learn more about Geoff and Ashley. It was the perfect afternoon and we are looking forward to not only hanging out again, but to also meeting their son, Gavin who is actually due on 9/9/10 (Aveyn was born on 9/9/9).

The newest family member

Ryan and I made the very difficult decision to put our black lab down on November 20, 2009. I was ready to get another dog right away, not because I thought that Dodge was replaceable, but because I was thought it would be a wonderful way to commemorate his life. We decided to adopt rather than buy from a pet store or a breeder, but Ryan wasn't ready and I respected his decision. Months passed and I really started thinking about adopting another dog. We looked at German Shepherds until our vet said it wasn't a good idea, then boxers until we were told they didn't do well with non-boxers. We met a Shepherd mix that actually attacked Potter and then a Boxer that wanted to dominate him from the moment she met him. We submitted applications to numerous rescue sites and were working one on one with a woman at our local humane society to help us find the perfect match for our family. I was doing my best to be patient, but the research and seeing how many dogs were out there that had been abused, abandoned or were confused at to how life landed them at shelter was almost too much for me to bear. I was approved through the Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue and was interested in one of the labs they had on their website. His name was Zorro and I learned that he would be at an adoption event on Saturday, July 10th at a local garden center. Ryan and I headed up there, met Bodie (aka Zorro), thought it was worth it to bring Potter up to meet him and once we saw how well they interacted and what a sweet dog he was our minds were made up. So without further ado........ Bodie Zikas!

Kayaking the Salmon River

The boys decided they wanted to take the kayaks down the river so while Kyli and I headed up to Torrey's Hole with the kids on the ATV's, Ryan, Chris and my dad were getting them ready for their white water adventure. It wasn't exactly a warm day to be in the water and I am not sure the guys were aware of exactly how cold it was. Regardless, they had a blast and just kept praying that they wouldn't capsize and fall into the river. Both of them made it out unscathed and lived to tell the story!! It is a lot of fun and I am glad they got to experience it again (the last time was June 2006). My dad and Kim dropped them off and Kim was the one who took the pictures. I am glad she went because otherwise Chris and Ryan would have nothing with which to commemorate their adventure!

Four wheel, for squeal!

One morning Kyli and I decided to take the kids for a quick trip up to Torrey's Hole (an area just up the highway named after the restaurant that my grandparents owned once upon a time). We thought it would be fun to see how they reacted to the ATV's and also to share with them a place that holds many fond memories from our childhood. The kids had fun throwing rocks into the Salmon River and Kyli and I had fun trying to skip rocks (I swear I used to be pretty darn good, but you wouldn't know it based on my most recent performance). Veronica took some time to warm up to the idea of playing in the sand and water (the morning air was a bit on thebrisk side), but soon the two of them were drawing in the dirt and having a blast. I had to laugh because there is nothing like a trip to play in cold water and mud to bring out thedifferences between boys and girls. Cael had no problem getting dirty and Veronica pointed out everyspeck of dirt that found its way onto her body (it was pretty darn cute and fun to watch)!

We took Cael on a couple of trips and he seemed to love it. The first time we went up Thompson Creek with Chris and Veronica and the second time Ryan and I took him up Peach Creek. The ride up Thompson Creek was a lot of fun (although we were sad Kyli couldn't come because her back was hurting) and we stopped to take pictures as well as enjoy a beer or two (the kids had juice), not to mention all the absolute quietness that is Idaho (a much needed change from our chaotic lives back in Denver).

Kyli and Chris left on Sunday so Ryan and I decided to take Cael for another ride up Peach Creek (lots of creeks (cricks) in Idaho)! It started out great with a meandering road that would eventually lead us to the actual trail we were looking for. Cael switched back and forth between riding with Mommy and then Daddy. As we headed up Peach Creek I was a little apprehensive because it was a much different terrain than what we had just left. I wasn't comfortable driving with Cael so I handed him off to Ryan. The trail got steeper, rockier and more narrow as we climbed and I started to get nervous. Towards the end of the ascent Ryan was leaning as far to the right as he could while also keeping Cael on the ATV in order to prevent the four wheelerfrom falling down the hill immediately to our left. Finally Ryan stopped all together and told me we were going to turn around. Cael and I went and did some exploring leaving the actual maneuvering of the vehicles to Ryan. The machines are heavy and can weigh up to 800 pounds a piece so you DEFINITELY do not want one of them falling over the top of you. It got a little scary for awhile, but Ryan managed to get them both turned around and then walked them down to an area that was a little wider and more conducive to the type of riding we wanted to be doing with a 2.5 year old.

Redfish Lake - Idaho

Redfish Lake just outside of Stanley, Idaho is probably one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The blue/green water combined with the snow capped mountains in the background makes for beautiful scenery.

Unfortunately the weather was a little on the chilly side and the wind made it even worse, but that didn't stop Cael and Ryan from going for a quick dip in the lake. The water was COOOOOLD, but Cael threw a fit every time we took him out to give him time to warm up. As usual his lips were blue and he had goose bumps all over his body, but regardless he wanted to stay in the water and play (kudos to Ryan for being willing to get in with him)!

We didn't stay long, but we did stay long enough to get plenty of pictures and to soak up as much of the beauty as we could! The kids (as usual) had a great time and probably could have stayed longer, but the adults were getting a little tired of the wind (not to mention it was getting close to dinner time).