23 years old with 3 kids under 3

yep, that pretty much describes my life right now. Yesterday was my birthday. You didn't see it on facebook because I hate how people that I haven't spoken to in years tell me happy birthday on my page, Its so impersonal and I hate it. So, if you remembered my birthday or even saw someone else write on my wall and decided to as well, thank you. I'm glad I got about 20 birthday wishes from family and good friends. It was so nice not to get 50 billion wishes that don't mean anything but the fact that someone saw it was my birthday, didn't really care about me, but wrote anyways.
   So, here's how my birthday day went down. I had racquetball class where I had to finish my games for our tournament. I played 4 games back to back. THAT was insane, but a great workout and tons of fun. I played out TA who I lost too.. of course. Then I played another girl whose trash I kicked! Then my next game wen ton for almost 25 minutes. I don't think I ever had a game go that long, we had super long rallies and we were both playing really really well. Then my next game was against a really good player, and he kicked my trash, but i was so tired that it probably wasn't hard. lol
   Then I came home to sick babies and a husband who had to run off to class. The rest of my morning and afternoon was spent keeping Ben off my back, and keeping snot out of babies noses. Addison was running a pretty high fever but it came down with tylenol and fluids. I had to syringe some water into her mouth because she didn't want to drink. too bad for her, huh?
toby got home and he brought pizza home for dinner and later he made me dessert: warm chocolate chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream and hot fudge. It was de-lish! I had already got my birthday presents so there wasn't anything to open, which was fine! Toby bought me Photoshop for Mac and my parents bought me a sewing machine. I haven't received the package from Toby's parents, but i'm excited to see whats in it!!
   I got phone calls from my brothers, and my parents, but by far the best call was from Toby's parents and little brother and sister. They were singing happy birthday and Will accidentally sang happy birthday to Abby. Their dog. lol Its as if he forgot who he was singing to. Yes, that was by far the funniest phone call.
   Oh, and a big thanks to our best friends, Steve and Nykele who brought over cupcakes the night before my birthday to help us celebrate. Those cupcakes were the greatest things I've ever tasted! She even did colored layers in the cupcakes, it was awesome! Sorry there aren't any pictures, we ate them too quickly!
   Saturday is cause for even more celebration because we are going to Red Robin for my birthday burger. We're gonna eat a Cold Stone for dessert and to top it all off, We're gonna pick up our girl scout cookies from my Uncle's place.
Yep, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

Day 10 of the 30 Day Challenge

Day 10-Songs you listen to when you're bored, happy, sad, mad, hyped

I love music! I have it on probably 99% of the time (unless we're watching a show). All our kids love music, Ben especially loves to dance and sing songs from the Radio! 
Songs I listen to when I'm:


bored: Probably just turn on the radio or my Itunes on Shuffle or Keith Urban


happy: country radio or anything Keith Urban


sad: depressing songs. Keith Urban


mad: probably songs with a strong beat. 45 by Shinedown particularly


hyped: anything I can dance to, which is pretty much anything. Sometimes Ben picks it, sometimes I do.


Yeah, so as you can tell, I don't really listen to particular songs for a particular reason. I usually just listen to country music radio or my play list, which probably has a little bit of every genre on it. I have eclectic taste.

Day 9 of the 30 Day Challenge

Day 9-Something you're proud of in the past few days

    These past few days have been stressful and kinda crazy. We're coming up on finals and even though i don't have any, its crazy none the less. So, I guess I'm proud of a few things in the past few days. I'm proud that I didn't cuss out my landlord's wife, or the girl from racquetball class who was completely rude to me this morning for no reason. Yes, I'm am proud of that.
   The other thing I am proud of is our performance last Saturday night. You see, Toby and I are in Social Dance (we learned the FoxTrot, Swing, Waltz and Cha-Cha). One of the requirements is to perform a group routine at the Formal Dance. We were in the waltz group and we were pretty dang good, if I do say so myself! We color coordinated with our couples (guys wore a colored tie and the girls wore the same color shirt. It was a pretty cool effect. We even got some compliments about not looking like beginning dancers. We did have a pretty awesome routine. Anyways, I'm pretty proud of that!! And I got to go to a formal with my husband! I got a new dress out of it too, it only cost 10$ at Ross! The shrug I had to buy for it cost more. I'm talking amazing bargain shopper! :)

Day 8 of the 30 Day Challenge

Wanna see what pissed me off today? Click HERE

Ok, now on to Day 8: Short Term goals for this month and (when you will accomplish them)
I'm going to list my goals for April, seeing as how this month is pretty much over (but not yet, because on Wednesday, ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!) (shhh, don't tell anyone!)

1. Finish this semester with all A's (April 8th)
2. Set up my sewing machine and start on the girls' blankets (sometime between the semesters)
3. Take the girls' 1 year pictures (done my the time the next semester starts)
4. Finish the little crafty projects that are just about done (April 8th)
5. Take a family vacation either to Utah or YellowStone or both (go by the beggining of the semester)
6. Start the new semester (April 20something)

There you  have them. Written down and everything. Hopefully I'll be able to do all these things. I'm actually excited for all of them!!

getting it from all sides

Wow, so I feel like the universe is trying to tell me how awful of a person/wife/mother/human being I am. Honestly, this is the second time in 2 days that I feel personally attacked. Here's the story, you're just not going to believe this one!
Things you should know going into this story:
1. Our oven broke, Landlord came to fix it
2. Landlord can't figure out what is wrong (4 visits)
3. Landlord brings wife to help him(2 visits)
3. Landlord beings in furnace guys (huh?) to try and fix it
4. Decides to order new part for said oven.

Ok, not that you have that background, the part for our oven finally came in, so over comes our landlord and he brings his wife. I'm pretty sure she hates me. So, I don't keep the neatest house, there are dishes in teh sink 24/7, tosy and the floor and clean clothes all over the couches. Diagnosis from Landlord's Wife: lazy, abusive girl.
So today, when the got here, there was trashed all over our porch because the cats go to it before we could get it out. Mistake 1. Our landlord needed to run home and get a paper that he needed with instructions on how to fix the oven. Here is a list of things that his wife said to me during this visit:
1. "I'll stay with you children if you want to take you trash out right now. "
2. "Oh here, grab that washcloth so you can clen the side of the oven while its out."
3. "Oh, you might want to sweep up behind the oven before it goes out."
4. "Move the lamp away from the blinds so they won't get broken... again."
5. "I don't want you to tie the cords of the blinds together because your children will strangle themselves." ( She actually cut the cords on my blinds and re tied them. My kids NEVER play with them. they're not interesting enough)
6. "You children don't stand on the furniture, do they?"
7. "Do you actually burn wood in this furnace?" (refering to neglect because the girls are crawling)
8. "Children that young don't know to stay away from the furnace" (refering to Ben, who absolutely does know to stay away from it)
9. "You might want to clean that window sill, it looks like theres mold in there and that can't be good for you breathing."
Here's the kicker and the one that actually pissed me off the most:
10. (After scolding Peyton for hitting his sister on the head with a toy) "Oh, they're too young to know any better"
  Excuse, me? Who are you to tell me how to raise my children. I did not abuse her in front of you. I told her not to hit her sister. She knows they when she does something and sister cries that its not good. Hello, they're small not stupid. I was so offended at all her little snide comments, but what was i supposed to do? She's the landlord's wife. I'm just glad everything got fixed and hopefully I never have to see her ugly personality again. Talk about being tactless. ugh.

Well, that's my rant for the evening. Hope you all enjoyed, thanks for letting me blow off some steam!

Talk about a slap in the face

So, last night Toby and I were snuggling on the couch when he told me about a conversation he overheard. The people participating were single and upset about... life, i guess. Anyways, the subject was excessive PDA on campus. This started the subject of girls getting married young (18,19,20) and why they do that. This is what they came up with:
1. Can't survive in life w/o a companion
2. Need to be "molded" and he needs someone to "boss"
3. Just plain stupid and should get more life experience before getting married
4. Also, its dumb to have babies right away

I couldn't believe that's what they were talking about. I got engaged at 18 and married at 19 and has my first baby at 20. I know the people that were having this conversation and it really hurt my feelings that they would think of me in this way. Apparently, knowing our situation or conveniently forgetting it, allows them to bash married people. I can tell you right now that I wasn't jumping into marriage, it was the biggest decision of my life. We decided to get pregnant because we felt it was right for us. We did not make our decisions lightly or without a lot of counsel and prayer.
It just feels like a slap in the face when people talk this way. Sure, there are a few girl and even a few guys who jump into marriage prematurely, but honestly how can anyone know this unless you are close to the situation? Your tell me that just because I got married at 19 that I was an idiot and I need more life experience? What do you know of my experiences before I was married? What experience does being single offer over being married? The only one I can think of is dating dating and more dating... of different people. I'm fine with the one I have. I can still go places and do things and accomplish my dreams, just now I have a partner to do it with. Being married doesn't make you incompetent, thank you very much. Neither does being a mother.
Anyways, the point of this blog post was to point out the fact that assumptions, pretty much all of them, are probably false. In this world we judge, its what we do, we just need to make sure that we aren't making unrighteous judgments and lumping people into an unnecessary category. By the way, what does my getting married young have to do with your life anyways? oh, nothing? yeah, then don't judge my life when you don't know anything about it.

Day 7 of the 30 Day Challenge

Day 7-A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
    I could totally put Christ up here in this one too, but just so you don't get bored with my blog, I'll write about some others who have had the biggest impact on my life. Here is the first one:

This is the person who has the biggest impact on my life. He makes me want to be a better person while constantly pushing me towards my dreams, never trying to hold me back. We grow together in the gospel and in our mortal lives. He is my best friend and I couldn't ask for a better companion! 

These next pictures have probably had the biggest impact on me besides Toby. They have changed my life the most, in a good way, and even after all we have been through with them, I wouldn't trade them for the world!

These next people have shaped our lives and made us who we are today.

Day 6 of the 30 Day Challenge

Day 6: Your favorite superhero and why

   So, this is the day I consider the stupid one. I don't watch cartoons, i hate them actually. I don't watch any of those superhero shows! I do like the remade ones. I loved the Batman movies with Christian Bale, Iron Man with Robert Downey Jr, and The Hulk with Edward Norton. All very good movies. But, just so we're clear, I don't like the cartoons. bleh.
However, I guess in a way, Christ is a super hero, right? He did save all of man kind. Yes, he's definitely my favorite superhero. Why, you ask? Well, he's my brother and he died for me. And he would of done it if it was just me he was saving. Yep, he's the best superhero ever!

So, I stole this picture from Greg Olsen's website! I found this and its definitely my favorite right now! Did you know he's my dad's cousin? Yep, we're related! He is married to my Dad's cousin and he's so nice! He's the best artist!
Click the picture to so to his site!
(I guess this make Christ AND Greg Olsen my heroes.. lol)

Day 5 of the 30 Day Challenge

Day 5: A picture of a place you've been

This is St Lucia. This was taken on our honeymoon. It's definitely a place that I will go back to. We chose St Lucia because it was small and very exotic and the resort was like the Garden of Eden. Its beautiful and hopefully we'll go back someday. I miss it, just thinking about it!

I'm loving this whole blogging thing now!

Yes, that's right. I'm loving this whole blogging thing. Its been a few years in the coming but I feel better when I keep it updated! I hope everyone is loving the updates!
Anyways, here is where my thoughts have been today:
- Flats v. Heels
   So, its probably a mundane subject, but for our dance performance this weekend I need flats. Its been years since I've worn flats. (ever since I was allowed to start wearing heels when I was 14, I've never looked back) Anyways, I found a pair for 3 bucks at DI (Yay! for DI), and I must admit that they're pretty cute. However, I can't seems to keep them on my feet. While dancing, its hard to turn and its almost funny because during our test, I almost lost a shoe and cracked up over it. I recovered but it was probably funny to watch, but thankfully, our teachers weren't looking at that moment! So, while I will continue to wear those cute little flats but I love my heels and will continue to wear my heels!
- My Day today:
   Today was a pretty good day. That is, if it Ben was a happy boy, and Addison didn't throw up her breakfast, and that my babies didn't poo every hour.  Other than that, I've had a good day. I've decided not to let the craziness that is close to taking me over, to not control my life and my attitude. I've spent the day procrastinating my homework by cleaning. I know, I know, its totally not something that I would do, but it needs to be done and I put on some shows to keep me motivated.
Anyways, thanks for listening to me ramble on, I'm in a good mood!! Oh, and here's a picture of my beautiful girls. They love sleeping on top of each other! Cute, huh?

Day 4 of the 30 Day Challenge

Day 4: A habit you wish you didn't have

Wow, there are so many habits I wish I didn't have. And quite a few I wish I did. I guess the biggest one would be that I wish I didn't leave the house a mess until is gets so bad that it takes a few long days of deep cleaning to get it back to looking nice. Until it gets so bad again. Yes, that is the habit I wish I didn't have. I'm actually working on it right now. I try and put the dishes away right when I clean them, put them in the sink to soak after I cook with them, and things like that. This is one habit I'm going to kick, and soon.

Day 3 of the 30 Day Challenge

Day 3: A picture of you and your friends

Here are some of our friends. We have more friends but somehow I can't find pictures of them. Sorry!

Day 2 of 30 Day Challenge

Before I go any further, I will tag some people (who obviously WANT to be tagged hehehe :) )
I tag:
Haley C.
Ashley G.
Cecily D. (if you do in fact see this!)

Day 2: The meaning behind your blog name
 My blog name is A Little Slice of Paradise. I struggled a long time to pick the perfect blog name for our family. I even tried to get input from others and while they came up with some fantastic suggestions, nothing sat right with me. So, on my way to the kid's chiropractors appointments, running late (as usual) and it kinda just popped into my head. I really like it. Its perfect for my family because we definitely have a little peice of heaven in our home. There is so much love no just between mommy/daddy and children, but for all people and mostly for the gospel and Christ. We have a little slice of paradise in our home.
Funny Story: When I was thinking of blog names, one kept coming to mind but it was a little out there and i wasn't sure that anyone would understand. So, the joke is that our family grows according to the Fibonacci Sequence. Remember in math when you have 1+1=2,   1+2=3,   2+3=5, etc. So you take the previous 2 number and add them together. Obviously its Toby+ Samm (1+1), then we added Ben (2+1), then the girls (3+2). Anyways, our blog name was going to be something along the lines of The "Dossett-acci Sequence" or something like that. However that won't work for long, you know like when we have our next baby (which WILL NOT be triplets!!) (not an announcement) Anyways, there is Day 2 for you! 

30 Day Challenge

So, I've decided to give this one a try. Many of my friend are doing this and I'm such a follower. Also, this post marks the 100th post I've made. Its sad that it only at 100 and I've had this blog for amost 3 years. Yes, I'll do better. I already am! So, here goes!

30 Day Challenge
Getting to know me

Each day of the month, write a blog post according to these guidelines below:

Day 1-Recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 2-The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 3-A picture of you and your friends
Day 4-A habit that you wish you didn't have
Day 5-A picture of somewhere you've been
Day 6-Favorite super hero and why
Day 7-A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 8-Short term goals for this month and when you'll accomplish them
Day 9-Something you're proud of in the past few days
Day 10-Songs you listen to when you're bored, happy, sad, mad, hyped
Day 11-Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12-How you found out about blogger and why you have one
Day 13-A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14-'A picture of you and your family
Day 15-Put your ipod or shuffle on-first 10 songs that play
Day 16-Another picture of yourself
Day 17-Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18-Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19-Nicknames you have and why you have them
Day 20-Someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future
Day 21-A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22-What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23-Something you crave for a lot
Day 24-A letter to your parents
Day 25-What I would find in your bag
Day 26-What do you think about your friends
Day 27-Why you are doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28-A picture of you from last year and now-how have you changed?
Day 29-In this past month, what have you learned?
Day 30-Your favorite song

DAY 1: Recent Picture and 15 facts about me

1. I am married to the love of my life. He is the most perfect person for me EVER!!

2. I have 3 beautiful children! 1 boy: Ben, 2 girls: Addison, Peyton (twins)

3. I am going to school part-time right now.

4. I love driving. Anywhere. Anytime. I love it.

5. Sadly, I love junk food. Way. Too. Much. 

6. My favorite thing to do is play with my kids.

7. I get so giddy when my husband gets out of field trips and stays home.

8. I'm an Army Brat and I've lived in about 9 different places growing up.

9. I lived in Germany for 8 years and the only thing I can remember how to say is "What is a toilet?"

10. I love fun socks. tow socks, fuzzy socks, animal socks, colorful sock, everything about socks.

11. I hate shoes. I would walk barefoot almost anytime rather than wear shoes.

12. I want to see Australia more than anywhere else in the world.

13. Most of the time I think people hate me. I would. I think I'm annoying and I talk to much.

14. I'm a very social person. I love having people over and playing game and just chatting. Sadly, we don't have many friends who want to hang out with us. But the ones that we do have are over all the time. I love it.

15. I'm a Mormon. (I'm doing my profile on mormon.org and i'm kinda obsessed right now.)

See, I'm not a Conspiracy Theorist!

So, a few months ago when I had the girls in for their one year appointments, my pediatrician told me that new guidelines were out about how long a child should be rear-facing. The new guideline is that children should be in a rear-facing car seat until the age of 2. They made this change because it is safer. When I asked other moms about this, no one had hear about it and probably assumed I was given false information and was a dork for listening. Well, here are two different articles from the AAP and the National Highway something or other that releases the new guidelines:

http://www.parenting.com/article/car-seats-safety?cid=enews03211

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/ap/us_med_car_seats_children

So, now that you know, am I still the only one who thinks this is a good idea? I understand that its not the favorite thing to do because they child is at the age where they are curious about the world, but shouldn't safety take precedence here? Yes, it will be a huge pain in the butt. No one knows that better than me because I will have 2 in those rear-facing monstrosities, but you know what? I'll take the extra time, space, chaos, and frustration if I know that my babies will be safer.

Wouldn't you?

Like Father, Like Son

Here are a few of the ways that Ben is a mini-Toby clone:
1. Both hate sticky hands
2. Both are currently obsessed with Superheros (toby never stopped)
3. Both can quote movies
4. Both like to run around the house naked (Toby has since outgrown this.. mostly)
5. Both like checking out girls (Toby HAS outgrown this)
6. Both love to sing and play guitar
7. Both like taking naps with Mommy (mommy doesn't really like this cuz she ends up in the middle)
8. Both will eat almost anything (Toby eats it, then Ben will eat it)
9. Both like that disgusting Ranch of pizza
10. Both like video games
11. They look EXACTLY ALIKE!

More to come soon, trust me.

Minor Panic Attacks: Now I'm "that mom"

yes, its true. I'm now officially "that mom".  You know, the one who freaks out int he store if he son goes behind a small rack of clothes. Not that there is anything wrong with that mom, its just that I've never been that way. I've let Ben roam within a certain distance of me, but ever since that day in Wal-Mart when he broke my heart by running to the fish without permission (full story see here), I've had trouble when my babies aren't in sight. Examples:
   I was at a friend's baby shower last weekend and took Addie with me. She is a very mobile baby now and is very fast at getting to where she wants to go. Well, we were sitting around talking, Addie was being her usual curious little self when I looked down to see what she was up to. I couldn't see her. That feeling from the store came back for a split second while I probably embarrassed myself (to those who actually saw) and freaked out a little looking around for her. Its not as if someone took her out of the apartment or something, i just couldn't find her. She ended up being stuck behind some chairs that were leaning against the wall. (that part was actually pretty hilarious). That was my first mini panic attack since Wal-Mart.
   The other one happened in my own house. The girls were playing on the floor and since we have an open floor plan, everything connect w/ out doorways. this mean extra caution when food is on the floor because they can crawl right to it. Well, when i looked up form my homework, i saw only one baby. The other one was nowhere to be found. Yep, you guessed it: another mini panic attack. After a frantic search of the back rooms, she was found in the master bedroom (other side of the house) behind the door that she conveniently pushed closed in her attempt to find something to put in her mouth.
 So, I've been reduced to panic attacks when I can see my children even though I know logically that they are safe and happy. (sometime too happy). Maybe with time my heart won't freak out on me, but then again, why not. I'm glad my heart knows better than my brain.

My First Attempt

    So I'm not much of a 'make from scratch' kind of gal. I'm the one with the cake mixes, canned blueberries, etc. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find a simple meatball recipe on www.ourbestbites.com (a recent obsession) So, my first attempt at making homemade meatballs was a success. Here are some yummy pictures to make your mouth water!

Here is the family enjoying the meatballs. All of them!

YUMMY!!!!

Help, I'm stuck!

We have the pack n play set up in the living room because we need a place to put the girl so they won't crawl around getting into things. They don't like it all the time, as you can see they usually want out. 

This is Addison. She doesn't like the vacuum. at all. Its funny because she crawls towards it crying at the same time. Toby says its because she's actually crawling towards me but the vacuum gets in the way. Its pretty cute! Even if she is in the pack n play, she gets upset.

Poor baby!

So, I told you that the pack n play is in the living room and it is SO HARD for Ben to leave it alone. We used to let him play in it but he just jumps around and now there is even a hole in it, so he's not allowed it. He's a picture of him "stuck" in it. And a video. Because he's so cute!!

"Mommy, I wanna see!!"

Cutest videos of Ben, yet!

"A,B,C, D,..."

"Patty Cake, Patty Cake"

"Itsy, Bitsy Spider"

Full Blown Anxiety Attack!

So, its true. I had my first literal anxiety attack tonight. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't talk. It felt like a heart attack. Let me tell you what went down.
We went to Wal-Mart tonight to look for a chick flick for me and a family movie to watch. We were all browsing the movies when I turned around and Ben was gone. I'm talking like 5-10 seconds. I had JUST seen him and heard him talking about a different movie. Nope, no where in site. I started calling for him, thinking he was just around the corner at the other side of the display. Nope. Toys? Nope. Baby music player? Nope. Everywhere we looked in the close vicinity was empty. I started getting looks because i was yelling for my kid. We were running around for about 3 minutes before I really started to panic. He literally wasn't anywhere we could find. I was running around probably literally screaming for him. People started looking around for a stray kid too. I ran into a friend and i told her that we couldn't find Ben. At this point, i started to not be able to breath or talk. I couldn't catch my breath and i started to cry. She pushed me towards CS to alert the store and started to run around looking for him like Toby was. I ran up to the counter, totally cut everyone off and told them i couldn't find my son. They immediately got on the walkie talkies and told all employees "Stop what you're doing, we have a kid." They gave the description and now i had to wait. I was standing at the front of the store, just in case, and every bad TV show worst case scenario ran through my mind. I was terrified that in the 3 minutes we were looking for Ben that he was taken out of the store and gone forever.
   Then, all of a sudden, the beautiful words of "We found him. He's right there" were uttered. Yes, the cliched scene of mother running up to child throwin her arms around him and squeezing him tight right there, it all happened. I was almost to the point of sobbing, i was so happy to see him.
"Ben, where did you go?"  "Mommy, I wanted to see the fishies" Argh! I could kill him if i wasn't so happy to see him. Silly boy. Now, i had to find Toby and my friend. As i walked around trying desperately to cross paths, others were looking at me funny, until i told them that we found him. (they were probably trying to decide if i was the kidnapper or not.) As we walked around, other customers shared grateful words that he was found. They had apparently heard on the walkies the description and we looking too. What a great place we live in. I've been  a little to lenient with letting Ben play a little to much in the store. That will not happen again. Lesson learned.
Literally 5-10 seconds where i didn't not have him directly in site, and he was on the OTHER SIDE OF THE STORE. Not kidding, all the way through electronics, baby, home decorations, etc, AND food. Crazy boy. He now knows to ASK to go see the fish. (We also taught him to kick and scream and bite anyone who tried to take him. Except employees who are helping him find us).
:) all is well, now!

3 little Fishies

We too all the kids swimming a few weeks ago. The girls didn't last long. We didn't really expect them to, because the pool water on campus is usually pretty cool. We took them out when their lips started turning blue and they were shivering lots. However, her are some cutesy pictures from that night. Enjoy!

Great things come in Twos

The girls are a year old. They have been for over a month, but here is their birthday post in pictures!

 The tablecloth I made into a ladybug

  

Their birthday cake!

 

Little Pyros! lol

Playing with their birthday presents!

Addison Avery

 

Peyton Noel

So, there you have it, my beautiful 1 year old baby girls!

Big Boy Alert!

OK, so I've been A-W-F-U-L at update regularly. I'm going to keep it up though, I promise.

Ben is such a big boy. He started potty training when we got back from vacation in January and I'm pleased to announce that he is 100% potty trained both during the day and at night. I got some advice from Cecily (sis-in-law) and we basically did the same thing with his as she did with my niece Summer. We let him pick out his own underwear and make sure he knew how to go on the potty. No punishing, just positive reinforcement. Oh, and stickers. We've been working up to this for awhile, and FINALLY, he decided that on a reward! In the past I'd offer him whole cookies, a whole popsicle or a cup of juice is he would go on the potty. Who knew that stickers would be the magic reward?
Anyways, first Saturday back, we put him in underwear. He peed. He peed again. Then, while we were questioning if he was ready, he went on the potty! SUCCESS!!  He's been good ever since. He's had a few mistakes, but overall, he's trained. He goes on his own without me having to go with him every time. He's getting so big! Watch out!
He loves swimming!

This is his favorite picture! He always wants to look at "Ben sleeping"

He got stuck between the pack n play and the couch. He had fun getting out on his own!