I love....

Scenario: Tyler, Holly and Ashton sitting at the table while Ashton was enjoying some Doritos. Tyler turned and asked him if he loves chips, he took a big bite and said, "I LOVE my family!!!, I love MY family!!!". We both got a little teary-eyed at that!

Choices

I have been really emphasizing to Ashton that he always has a choice. He can choose to take a toy away from Isaac and get time-out, or he can choose not to and keep playing. He can choose to color or read books. He can choose to be mad or happy. He can choose to wear his shoes outside or not (he always chooses to wear them because we have mostly pokey hurty weeds in our yard), he can choose to obey and get the corresponding consequence or he can disobey and get the corresponding consequence. You get the idea.

This weekend I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. Tyler worked 90+ hours last week and he is my best friend, I LOVE BEING AROUND HIM and I MISSED HIM!!! (In fact, when I asked Ashton Friday night what he wanted to do on Saturday he said "I wanna see Daddy!!!". "Me too!" I said... Plus it gets a little tiring doing ALL the stuff for the kids and the house etc. I was grumpy and gloomy. Monday morning I was telling Ashton of his choices as he was getting frusterated while we were playing and then I realized, I have a choice too. I can choose to be bummed, irritable, impatient etc. during these residency years, OR I can choose to enjoy what I've got. I made my choice and it's been a good week. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for helping me realize this and also for giving me agency to choose. The journey is what we make it!!!

IT'S DONE!!!

So Ashton is officially potty trained. I can't believe what a champ he's been. I know that we were really lucky and he was sure ready. The best part is that he still rewards himself by getting a sticker to add to his chart, so he really is doing all the work. What a cutie! We're proud of you Ashton!

Oops, I did it again!!!

Can you believe that for the second week in a row, I have been locked out from Ashton. Okay, this time it wasn't his fault, but this was MORE scary. I decided to embark on our first outing to Sea World without Tyler. When we arrived I grabbed my keys and pushed the "trunk" button and then "unlock" button on the key fab...I had a feeling they could get locked in and I did NOT want that to happen. I tossed my keys in the diaper bag sitting on the passenger seat and shut my door, pulled the stroller from the trunk and shut it. When I was ready to throw the kids in I was stunned by the car door that refused to open. Could I really have pressed the wrong button? "OH NO!!! WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!" Immediate tears came and I found myself staring in panic at the keys inside the car....the VERY HOT car...A sweet man with his wife and 3 kids heard me and ran over to help me. He told me not to cry, that it would scare the kids. He called papalock, a service that unlocks car doors for free when kids are locked inside. His wife ran to get Sea Worlds security. We then were left to wait while once again trying to coach Ashton in unlocking his car door. Isaac had sweat beading on his nose and forehead. He started to cry. I felt AWFUL! Soon security arrived and jimmied the door open. I hugged my kids and wanted to go home and never leave the house with them again. But, we didn't. How could I not let them enjoy an afternoon in a nice cool splash park after being trapped in a hot car?! Asides from that scary incident, we had a blast, and now the kids are tucked in the beds enjoying a nice long nap....

Beach Pics

So this is a month late but the pictures are so cute that I had to include them anyways. The beach with the kids was so fun! Ashton, the crazy man, would lie and wait for the waves to crash into him. Isaac loved the sand and Gabe and his fam built a sandcastle. Once the tide engulfed it Ashton climbed into the big hole Gabe had dug and was buried. He surprisingly liked it!

Milestones....

So we "upgraded" our internet which resulted in having no internet for 11 days! Miserable, I know. Anyways, we've got it back and no I'm trying to piece my life back together (okay, so maybe that's extreme). So this is what we have been up to the last few weeks.

First, and most important, Tyler started residency! He has to report to the base in military dress, and I'll admit, he looks HOT but even HOTTER in his long white doctors coat. He has been incredibly busy working in Neurosurgery and we are missing him a lot. While Tyler was working a 30 hour shift this weekend (which turned into 33 straight hours of trauma after trauma) Ashton started yelling, "I want my DADDY!" it was pretty cute. This brings me to our next big event.

Monday we had a little friend Ashton's age over. It was hot, of course, so we went outside to fill up the inflatable pool and while Ashton, Kate, Isaac and I were waiting for the pool to fill Ashton ran back inside and closed the door. I went to go inside a few minutes later to grab suits and Ashton and the door was locked. Ashton had locked it when he went in so I tried to coach him in unlocking the door. He tried and tried and we were getting hotter and hotter. I started to check the windows, pulling off a screen near the couch and proceeded to guide Ashton to unlatching the window lock...still no luck. I began to panic. Isaac was bright red (he had sunscreen on, he just gets REALLY red when he gets hot). I tried to kick in the door. I kicked and kicked, I even threw myself into the door...no luck (little Kate tried to help too, mimicking my actions from talking to Ashton to kicking the door, and when she would get bored of that she was off splashing in the pool, not a worry in the world, I wish I could have mimicked that!). I decided I need help and ran the 2 kids next door to the sweet neighbors. They watched the kids and let me use their phone to call the fire department. Within minutes the firemen were here repeating all the steps I had just done only with better luck. With the same instructions that I had given Ashton, one fireman asked Ashton to unlock the door and one his third try, It was done!!! I swooped him up in my arms, hysterical and grateful. And with all the chaos, Ashton was fine, toys were EVERYWHERE, and with an hour and half in a house all to himself, why not?

Moving on, Ashton is potty training!!! And the way it happened was SOOOOOOO unlike me. Ashton didn't want to wear his diaper...he fought it for an hour or so and so I thought, what the heck, let's potty train! So he's been at it for 4 days now and OF COURSE Day 1 I wanted to quite. 3 Accidents in the morning UGHHHH. I called my sis, got a great tip and we were off. He's only had one accident a day since. and the best part is, we still go out. The store, the park, the zoo, wherever. I just take the small potty we bought at IKEA which fits in the basket of the stroller and he's got his familiar place to go on the go! My only tip for all those considering potty training soon is that when you are at home, no clothes from the waist down is the way to go. Then move to underwear...pull ups are a NO (unless used for sleeping), I mean come on, they feel just like diapers. Anyways, I am SOOOO proud of him, he is my little angel, he's brilliant, sweet and funnier than heck.

And lastly, my little Isaac. Asides from being the happiest cutest little thing EVER he finally is moving!!! Yesterday he started scooting backwards!!! He's only done it twice but it's exciting...He also loves pinwheels, trucks, making elephant sounds, and banging toys together. He's still to heavy support his own weight on his legs but he's practicing. Seriously, SO CUTE!!!


I wanted to add pics with this post, maybe tomorrow....