Potty Training Mr. Kason

So, after several months of being terrified of even going near the potty, Kason has finally come around! He is going to LOVE the story later though, I'm sure!
I knew he was ready to go because if I tell him to pee in the drain in the shower, he can go "on command" so he know how to make it happen, but he would never get anywhere close to the potty and just yelled "No peepee potty" anytime I asked him!
So, Monday night, in order to prepare for the blizzard that was coming, I scooted everything to one side of the garage so we could at least fit one car in before the storm! As we were doing that, we found Kinley's box of princess dolls from Christmas. We had only ever opened the Tiana one. So, we brought the package in and Kason DESPERATELY wanted me to open the dolls right then and GIVE HIM BELLE! So, since he wanted it so bad, I thought I would try the potty angle and it worked! I told him that if he would try to pee pee on the potty, I would open the dolls. He ran into the bathroom and took off his pants and diaper and was ready to go! He sat right down and peed and then asked for Belle and some candy! (which we had been promising for months!)
After this, I stuck some Toy Story underwear on him and we kept going to the potty! We were out of school this entire week because of the weather so we have been working on it all week! He has been dry now for 4 days and we are just trying to get him to poop in the potty now! (Sorry for anyone that is offended by "potty talk". I didn't realize how de-sensitized you get as you have children!) We gave him candy everytime he stayed dry but that wasn't quite working out because he would be up for hours trying to take his nap! One day, he was literally in there talking and carrying on for 2 hours, so I had to take him out of the room so Kinley could sleep and he finally fell asleep on the couch with Daddy! So, after that, we decided to give him popcorn as his treat and this has worked much better. We haven't given him any treats today for going pee, we are just trying to get him to do the other now and offering him all sorts of bribes for doing so! He is wearing training pants and they are a nasty mess when he goes in them, so everyone keep your fingers crossed for us! He is doing very well and we are very proud of him! Kinley is also very proud and she claps and tells me, "Bubba went pee pee in the potty like a BIG boy!" She keeps trying to coax him into pooping also, but that hasn't helped so far!
These are some photos of the first night :)

Our first snow days of the year!

It seems like a lifetime ago, but we had our first school snowdays of the year on January 20th and January 21st. At the time, it seemed like a lot of snow, but little did we know we were going to get mounds and mounds more in a couple weeks!
We bundled up the kids and took them out in it, but they didn't quite know what to think! They just kept saying, "Snow came out of the sky!" The first time we took them out, they were a little crabby, but the second time we ventured out, they were in better moods! Kinley just wanted to stand in one place and eat the snow! Kason walked through the yard and we finally showed him that he could throw the snow and that seemed to be what he wanted to do!

Is this picture not precious? I LOVE my family!



Kash's 3rd Birthday Party

On January 15th, Kash turned 3 and we went and celebrated his birthday party at The Little Gym! I still cannot believe that he is already 3 years old!!

It was a great time there as always! Kason was a little more shy on this trip and Kinley was the outgoing one, even though she was the only girl at the party for quite some time!

 Kinley was trying to crawl up and give Kash a kiss right here, but he wasn't too sure about all that! He did finally take her hand and kiss her on the hand though!

At the end of the night as we were walking out the door, Kinley turned and ran back to the door and said "Happy Birthday, Kash" and gave him a big hug and kissed him! It was adorable! I promise that I didn't tell her to do it! 
Here are a couple videos of Kash doing his "tricks"!

Motherly Kinley

One day in January, Kason did not feel well. When he got up from his nap, Kinley was so concerned. Kason was in my arms with his head on my shoulder and she just kept rubbing his back and asking him questions. She said, "Bubba doesn't feel good. It's ok Bubba" while she was patting his back. She even got him two blankets to cover him up! Then, she would lean right into his face and ask, "Do you want Mommy? Do you want Daddy? Do you want some milk? Do you want to lay on Mommy's shoulder?" It was so cute! We tried to get it on video but she looked up when Daddy grabbed the camera :(.

Our First Movie "Tangled"

We decided to take the kids to their first movie over Christmas Break. Now, I knew that Kason would definitely not stay the entire movie, so we decided to take separate cars. We went to see Disney's Tangled and it is really cute. Kinley was excited that we were going to see a Princess movie. So, we loaded up with a HUGE bag of popcorn and drinks, cookies, etc.
Kason loaded down on the popcorn and Kinley liked it also. About an hour and 10 minutes into the movie, the popcorn was dwindling so Kason started to get antsy. Kinley said she needed to go potty, so Kason had to go out of the theatre, too... of course! Kason and Daddy waited out in the hallway while I took Kinley to the bathroom. By the time we came out, Kason had decided that he wanted to go bye bye, so Jason went ahead and took him home. Kinley and I went back in the theatre but she was completely absorbed with wanting to know where Daddy and Bubba were. I couldn't get her to look at the movie again, she just kept asking where they went. So, then she decided to tell me, "I need to go poopoo Mommy!" So, I rushed her out to the bathroom and figured out that she only wanted to go into the hallway to look for "Daddy and Bubba". So, I finally convinced her that they had gone home and so we tried going back into the theatre. Well, she lasted about 5 minutes, and then it got really bad! It was a very quiet part of the movie and she started saying "I need to go poopoo Mommy, I need to go poopoo Mommy!" Well, I was trying to tell her "Ok, honey, we can go", but I also knew that we were done here and I was trying to gather all of our things.....coats, diaper bag full of food, her new baby doll, Jamie, my phone, etc. So, if you know Kinley, you know that when she wants something, she just escalates her voice and says things over and over. So, while she is screaming louder and louder, "Need to go poopoo Mommy", I am trying to find my phone and can't find it! I am trying to calm her down and tell her that yes, we are going, but I am trying to get my phone and my coat and the bag. It is still a quiet part of the movie and by this point, I am sweating! I finally find the phone way under my chair on the floor and scoop her up to run out of the theatre. By the time we get in the hallway, I realize that Jamie is missing and so does she! I can't just leave Kinley in the hallway while I retrieve the doll, so I take her back in to get the doll and luckily find Jamie on the stairs. We get back out in the hallway and to top it all off, she does not even want to go into the bathroom at all! Whew! Just glad the theatre was filled with children!
I still haven't seen the end of Tangled and we will just wait for it on video!

Our Rides

The day after Christmas, we bundled up the kids and took them outside at Gigi's to ride their cars! It was freezing, but I don't think they minded!


After Christmas, there was a day when the weather was extremely nice, so we took the kids and their cars across to the parking lot of the church right by our house to let them drive their cars! Of course Kason has Mad Dog in his hand as always!




They also started chasing each other around which I thought was hilarious. Some sort of follow the leader or something!

Big Kid Beds

On the first day of the new year, I got an idea to take apart the cribs and change them into their toddler beds! So, off came the rails! The kids "helped" Mommy take apart the cribs and screw in the new parts, etc. We talked about how they were big kids now and not babies, etc. I told them that they would get a spanking if they got out of their beds and that Mommy and Daddy have to come and get them out! I also told them that if they got out, I would put the rails back on and Kason said, "Put them back on Mommy, put them back on!" I don't think he felt quite safe without his rails!
After we had our big talk, Kinley was laying in bed and said, "Don't want a spankin', do we?" to Kason! I got it on video and it is funny! She was also talking to her baby and it is a riot!

So far, they have not gotten out of their bed and it has been over a month now, so I think they are following the rules! They wait on us to come and get them out and we have never had to discipline them about this! Glad they listened because I sure hate spanking! :)

Christmas 2010

Well, we did not have a blizzard this Christmas or get snowed in, so Yay for that! We are currently snowed in right now, however, which is how I am getting caught up on the blog! Yay for that!

Jason and I both went to Colorado with Nick, Shawn, Sabrina, and Krissy the week before Christmas, so all things Christmas had to be finalized and done before we left! Whew! That was work! We got back to Oklahoma on the 23rd and everyone arrived at our house on the 24th for Christmas Eve morning at 9 am! Whew again! Maybe that wasn't the best idea, but it worked out just fine!

After we ate lunch, we were on our way to Gigi's house for our Christmas Eve! We surprised the kids with the PJ's they had already worn! Hee hee :) We had dinner, dressed in our PJ's and waited for Santa! We even had Happy Birthday Jesus cookies and sang to him! We had to improvise with some votive candles, but hey, who cares!

Right as we were putting the kids to bed, Santa came and visited Gigi's house! We heard the bells and got the kids up to go see him! I really started crying as I was holding Kinley while we watched! He came in and filled the stockings, drank his milk "all gone" and ate his cookie! As soon as he left, we all "went to sleep" and waited for Christmas morning!

Santa Claus must have worked really hard all night also because there were lots of things that needed put together, but he got the job done! He brought Kinley a Barbie Jeep and Kason a Toy Story Car along with a new kitchen complete with grill and a dollhouse! This was a really fun year because the kids knew what was going to happen! They knew that Santa Claus was bringing presents, etc. and we even did the "Elf on a Shelf" this year. If you don't know what that is, he comes after Thanksgiving every year and stays at your house during the day. At night, he flies back to the North Pole to be Santa's messenger and tells him how you behave, what you want, etc. Every morning, "Elfie" (which is what the kids named him) appears somewhere else in the house and that is how you know that he left. Daddy was always good at finding him! But, Kinley and Kason were also very good! Most of the time, they found Elfie before I could and that is the first thing they did when they woke up every morning! We are still trying to explain where Elfie went to them!
As they woke up, we went in the living room to see what they got! They were really excited and loved all of their stuff! They even loved their cars without even knowing that they moved yet! (apparently, these cars have to charge for 18 hours before you can ride them!) So, we had to wait awhile to ride them since Santa didn't bother putting them together until about 11pm on Christmas Eve! Oopsie! Not like we knew! We decided to tell the kids that the cars actually do something later in the day! A whole new surprise!

We have a tradition for stockings every year also! We all bring one present for each person to put in their stocking. It is really fun and we always open the stockings up first thing in the morning. The kids went first and then went around and "helped" everyone open their stockings! They didn't really care what was inside, they just wanted to open the wrapping!

After the stockings, we moved on to presents and then had a great family filled day! There were little tricks played with the gifts like always and Kason and Kinley still felt as if they needed to help unwrap each present! When all the presents were unwrapped, Kason decided to hide in the wrapping on the floor!

Right as it was getting dark, we bundled up the kids for their car ride! We didn't make it very far because the sun was leaving us, but they did get the idea that the cars went somewhere!

Kinley tried on some of her new dress up clothes and Papa Steve fried a DELICIOUS turkey!

One thing that Kinley asked Santa Claus for was a new baby. Well, she received 1400 new babies for her birthday, so he didn't actually bring her one! At the end of the day, I remembered that there was still one more present to open which was a set of Disney Princess dolls. After dinner, I took her in the living room and showed her the present. As soon as she opened it, she exclaimed, "Well, THERE'S the new baby!" very exasperated as if she really had been waiting for it all day! I guess she had! :)

And here are the kids right before bed searching for any last presents that they might have missed! My favorite holiday turned out to be a wonderful day! Love you all!