A little me time....

I am in Farmington, NM right now. Again at my labs for school.... I have been here a few days and have quite a few more to go. It has been a nice break from the daily routine of life, but is full of other challenges too. Right now I should be studying but I became side tracked by wonderful blogs that I love to read and decided I should update my own. :) There are a few things I need to update:

Potty-training:
I have pretty much given up. Yes I have thrown in the towel on the whole process. Right now little miss Madi is having the time of her life with grandparents that love having her around.. (hopefully she doesn't wear that welcome out)... but I decided that she knows exactly what to do! She can tell me what needs to happen when one needs to go potty - so she has the comprehension. She has proved that she can do it - so she has the capability.... So the only thing lacking is the desire... How do you motivate a self-driven, strong-willed, super and i mean super independent, child..... no make that a 2.5 year old, to be motivated to go to the bathroom on the potty? Well you might be saying: a sticker chart - tried it, candy - tried it, big rewards - tried it, toys that she picked out herself - tried it, favorite activity trips (park or library) - tried it, special mommy time with stories - tried it, wrapping little surprises as rewards - tried it, decorating the bathroom one glittery star dangler at a time reward - tried it..... I could keep going, but I feel this list is sufficient. I have tried everything, well okay not everything because that would be impossible as there are a million and ten ideas BUT I have read books, and articles, and online blogs about what to do, and it's not working. So this is me admitting defeat and saying I was wrong. I cannot potty train this child. So now that I have said that I'm sure she will potty train herself and show me how big she is and what an awesome job she can do!! Ha ha  ha... But none of you can mention this new approach to her! I mean this is of course not my last attempt and try at potty training....... :)
Reverse psychology has worked on me numerous times... perhaps I could get lucky and this could work for Madi as well?? My creative bank has run dry and I'm out of options. I don't want to clean up messes for months on end. And I'm tired of changing the sheets on her bed more frequently than I feel necessary.... Many say this is the worst thing you could do, Many say I did the worst thing in trying to potty train her on my time instead of hers, Many say that you can just let them do it and you won't have to potty train them, they will do it themselves.... well I have learned that my child does not fall into any normal categories and she definitely will not let someone else define her, so this epistle is to make me feel better by justifying my actions.... So there you have it. I will not win any mom of the year awards, but I'm pretty sure those weren't coming anyways.

Going to school online has been one of the hardest challenges I have ever faced. It is hard for me, and I'm a very hands on person. I like to ask questions when I have them and with this program I have had to become more self-reliant in figuring out problems and learning on my own. I'm very grateful to my Heavenly Father for guiding me to this opportuninty and I do feel very blessed to be in this program. That being said, I will be SO HAPPY... i mean SO HAPPY .... when this is done. I will only have to come to Farmington one more time and that time will only be for 8 days! So fantastic! Then i have my internships (3) and then in November, I will have completed this program and then I will only have my state boards to take to be a LPTA. That will be a very happy day for me. I am writing this to motivate myself to attack the pile of notes stacked on my hotel bed that seem to just be staring at me, waiting for their turn for review.
 I miss my family when I come down here but this time has been different. I'm enjoying my time away as I am able to have some nice quiet study time all to myself. I wouldn't want to live like this - wake up, go to work/school/ whatever for 10-12 hours, come home, go to bed, do it all over again... but it has been a nice break from the vicious 2 year old I left behind. :)
She isn't nasty all the time, we have great moments, but I haven't had one fight in the few days I have been here... Can't say that has happened for a long time. I wake up and don't feel as though the invisible announcer will say "and in this corner we have at 2 feet 8 inches, full of brute strength and endless energy MADISON, and in that corner we have...........mom." Ha ha ha... Alas the break will make me miss those rounds we go.... At least I assume by the end of this I will miss them? Maybe not... but I will at least miss being a mom at home.
I miss my hubby too... It is hard to be away from the one that you choose to be around all the time, and I don't get in the boxing ring with him... so there isn't a whole lot that makes me feel like I need a break from him... He does a great job of supporting me in my endeavors, and I feel very fortunate to have him. He is a very good man.

Well this is officially longer than it should be as I have lots and lots of information to review, but it has been nice to remind myself and document these things. I have said some things that may put a damper on your vision of our little spitfire... But the more I read the more I understand she is just "intense" There is no other way to describe it, but she is intense... However even though the intense madness can be overwhelming and so difficult, it also means she is an intense love bug too. She gives intense hugs, and can be the best intense friend you have ever had. So in all the madness there are those bright shining stars that make it all worth it. At least that is what those parenting books keep telling me, oh yes and those people whose little children are no longer little and have all grown up. So I will try to remember that and enjoy the journey, because I believe that is why we are here. To have joy!


Disclaimer - I said I will try to remember..... that doesn't mean it will always happen.... :)

What a goober!

So I'm really enjoying my new phone and it's awesome I can lie in bed and update my blog with the daily happenings... So these pictures show what happens when the time changes!! Some people don't like it but we love it!! Madi somehow over winter decided the four wheeler was a great thing!!! Yay for us! Finally a year later she uses the toy that we bought thinking she would love it from the beginning. Anyways she does it all by herself... No taping the throttle down or anything!! :) Brian started prepping the area we deemed "flower garden" :) we shall see how it turns out.
The bucket over the head pictures well... Here is the story: madi had an accident and I told her she had to go to the bathroom and get changed. ( potty training update is for later) well I'm cleaning up the spot and I realize it is super quiet. Well that's never good.... So I peaked in the bathroom and I started just laughing! So I had to go get my phone and take a picture. I was so happy to find all that had happened was the garbage can got dumped out. :) not too big of a mess. :) I can handle that! :)

A new way to blog!

So as many of you know, Brian has been very anti smartphones... Well I had been looking at an iPhone for sometime and debating whether it was really worth it. I wanted to do it but couldn't seem to pull the trigger. So on a Saturday I went with the youth to a stake activity and I was gone all day. But when I got home there was this ringing and I found an iPhone hidden! My hubby went and got it for me! To my surprise and delight he got himself one too! So we have joined a new age!! And joined the smartphone family. Anyways I'm trying this out and seeing how well it will work to update my blog. So below are some of the fun things we've done recently. Today was beautiful and in the 60's so we enjoyed the park and got some riding in too! Awesome day. Other pictures are fun cookies we made and random stuff at home. I hope you enjoy!! Happy spring to you!! Hopefully it stays? :)

Messes!!

This amazing box has been so great! We decided to finger paint inside it for FHE one night! Madi absolutely loved it.

 It started like this.....

 And just kept getting messier and messier...

 Dad showed her how..

 Uh-oh and then Dad got it!

 The final products. :)

 So that is finger painting with Madi.


I would say Madi is the master of getting into something she is not suppose to be into and making a mess faster than you can say, "Madison, where did you go?" She has discovered where I keep my make-up and has a fetish with it. :( Such a water-proof mess....

 You probably think I don't supervise my child....

 She looks like she knows what she is doing! Ha ha ha

So proud of what she did....

By the time I got this cleaned off, I went to finish the dishes... and wouldn't you know it she snuck right back in my room and this time got into the eyeliner and had lines all over her face.... Needless to say I didn't take pictures that time, and I also didn't clean it off... thinking maybe then she wouldn't feel the need to put more on again. And I shut the bedroom door... That was the clencher... :)



A little update on our potty training experience:
This has been the hardest thing I have ever had to work with her on. She is SO stubborn and determined to do it her way.... Honestly I actually don't know what her hold up is... that is my guess..... but truthfully i'm at a loss. I would say 75-80 % of the time she goes in the potty, but the other 20-25% of the time is going to kick my trash.... She can go on really long streaks with no accidents and then a nice little "I'll show you whose really boss" streak as she makes mess after mess.... I have read tons of articles online and asked lots of moms, and I have some really good advice, but none of it seems to work for her. I know every child is different, but man.... you would think some child development researcher could find a trend for that 10% of the "difficult" child. Anyways, we have done presents, candy, stickers, markers, books, play-doh.... hopefully soon I can find what she really wants, and once I have that maybe we can cut the 20-25% down to 5%. I'm convinced children are not potty trained for years. I think people are crazy that say their child was potty trained in a week or less..... Maybe they knew what to do and were able to do it most of the time... but i'm pretty sure they all had accidents... (maybe some really do have wonderful children that do what they are asked and get it figured out! To those parents I say kudos!! I'm so happy for you!) And for me... while my child can do it most of the time, that is not potty trained... potty trained is when I don't have to clean up anymore accidents, and she can reach the sink to wash her hands by herself so overall when she goes to the bathroom, I don't even know it happened!! :) Ha ha ha... so alas... I have years until my child will be potty trained.
People say you are going to miss this, and I think they forgot how exhausting it was to change the bed sheets every day or more than that on those bad streaks, constantly be washing peed on clothes, and giving 2 or more baths a day! I am sure I will miss this age in general and I will miss how much fun she is when we are playing or doing something that isn't related to the bathroom, BUT I don't think I will miss potty training. I think when that gets checked off the list I will say good bye and good riddance!! :) And please don't tell me you miss potty training... if you do please just keep that your little secret until I have no more children that have to be potty trained. :) ha ha ha unless you really feel the need....

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

We had a great holiday season! It was very relaxing and it was great to stay home. We didn't travel at all, and since we have been married this is the first year we have stayed put. It was a very fun year as Madi has figured out how to rip into presents and learned that behind all that neat shiny paper there were even cooler things!! It was so much fun. Because Brian and I have tried to combine our families traditions we have come up with our own that are tweaked enough to fit us both. Brian likes opening all presents on Christmas Eve, I don't think any presents should be opened until Christmas morning... so what we do is we open one gift on Christmas Eve... and it has to be P.J's (mostly so I can take some nice pictures the next morning... even though it has yet to work in my favor). Anyways below are some pictures of our Christmas holiday!!

 Dashingly Handsome wouldn't you say?? Hee hee he would kill me if he ever knew i put this on here... :)

 Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree!! My favorite part is the chain.. Madi and I made that one day... it was more fun than I thought it was going to be!

 I think I will start a new tradition... On Christmas Eve we cleaned out Madi's room to get rid of old toys and make room for the new ones coming... On Christmas Day this is what it looked like after the new toys "took their place"... Makes me sad knowing it won't ever be this clean/ organized again. ha ha ha

 Madi loves her dress up shoes and necklaces... she has a love/hate relationship with the dresses though...

 I'm sure your wondering why she has her p.j's on and wet hair... well she was so excited about other presents it took her literally ALL day to open her gifts... It's not like we had 50 presents for her... but she loved playing with her new toy or whatever and didn't want to open more so we let her run the day...

 Her Christmas p.j's!! Brian found these! i think they are adorable... I love her face in this picture....

 She got to play with Daddy's remote control car... She was loving it... She packed her turtle around everywhere with her too!!

The Beautiful Weather!!

Because it has been SO nice here we have taken advantage of it and gone to the park quite a bit... I finally took my camera and I got some great pictures of Madi!! They are pretty self explanatory so I will just let you enjoy!

 

 Winter Mischief.....

Madi decided to not only draw and color herself with a pen... (lets be hones that happens a lot...) But this time she broke the tip off so it exploded everywhere and she thought it was SO fantastic!! Here was the result.

 After Bathtime..... comes the craziness....

After her bath she usually goes crazy right up until we force her into her bed, hurry and turn off the lights and run out the door and shut it. We even have to take out the light bulb at night because otherwise she would stand on some toy and turn it on and off... on and off.. on and off... you get the idea... on and off.. :) Anyways she is usually crazy and has some pretty good faces... I got a few on camera! :)

 And a homemade park... :) 

At least that is what Madi calls it. We turned this huge box into a slide for her and she LOVES it... I'm not sure how long I can take it because it is huge and we don't have a big house so it takes up a good portion of our living room... but she climbs up, slides down, giggles and does it all over again... all the while saying "park!" "park!" So I haven't had the heart to take it away yet... plus it works as a great fort when we put blankets over the top and she climbs under... and I turned her loose with crayons inside.... It has been a great box! ha ha ha

 Oh and I forgot to mention that we have been potty training... I tried the beginning of November and she did great until I took her on a month long road trip/ hotel stay. Then it all went down hill... but I didn't want to change any diapers in 2012 so I started again the last few weeks of December.. and I haven't changed any diapers... i've changed quite a few bed sheets and washed a lot of clothes... but no diapers! ha ha ... no she is actually doing really well... except for nightime.. but I was prepared for that so I know it will take some time but other than night she is pretty much doing her business on the "pot".... Not sure why she doesn't call it potty... no one here calls it the pot... ha ha ha

Anyways give her some praise next time you talk to her... because for a while I was beginning to think it was a miracle any of us are potty trained! 

Best wishes for 2012!!

A little bit of everything!

So obviously I haven't posted in a VERY long time... And I apologize to the few people that do actually read this...
As my previous post states, I don't get along that great with this blogger site, and that statement is still accurate. :) I uploaded many pictures and I hope to be able to give you a story line and a great update... but they appear to be out of order and all mixed up. SO alas..... scroll through and enjoy and I will try not to be frustrated with the annoying unorganized, scrambled pictures and little comments...

SO.... Madison turned two! Crazy right?!? This little punkin had the day of her life! We let her wear her favorite Dora p.j's all day and we just had a laid back fun day for a little girl who turned two!

Apple Slices!!! Right on!

A streamer runway! This was probably the best part of the whole day for her!

She got a potty for her birthday! This is not your ordinary potty either! This baby sings when you have a successful potty break! :) Ha! Who knew they made such amazing things for little girls to go potty on?? I mean it really is a throne!

With a throne comes panties for the little princess..... Already catching on! 

She got a backpack for her birthday... it has Elmo on it and she loves it! And she also got a little cowgirl outfit and she decided she needed to wear the belt! So funny.... What an outfit right?

So take a time out and we are going to rewind a little bit....

I threw this one in here just to simply show the unusefulness of this wonderful pet gate. :) Ha ha... it actually helps quite a bit... but I found it very funny and interesting that my child had managed to crawl through the tiny pet door... and then proceeded to leave the room the same way. Shesh... it was suppose to be for the cats to use.

I am throwing this picture in here just so you can see kind of how Madi's room is set up now... It is messy and crazy... but I promised to put up some after pictures.. and this is the best I found... You will see if you look closely this is more for a mischevious act by Madi...

And here is an upclose... She found the baby powder after a nap... and while it seemed like a rather long nap.. I was unconcerned because she was quiet so I figured she must have been really tired and needed an extra long nap.... Little did I know...

She was busy busy busy....

Whoops....

And another time out mischevious act! She found the diaper rash cream and proceeded to cover her face and her baby's.... Always thinking of others right?

This is an after picture of our living room.... Messy and unkept but I said I would post them..

How cool is this little girl??

Okay so another switch of direction... For Brian's birthday in June, I bought him tickets to a motocross event down in Vegas! We turned it into a very nice getaway for the two of us... and we had a blast!!



So to all my fellow wives... This is what happens when you turn your hubby loose at the rental car counter. Apparently we got a "great deal" and lucky us... we got the "last available car in the whole rental car place!" Ha ha ha... but bless his little heart he had a very enjoyable time driving it. :)

And I guess I did too! :)

We went exploring in a Casino/Hotel place and found a neat aquarium so we decided to check it out!

And I'm pretty sure none of you will care nearly like we did... BUT after the aquarium we went outside and there was a huge promotional thing going on for the motocross thing, as well as nascar or some sort of car thing... and a few other events going on that weekend... BUT we happened to be outside at the same time Jeff Emig and Kevin Windham were signing autographs... Like I said... I know most of you have no idea who these guys are... Let's just say it was very exciting and so much fun to actually get to meet them!! And the proof of a picture! :)

We got to go to the Las Vegas temple with my best friend and her hubby!! It was a beautiful temple!! They all are.. but with all the lights it was amazing!!

So like I said.. out of order... but at the Airport!

So here is my hubby very excited to be taking another picture with me! :) This was at the actual thing I bought tickets for. It was the Monster Energy Cup if any of you are actually interested enough to want to know what we went for..

And yes it's true... Sad but true... it was time to get rid of Buck Buck... so on our way back we bought a new vehicle... (which i LOVE!) A lovely Pathfinder... so as to not be stranded in the snow or pummeled by a semi in the lovely land we live in now days! :)

Good-bye Buck Buck.... We had some wonderful times together! I will miss this car!

SO AGAIN... rewind... this is back in August I believe...

Look at these cool babes!

Water break

King of the Mountain! :) No worries grandma is strategically placed behind little Madi to gaurd her from falling...

So a big discovery we had over the summer were the "Hops!"... Grasshoppers were fascinating to her! She LOVED them... she even started hopping because of them.. She will hop everywhere if you ask her to now... And she was not afraid to get a little close to the little bugs...

Must examine closely!

They are so cool!!

So we had a garden... and Madi and I spent lots of time there... the basil got so big Madi would back up right to it and sit in the plant! So funny..... We had great high hopes for some great peppers and fun pumpkins, yummy potatoes, carrots, onions, squash, cantelope, watermelon, corn, cucumbers.... BUT...

Alas, I live in the artic tundra and before my peppers and things could ripen the frost came and killed it all in one night! p.s. this was in August.... :(

This were the rewards we reaped... Most of it was not ripe enough to eat... :(

BUT... I did just set my green pumpkins on my steps and over time they turned orange and by Halloween they were nice and orange!

Our lawn!

And we have adopted a new kitty... he showed up at our door step meowing... and being the suckers that we are we couldn't bear to let him shiver in the cold... so we said we would let him in for 1 night. So he camped out... locked in the bathroom... and alas we still have him. :) Lets just say we hope no other dropped off homeless animals come scampering out way!

His name is PITA.... :)