So many things going on in April

I don't want to make this very long so, in short, we are experiencing a very stressful couple of months. Hyrum has finals coming up in the next few weeks. But before that, we are going to move into a new place. After moving and finals we need to start filling out applications for grad school and Hyrum has to take the TOEFL. We also need employment changes but don't yet know what's going to happen with that.
And among all this, we decided to stick potty-training in the middle. I think we might be insane. hee hee.

"I made a bubble"

We have started and there is no going back. Ella has been potty-training for 2 days now and is doing really well. I don't say these things to make anyone feel bad that may be having troubles with this very thing but I am SO PROUD of our little girl! She's learning so many things these days. It's amazing to think about all the things they pick up on in such a short time. She's learning to recognize signs in her body and act on them. Also about a schedule of things we do when we have to use the bathroom. (First we go to the bathroom, pull down our pants, etc.) I think we previously made the mistake of doing some of the steps for Livvy to simplify but it has meant that we've been involved in the processes that we wouldn't have had to be.

She has only had one accident in a day and a half. We let her run around the house half naked yesterday and I was determined to stay home all day (Saturday) and let her feel the pee on her if she peed. She did and right away didn't like it on her legs and feet. She did it again later and had the same reaction. Then Hyrum showed her some youtube videos of Elmo learning to use the potty. He found our Elmo doll and a mini potty we have and pretended that he was peeing in it. The next couple hours were just spent on helping Elmo use the potty and rewarding him on his chart. Later was Ella's turn to go. She resisted at first but after she got going it wasn't a big deal. I had to remind myself of a couple things:

Keep it fun. (I can't make the day ONLY about potty. They get tired of it and start resisting)

Expect accidents to happen.

Hyrum went to work the later part of the day and so I had the 3 kids to myself. Not usually as big of a deal but on potty-training day it was. Thankfully, the time went by quicker then I expected and we made it out alive. She didn't have even one accident and actually had a BM! Moments before that she said that she had a bubble. She meant one came out of her bottom. I am most excited about her going poop in the potty because Liv had such problems with that till she was 3 3/4 yrs old. I am hoping that she doesn't get to nervous to continue having BM's. It's a weird feeling for them for it not to just happen in a diaper.

For today, Sunday, she resisted going back into undies after being in a diaper (night pants) overnight. But once in undies she kept them dry. Even during church she went when she was asked to go. The only accident we had was right after Sacrament Mtg and we put a plastic pair of undies on her for nursery to avoid wet puddles. She must have felt like they were diapers and secure to just pee in them. We have resolved to not go back and forth on diapers and panties. It's one or the other and it's big-girl panties now!

I would definitely not say that we have her potty trained but we are on the path in that direction and a lot of the work was in preparing myself emotionally for the experience and trial of it. We just had to start and not go back on it.

You start to look at your toddler differently when they figure these things out. She looks bigger to me now.

First days of Pre-School

I had registered Livvy for pre-school sometime after they had already started- like October or November- I don't remember. I had wanted to try to see if she could get in earlier but with Ashton's early arrival and everything, it didn't happen. So, even though they were already full, they had me register her and when a spot became available they'd call me. Well, that day came on February 10th. It's a Monday-Thursday school and so I was able to go in and get paperwork finalized and she could start on Monday! Crazy how quickly your life can change! And I mean OUR life, because even though she's the one going to school, it has seriously changed my life too.

Here's Liv on her first day, on our way out the door. She was nervous and excited.

We went over to her school with all the kids. We got a bunch of info on field trips, book buddy days, etc. They took a photo of the family to put on the wall and one of Livvy for her cubby.

Monday I got up super early since I didn't know how long it would take to get all 3 kids ready for the day and fed. Oh yeah, I failed to mention that she got in the morning slot. It goes from 8:30 to 12:00 but you can't drop off the kids early or get them late so it's more like 8:40 to 11:55. I have found out a few things in the process so far:

-It is a pain to haul 3 kids to drop her off and pick her up! You have to park on the street and walk her in. You can't just "drop her off" to school. That would be so nice.

-Afternoon would've been better. I thought the morning would be better since Ella naps in the afternoon and I didn't want to have to wake her up but it would've so much better since Hyrum could do some of the picking up or dropping off that way.

-Our mornings are crazy. That mostly comes from having a baby. Ashton still requires a lot of time from me to nurse him, feed him solids and feed him a bottle (that just started to try to fatten him up), and get him down to sleep. So, I run home from taking Livvy to school, get Ashton down, feed Ella some sort of breakfast and try to eat something too while he sleeps. Then it's play time with Ella (she likes me to play computer games or play with cars), do dishes and then go get Livvy. We get home, get Ashton down for a nap, I feed Ella lunch then get her down for a nap. By then Ashton is up and he, Livvy and I hang out (usually feeding Ashton and playing). A little later Hyrum gets home and I make dinner and the rest goes by real fast before bedtime. I know this is boring but I was thinking today how I'm going to forget how it is to have all small children and that they require so much of my time. I only have my night hours, really, to do things like THIS and to do things for my calling, pay bills, etc. I hope I remember how it was to have little ones at home all the time and all the time the require. I hope I can understand it again when young mothers talk about it.

-Livvy is learning a lot from being in school. There is some developement there that I was unable to provide for her. She is getting more socialization, obviously. She is also learning things from watching her peers. I think she is learning to approach other kids better.

-She is wanting to write more. I had been trying to talk to her about writting and provide opportunities but I was lacking in time to reinforce and she's getting it there. At least now I won't be worried about what she DOESN'T know how to do before Kindergarten. She'll have had a 3 month introducion.

But back to Livvy. She's big now. She-overnight-got bigger and is now a school girl. Love you Liv!

Snow Days

This winter has been so unique in that we haven't had much snow. We had a few snow flakes fall down in December but nothing that stuck to the pavement for more than an hour-it seems. So, when it finally snowed in January, the kids ran to greet it with open arms! These pictures come from the time that Daddy spent outside with Livvy. I love the daddy snowman and baby.

These next pictures are more recent. They are of February 12th. It was such a stormy day! We have a small but pretty steep hill just outside our doorstep- literally! This time it was Liv and me while daddy stayed in with baby Ashton. Ella was sleeping for the first part. We went back in later to get Ella all geared up to play with us. We didn't make Snowmen, though. We slid down the mini hill!

...and climbed around

...and made snow angels.