Oh! What a beautiful day...

Monday was a beautiful day to go to the park, so we did. Sage had fun swinging on the swings for the first time and she even went down the slide with Eden a couple of times. Eden had fun swinging and playing with her friend Alex. She also had fun playing in the sand, of which we took quite a bit home. We are so glad the weather is so nice!

Instead of going to bed...

Last Thursday while we thought Eden was sleeping peacefully in her bed she was really moving all her "friends" into our room. Now if I could only get her to expend that much effort into cleaning up....

Early Birthday Presents

Thanks to Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Ron for the early birthday present and Eden says a big thanks for letting her open it early. :)

I wonder what it could be?

Beautiful dresses....Eden's favorite!

Let's see how they fit!

How do I look?

My beautiful almost 3 year old (I can't believe it!)

Why Buy Toys?

We recently purchased some food storage and survival supplies and they came in a large box. So we did what any good parent would do...we turned it into a fort! It's our form of recycling. And of course the girls love it. And so does every other kid that visits our house. Instead of Toys R Us they need a Boxes R Us, and you can pick the right box for your needs. Does your fort need to accommodate 2 or 5? Boxes R Us could meet every families needs. Too bad I don't have the time to start my own business...I'm too busy playing in the fort.

Yeehaw, it's Rodeo time!!!!

This past weekend we experienced the rodeo. We experienced rides, animals, and of course the carnival food. We had so much fun and it was extra fun because Bop Bop and Grandma Peggy came with us. Eden and I rode a camel...yep, now I can check that off my bucket list. It was an interesting experience....the camel's hump is really quite warm. Eden also got to ride carnival rides and play games. She wanted to ride a big roller coaster (I think she is a thrill seeker...gulp for mama) but settled for the Ferris Wheel instead. As for the food we enjoyed a corn dog, a turkey leg (and it was ginormous), a candy apple, roasted corn on the cob, sausage on a stick, popcorn, and fried M&Ms. Let me just tell all of you who have wondered about trying fried M&Ms...don't. It was....interesting....they drip a bunch of M&Ms in sticky caramel so they stick together when they batter and deep fry them...too sweet and too gross...but hey, we had to try them....next year I'm sure we will try some other "fried delicacy"....;)

The infamous camel ride....so very interesting

Flying Elephants with Grandma Peggy

Sage was the best girl all day. She just hung out in the stroller and loved being outside and enjoying the fresh air.

Riding bouncing trucks with Bop Bop

Snack Break!

This is Eden pretending to be a goat by eating popcorn out of her Dad's hand...she really got into the petting zoo ;)

The giant slide that Eden wanted to ride. Daniel let her ride down by herself and he should have put her in front of him and then ride down together. It didn't really go that well. He ended up having to grab her over onto him so she wouldn't fly off. Let's just say I almost died of a heart attack right there on the spot. SIGH.

Eden playing games and winning prizes....she won a giant Care Bear for her and also one for Sage

A view of us riding the Ferris Wheel

Looking down from the Ferris Wheel

The last ride of the day....spinning teacups...so glad Grandma Peggy wanted to go because Mama and Daddy would have gotten sick

Potty Training

*warning* this post talks a lot about poop. If you don't like poop...don't read it.

Potty training has been my least favorite parenting experience thus far. If your kid isn't ready, it isn't going to happen. Period. Eden has been wanting to try try off and on for months now. A few weeks ago she decided that she was serious and she wanted to wear panties all the time. I was super excited and she did great....except for one thing. Pooping. Every time she had to go she would say she was scared to poop on the potty and ask for a diaper. So we have been playing that little game for some time. She wears panties and pees on the potty but when she has to poop she runs screaming away from the potty.

Well yesterday we made a breakthrough. For whatever reason, she decided to poop on the potty. And she did it and she was very excited. Of course I was super excited as well. I jumped up and down and cheered for her and promised to take her to Chuck E. Cheese and jumped up and down some more and did a little dance, etc. You get the idea. Eden was beaming. She was so proud of herself. So we continued to make a big deal out of it all through dinner and getting ready for bed, and she just ate up all the attention. Then as I was getting her pajamas on I told her to go use the potty before bed. She went in and sat on the toilet and then I hear "Hey Mom, come here." So I go in and Eden says, "Hey mom! Watch this!" And then she poops on the potty again. Then she says "Ok, now jump up and down!"

Apparently all she needed was a willing audience to fawn over her pottying performance and this potty training thing would have been done months ago. If only I would have known sooner....

Sage Says "Da-da"

Yesterday, my sweet little girl all of the sudden says, "Da-da".

This was also Eden's first expression when she was about Sage's age...."Da-da". Now while I am a huge fan of the "Da-da"...is it really that much harder to say "Ma-ma"? I mean mama carried you around for 9 months, gave birth, got up with you during the night, etc. Can't I at least get "ma-ma" first? I don't think it is too much to ask, not when Eden's first words every morning are, "Where's Daddy?"

The upside is that when the girls wake up during the night, I can nudge Daniel and say, "They are calling for Da-da"....at least there is satisfaction in that.