Potty Boot Camp: Day I

I'm a BIG kid now!

Today was day numero uno of potty training my now 3 year old. This is the first I have attempted this with Luke, and I couldn't have asked for a better kid! He started off the day saying his usual when we asked if he wanted to go pee in the potty, which is "tomorrow". My mom babysat him today and finally got him saying "TODAY"- which was a big improvement!

We started the "Potty Party" around 2 p.m. I put Max down for a nap and then the fun began. I read a great book called "potty train your child in just one day" before hand which gave me a lot of tips for a successful training. Thanks Brittany for letting me know about this book!

Here are some things we did to make it FUN rather than FRUSTRATING:

• I gave Luke a little boy doll which we named Buddy. Luke helped me potty-train Buddy by watching potty movies, reading potty books, and helping Buddy sit on his little toilet. After Buddy was trained Luke thought it was pretty fun and wanted to try it out for himself!

• We had a "party" all day and just read books and colored while sitting on a blanket in the family room.
• We made a potty chart for Luke and Buddy.
  

• Of course there was plenty of prizes and treats to help bribe and spent the entire day on the potty every 10 minutes.
  
• Together we threw away all of his diapers (which I later grabbed and hid for Max one day)
• We called Grandma once he did it and he was able to hear how happy and proud she was of him!

Here is the score for the first day of training:

5 in the potty
&
1 on the kitchen chair/floor

Pretty good for the first day, don't you think?! I have to say that he did amazing and learned so much today. Way to go Luke! We will see what tomorrow brings, I will cross my fingers!!

And of course Max couldn't let Luke get all of the spotlight....while we were cheering Luke on we looked over to find him in the middle of the room walking all by himself!

My babies are all grown up!!

Another year older and wiser too.....

Happy Birthday to my 2 boys! Thank you everyone who came and celebrated with us- we wished we could have invited everyone we know, but we had a pretty big turn out with just a few friends and family. We had an ELMO themed party which included an Elmo pinata, Pin the nose on Elmo, and an Elmo birthday cake made by yours truly....don't look to close, it looks better from afar. I don't know why I decide to make these silly cakes- they are so much work and I end up shedding a few tears every time. I guess Luke's smile was worth it, and as you can see he didn't seem to care about the crumbs that got mixed in with the frosting or Elmo's distorted fingers and toes.

When we gave Max his little Elmo cupcake he didn't really know what we expected him to do. He usually devours anything we put in front of him- but the time when it was most important, it took him a good 5 minutes to warm up to it. But as you can see he ended up lovin' it and painting his face with it. I think he got a little inside his mouth......


They both got spoiled with presents....so many presents! Thank you to everyone! We had fun reading all of the books and playing with the cars and puzzles today. I don't really know which presents were for Max and which ones were for Luke- but I can tell you that they are both enjoying each and every gift. Thank you everyone for making it such a fun and memorable birthday!

Happy Birthday sweet boys!

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Max Willis is ONE!

Happy Birthday to my {ONE} year old boy!

This very day an entire year ago we happily welcomed Max into our little family. After 4 days of waiting for LDS Hospital to call with an open delivery room- we finally got in at 6 a.m. and Max was born around 8 p.m. that night.

What a sweet boy he is, and our lives would not be complete without him. Luke loves his "little friend" so much.

His personality is definitely different than Luke's. Max is much less patient and I can already tell that he will be a "climber" as I have magically found him on top of many high places...maybe with a little help from Luke, I don't know though. It has been fun watching him grow into his own person.

He is a happy and healthy little boy and for that we are so grateful. In the last month he has grown so much and has learned many new things. I don't think it will be too long before he starts walking as he loves to stand and hold his arms out to balance himself with a big smile and make sure we are paying attention. He has even taken a few of his first steps already. He can say many words and I can tell that he is starting to understand some of the things we say to him.

I love his big blue eyes and long eyelashes. I love his little nose. I love his sweet big smile with 8 teeth. I love the way he giggles when we tickle his thighs. I love the way he says "mama". I just love him with all of my heart.

We wanted to share his first year with you.....Happy Birthday Max Willis!

Trying out the Peanut Butter

Some fun things happen once little babies turn one, like switching from formula to whole milk, and being able to try peanut butter! Max had a small bite of my mom's peanut butter sandwich about a week ago- so I figured he was good to go with no allergies to peanuts. So yesterday I gave him some peanut butter cereal to snack on and I didn't think much of it when he started rubbing his left eye. It turned bright red, but I thought he just got a crumb in it or something. Then today, I gave him some more of the cereal and the exact same thing happened to his other eye! It turned bright red and watery and he wouldn't stop rubbing it. I of course panicked and started searching online for symptoms of peanut allergies but couldn't get much information....other then to watch them closely for the next couple hours if you suspected anything as it can be deadly!! His eye slowly went back to normal, so don't worry :)

Does anyone have any experience with this?! Max has his one year doctor appointment in a few weeks, so I can ask the doc then. I for sure won't be giving him any more peanut butter anytime soon- even though I am curious to see if it would happen again or if it was just a coincidence. I wish I took a picture to show you, but you will just have to settle for this silly picture of all three of my boys with a sticker on their heads....I know, totally unrelated!

two LITTLE lovebirds

We were able to go to Island Park this last week with some good friends...we hoped Luke would have a fun time, but little did we know that he would have the time of his life! Him and his friend Brooklyn were inseparable, and Luke couldn't let her out of his sight for 2 seconds! They spent the entire trip holding hands, following each other around, playing house (Luke was the dad and Brooklyn was the mom), and they didn't fight once! It was so nice to have them get along so well.

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Luke thought he would impress her with his incredible nose picking skills

Look at Luke's smile on his face- do you think he was having fun on what!?


what a cute couple- not to scare her parents or anything



Holding your hand makes me happy!

Oh- and me, Ike and Max had a fun time too! Max is at a tricky age so it is hard to be somewhere away from our childproof home where he can roam free. We were able to go to Yellowstone this time. I usually don't really enjoy it all that much as I have been there quite a few times, but it was the first time taking Luke and Max so it was fun to show them everything. We told Luke we were going to see some animals- but when we passed the few (buffalo of course) we saw from our car he was fast asleep in the back seat and we weren't about to wake him up. He kept asking when we were going to see the zebras and tigers- I guess it is a little confusing to a 3 (yep- he is now 3!) year old to know which animals live where.

Here are some more pictures from our vaycay!

September means to me...

Craziness! There is so much going on this month that I just know I am forgetting something. I hate that sick feeling I get in my stomach when I all of a sudden remember I forgot to do something important...and it is just too late. Hopefully that won't happen though, right?! We have trips, parties, work, mom retiring (yay), church calling stuff and I know I won't forget 2 big things happening this month! It is also the month of the Birthdays in the Yospe home. I had my birthday, and then Luke turns 3 on the 14th, and Max will turn ONE on the 20th! I can't believe it has been a whole YEAR already! Here are a few pictures of Max and Luke last year at this time...

Max right after he was born

Luke holding Max for the very first time

Luke's 2nd Birthday

Yesterday I took some pictures of these two boys for some birthday snapshots and I was so happy with them. You can tell that Luke has had his share of pictures in his 3 years of life as he knows just how to pose. He would do anything I told him to do- and he did this for over an hour! Max, on the other hand, has some learning to do from his brother. He lasted about 15 minutes and wouldn't look at the camera. There are a lot of them, but I couldn't pick just one to share.....

Hope you all have a month of fun too! I better go get some things checked off of my long list.

Happy Birthday Jana!

Because I'm too cheap, I mean romantic, to buy you a card, I wanted to do a post about my favorite thing in the world - you.

At the sake of being extra cheesy (but does anyone you know not love extra cheese?) to the rest of the world, here it goes...

Jana, you are my everything. You bring a happiness to me that is indescribable.

You are an incredible mom. You have an unparalleled ability to love and care for those around you. You adore Max & Luke, and they in turn adore you.

You are beautiful. Both inside and out. You have a spirit that glows.

You are full of kindness, determination, will-power, and beauty.

I love you with all my heart. Happy Birhday!

Love, Ike


And without further ado, I present to you, yourself on Good Things Utah (don't blink!)...



And, as requested, here is the picture of a lion I, I mean Luke, drew for you on my iPhone.