Potty Trained!!!

Why did I wait so long?
I was dreading Potty Training...

and for what?

It was so easy!

A couple days before Miles turned 3 we kept telling him

 "when you turn 3 you're gonna go potty on the toilet"

The toilet was nothing new for him. 

We've been putting him on the potty every night before baths for a long time.

So I'm sure that helped potty training go so smoothly.

He really struggled with doing his business at first. 

He was super freaked out!

Sooooooo....he didnt go for a couple days.

Which was no fun for any of us.

We sat there FOREVER, we read books, we sang, etc...

He cried, screamed and hated it!

But finally he went!

Gasp!

He discovered it wasn't scary.

And he discovered he got 2 M&Ms and a fiber gummy when he went.

And now... he's a pro at it all.

He flushes the toilet like a pro too.

(Since we started potty training in January he only had one pee accident and 2 yucky accidents...Go Miles)

We don't need stickers anymore, we don't need M&Ms anymore.

It only took him a couple days to get it.

Why did I wait soooo long?

It's so nice to not buy diapers for him anymore.

He loves wearing his "big boy underwear."

Now if he can just pull down and pull up his clothes on his own that'd be great.

Time to bust out the treats for some additional training.

Disney Days

The sad day has come that Miles no longer gets into Disneyland for free. 

Boo!

But it is totally worth it for him to have his own pass.

Miles thinks he's pretty cool when he hands his pass over to the ticket counter to get in.

Romney has been working a TON lately, therefore Miles and I have been going to Disneyland a TON lately.

It helps the time pass for us when daddy is gone.

But it's been lots of fun because we've been going with so many friends.

Miles and Porter love each other. 

They have been buddies since the beginning of time.

They talk about each other and always want to play together.

We all love going on SMALL WORLD.

Its kind of an obsession at our house. 

Miles sings it all.the.time.

and

 He wants me to sing it all.the.time.

Sometimes we take Elise with us because she isn't 3 yet....so she is still free.

Miles and Elise are very sweet friends.

They are gentle towards one another and never fight.

I can't even handle that her family is moving to Texas this summer.

It would be a dream if these two got married.

Just sayin.

...More the merrier....

...These little monkeys can play on the beads in Carsland all day.

One afternoon when we were just getting into the park Miles said he wanted to see Pluto.

and BAM there was Pluto.

(that was easy)

On our last visit, there was nobody at Disneyland.

There were no lines, and we were able to ride so many rides that we normally don't get to because we don't want to wait for hours.

We got to ride Dumbo and only waited 12 minutes!

12 minutes!!!

If you know Dumbo then you know that is record breaking!!!

We got to do Finding Nemo.

15 minute wait.

15!!!

This was Miles first time riding it.

He loved it!

He kept saying "we're in the sea."

Another first was Autopia.

He got to drive!

It was hilarious!

We were all over the map but we both laughed out loud as our heads whipped in all directions. 

 

Jane is so sweet to Miles.

She just turned 5 but totally dives into Miles 3 year old mind.

I appreciate her.

We went on Little Mermaid and decided it was time to go home.

These two pictures were literally taken 10 minutes apart.

He was OUT!

We've been spoiled this past month with good weather and good friends. 

Miles is loving Disneyland more and more the older he gets. 

We'll most likely be there this up coming week again.

 Anyone want to join?

My geocaching Valentine....

This year for Valentines Day we went A L L   O U T.

Wait....no we didn't.

Actually, we went to IHOP with our cool, fun friends.

That's right, our Valentines Day was spent on a double date sharing pancakes al la carte with Rachel and Jake.

AND IT WAS AWESOME.

To top off our super romantic dinner we were supposed to go bowling.

Yes, you read that correctly, we were going to go bowling on our double date for Valentines.

But, apparently it was league night til 9:45.

Who knew.

But, we are so old, we were not going to start bowling at 10pm.

Rachel called her mom and asked for a fun ideas....

I mean come on....we had babysitters at home!

We HAD to do something!

Her mom suggested G E O C A C H I N G.

I had never heard of it. 

But, let me tell you...

It is FUN!

It is HILARIOUS!

It is TRICKY!

oh, did I already say that it is FUN?!

(ready to start the hunt
and that gold plaque was our first clue)

You need a smartphone or a GPS to play.

You type in quadrants on your GPS to find the location to find a random thing.

Once you find the geocache, you sign the roll sheet and put it back for others to find.

It's super random.

There are hundreds of these little geocaches everywhere. 

They can be as small as a thimble or as big as...well whatever.

There are little clues to help if you need.

We seriously had a blast!

We geocached our little hearts out all night.

We looked awesome with all our cell phone flash lights on going through bushes in a packed parking lot.

At one point I thought I found it, but it was a weed pipe. Hahahaha, nope that wasn't it.

We were pretty excited when we found one.

It was magnetized under a medal electrical box.

In it was a little sheet to sign and little things people have left behind.

Again....so random.

No, this wasn't romantic. 

But who says it has to be romantic every year?

I was laughing with the one that I love.

I held hands with the one I love.

I got to steal kisses from the one I love.
We celebrated our love "fun" this year.
And it was perfect!

(and there is more geocaching that will be happening)

Someone turned 3

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY MILES!!!

The boy wanted a  B L U E  birthday party, where a "cone" would be worn and candles would be blown out.

Blue things...check

party hats...check

candles....check

 Hands down- thee easiest request for a birthday party!

 Miles helped get things ready.

He kept asking "is it my birthday party?" all morning...

We played the traditional party games....

Pin the nose on Mr. Happy

...Ring around the rosie...
(Miles favorite)

...they got a piece of blue paper that they covered in stickers...

They ate a very healthy lunch that consisted of hot dogs, chips, blue jello, and blue Gatorade...oh there were berries...see it was healthy.

Presents were opened...

... he wanted to play with everyone he opened right then and there...

Miles and Adele went off with his new bug cage...

3.5 hour naps happened the minute everyone left...

....then round 2 of presents happened with mommy and daddy...

He didn't go to bed til 9:30 that night.

He was so happy and excited about his new toy train that he chased around!

(I love that he still was wearing his party hat)

Oh Miles.
You are 3. 

My hearts hurts a little. 

I want you to stay little.
I want you to stay innocent.

I still want you to say words that aren't correct.

I want you to always want to be by your daddy and copy him.

He's a good one to follow.

I want to keep you small because this is FUN.

Miles is such a sweet boy.

His favorite foods are Mac&Cheese, bananas, cherry tomatoes, bagels, and yogurt drinks.

His favorite shows are Mickey Mouse and Doc McStuffins.

His favorite movies are Bambi, Cars, Finding Nemo and Lion King.

He loves all things TIC TOC CROC from Peter Pan.

He loves little animal figurines and has hands full of them all the time.

He still has a massive love affair with his bunny named MINA.

Mina goes everywhere with him.

Mina goes to the potty, gets teeth brushed, hair combed, you name it.

If we lose it, were dead. 

He likes kicking the soccer ball outside.

He likes the slides at the park.

His legs are FINALLY long enough to reach some tricycle peddles.

 He loves playing with his Cars and tracks.

He loves his Nano Bugs and thinks they are hilarious.

He loves books and can be caught "reading" books aloud.

(he even wants me to sit on his lap so he can read to me)

He has a soft voice but can be loud when he wants to.

He's not totally shy but not totally outgoing.

He is calm

He is crazy

He is cautious 

He is silly

He is smart

He is handsome

He is a talker

He is polite

He is bossy

He is whinny

He is happy

He is funny

He is serious

He is Miles and 

He is 3!

(3 is a whole new ball game of parenting...oh my!!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILES!

Merry Christmas

Christmas was just so fun this year.

Miles loved all the Christmas lights, the tree, the music, Santa, hot chocolate and of course....PRESENTS.

 Chrismas Eve was spent at our friends house for a yummy dinner.

Romney had to work so we played with our buddies and came home to a little present addressed to Miles.

 

...inside the box were SANTA JAMMIES and new SLIPPERS that he could wear that night...

...we put cookies out for Santa... 

and went to bed!

On Christmas morning Miles came in to my room as usual where we hung out...

...and cuddled until Daddy came home from work.

Once daddy finally made it home we went out to the living room to discover that Santa had come and our stockings were full of surprises!

Miles was LOVING the orange slime Romney is holding and all the "toot" noises it can make.

He thought that was HILARIOUS!

Every present Miles opened, he'd say

"what's it gonna be?"

then he would gasp in a little air with excitement.

...he'd take a little time to play with each gift...

After an very full morning we all took a good nap together...

...and woke up to play with the new toys all over again!!!

This was our favorite Christmas to date!

We watched our son enjoy the morning!

We were not in any rush to be at anyones house at any specific time.

We all got naps in (thats a win win)

Romney and I surprised each other with awesome gifts.

We are truly blessed to have had a wonderful Christmas.

We had a warm home to be comfortable in, full bellies from a yummy breakfast, a messy living room from opened gifts, ears that could hear beautiful music playing, love that was shared in our family and knowledge that Jesus is the Christ.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 ...even if it's a month late...

Counting down for Christmas

Life is finally settling down from the holidays and I can sit here and blog.
(however our tree may or may not still be up)

So be aware the next couple posts will be Christmas!

You've been warned.

The countdown for Christmas was very fun this year.

We have a darling wooden house as our advent calendar with the cutest little doors and knobs.

Every day Miles would go to the "Christmas house" and we would count to whatever door needed to be opened.

 

Behind each door was a piece of paper that Miles would unfold and "read" what it said.

It was something fun that we got to do that day.

 Some of the activities we did were just going to the local Christmas Parade and eat candy...

Or have friends over for a Christmas craft...

Or a fun Disneyland day with friends...

and make brownies...

We learned how to use scissors and made the sweetest....

...snowman...

We went to the Christmas festival and sled on a tiny hill that you could hear Miles giggling all the way down...

and one of the count down days was to just wrap daddys presents.

(there is no turning back now that he knows how to use scissors)

It was so fun.

Miles loved it.

We loved it.

We got Hot Coco and drove around to look at lights, we cuddled and watched movies, we took goodies out to people, we played with play dough. 

It was so fun for our family.

Such a fun way to count down to Christmas!