Potty training

well so exactly a week ago gracie woke up and i asked her if she needed to go potty and she said yes and so i put her on the potty and she actually went - so i thought today is as good of a day as any to start potty training - so we took the diaper off -threw it away and out came the underwear - the funny thing is though - thursdays i work and so it was daddy's time to take over - anyhow the day was miserable -peeing left and right everywhere - we finally bought training pants and so they started to absorb most of the pee - but it was ridiculous putting her on the toilet every half hour just to have her get off and go ten minutes later - anyhow finally the last pee of the night she made it on the potty - anyhow so i really thought that this was going to take forever and that when people said kids got potty trained in a weekend they were lying hahahh - anyhow but the next day went better and better until - today a week later and gracie hasn't had any accidents lately and she is actually telling us when she needs to go - yipee - so i am sure there will still be accidents along the way - but yeah for gracie she is growing up :)

So we went with my family down to the auto expo on saturday - which was a lot of fun - but because i was also potty training gracie we made many many many trips to the bathroom :)- anyhow it was a lot of fun - ben and i both found cars we would pick if they gave them away for free :) - ben found this subaru that he really liked and gracie loved pretending to drive it - and i found a pretty lexus suv thing that i would pick - that is the benfit of having a smaller family - i don't have to look at mini vans of suburbans anymore hahah - i can look at any car that holds three :)

see my pretty car i would pick :)

the big leap and the big mouth

well we finally did it - i took gracies binky away from her on monday - we had a little lesson on sharing and how it makes Heavenly Father happy and gracie happy and everyone else and then i asked if she would share her binky with addy - so we went around the house collecting them and then i hid them and pretended i have given them to addy - and so far so good - although she does still ask for it alot and later that same night she told me she was done sharing with addy and wanted her binky back and i laughed - and now she will come up to me and tell me addy was sad so gracie shared and now she is happy again - and i always say oh good - funny kids

And now we are potty training - so yah for mom the two things she was dreading i just jumped in and did - and she was doing pretty good with me but i left her with ben to go to work today and he just called me and sure enough she had an accident - so i don't know if that was actually gracies bad or dad just not paying attention hahah - who knows :)

and oh yes the big mouth - well two pieces of information are needed to clarify the big mouth story - first - we have been working on who loves us and i will ask gracie who loves her and we will list people and then i will ask who gracie loves etc. . . - second- our neighbor gave us this cool windshield scraper thing that is shaped kind of like a funnel with a ice scraper on top - anyhow gracie thought it looked like a hat so we were wearing it and dancing around to the music and having fun - well it fell off my head and the ice scraper part hit her right between her lip and nose and so it was bleeding like crazy and she was screaming and i looked like someone had stabbed her with a fork repetitvely right there - anyhow on to the story

well so we go to my moms after church on sunday and alex and my mom are talking to her and in middle of nowhere gracie pops out with "mommy hurt me - she no luf me" - yes my child is telling others that i don't love her and i hurt her lol - i just really am crossing my fingers that she didn't tell anyone in nursery - i guess if i get a call from the bishop i will know hahahha- sneaky little devil this probably pay back for making me wait so long to open her christmas presents!

randomness

christmas eve at the johnsons - amare and gracie where very excited to open up presents :)

I love the hot to cold - it always reminds of the twilight movie - when she tells edward that his mood swings are giving her whiplash - because it is so the same with gracie hahah

Christmas morning at the andersons yaahh- look at all the loot santa just brought the three of us -it almost makes me disgusted hahah

Gracie christmas morning - she had a late night and then a early morning and didn't quite know what to do about it - but look at that frog - didn't i do such a good job making it - i suprised myself hahahWe called tyler at 8 and talked for about two hours so waiting until 10 to open presents was a little harder on gracie then i thought it would be - she was ready to get started :)
Whiplash again - and we are back to happy- playing with our presents :)
Yesterday gracie was in a good mood singing and dancing with her toys - i loved it - she sings very softly but you can hear it is the first part of the abc's -the only part she knows by herself - i love it :)

the end and the beginning

well here are 8 things about 2008 to sum up our year and then 9 things about 2009 that we are looking forward to

1. i got to become an aunt twice - mel and mitch had addy in sept and then brian and ely had kyan in december - i love being an aunt and playing with babies and then not having to be responsible - it is great :)

2. i finally graduated yah for us- i bet gracie was the second most excited after me - because now she has her mom to play with all the time - which i love :)

3. reunions - i had the fun chance of getting together with most of my roomates and playing with them and there kids and then also my friend megan got married to her husband - finally :)- they had know each other ten years - which also spurred on hanging out with high school friends that i love and never get to see - and also due to those reunions i now have a blog which allows for me to feel like i keep in contact with others- even though i never talk to them - so i am not sure if it should count as keeping in contact or stalking hahaha

4. babies - this one is kind of sad - after numerous infertility treatments my body just said no to having more kids - which was a sad so we tried to adopt and that fell through at the last moment - which also was sad - however with all the sadness came some very personal moments with my Savior and my Heavenly Father who lifted and carried and comforted our family through some very difficult times - and because of those moments i wouldn't trade our sad experience for anything - which i guess in the end makes this one not so sad after all :)

5. Scriptures - this year the scriptures- and mostly the book of mormon- became very dear to me and almost a lifeline for me to my Heavenly Father - i have had lots of moments this year where i have felt my Savior speaking to me through their words and i have come to love and rely on the scriptures - so now it is hard for me to go a day without needing the comfort and the strenght they give - which i love - i am happy that they have become more than just a book this year

6. Twilight - it is silly but it was a part of my year - ask my husband it came out over our anniversary and the book came first - i think though the reason it was so much this year and not other years - is not only because of the movie - but also because so many other people finally started to read it and love it like i did when the first one came out - so now i have people to talk about it with :)

7. gracie- she has grown up so much this year she started nursery in jan turned two in july and then finally started talking the last few months-i seriously was being to wonder about that department and if she ever would - and now it is just like everyone told me it would be - she talks fine and a bit too much hahahah - although luckily she usually sides with me instead of her dad- so she is always telling him to slow down in the car and i love it because he listens to her :)

8. - last one - i should make it important - so i am going to have to think for a second - hmmmmm. . . . . well bens grandpa died - and that was sad because he was the first person i really remember dieing and the funeral was very awkward for being and i did not like looking in the casket - maybe the next funeral i go to will be better - i guess i just need practice at them or something

2009:

1. gracie is going to turn three - and leave the terrible twos behind her and become my darling little sweethart who never talks back again hahahha - i know it isn't really going to happen but i can wish can't i hahaha - and she gets to start talking dance lessons in the fall - from the same lady i did - weird - is all i can say

2. disneyworld - thank you mel and mitch and dad - i am very excited to talk gracie in may i think she is going to love it - and i intend to occassionally ditch her with grandma and grandpa and go on some large rollercoasters yahh

3. ben is going to school this year and it will be a new experience for our family and him :) - we will see how that goes hahah

4. tyler will be coming home from in mission in spain in december - so not for a while - but next year none the less

5. exercise - i intend to be skinny for disneyworld and tan - so i will need to hit the gym :)

6. potty training - i have been putting it off and putting it off - i mean i can tell gracie we need to change her diaper and she will go take her pants off and her diaper and get a wipe and wipe herself and then bring me the diaper to put on her -- - so i am thinking that my child is ready to be potty trained and that mommy is just to freaked out to try - so i think i better stop being a wuss and just do it - at least in the next year - i may just wait till next month hahah -

7. friends - i look forward to having fun with my friends - i am finally making some :) and so it will be fun to just laugh and have fun with them

8. family - my family is the best mine, extended, and in-laws - i really do have a great family support system who help me laugh and do crazy things and have band practice - i really like rock band :) - and occassionally beat me up - thank you alex - so i look forward to all the games of 3 to 14, the movies, the dinners, the talking back to each other , the bowling tournaments, the hikes and everything else that family includes

9. and last but not least - i look forward to seeing if our honda will make it one more year - it has been on its death bed for quite some time but it just keeps going so really if it makes it another year i think that will be the biggest suprise ever :)