Potty Training...nah

Potty training was a bust.  We could see Harrison felt annoyed and was fighting us.  Having to go potty every half an hour was too much.  We also think Harrison isn't too aware of the need to use the bathroom.  We'll try again when Harrison's closer to his third birthday.

Kite Festival

Every year the St. George area has a kite festival in Bloomington.  The wind level varies from year to year, but the vendors continue to get more awesome.  Though we had a good time, there was no wind.  Elisha tried running, but that can only work for so long.  Harrison wanted to go with Elisha, she pulled him along - literally.  Then she tried carrying and running with him.  HA!  He didn't like that.  While Jeremy and Elisha tried to get the kites in the air, Jason took Harrison on the tractor-pulled train.  Turned out to be the highlight, other than the bus ride and singing driver.

Jason getting Harrison's fish kite up.

Jeremy putting a kite together.

Father & son riding the train.

Harrison squinting in the sun, riding the train.

Lots of fun, free games.  Harrison loved golf.

Jason's goal was to get a fried pb&j (Better than it sounds.  Think of a bismarc).  They don't sell them anymore, so he left, even missing out on the fried pickles, also surprising good.

Going to Brasil...

...or at least it felt like it!

My friend, Ivaneide, is in Utah!   She was a sweet irma in Santarem, Natal, Brasil who often served the missionaries lunch.  I found out, or rather figured out she was in Utah by her various Facebook statuses and pictures.  The one that really got me was a picture of her on a traffic circle with horses - red rock all around.  Hello!  That's in Ivins, on the way to Tuacahn, which I see periodically.  I felt so hurt that I missed her, I made it a point to see her as soon as possible.

Ivaneide is here because she's getting married!  She engaged to a sweet man, Keith, from Tennessee.  Nope, neither one speaks the other's language.  I guess love is that strong.

As soon as I knew where Ivaneide was staying (Roy, Utah) I drove up the next available weekend.  It was perfect.  I took Kendall with me and Jason stayed home with Harrison to attempt potty training.

The visit was absolutely heavenly.  I sobbed when I left because it was truly like being in Brasil.  Ivaneide was staying with her neice, Michelle.  It was an evening full of speaking Portuguese, eating tapioca and cuscuz, and drinking succo.  What more could a person want?

Ivaneide with Kendall

Ivaneide's sister, Fatima, making tapioca!

Tapioca, made from the marioca root.  It's like a powder and it dries up together, making a pancake-like food.  It makes good dessert or dinner!  Ivaneide was sweet and gave me a bag.

Tapioca powder

Kendall LOVES tapioca!

Tapioca with butter.  Num!

Oh the deliciousness of Brasil: Creame Cracker, boloachas, tapioca, e cuscuz.

Trying the succo de maracuja (juice)

Oh, he could NOT get enough!

Oh, bliss!

Happy Easter 2012

Food, glorious food!  Always a delight with Jeremy cooking!

Kendall found an egg!

Harrison's on the hunt

On lookers: Karen (Namaw), Jason, and Brandon

Is there one in here?

Kendall loves his cute little bunny

2 trucks!  Actually, one was for Harrison and one for Kendall.  Harrison deemed the red one for Kendall, the blue one for himself.  That surprised us, since he loves Lightening McQueen.  We figure he's tired of red.

Kendall loves to put things in and out of baskets.  Here he is playing with his basket and eggs.

We love coloring eggs!

Now, which color...?

Towards the end, Harrison was going crazy and putting his whole hand in the dye.

Harrison's hands dyed!

The jewels

Fish!

I swear, there's only one!

Elisha received a gold fish for her efforts at Silent Weekend.  We had been talking about pets, so this was a perfect opportunity for Harrison.  He LOVED it!  His name is...Fish.  We're very original around here when it comes to names.  As I came home with Fish, Jason warned Elisha that when it died, she'd have to be the one to deal with it.  Gold fish are sensitive.  If the water is a different temperature when moved, SHOCK!  Elisha successfully cleaned the container a couple times.  But, a few days later, as Elisha was preparing to head to school, she looked at Fish - his eyes were open and he was just hanging out on the bottom.  Oh, sad!  She quickly wrote a note, and used it to cover Fish.  The note said: So sorry!  Maybe tell him Fish wants to go visit Nemo.  I'll help when I get home.
Harrison's okay, but every once in a while he says, "I think Fish is done at Nemo's house now.  He wants to come home."

Potty Training: Day One

It's time for Harrison to be potty trained. Actually, it's well past time. We tried a couple of times in the past, but since we weren't really set on it, neither was he.

Now it's time. I'm ready, so he better be ready, too. The problem is we waited a little too long and now he is too stubborn to learn. Too bad. He has to learn.

Elisha took Kendall up north for a couple of days, so it's just Harrison and me. What a perfect time for us to focus our attention. In theory.

Day one hasn't exactly been successful. We're trying the total immersion technique. Load him up with all the drinks he doesn't normally get then take him to the toilet every half-hour to see what happens. He gets a reward first and foremost for being dry. If he ever uses the thing, he'll get a reward for that too. The idea here is to reinforce the importance of staying dry.

Here are a few lessons learned from day one:

Lesson One: Don't argue with a kid while his pants are down.

As our day begins, I'm changing Harrison out of his diaper and pleading with him to put on underpants, for he's not really a fan of them. Sometime between begging and showing him that Daddy has underwear too, our closest attempt at hitting the toilet happened. Harrison just let things go and he wasn't wearing anything. Sadly this is the only time today that he didn't wet his pants. He just wet the floor.

Lesson Two: Never trust the timer.

Harrison did finally put on the underpants. They stayed on until about 30 seconds before the second timer went off. While I was cleaning up the mess, the timer chimes and I curse irony.

The timer was just as useful on the next pair of wet underwear. This time the timer got to us in time. It wasn't until we were done with our dryness check and enjoying the reward that Harrison went again.

Lesson Three: Never ignore the timer.

We were playing outside when I realized it had been awhile since we had done a dryness check. Trying to convince a toddler to go inside to stand, yet again, at the toilet instead of playing outside is not a good idea. Sometime during this negotiation, Harrison reminded me that I should have paid closer attention to the timer.

Harrison is in bed now...with a diaper on. We will try again tomorrow. (If this doesn't work, my next plan is to let the peer pressure of kindergarten do the trick!)

The one shining moment today, for me at least, is that apparently potty training scares the poop out of Harrison, or it scares it into him. Day one never had a really messy diaper. Will I be so lucky on Day Two?

Kendall's 1st Birthday Party

Jeremy and Elisha made these!  They're cupcakes!  Elisha did the the sports balls, and Jeremy the soccer ball.

Papa and Harrison having a party horn war.

We held the party at Namaw's clubhouse in Hurricane

Family friend, Tycee Radford and her 1 year old, Brylee

Kendall opening his present!

Of course, Harrison wanted to help.

Fun!  Cars!  He loved all the gifts!

Grandma and Papa McCullough give each of the grandkids Mickey ears with their names on it.  So fun!

Harrison actually wanted to play with one right away.  We did end up opening it.

Kendall eating his cupcake.  He wasn't near as messy as Harrison had been - we learned our lesson.  Kendall sat on Uncle Jeremy's lap and pretty much sucked the cupcake in.  He loved it!

What a sweet boy!  Kendall, we love you immensely!

Having a Ball: Kendall's First Birthday

Happy First Birthday, Kendall!