Addyson turned 3

Addyson is a big girl!  She even was potty trained before she was 3.  December is a busy month for this little girl, her birthday only being 3 days before Christmas, she gets it all confused.

She got a Christmas colored cake.

Showing off her care bear birthday gifts.

I can't believe she is three!

Addyson has a strong personality.  She knows what she wants and finds a way to get it.  She is cute and she knows it.

She likes to dance and sing, she often makes up her own words to songs.

She mimics things that we say in question form.  So if you say "eat your dinner please", she will repeat you and say "eat my dinner?" all confused sounding.   She does this all day long.

She loves stuffed animals and has to have all of them to sleep (just like her mom use to).

She is the most helpful when it comes to cleaning, she loves to help me do laundry, the dishes, clean toys, you name it she loves to help.  In fact she helped me vacuum up a few clothes the other day, shredded some of her panties. It's funnier now that a few weeks have past HAHA.

She is a tease and makes Drake cry sometimes, just cuz she can.

She fell in the toilet onces, now every time she goes, she tells me, "mom I don't wanna fall in the potty."

She is a great eater, and is almost taller than her brother.

She changes her outfit 2-5 times a day, I am always picking up clothes....total girl problem

Apples are her favorite food, she asks for them at least 2 times a day.

When I work out she does everything she can along with me and she begs to go out and run with me.

She is stubborn and wins most arguments

She loves to be held and snuggled.  She has had a hard time since Lex joined the family because I can't hold both of them.

She is a great big sister and a big helper.

She is a total Daddy's girl, but she is stuck with me most the time.

Happy Birthday Addyson, we love you!

Santa 2014

At the Kunz Christmas party I LOVED catching up with my extended family, I had so much fun. Time spent with family is always a great gift. 

And of course we got to hang with Santa. Drake was jumping up and down when Santa came down the stairs. I wish I would have recorded it. :)

Double Trouble

First off I'm a little embarrassed writing this, mostly because I compare 

myself WAY too much to other people. YES, I took a long time before even attempting to potty train. 

Last year before Drake turned 3, he was pretty much potty trained. I never could get him to go #2 in the potty!  For three weeks he only had one accident a day, always #2.

 I tried everything I could think of. Asked advice, but it never clicked. I figured he just wasn't quite ready for it. 

Then January came and I was traveling to school, my kids were going to a sitters, so back in diapers he went. 

And for me changing diapers isn't too bad,there are worse things.

School ended and I was sick, tired, and pregnant. In T - 3 months I would have a new baby, I was terrified of regression. So I put off potty training again, I was glad because we ended up moving AND having a baby. 

On a side note both big kids slept in our bed quite a bit the first month of moving. I don't know if it was the baby, moving, or both. They had so many night terrors, I never thought it would end. We had to have a toddler bed in our room for Addy for two months because she wanted to sleep in our bed and that was the solution. So she slept in her bed in our room and it was a relief. Slowly she went back to her room! 

On thanksgiving we were with my family, my sister Anne Marie, made my kids a deal. She told them she would let them pick a toy from toys R us if they got potty trained. They wanted to start immediately.

The next day with them being very motivated we started. I was very reluctant, I have a two-month-old and I don't really have time to be watching them go potty all day. My goal was to start potty training when Lex needed me less. But they were ready, so I wasn't going to say no.

To my surprise Drake didn't have an accident for the first two days. But on the third day he had to go number two....and I was back to the same problem as last year

Basically, I had them only in underwear or unders as the kids call them, sometimes a shirt too. I timed potty trips, gave mini peanut butter cups when they went potty. 

Addyson had never trained at all. After staying on the potty most of the morning she finally peed and finally understood what muscles to control. She had a few accidents but she would stop the flow and run to the bathroom. So no major clean up. She was completely trained in a week. She was such a breeze. She knows when she needs to go. One problem is when she doesn't have a potty seat she gets scared, so we bring it with us for now. 

Week two, Addy was doing wonderful, Drake always managed to sneak away and have an accident every other day. I again was asking everyone's advice. I always kept him in my sights. No luck. The day after his birthday I was helping Addy go and they tend to have similar schedules. So I called his name...no answer. I ran around till I found him hiding behind the couch. He was working on it but I got him in time. I made him sit until he went potty. Just like I thought, once he relized he wasn't doing something naughty it clicked. A week and no accidents. Whoop! Whoop!

I'm writting this because I finally feel like we are in the clear. And I'm pretty darn excited. Drake has peed the bed twice total and both times he fell asleep and we put him to bed, so he didn't have a chance to go before bed.

Even though I was grumpy at first, I'm excited now. I  feel like I'm always forgetting something because I only change Lex and it's plain weird. I'm sure they will get their Toys R Us trip any day now.  For some reason aunt bribery is the most effective kind ;)

Personally this milestone is one of the hardest. All you parents that have done it are simply rock stars! It was nice to get two done at once. I did the same work with double the results :) 

When Addy went #2 we let her pick out a new pack of unders. She wanted hello kitty!  Drake got Cars underwear!

This is how they dress most of the time, no pants! No pants, are the best kind of pants,  in my opinion. 

The other day Drake found the flap on the front of his underwear and it thought it was cool to let it all hang out! HAHA :D

Drake Turned 4

WOW!  I remember being pregnant with this little stud and thinking he wouldn't ever come, now he is 4.  He is such an amazing little boy.  

Weighing in at 33.4 pounds (at home),  he is a shrimp for his age, his sister is as tall as he is. 

He is a tease, and loves to say just kidding.  

He has quite the smile, and for sure the cutest laugh. 

He is content to play alone or with his siblings.  But I think he prefers to be off on his own.  

He loves anything to do with a motor (he gets that from daddy). 

 I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but when he prays at night, he will thank his father in heaven for his cars and go on and ask to bless them.  He never lets you finish a prayer without mentioning his cars.  

He loves Legos (he is just all boy).

He loves to sit and watch Kade fix things, he wants to help and hand him tools.

He loves all things outdoors, fourwheelers, doing chores with grandpa, motorcycles, bikes, dirt, dogs, animals, playing, the list goes on.

He was excited that he matched with grandpa.

When he gets tired, he will tell me he is tired and go take a nap or go to bed.

He is so sweet,kind,and very good at sharing.  

He still cuddles with his mama.

He is smart, he memorizes things well, like the words to songs, especially church songs.  

He never forgets, if you make him a promise he will remember.

He loves sugar, his favorite food is cookies right now.

We live by the train tracks and he is fascinated by the trains.  

We love you so much Drake, thanks for being a part of our family.

So excited for his monster cake, that had a cookie in his mouth, his favorite treat.

blowing out his candle, sister helping.