Month of Milestones

This past month we have hit a few milestones that I wanted to share...

4. I am "Bossy"

I have been told quite frequently this last month that I am very bossy. Now I could argue this point and list many reasons as to why I HAVE to be bossy, but I will only share one experience that illustrates my point:

We were getting ready to leave to some friends house for Sunday dinner. I had prepared a salad with a special dressing that was sitting on the counter. Alan was throwing and kicking a soccer ball (full size) around the house. I asked him to please stop playing ball in the house, to take it outside. He told me to quit being so bossy. (We had already had this conversations a couple of times that day) and kept playing. Right then, he kicked the ball and it went up on the counter, tipped over the salad dressing, it spilt all over the floor, and broke the container it was in. Now it wouldn't be such a big deal, but this salad dressing is one that requires the ingredients to be mixed in the blender and then chilled. So I was quite upset and reminded him that there are reasons I have to "be bossy". This was a good experience because we hit a milestone...Alan finally admited that in most cases, I am bossy because I have to be!

3. Back to School

I've decided I function as a "good mom" much better when we are in a routine and on schedule. Although our summer was a blast, the never ending fun had to end....for my sanity's sake! This year I have two children in school, even though Mason is only in preschool, I still have two mornings to run errands with just Jalen. It truly is a milestone when you can enjoy shopping without the chaos and stress that comes with shopping with more than 1 child! Madelyn is now a first grader...getting more independent and smarter every day. Here are a few Madelyn's Firsts in First Grade:

• Learned to tie her shoes...she knew she had to. She was prepped all through kindergarten, being told that first graders had to tie their shoes on their own


• First time with a female teacher...Mrs. Needham who Madelyn absolutely adores. Madelyn spends a lot of time playing school and pretends to be Mrs. Needham, even to the extent of trying to find clothes that look like what Mrs. Needham wore that day


• Some of her first grade favorites are: friend in her class: Serina; friend at recess: Logan; subject or activity during the day: centers (I'm not quite sure what that entails); and favorite lunch: ham and cheese, strawberries, and oatmeal creme cookie


• My first email from Mrs. Needham said about Madelyn, "such a charming, adorable, and hard working first grader. I can always count on Maddy! I'm so pleased she's a part of our class!"

Mason is attending a home based preschool with a lady from church, Christy Mecham. The first day, Ms. Christy had a brunch with the moms to get the little ones comfortable and excited for school. The entire time, Mason hid his face in my lap and wouldn't participate in the activities. He was acting so shy and wouldn't even look or talk to anyone. When it was time for him to go upstairs into the classroom without me, Mason hesitated and was so sad. It broke my heart to leave him upset, but I knew I had to do it. When I came back to get him, he was all smiles and asked all day, "When do I get to go back to school?" Obviously Ms. Christy is an awesome teacher and he absolutely adores her. He looks forward to each school day and hasn't hesitated since.

Here are a few preschool happenings:

• Mason and his friend Ethan are the only boys, with 8 other girls. Mason thinks this is so unfair..."where are all the boys going to school?" he continually asks me.


• Mason insists on wearing his "sketchers" because that's what big kids wear to school, despite the fact that he hates wearing tennis shoes any other time


• Ms. Christy gives the kids play time, during which Mason and Ethan like to stuff toys in their pockets and then bury them in the sandbox


• One day when picking Mason up, Ms. Christy said, "I just love Mason! Can I keep him? He laughs at all my jokes and smiles at me all day!" What a nice compliment!

2. Alan turns 32!

Not that turning 32 is really a milestone year with regards to birthdays, but we are excited for this year...his year of being 32. Alan recently quit his job at The Cad Academy... something that we have mixed feelings about. He spent the last 18 months developing this company from the very start. He worked endlessly and continually sacrificed to get the business up and going...so to leave before the real rewards came was heartbreaking. But we know it was the right thing and the direction we needed to take. The last couple of weeks Alan has had a taste of what life is like from my perspective. One day he said, "Is this really how it is everyday?" My answer was, Yes...EVERY day!" If you can believe this, Alan is anxious to go back to work! Right now he is just trying to decide what direction he wants to take. He is seriously considering entering into the finacial management field...something that he will have to continue to sacrifice and work very hard, but also something that he feels he can control his own future with. Although we are nervous about the future and the unknown that it holds, we are excited that he is embarking on this new adventure. Alan is such a hard worker and very talented in the business world (something of course I would only hear about from co-workers and clients) Despite the challenges, I know he will be successfull in whatever he decides to do. As for this next year...the year Alan is 32, we hope it will be a milestone in his career!






The kids were so excited the morning of Alan's birthday. First thing, we had to make cards and then wake him up to open presents. Because it was fast Sunday I didn't make breakfast and Madelyn was so disappointed. She wanted to surprise her dad with his favorite...waffles with bananas and whipped cream. For sure next year Madelyn!











1. No More DIAPERS!!!




During the first week of school, I discovered that I had a lot of one-on-one time with Jalen. Because he is approaching turning three, the potty-training idea has been on the forefront of my thoughts. I finally decided that no other time will be any better than now to conquer the potty training. The bribes for him were earning a new gun (one just like Nanny has in Utah, which he became very fond of over the summer) and of course candy. They worked like a charm! Within a couple of days he was going potty all on his own. I am thrilled because it has been SIX straight years of having 1 or 2 children in diapers, so this is a huge milestone for me!!
The past few weeks have been very entertaining as Jalen has discovered the facts of going potty. Here are some examples:

* Every time Jalen needs to go potty he yells, "I need to go potty mom! Now! I'm going to pee in my underwear. I am Mom. I'm going to pee in my underwear." At first we new he was recognizing the urgency and wanted me to quickly drop whatever I was doing to help him which was great. But now after 1 month, he continues to yell this...despite what's going on arounds us. It makes me laugh every time.

• On the first day Jalen kept commenting, "It works Mom! It does! It works!"


• Other references he likes to make is, "Look Mom! I'm making a bridge! How come you don't make bridges?" and "Where does this come from? Why do we have to get this out of our bodies?"

• Jalen has decided he likes to be alone when going poop. One day, I left with Alan in charge and came home to find an overflowing toilet with water all over the bathroom floor. Jalen had got carried away flushing toilet paper, creating a huge mess. (Yes, I did let Dad clean it up since he hadn't even noticed what was going on!)


• My favorite...another time I left Jalen alone in the bathroom at his request. After a couple of minutes I went in to check up on him. He was standing up looking down into the toilet saying, "I can't find the poop." I helped him with his pants and didn't think much of it until I could feel one of his arms wet all the way up to his shoulder! He had gone searching for that poop since he couldn't see it (really it just hadn't happened) We had to have a good visit about germs in the toilet and NO TOUCHING!!