Potty Training Boot Camp

So I've been letting Elina take the slow and easy route with potty training where she would just let me know if she wanted to use the toilet, I would take her, we'd do a little dance, and she'd get a treat.  This usually meant she only went once or twice a day on her own free will but was always in diapers.  I finally decided to step up my game (lol) and make the final push and put her in big girl mahi's (underwear).

Things that helped us along the way:
1.  A book called "3 Day Potty Training" that a friend of mine emailed me.  I would highly recommend it to anyone out there who is potty training or wants to.  Love her method and I will use it again.  Elina is our firstborn and the oldest grandchild so I had NO clue what I was doing or what to expect but this book helped me with that.
2.  Rewards system.  I did a sticker chart as well as candy.  Chocolate seemed to work better than fruity candy for Elina.  She tried to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes when we busted out the chocolate!  Lol.
3. PRAISE.  Elina absolutely loves being praised when she does something good.  We called everyone so Elina could tell them all about her progress and also had people visit so they could give her compliments and tell her how proud they were of her.
3.  Small things-letting Elina flush the toilet by herself, washing her hands each time even if it was just a false alarm, letting her turn the lights off, letting her choose what sticker to put up on the chart, and even letting her dig through the candy box even when I knew she'd pick a Hershey Kiss each time.  It made her feel like such a big girl when options were given to her and she was allowed to choose.
4.  Vili.  I could not have done this without Vili's help so, thank you hun for being there every step of the way.  It is so tiring to remain positive when they make mistakes especially after being couped up for 3 days so I'm glad Vili was always willing and ready to give me the breaks I needed to stay sane.

Some pains:
1.  The million false alarms was probably my biggest headache and still is!  It's hard to keep your cool when your child is crying wolf all day just to get a piece of chocolate.  Lol.
2.  Accidents.  Especially when they were my fault for not being attentive!

It has been a little over two weeks now since day one of training and Elina has been doing amazing!  She's had accidents here and there but goes days at a time without one.  She has never wet the bed at night either.  I'm so so so proud of her!  I wish I had more pictures to share but the kids took my phone swimming with them in the bath tub so they're all gone!



I Spy....

More teeth!  Talanoa is growing FOUR molars right now.  Yes, four!  :(  She has been dealing with fever after fever and has been fussy, cranky, congested, and so tired.  I feel so bad for her and wish with everything in me that I could take it all away.  Teeth, hurry up and grow so I can have my Talanoa back!

Top that off with an ear infection and an antibiotic for wheezing.  We took her in to get a prescription for her ear drops and find out she's wheezing too.  Sheesh!  Give my kid a break :(  It's not even winter yet!

Marshall, Marshall, Marshall!

Elina got invited to a birthday party by one of her friends who lives downstairs in our apartment complex.  I put the invitation on the fridge after explaining to her that we'd be going to a birthday party within the next week or so.  Elina would go to the invitation everyday and say, "Mommy, I want to go this one" and I would explain to her that it wasn't time yet.  To make things better Elina would sing Happy Birthday Marshall, wrong tune but right words, all day long.  Always Marshall.  Never Mommy, Daddy, or baby.  Lol.  I hope I can get a video of her doing it because it's so cute and makes me laugh.  Saddest part is we didn't make it to the party because her and Talanoa both woke up with a fever.  Sad!

The 4th

The fourth of July here in Provo is probably the most lively this city gets all year!  Lol.  We got to enjoy some of it by first checking out the Freedom Festival on July 3rd.  We love going there to check out the booths and our favorite part, the different food vendors!  Vili and I both worked the morning of the 4th so we didn't get to visit everyone camping out on University and we didn't get to check out the parade this year.  Let's be real though....it's way to hot for the parade to be enjoyable.  Well, for us anyway!  Lol.  We took Elina last year and only lasted about 30 minutes before we gave in and went home with heat exhaustion and dehyration.  Hahahaha!  When we got off work we spent the afternoon barbecuing on the MTC field with my family and had so much fun!  We were there all day eating, playing, and eating some more while we waited for the Stadium of Fire fireworks show.  Such great spots for the show and even better company!

Walking around the Freedom Festival...

Talanoa wouldn't let go of this caterpillar we bought her.  She loves her stuffed animals!

Molly enjoying popsicles on July 4th

Best aunties ever!  Singing the girls songs to keep them occupied.

It was hilarious watching my mom play volleyball with everyone.  She couldn't stop yelling and laughing and her laugh is so contagious!

Granpa Lemoto bought Elina cotton candy and she couldn't hide her excitement!

Our attempt at a red, white, and blue series was a major FAIL!  Lol.

Glow sticks and funny faces!  Hahaha

 Fireworks show!

Manti Pageant

We finally made it out to the Manti Pageant this year!  Last time we went was when Vili and I were dating like five or six years ago.  It's so fun starting new traditions with our kids.  Everything is so much more fun with them!  It was still crazy to see all the protestors and even the LDS members who took it upon themselves to "bible bash" with them.  Cool part is they weren't allowed to protest once the pageant started.

Of course once it started, the kids couldn't sit still!  They wanted to play, sing, laugh, and who knows what.  Are we really surprised though?  Nope!  Lol.  All I know is that we missed a lot of the play because we the kids were not interested.  Still can't wait to go next year though and every year after that :)

We got there really early to reserve our spots so the girls had lots of time to kill by running and playing before it started.  They didn't mind at all!

 Playing with Dad!

The beautiful Manti Temple.  Hope to do a session there one day!

St. George Getaway

Cheka, Dom, and I went on a girl's trip to visit the lovely Loo sisters!  Thanks so much for having us over.  We all had so much fun and can't wait to do it again!

Day 1:
-left for St. George at 6am!  Yes, we are die hards.  Lol.  We went early to stand in line for free Hairspray tickets and got them!
-got to eat Jack in the Box.  Major plus!  Haha
-went shopping for dinner and breakfast stuff.  Funny part was all of us reaching for different types of milk, bread, everything!  Lol.  Good thing we know how to compromise and no one is high maintenance ;)
-had enchiladas, Mexican rice, beans, and home made salsa for dinner and it was delicious!
-stayed up all night talking stories.

Day 2:

-woke up to the girls talking downstairs at 6AM!!!  I wanted to shoot myself cause my kids don't even wake up that early!  Hahahaha!  But they had to get up early to go get their co-op fruits/veggies.

-made a huge breakfast.

-Dom got her hair dyed by Rachel who is going to a hair school called Hairitage.

-spent the day at the pool relaxing.  I had a melt down because Elina called me crying.  She got scraped on the face and was really missing me and I couldn't hold it in anymore.  Sorry guys for ruining our pool day :/

-got my hair cut by Rachel and I LOVE it :)

-took all of us 3 hours to get ready for the play.  Hahaha!

-had dinner at Pizza Factory.

-watched Hairspray at the Tuacahn theater.

-stayed up allll night talking stories.

Look how cute Amona is!  So glad we got to spend time with him :)  Oh and Cheka, if you're reading this.....thanks for the collages boo boo.  Lol!

Day 3:

-joined the Loo Family for sacrament meeting.

-got Jack in the Box one more time.  Haha!

-headed back to Provo and got to see my hubby and kids again :)