Mom and Dad

Hyrum often calls us mom and dad now.

Just all of a sudden and all in his own accord. On occasion we still get mommy and daddy, but only once in a while.

Yet another reason why my little buddy is not so little anymore...

Lesson Learned

Potty training Hyrum 2 1/2 weeks after i gave birth to Halia was no easy task. It was frustrating, disgusting (poop accidents), time-consuming and just all around annoying.

But he was pretty much potty trained within a week and it made life A LOT easier not having to worry about his diapers.

Until about a two months ago (after 4months of already been officially potty trained) when he regressed. And he regressed BIG TIME! From having zero to two accidents a day to accidents after accidents after accidents.

I was LIVID!!!

And after a month of no improvements, I have had enough! I decided that back to diapers he shall go coz I am not cleaning another accident and repeating myself again on where pees and poops go.

I know that he understands me and I know that he knows where he is suppose to do his thing BUT I think he was doing it for attention and such.

So we went out to buy diapers the next day and realized how expensive they are. So we decided to finish up his pull-ups (it's like an underwear but with diaper like absorbency, for those that don't know) first since we have those at home already.

So the next day I got him in his pull-ups first thing in the morning instead of just normal underwear and a few minutes later I heard him rushing to his potty. I peaked in and sure enough he was in there peeing.

I thought, "what a fluke!" but NNNOOOO. He didn't have any poop accident and maybe only a couple of pees that day. And same goes for the days after that.

So with that I learned my lesson on how to parent my stubborn little soldier...

Nagging will get us no where. I need to trust him that he knows what he is meant to do and if I give him some independence (rather than breathing down his throat every 20 minutes) he will obey.

Let's all hope I remember to apply this lesson every day.

What's Going On?

Well that was quite a long break now wasn't it.

I wish I could say that I did something incredulous over my period of blog absence, but, sadly I was just probably wasting time doing something else.

Anyways, what's new?

Wellllll...Nothing really. I'm just pretty much living each day cherishing my babies little lives.

I can't believe I've been doing this stay-at-home mom thing for over a year now. It has been quite a roller coaster ride! I can even declare it as the happiest time of my life as well as the most depressing where I've felt more vulnerable and insecure than I have ever felt before.

But, I wouldn't have it any other way.

My kids drive me nuts! And they probably will forevermore. But that is why I had them, to keep life interesting. To witness God's miracles every day. I love them for driving me nuts! And I will probably miss these terrible twos and clingy baby years when they're all grown up (say teenager years) when it's gone.

It is a privilege in which I am eternally grateful for to have been entrusted with two beautiful children of God (plus a few more hopefully NOT anytime soon).

As for life in general, we have done a few minor changes.

With two gallbladder stones attacks a couple of months ago, we decided that we needed to make some changes to improve our health, esp food wise. Both Maverick and I do not having insurance right now so any medical emergencies would be paid out of pocket. Which would deeply hurt our budget and our very little savings. Healthy eating should decrease our chances of getting any sicknesses, so we have been filling our tummies with more fruits (which I don't mind at all), veggies, healthy homecooked meals and less fast foods. The occasional dinner out still happens but at least we are becoming more aware of our food intake. Which is always a good trait.

We were also called as Nursery leaders in our church (lds.org) which I must admit is both good and bad. Good because it is quite an enjoyable calling but bad coz it's hard looking after 11 toddlers! Plus Hyrum is in there too and he is the naughtiest one.

Maverick is chugging along with his studies and still working full-time at the hospital. He will finally be applying for grad schools starting in August so it's all very nerve wracking. We should hopefully know our next home by January. And it's all very exciting and scary coz the array of schools that he has picked out are all very very foreign to me (well I am a foreigner after all). From the 'ok I can see it' (Arizona, Nevada, Washington DC, Georgia), to the 'hmm ok I guess' (Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania), to the 'are you serious?!?' (Alaska, Israel!).

So I guess we will see what the future holds. I am up for anything as long as we are safe, together, happy and taking steps forward.

Whats Up with Hyrum

A lot has happened with little big boy since I last posted. It is impossible to catch up, but for my own sake, I'm going to try at least a lil bit.

Of course, Hyrum is as crazy , hyper and mischievous as ever. He is the epitome of "The Terrible Twos". He lives and breathes naughtiness every single minute that he is awake. 

It's getting a lot harder for him to listen and follow directions because he wants to always be so independent. I pray all the time that I get more patient with how I deal with him coz I HATE the feeling that I get after yelling or smacking or telling him off.

On the other hand, he is also a very sweet boy who still makes my heart melt with every huggas (dats was he calls hugs) and kisses and never ending cuteness.

He is a wonderful big brother (most of the time) and also gives Halia plenty of hugs and kisses. He is very protective of her specially when other kids are around. But sometimes he can be over protective and end up hurting her like when he sees her putting something (like paper) in her mouth and he snatches it from her saying "Heeya! Don't play with that!)

His imagination is as big as sun! Maybe even bigger. He loves to play pretend fishing, pretend rocket/airplane/helicopter, pretend blow candle and eat cake, pretend baseball/football/basketball, and when he encounters a problem he often calls "Oh Tootles!" to get a mousekatool to help him out. Like Mickey Mouse from the show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which he loves). It's pretty fun to watch it unless we are included then our own imaginations are challenged.

He LOVES to sing! And he adds his own little tune to it and makes it his own. I think a career as a singer is very slim though.

Thats an exercise band that Mav put on him and he proudly wore making faces.

This child can also be soooo funny! I need to make more of an effort to record the funny things he says and do. It will be pretty cool to look back on it later. For example, right now he loves the word LOVE.

Hy: Mommy whats that?

Me: A freezer

Hy: I LOVE freezers.

Me: Really? Why?

Hy: Coz I LOVE pothicles (popsicles)

Me: OK, I gotta change Heeya's bumbum coz she pooped.

Hy: Can I see?

Me: Why do you wanna see Heeya's poop?

Hy: Coz I love it!

Me eating a piece of toast with avocado.

Hy: You love that?

Me: Uh Huh. You want some?

Hy: No. I dont love it. Its yucky.

Me: No its not. Its yummy. Try it.

Hyrum gags.

Ok those weren't really funny but as I said, Ill try harder.

Hyrum's second EVER haircut. And theyre looky likeys!

Alright, that's all for now...

Doesnt he look so grown up in this pic?

What's Up with Halia

Well this little lady is a month shy of her half-birthday. In simpler words, she is now 5 months old!!! 

Ooooiiii! Its going by too fast!

She is a pro at:

- being cute.

- holding her own bottle.

- scooting and rolling over and over and getting stuck under the couch, under her swing, under her jumper gym thingy, or against the tv cabinet.

- eating mommys yummy homemade baby food.

- giggling.

- bathtime.

- sucking her toes.

- drooling and soaking everything that comes near her mouth.

- getting everyone's attention by crying, laughing or squealing.

- wrapping daddy around her little finger.

She is doing good at:

- army crawling.

- putting her binky in her mouth.

- getting those two front bottom teeth to come out.

- grabbing and scrunching our face, especially the nose.

She needs to work at:

- sleeping on her own.

- sleeping through the night.

- taking naps without being held.

- sitting.

- loving (or even just liking) her car seat.

- saying mama (Hyrums said "dada" first so she needs to say "mama" first so Mav and I are even).

- telling mommy EXACTLY what she wants instead of just crying about it.

Although it may take 21 years for her to be a pro on that last one, maybe even more.

According to our house scale she is 17 lbs 4 oz! What a chunksters!

She has a special loving look for Hyrum and it is pretty sweet. She is starting to really interact with him and it is really great to see.

Her official nickname is Heeya or Heeya Mia since that is what Hyrum calls her. She can be quite a handful sometimes but I think I am just destined to have wild children.