Ixnae on the ottypae

Multiple times per day Mackayla will tell me "pee." And want me to take her to the bathroom. 

And now she will sit down and go.  

She mostly just loves to grab pieces of toilet paper and throw them in. 

Yesterday I sat her on then decided she had had enough fun and got her off. She protested. Put her back on. off. on. off. Finally she went and let me take her off. But in between there I gave in and like a little toddler myself exclaimed "I don't want to potty train you!" She peered at me unconcerned. I'm sure that didn't deter her at all.

We have a LOT of traveling in our near future and I would prefer to do it with diapers. Is that so wrong? I am abundant with my praise...but I'm not going to encourage it yet:)
Yep. Way too little for me.
But she thinks she's big.

Update:
Last night as we were trying to finish some stuff up with the kids before we sent them to bed
Mackayla started begging to go "pee."
I tried to tell her later
But she persisted
I finally took her in and told her I would be back
She was great with that
When I came back she told me to go
I came back a minute later and she had pooped too
I think she's got this under control
Still. Not ready.

Easter Weekend and the Missing Basket

We crammed as much as we could into our little Easter weekend.

Dying eggs is always necessary.

(Somehow I'm going to have to remember next year that I need to hard boil a lot more eggs than I think I need to.)

 And, we had these tonight, a yummy way to eat our hard boiled eggs!

The kids each found their easter basket and a little gift.

Mackayla seems to like 'babies,'

Cody got a flip shot thing

  Macey got a game. But I don't think it's a real hit.

 We tried to get cute pictures.

And everyone looks cute, at different times.

2013

I can't believe how big they've gotten since last year.

I think Macey is wearing the same sweater:)

2012

 The sun was out and since it's Oregon we haven't seen it in a while. 

It was such a beautiful weekend!!!!

 Macey was overwhelmed with the brightness. 

 We went to the city egg hunt.

It started at 10:00. I pulled out my stroller and piled the kids in at 9:50 as we ran over to register.

The age groups were 0-3, 4-5, and 6-7. Since I can't be in three places at once we opted for happy medium. Cody has only been six for 2 months anyway.

 Notice Macey does not have a basket. Usually so responsible, she accidentally left it in the car

but she wasn't too worried. We decided she could put her eggs in Cody's basket.

Once the mahem started it was hard to stay together though!

 Luckily it started a little late. Just as they were about to yell go Ben had finished work, called and came running over to join the fun. He made it a minute after the hunt started.

We noticed a photographer out in front of everyone but hadn't paid too much attention to him until he introduced himself and said he got the perfect shot for the newspaper story.

What a fun memory to have captured from someone else's perspective.
(And if you notice an orange sweatshirt behind the girl in black and white, Cody pointed out that that is him:)!)

 The kids also got to have another egg hunt at Macey's friends' birthday party at the gym!

 Easter Sunday was another beautiful day with yummy food at a friend's house.

I am in the middle of Jesus the Christ.

I love that book and wish I could just go into hiding and read it until I finish.

I think it's a great way to really appreciate this holiday.

We also hit the coast on Friday. This should be a different post. But it's not.

 It was pretty chilly

 We found a bunch of sea anenomes and I was showing Mackayla how they were squishy and moved when you gently touched them. She wanted to feel it and squashed it. I felt bad for the little guy!

bridge over to the Newport aquarium

 Puffin

  

 Catching fish 

 Back home it was sunny and warm again and we sat out and basked in

the sun.

Mackayla took over my camera, phone and keys.

You Have Your Hands Full

Shopping with all three kids here will always, guaranteed, every time, get this response:
"You have your hands full!"
From at least two people.
Every time.
I mostly just politely laugh; in my mind I'm thinking three is not that many and they're not that close together.
They are right, it's a little chaotic, but in a good way. I wonder if they see it that way.

Depending on the section of the store someone sees me in determines if I'm proud or embarrassed.
Usually I'm proud as we first enter
and Macey starts yelling that she wants more fruit and more veggies.
Not proud that she isn't speaking in a normal volume, just proud she sounds like a healthy eater.

For some reason the volume of her voice can only be a yell in a grocery store.

Then I get more and more embarrassed as we near the candy section and she and Mackayla begin yelling that there is candy. And they want it.

Last time Macey stood up in the cart held her arms out wide and yelled at the top of her lungs "I want more and more candy!" like she had hit the jackpot.

People in Oregon are so healthy. I'm surprised they sell candy at grocery stores, let alone let young children have more and MORE of it.

Mackayla is becoming 'helpful.'

She is still easily distracted too.

If she comes to me really annoyed I can ask her to help me and she forgets all about her problem.

The other day I grabbed the first thing I could find and asked her to put it away. A random bowl in the kitchen. She knew right where it went.

She calls Cody "Co. Wee." and Macey "May. Ee."

Yesterday we made cookies.
Standing on her little chair by the dough she looked up at me and said
"I try it?"
"Sure." I said.
"OK."
Then I stopped and asked her and Macey, "Did you just talk to me?"
Has my baby been talking to me or is this her first sentence? I don't know.
It is cute though.

She's pretty laid back. But if you cross her you will be mortally wounded, especially if you are Macey.
She's pretty tough and can shake off a fall pretty well.

Yesterday she changed her outfit six times. Ben thinks I am doing too much of her laundry because she grabs clothes out of her drawers all the time; so I should put child locks on. If he does it that's great, otherwise I will just let her change. She's usually really dirty anyway:)

A Date

Ben and I went on a date on Saturday.

(Can you see us? We snapped a pic in the theater without a flash.)

We've been on lots of dates.

But this was our first time getting a babysitter, instead of the graces of parents or friends, so it's document worthy.

We're growing up;) and Ben is finding time! (he was technically on back up call but nothing came, phew!)

I'm always up for trying new and random things and had a list of places I wanted to try.

Instead we decided to go to Dairy Queen and got a blizzard and went and saw Life of Pi.

There's something good about tried and true, especially for Ben who likes it simple and predictable. I'll take those when they're with him. Nothing beats a good blizzard and a good movie.

And sweet sleeping kids when you get home:)

Soap Trick

A Tip

Buy a Bath and Body Works Foaming Soap.

Enjoy it.

 When it runs out fill with a few tablespoons of regular refill soap.

And fill the rest of the way with water.

A trick I learned from a smart friend at school.

If you have them, add some lemon essential oils, a natural disinfectant that smells great.

At this rate, your soap will never ever run out!