Advenures in Potty Time

We've been talking about the potty for awhile now. Mostly talk, nothing else. Kizzy did go on the potty once, but that was months ago. Today, quite randomly Kizzy wanted to sit on the potty while watching her "Elmo's Potty Time" movie. She was getting very excited about going potty and refused to let me put a new diaper on her while dressing. So with some trepidation I put Minnie Mouse underwear on her. We talked about how Minnie doesn't like to get wet and so if she needs to go peepee, she needs to go on the potty. Well, the first time she needed to go, she stripped of her underwear and went running and climbed into the bathtub where she promptly peed. Thankfully it wasn't on the carpet. And now I know that she knows when she needs to go. The next time she needed to go she just started yelling "UHOH UHOH UHOH!" we weren't near her special potty so I took her to the closest bathroom and held her on the big potty. It scared the crap out of her, only not literally. She would not go until I lifted her down and then she went on the floor. Right now she is napping, in a diaper, but we're going to keep trying. She was very upset when I took her Minnie Mouse off. We'll keep at it for the rest of the day and see how it goes. If she keeps showing interest in trying, who knows, maybe this is it!

FOOD!

Kendal is a good eater. He is also a chunk. At one point he was waking up at night with increasing frequency to eat. When he woke up starving for the 7th time in one night, he got to eat solids the next day. He started out with rice cereal. He now enjoys apples (homemade), carrots (homemade), peaches, sweet potatoes, squash, and prunes. He has been given pears a handful of times and does not like them at all. Funny kid.

4wheeling Up North

Back in October we went 4-wheeling with our extended Holker family up in the north woods of Minnesota. It's where Kyle goes hunting every year. I actually drove my own machine for the first time. But when we went out the second day I was quite content being a passenger.

Our machine got stuck once and I had to walk through ankle high mud with Kizzy strapped on my front. This picture is when I had to change my socks and shoes at the lunch site.

Kendal was so good the whole time. He was his Grandpa's riding buddy the entire trip.

I didn't know how Kizzy would be, but she loved it! She didn't enjoy being strapped into a carrier, but once we were moving she did just fine riding. She loved just wandering around and exploring while we stopped.

It was a life long dream of Kyle's to take his wife and children Up North, something he told me about since our first date. Now that we have been, I can honestly say that we had a great time and we are looking forward to many more years as a family up there.

PICTURES!!

The brother and sister shots turned out great!

I love Kendal's smile and his crazy red hair that no amount of combing will tame.

I think Kizzy just looks so pretty in this one.

Don't I have the cutest kids?

Holker's Law

I'm not referring to Holker Law Office. No, I'm renaming a very famous law. Ever heard of Murphy's Law? You know, the one where if something can go wrong, it does? Well, I renamed Murphy's Law to Holker's Law. I grew up in a family where we planned everything. If we were going on a trip, our itinerary was planned out well in advance and we could often leave before our planned departure time. My first few trips with the Holker family (including day trips) I would get very frustrated with the lack of planning and the spur of the moment attitude. Kyle finally explained to me why there is little to no planning involved, it's because of Murphy's, excuse me, HOLKER"S Law. It doesn't matter when if there is a plan, things happen where spur of the moment it all falls to pieces and everyone has to improvise. I have 2 examples that I will share. 2 weeks ago we went up to the north woods of Minnesota to a resort called AshKaNam (it stands for the Ash River, Lake Kabetogama and Lake Namikin) we were to leave the cities at 2:00 and arrive to AshKaNam about 6:00. We would then unload our stuff, eat dinner and be ready to go 4-Wheeling first thing in the morning. Our day of departure arrived and Kyle went with his dad to pick up the Yukon from the shop where it was being serviced. The yukon is the only vehicle capable of towing my father-in-law's trailer that carries his 4wheelers. Well, the yukon was late in being ready to take and so they didn't get it until about 1:00 (remember, departure time is 2:00). Well, they took the car to go pick up the trailer and get it hitched. Immediately the yukon made loud popping sounds and according to Kyle, he literally thought that the car was going to blow up. So, they got the car back to the shop and we now had no way to tow the 4wheelers up north. You want to know what arrangements were made? Ken borrowed Steve's truck to pull his trailer. Steve then borrowed Kody's jeep to pull his trailer. So, Kody borrowed Joan's jeep to pull his trailer. And Joan borrowed Ken's car to drive while every one was gone. We finally left the cities at about 6:00. We made it about 40 minutes when Ken realized he forgot his meds. So we all waited at a culver's (for you western family culver's is a fastfood burger joint) (and yes, people in Minnesota call people from Utah 'westerners') and Joan drove Ken's meds to us. We made it to the AshKaNam shortly before midnight.
Example number 2:
We were to leave for Kansas City at 8:00 in the morning Kyle and I and our 2 kids were riding with Ken and Paula in their car so we could save on gas. We absolutely had to be in KC by 7"00 because that is when the baptism was. It's a 7 hour drive so we were giving ourselves plenty of leeway. Amazingly we were on the road by 8:30. We made it all the way to Southern Minnesota to a town called Albert Lea when suddenly the car died. (You guessed it, we were in the Yukon and it was fresh from the shop) well, guess what? Albert Lea doesn't have a car rental place! The closest one was 20 miles North. After about a half an hour of trying to figure things out the Yukon got left at a dealership, Kyle and Ken got a ride to the rental car place because it was cheaper to rent 2 cars vs. 1 minivan and Paula and I took the kids to a restaurant. Turns out the Yukon is going to be in Albert Lea for weeks and we arrived at my nephews baptism with about 5 minutes to spare so we changed into church clothes in an empty classroom. It is actually a talent to learn, being able to go with the flow. You have to keep your cool and be able to think on your feet. Dealing with situations last second is actually a valuable lesson to learn and while I still prefer to plan well in advance, I can understand why sometimes the Holker family doesn't bother to. They often just have to wing it anyway.

Teddy Grahams

I just dressed Katherine in her pajamas. They are the kind that are one piece with the feet on them. Anyway she was snacking on teddy grahams and suddenly started yelling and frantically trying to pull her pajamas off. Upon investigation I found collected down near her ankle, handfuls of teddy grahams. She had dropped them down the neck of her pajamas and fell and started piling up in her leg with no way to escape because of her feeties. It gave me a good laugh and hopefully it gave you one too.

Family Portrait

After over 50 pictures taken, we have 1 where Kizzy is looking at the camera and not screaming. It's not my favorite of myself or Kyle, but Kizzy is looking in the right direction so this is our official family picture this year. And to just think I get to go through this again when I get her 2 year old portraits done. Oh well, Kendal looks cute at least.

Playground

Every few weeks Kyle has appointments with clients all over the state. If he's visiting a client in a town that has some attractions, we go along with him and after his appointment we visit whatever that town is offering. During his appointment the kids and I have to keep ourselves busy. Sometimes we find a walmart and walk around. Last time we did that we played I spy and tried to find Minnie Mouse. Kyle's last appointment that we went along with we found a park just down the street and decided to play there. It was a beautiful Autumn day.

Kizzy loves swinging and thought it was funny to have her bear swing next to her. After a few swings though, she was much happier holding him while she was swinging. I couldn't get a picture of this, but I sat on a swing next to her and held Kendal on my lap while I swang. He loved it! He was lauging out loud and getting really excited. It was so cute. That little baby loves being out side.

Kendal had a blast sitting in his carseat while I tried to keep up with his sister. He loved the wind blowing in his face. I have a feeling that in less than a year he'll really keep me on my toes.

Hats and Carseats

So the title of this blog is pretty self explanitory.