DARYL HELP!

You may want to not be eating anything before you decide to view this next post...
*to answer many of your questions..it slid down his leg..he wasn't stepping on it lol*






























He has not pooped in his diaper since he first started going on the potty. So this is the first time he's done this and of course it was at nap time, so he must have decided to have at it.

Need I say more.

Fun Times with the McWilliam's Family

*I took this picture from Angie's blog haha. They passed on the bike that Grant learned how to not use training wheels on. It so reminds me of my old pink banana bike from way back..*

The other day, we had Angie and Frank over for lunch to see their new baby girl, Taylor. One nice thing about Daryl's time off is not having to wait for the weekend to plan things with him. We both went to high school with them and our kids get along so well. Here's a few pictures of our fun day :)).

Sweet Boy of Mine

Three is going to be a good year for Corbin! First off, he started pooping on the potty about a week before he turned three and hasn't pooped in his diaper since. He goes about once or twice a day on the potty (although if I just slide down his pants/diaper/pull-up he will dip his tush down into the water as he goes which is really disgusting, so it's much easier to let him strip completely (he will leave his shirt on..he was getting ready for a bath in this picture). He goes pee on the potty all of the time too, but he will still occasionally go in his diaper. I'm just really not ready to put him in big boy underwear just yet. I tried a while back and he really wasn't ready yet. Maybe I'll try in a week or two, but I just can't stand the idea of letting him do it in the house...maybe we'll start outside for a trial run.
Preschool has also been really good for him so far. He will occasionally say, "Mom, I no school", and then he'll say, "I want sheshe school" (sissy's school). When he does see his teacher, he is always happy to see him. I'm so thankful for his therapies he's receiving as well at school. One of his latest phrases is, "Mom, I hode you" (mom, will you hold me). It's a really good thing and I've been enjoying the snuggly phase since he's just now starting to do this and before too long, he won't want to anymore. Many of you remember when he was a baby how unsnuggly he was and how breastfeeding was like a torture session from him since he wanted his own space lol. He is really starting to turn into a mama's boy and I am truly relishing in it :))).

Marley May is 6 months!

All I have to say is this is the last time I ever want a puppy again (she literally was the size of a puppy for about a week and a half). I really didn't want a puppy in the first place, but Daryl was pretty persistent that we get one so we can "mold" her from the beginning. She is probably the most stubborn dog yet, but we still love her. I think she might finally be somewhat potty trained. I haven't caught her peeing on our carpet in about 2 wks (although she is pretty supervised). She does still get pretty rough with the kids and still likes to chew our things (like Tatum's bed skirt and the roman shade in our kitchen above her dog door..what a mess). We have the buzz collar from our last dog (we actually paid $1k for dog training and that is the only thing we got from it). It does seem to help (although it sounds inhumane). I just can't wait for the day she can just come and go in her dog door and we won't have to think twice about leaving her in our house while we are gone (ahh, the days of Bailey Sue). Right now she gets the dog run and a small section (that is gated off) in our kitchen with her bed and food/water so she can come in when she doesn't want to be outside and still be apart of the family when we have people over. She's already 50 lbs and I'm sure she'll probably gain another 10-15 at least before she's done. I need to take her to get spayed since we don't plan on breeding her. I'm just dreading the cone and the dog door..that won't be any fun haha, but I need to get it done before she starts her period..that is SO much worse than the dreaded cone.

So I finally gave in...

I have been cutting Tatum's hair myself since she was about 1 1/2. So all in all, she's probably had her hair cut about 10-12 times in her life (her hair grows really fast and I cut it about every 3-4 months). I have been taking Corbin to get his hair cut since he's been one as well, but cutting boy hair vs. girl hair is something I will just leave up to the professionals. I take Corbin to a really inexpensive salon up the street (well for kids cuts) and they even have a playroom for siblings. So while Corbin was at school, we took her to get it professionally done for the first time. Little did I know that that inexpensive price goes up about $5 when they turn 5. I'm sure within a couple of months, it will grow back to where it was and I will probably continue to cut it myself since I honestly could have done it just as good (and have). I was just sick of the tangles and I'm sure she was as well. I'm just not allowed to cut it short or give her bangs..but we can do long trims. :))

Corbin's Big (Birth)Day Out!

We called up Uncle Dan, Aunt Theresa and Everett yesterday (on a whim) and had them meet us at the Camelback Park-N-Ride to take the Light Rail downtown at 10:30 (kind of a neat idea since Daryl has been an inspector for the Light Rail project for a few years now..this was our first time on it and Daryl's 10,000th lol). We were headed to the Phoenix Children's Museum....

But got out a little bit before to go for a nice walk downtown and take in the sites and stop at a coffee shop. We walked over to Pizza Bianco (voted the best pizza in Arizona..it was on Oprah...and we still need to go back for that). Of course it was closed until 4pm :(.

Then we "finally" (as Tatum would put it) made it to our destination. It was Daryl's first time and my 2nd time back since I had gone months ago with Jenn and her kids. They added a few more things and I think it was definitely more appealing this time around. Corbin didn't throw a single tantrum this time and the extra activities were fun for the kids (I noticed on the directory they still have plans for more activities there). Daryl originally wanted to take the kids to Castles-N-Coasters, but I quickly discouraged him based on Corbin's height and since this was his 3rd birthday day...Needless to say, he was extremely impressed with everything. It was fun hanging out with my brother and his family as well (baby Helena will be here in about 5 or 6 wks!).

Okay, I seriously am going to buy this for the kids (or should I say for myself and the kids lol). Because the tree out back really does grow money you know ;P. You don't even wanna know how much these babies cost...

They didn't have the noodle farm last time I was there. This was AWESOME! There are SO MANY noodles! The moment I went in running after my kids with my camera yelling and pleading (a.k.a. mammarazzi) with them to stop and pose (yeah right lol), I felt like I was young again and almost a little terrified of the noodles for a split second wondered if I would ever get out (Tatum definitely takes after me, although she definitely had no fear of the noodle farm).


Afterwards, we walked some more downtown and they had a supercross dealy going on, so we walked through that, then ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe. Corbin loved that we got to sit in front of a motorcycle. The waiter brought him out a sundae for his birthday too.

As you can see (and am sure are wondering), we did not throw a birthday party for Corbin this year. But this is the year that I bought cakes for my kids instead of making them one. He has finally switched gears from balls (he still loves them) to flashlights and cars/trains. So of course, that is what he got. I ordered the smallest cake I could and just bought the toys to add to it since the lady at the counter told me they wouldn't fit and she couldn't put them on. Well I made it work :). I ordered whipped instead of butter cream and really am second guessing that decision because I keep going by the refrigerator and slicing off another piece of it (I HATE butter cream).

Damn red frosting!
This year, instead of getting him one or two big things and calling it good. I decided to buy a bunch of little things he could open and that I know he would love. He got cheapy flashlights, light up swords/laser guns, speed racer stuff, race tracks...Instead of giving him everything at once. I let him open one at a time all day long. So for instance he got one toy before his birthday breakfast and one after, then when we got home he got another and then 20-30 mins later, another and so on. That way he would take the time to enjoy each one and it made it last really long. I found some really good deals and still ended up spending less than $40 for everything (well not including our day out of course).

I cannot believe he is three now! He is going poop on the potty on a daily basis now. He still pees in his diaper/pull-up, but immediately tells me he needs a new diaper because he wants to be dry. He pees on the potty for his teachers and for me on command. He's loving his school and is turning into such a sweet boy. I definitely think he enjoyed his special day much more than a crazy party (and so did mommy and daddy).

He's a school boy now :)

Back months ago I had Corbin tested at Litchfield Elementary for the special needs preschool program. After his two year well check, the doctor thought something might be off, but when the state came out (after a quickie eval) she said he was fine and I never pursued it. A good friend of mine told me I should pursue it and contact the district about the preschool program and have him tested. Well sure enough he got in. He tested below on speech, social and behavioral. There were a few others like self help skills and things like that, but they never gave me the sheet (I need to try and get a copy). His gross motor skills were pretty high (which I figured). So he will go Mon-Thurs from 7:55-10:45. He will get speech on Tues and Occupational Therapy on Thurs. They said there are 12 boys registered (all 3) with 3 aids, 1 teacher (Mr. Henderson) and then the therapist who will be coming and going. There were only 5 boys there today, so I'm not sure what was going on with that. He did really well on his first day. They had him go potty and he did, so I will start sending him with pull-ups. He loves wearing his backpack around. He wears it to Tatum's school and to bed...I bought it at Pottery Barn and had them put his name on the back. Maybe he'll finally learn that his name is Corbin and not Tatum lol. The best part about this is it is 100% free! He should be caught up just in time for kindergarten which will be excellent!

*Corbin went poop on the big toilet yesterday for the first time..we are so close...I can't wait to be done with diapers*

Okay, so maybe I do have a little Martha Stewart in me :))

So I'm sure you remember from a few posts back when we redid her room. She loves her new house for her Barbie's, but the bed is so cheesy and desperately needed a makeover. A white pillow glued to the yellow mattress and that's it. I had a friend of mine help me with her comforter and pillows (since I don't own a sewing machine and plus, that's what she does for a profession) a while ago and she ended up leaving a few scraps from the flowers. I never threw them away which is good because all I needed to do was go to the craft store and buy some more of the green material, a little more tulle and some of the pink flannel material for the pillow and the flower. I pretty much used all of the same material that her bed used. I cut out the flowers and sewed those on. The rest was all hot glue gun (love that thing). I wasn't planning on using the hot glue gun at all, but the tulle would not lay down and wanted to go straight out. So I cheated a little. I have more plans for the rest of her house. She desperately needs patio furniture lol.