Braxton's 3-year-old Pictures

My cousin's wife, Kayleigh Searle, did Braxton's pictures this year and she did an amazing job!  Braxton is so high energy, especially at parks, so it is hard to reign him in to get a good picture.  I was so happy we got so many cute ones.  Here are my favorites:

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend, all of Brian’s family came down to Orem and we had so many fun things planned. And then of course, it was SO rainy! Brian’s sister recently got married and it was so nice to get to know her new husband and his two sons. Brian’s brother also brought his girlfriend and her three kids and it was nice to meet them as well. Braxton and Briella went from having no cousins on this side of the family to 1 cousin on the way and 5 step-cousins within the last 6 months.  It was so fun for Braxton to have some buddies!

Saturday we headed up to Hogle Zoo. We were there for only an hour or so before it started pouring rain. Briella and I took refuge in the car while the rest of the group ran from exhibit to exhibit. Braxton was glued to the glass at every turn. We definitely need to go back when it is better weather!

Later that day we headed over to one of the hotels to do a little swimming since it was so cold outside.

Then that night, Grandma and Chris watched all the kids so the ‘adult kids’ could go out to dinner.

On Sunday afternoon, we played board games and went to the park to feed the ducks and play on the toys to get the kids out of the house.

Finally, on Monday the weather was warm enough to go to Seven Peaks.  It was so fun to feel the sun and go down some slides.  After we were done swimming, everybody headed home.  It was a great weekend of good food and fun family bonding time!

Potty Training

Honestly, I have been dreading potty training since before I was pregnant with Braxton. I have been putting it off for the last few months because I haven’t been ready, even though he’s been ready for a while. For the last few months, I have been telling him every day about the advantages of not wearing diapers, such as being able to go to school, potty training prizes, wearing cool underwear, etc. Finally, one day he turned to me out of the blue and said, “So mom, if I go potty on the toilet, I can get a truck (toy truck), go to school, AND wear underwear?” I was shocked that it was finally getting through, and replied, “Yep!” “Huh, okay” he said. At that point, I knew I couldn’t procrastinate any longer and we went for it a few days later.

The first day we had a few accidents, but in general, he knew he wasn’t supposed to go in his underwear and was holding it until the point of pain. Within two days, he had pee completely figured out and wasn’t even using the little seat. By the weekend he was going in public restrooms and even standing up. Poop was a little harder. I don’t think he could tell what that urge felt like. It was endless days of running to the bathroom with a mess already in the underwear—ten times a day—and then refusing to push the rest out once we were there. I just don’t think he ever paid attention to what he was doing before, so it took him a while to realize what the urge was and to learn how to hold it until he could get to the bathroom. So, it took about a month before we had success in that area and we haven’t turned back.

This summary makes it sound like it was easy. But, it truly has been one of the hardest things I have done since delivering this sweet boy. Potty training was hard emotionally, physically, and mentally. But, success has sweetened the deal and it has been a couple weeks now of no accidents at all. Here's a few pictures of what our life was like for a month.  No pants, blankets protecting the floor, and all.

Mother’s Day St. George Getaway

For Mother’s Day weekend we drove to St. George to visit my parents.  We had so much fun hanging out by the pool.  Brian took Braxton to the driving range for the first time and Grandpa took Braxton to a fun park.  It was a great trip and it was so nice to spend Mother’s Day with my mom.

Braxton’s 3rd Birthday

April through June seem to fly by every year. April is full of birthdays, May is full of doing lots of things with Brian since his busy season starts to slow down and Mother’s day, and June has birthdays, our anniversary, and Father’s day. Whew! I’ll try to catch up the blog this week before we go traveling for the fourth of July.

After Easter, we started planning for Braxton’s 3rd birthday. He is so spoiled and we came up with a great idea for his party this year. The day before his birthday, Grandpa and Grandma Foster came up from St. George. We spent the afternoon at Provo Beach Resort and then they gave him real golf clubs.

His birthday was on Sunday, so we didn’t really do much celebrating.  But we did give him the big present, his bike.  He was so excited when he saw it, then nervous and frustrated when he started riding.  He loves it now and rides really well.

The next Saturday we had Braxton’s birthday party.  Since we knew he was getting golf clubs, we decided to do a golf party.  We had club sandwiches, ‘golf ball’ cake pops, and gave clubs, balls, and visors as party favors.  It was a great party and everything turned out so cute.

Easter

Since I have started using the iPhone app, Instagram, my blogging has been slacking. It is so easy to just snap a picture and photo document life on a daily basis from my phone. So, anyone who reads this blog, wants to know more about our lives, and has an iPhone start following me on Instagram!

We celebrated Easter by ourselves this year. It was quiet and relaxing, which is nice in its own way. The kids looked so cute in their Easter church clothes. The Easter bunny didn’t come until after naptime since our church was 9 am this year. Then we had a small egg hunt mostly for Braxton since he is really into it. Our Easter dinner was grilled steaks and asparagus with garlic mashed potatoes. It was delicious! Here are some of our favorite pics:

St. George Getaway

March went by so fast! We played out front in the yard and did everyday chores and errands, but nothing really exciting until the last week when I took the kids and headed down to St. George to spend a week with my parents. We had so much fun and were sad to come home. Here are some of the things we did:

Golfing in the yard

 Going to the Washington Rec Center

 Chilling in the swing with Grandma

Hot tubbing with Grandpa

Briella sitting? Crazy

 Grandpa & Grandma with all the grandkids

 Early Easter egg hunt with cousins

The kids were too excited to look up from their loot for a picture

 Lucky photo accident—look at that face!

General Conference weekend was amazingand it was nice to be home with Brian. On Sunday, we drove up to Lewiston, UT to Brian’s sister’s home for their ‘gender reveal’ party. It was so good to spend some time with Brian’s family.

The cake was blue!

 Braxton is excited to have a boy cousin