Moving On Up...

We have some exciting news!! We are moving (AGAIN)!! We have been tossing around the idea of moving to UT for a few months now. With Verizon it's pretty painless all you have to do is request a transfer and within a few days it gets approved and within approximately a month you are on the road!!

We weren't sure we were quite ready to make the move until last week when we found out the house we are renting is being sold as a pre-foreclosure short sale. We decided this was the time for us to make the big move. We didn't want to deal with the time or expense of moving someplace else here in AZ and then again to UT so we took a leap of faith and we're packing up our stuff and moving! I also didn't want to find out when I was eight months pregnant that a sale had gone through on this house and we need to move... so this is really the best thing for us!

We're excited, a little nervous but mostly just thrilled! We feel like there will be so many possibilities for our little family in UT! We're both excited to see friends we haven't seen in years and for all of the things you can do in UT. And we're SO excited for the beauty of the mountains and the quaint houses!

We feel so blessed to have this opportunity!!

Potty Training

So last week I decided that I wasn't going to buy any more diapers. So Tuesday we had just enough to get through the day. So through out the day as we were changing diapers we were counting down and I would tell Oliver how many diapers we had left and that tomorrow he was going to use the big boy potty! We dabbled in potty training a little (took a very passive approach just to get him more interested in it) before I got pregnant but since I've been feeling so yucky it got put on the back burner! But since Wednesday morning we've been in full potty training mode!

Wednesday we had about a 50/50 success to failure rate. Yesterday we had 2 successes and a lot of failures. Today is about like yesterday. I'm learning that Oliver is trying to be in control of the situation. He's very interested in his big boy underwear which is good! We had one HUGE breakthrough yesterday evening. I finally decided to bring his little potty chair out of the bathroom. We have a loft upstairs where all of Oliver's toys are and where we do most of our hanging out and t.v. watching. So I just set the potty seat out there. When I brought it out he sat down on the potty and watched t.v. for quite a while. He didn't got to the bathroom at that point but about 15 minutes after he had gotten up he ran back to the potty and sat down. I didn't say anything just observed. After a couple of minutes he stood up and looked inside and had gone #1 and #2! It was a very proud moment since he didn't have to be told to sit down and just did it on his own! We're having him go underwearless while we're upstairs too because yesterday after an accident we left him naked and about an hour later he begged me for some underwear... within 30 seconds of having them put on he had peed in them. So we're going comando! :)

We've definitely got our work cut out for us. But we're on the right track! Last night Berto went to put a pull up on him before bed (not ready to go without anything yet for sure) Oliver had a HUGE fit because he wanted to wear big boy underwear to bed... Berto compromised and Oliver got to wear his big boy undies on top of his pull up. Whatever works I guess! :)

Finally The Graduation Post!

Berto graduated from the University of Phoenix on May 8, 2010! I am such a proud wife! He has worked so hard over the past two years to get his bachelors degree while working full time supporting our family! He took on the task of getting his degree and I was still able to stay home and care for Oliver. What a blessing that was! I am so proud of his hard work and determination to accomplish this great task!

We are looking forward to many doors opening for him now! Here are some fun pictures from the day! It was nice. My mom, my brother Donnie and Berto's parents were all there with us!

It must be this pregnancy because I'm not usually emotional about things like this but I couldn't not control the tears during the processional and half of the ceremony! I was such a cry baby! We got super lucky. It was an early morning for us and I was worried I'd end up missing the ceremony having to chase after a busy toddler, but luckily for me after the grads were in the stadium Oliver climbed into my lap and fell asleep for the entire two hour ceremony! That was such a blessing!

IT was a great day! I'm so proud of you babe! You did it!!!!!!!!

Attack of the Bees

Yesterday my mom told us that she saw a huge beehive in a tree next to the drive through at our local Jack In The Box. We were curious and decided to check it out on our way to Berto's parents house yesterday afternoon. That is what is in the picture above.

While we were at Berto's parents we went into their backyard like we usually do. Our backyard is ALL rock so Oliver always runs straight out there when we go to Berto's parents. Thankfully Oliver and all of us were still on the porch (which is not typical usually Oliver starts running laps around the entire backyard). But yesterday he was smelling some of the flowers on the back porch. All of a sudden (within maybe two minutes of us getting into the backyard) there were hundreds and hundreds (maybe thousands) of bees swarming the backyard. Thankfully we were right by the door and were able to quickly get back inside. For about 30 minutes we watched these bees swarm the backyard. Then we noticed something that looked EXACTLY like what we saw at Jack's in the peach tree in Berto's parents backyard. About an hour later we noticed that it looked like there really wasn't a hive in the peach tree. Berto's dad went out to investigate and sure enough there wasn't. We're pretty sure it was just hundreds of bees all clustered together in the tree branch.

Our curiosity got the better of us and we drove back by Jack in the Box and the "hive" was gone from that tree too. We're pretty sure it was the same thing (maybe even the same bees because it's less than a mile away from Berto's parents) and they had just clustered in that tree also.

That was literally a scene from a nightmare for me. I am terrified of bees. It was crazy to see though. Here's a little video clip that Berto took of all the bees swarming the backyard. After Berto took this video even MORE bees came. It was seriously crazy.

My Picky Eater

So Oliver is the most picky eater in the history of picky eaters. This is a typical (ok this is every single day of his life because he won't eat anything other than these things)

Breakfast: Cereal and milk
Snack: some kind of fruit or crackers
Lunch: Either a quesadilla with jack cheese (no yellow cheese) or chicken and some fruit or carrots
Snack: Yogurt, fruit or crackers depending on what else he's eaten that day.
Dinner: Whichever he didn't eat for lunch either chicken or a quesadailla (and sometimes a hot dog because he will eat those and sometimes I'm just tired)

That's it. The ONLY veggie he'll eat are carrots. Fruit he'll eat apples, bananas, grapes, pears, watermelon and cantaloupe. (And today FINALLY for the first time EVER I got him to take a bite of an orange and he was begging for more up until JUST TODAY he has refused to try orange).

He won't eat past, he won't try any kind of meat other than chicken, not ground beef, not pork, not fish. He won't eat eggs. He won't eat toast. He won't even eat pizza.

I'm venting this because from time to time I get a bee in my bonnet to try and get him to venture out and "try" something new. This morning I was at the grocery store and thought I'd get something fun. I bought bagel bites. I thought they might look fun and new to him and maybe just maybe he'd want to give them a try. I even decided I would eat them for lunch too. (Sometimes not often though that works!) So I sat and ate my bagel bites and he munched on his carrots. When he finished his carrots I convinced him to TRY the bagel bites. He does this thing with everything he eats... before it goes in his mouth he touches it with the tip of his tongue. I don't know if that is to see if it's too hot or what but he did that about three times to the bagel bite and then I got him to take a bite. You would think I had given him dog poop. He started spitting and gagging instantly. It was ridiculous. He doesn't have a gag issue he has NO trouble chewing and swallowing. It's not a developmental problem... he's just picky. So of course I want him to have a nice full belly and take a nice long nap so I went down and prepared his usual chicken (guess it's a quesadilla for dinner).

Oliver will NOT ever eat what we eat for dinner. I just don't know what to do. It drives me crazy. I'm sure he's fine. Obviously he's a healthy growing boy. It just drives me insane that he won't eat most foods.

But on the bright side we did have a huge breakthrough today. We have tried several times since his first birthday to get him to try oranges. For the past two or three weeks Berto and I have been on an orange kick. We just can't seem to get enough of them so I've been trying every time I eat an orange to get Oliver to try some of it. He has refused every single time to even take one little taste. Well today before he "tried" his bagel bite I had one segment of orange left on my orange and he snagged it and devoured it.. and begged for more! That was a good thing! So happy he tried something new!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a super chill day. I stayed in my pajama's for most of it! The highlight of my day was after going downstairs and finding beautiful flowers and cards from my boys to go back upstairs and have Oliver say "Hi mama, Happy Mudders Day!" It was so cute!

We had to miss church because Lianna was going to be calling sometime during church so we of course waited patiently for her call! It was great to talk to her! Donnie has been here all weekend for Berto's graduation on Saturday and to spend Mother's Day with my mom so it's been a super nice, kind of crazy several days! I am going to post pics and stuff about the graduation as soon as I get the pics from Donnie's camera!

I am so thankful for my sweet Oliver and my sweet husband! They are just wonderful!

Look Who's 2.5!!!

I know it's not his birthday and we aren't counting the months anymore, but I thought I'd do a post about Oliver because he's getting so smart and learning so much I don't want to forget all of the things he's doing at this age!

Oliver knows his ABC's! He is kind of funny. He doesn't sing the ABC song and he doesn't recite them but he can identify every letter of the alphabet! His favorite way of doing it is with a puzzle that he has! But also wherever we are he points out letters! He LOVES letters! I think he might end up being an early reader but who knows!

We're working on counting! He can count to 12 but he doesn't always do it right every time! He's getting really good at identifying numbers too! The other day we were at the LDS distribution center by the Mesa Temple buying Berto his graduation gift. You take a number and wait your turn. The number I got was 6. Oliver kept taking the number and turning it upside down and saying "mama look NINE!" It was funny!

You can't debate with Oliver. He is ALWAYS right. For instance with the above little story I kept correcting him and saying "no that one is actually a six" and he's say "NO MAMA NINE." It's that way with most things. If he thinks something is a certain way it IS because Oliver says so! There is no reasoning with him! I guess it's probably a lot to do with his AGE!

Oliver had frequent meltdowns at least 50 a day. They range from me leaving the room to use the restroom to him wanting a certain toy etc. He is definitely in his "terrible twos." Some days I want to pull my hair out... but we somehow make it through each day! :)

Oliver is terrified of BEES! We have a plant in our front yard and everyday when we walk to our mailbox that's a street over we walk past it. The plant ALWAYS has bees swarming in it. Oliver says "oh no bees" and walks as far away from it as possible. I'm sure he got that from me. I am terrified of bees! It's really funny to watch.. and even funnier to hear ME saying "they won't hurt you if you don't touch them." That is so not my thinking but I don't want Oliver afraid of things!

Oliver is becoming quite a chatter box! I'm so glad! For a while I was a little worried because he really wasn't talking much! But he is talking so much now! I love his little voice! I love it when he says "sit with mama" and "I'm coming!" One of my other favorites is "I'll be back!" He's so fun (When he's not throwing a tantrum lol!)

Oliver is obsessed with cars, trains and airplanes! He is definitely all boy!

We've been watching a lot of tv while I've been not feeling well with this pregnancy! He has become really responsive. I try to have him watch the shows that actually teach him something. One of our favorites is Ni Hao Kai Lan. It teaches Chinese words but also conflict resolution and how to deal with their emotions. He'll sit and watch and respond to their questions. He gets sad when the characters are sad. It's really funny! Thankfully he's still young enough that I think I'll be able to counteract the couch potato once I'm feeling human again! (At least I hope I will!)

Oliver is shy! When we go places if people are paying attention to him he takes my hand and hides his face behind it. It's kind of funny... but it also makes me a little sad. I hope he'll out grow that and be more like his daddy in that regard!

Oliver is a joy! I love him to pieces. I love hearing him say "Wub you mama!" That brightens my day! I'm so thankful that I am his mom! He has been such a blessing in our home! He's fun and funny and a little dramatic and whiny! But I wouldn't change him for anything!