Potty update.

So, I bought the potty seats and the boys have overcome their fear of sitting on the toilet (thank goodness!).

I decided to start out easy...  The boys go potty at bedtime.  Right before pj's go on, or right before the bath if it's a bath night.  They get undressed and take turns going peepee (no poop yet, we'll get the pee down first).  They'll go a little and need cheers and applause before going some more.  This will repeat a few times and then it'll be the others' turn.  I love that they both clap and cheer each other on.

After a couple weeks of this routine I thought maybe we should make an outing of it and go buy some underwear.  I helped the boys pick of some underwear at Target and talked it way up for them...

They were excited to get something new, but I'm afraid that they were a little confused about their use.  They were excited about new Lightning McQueen and Toy Story "stuff".

Later, (after naps) (and after I washed the undies) I wanted the boys to try them on...

 They both didn't really like the new under garments and wanted them off.  Being the "mean" mom that I am, I made them wear them for a little while. 

Jonas kept pulling them down around his ankles and enjoyed strutting around the house that way.  (He'll probably kill me for taking this photo someday, it'll be a good one to show his future girlfriends).

After a little bit the boys were content to wear them (barely) and had some fun jumping on the couch (mostly) naked.

(for some reason this photo reminds me of Tom Cruise in Risky Business...  haha!)

During this time, Elliott wet 2 pairs of undies and Jonas 1.  They totally don't quite "get" the underwear and knowing when they have to go potty, so we'll put the undies aside and stick with our bedtime potty routine for now.  I think we'll re-visit the underwear in the Fall.

They know what to do on the potty, just not the don't-go-potty-in-your-pants idea...  We'll work on that.  Here's a couple of closing photos for you... 

Potty time!

It's Potty Time!

Yikes!?  Really?!?!?!

I just bought a potty seat for the boys (they were on sale at Babies R Us recently).  We aren't full on hard core potty training yet, we are just warming up to the potty.  Up til not the boys would freak out if I sat them on the potty, but this new seat is really helping.  We are working on going potty before bath and/or bedtime.  They have both gone pee-pee a few times, we'll work on poop later :)  So far so good.  I still think we need to get a little better about communicating before we go full on potty training.  Baby steps, I guess.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!  I have been very blessed in my life to be surrounded by amazing women at every turn!  Thank you so much for helping shape my life.

It was SO nice to have Matt home on Mother's Day!  This whole Cup Series gig and him being gone on Sundays has been a bit of an adjustment.  We are so thankful for the Sundays that he gets to spend at home.

I was also privileged to have my mom here visiting on Mother's Day.  I'm so glad to be living so much closer that it makes visits easier (and less expensive).

Krista + Lynn

We also had my mom's brother Alan stay with us this weekend (everybody was in town for my cousin's wedding).

Doug + Alan + Lynn (my mom and her brothers)

Dad + Mom

Mom had to take Dad to the airport, so she wasn't able to go to church, but me, Matt, Uncle Alan and the boys got to go (again, SO nice having Matt with us).  The boys did pretty good and they brought me home some cute Mother's Day art.

Jonas wasn't big on filling out the questionnaire...  I do like the hands though :)

I'm so thankful to be Jonas & Elliott's mother.  They amaze me everyday.  I love them so much (they do drive me crazy every now and then, but hey who's kids don't?).

Merry Christmas!

Colorado

I never thought that living in Colorado, again (you all know that's where I was born and raised...  19 awesome years!) would ever be an option for my family.  First of all, my husband hates the snow and cold weather and more so, keeping us from my home state, would be that he has chosen a career in NASCAR, which is deeply rooted and headquartered in the South (pretty darn far from CO).  With all that working against us, a NASCAR job in DENVER, CO has landed in our laps.  Crazy!  I know!  We were in negotiations for quite a while and my stress levels of a possible move and major life change were sky high (fueling my lack of blog posts lately...sorry...).  Matt has now officially accepted this new position and given his current team his 2 weeks notice.  Matt will start his employment with Furniture Row Racing in January 2012.  He will be back and forth between CO and NC until we are all settled out there.  The plan is to pack and find a renter for our house in January and we are hoping to all be in Colorado in February.  We will be keeping our house here in NC, selling right now wouldn't be optimal and there is a chance that we could be back in North Carolina in the future sometime.

While I am sad to be leaving North Carolina (and Matt's parents, and lots of great friends... sad!), I am ecstatic to be moving "home".  None of my immediate family lives in CO anymore, but I have lots of extended family still there and many friends I will be excited to reconnect with.  We will be a 1 day car trip from my parents and my brothers and sisters (YAY!).  We will be back in Mountain Standard Timezone (yay for 10 pm news!) and close to great skiing.  We are all excited for this new adventure and looking forward to living in Denver.

p.s.  If any of you follow NASCAR you will now have to root for the #78 Furniture Row Racing car driven by Regan Smith.

Trick-or-Treat!

I took J & E to my friends house for some photos in their Halloween costumes.  They turned out GREAT!  These  guys are so funny.  Check them out...

Cousins!

Here are the Hymas cousins!  They all look so cute!

Will+Audrey+Max+Luke

Welcome, welcome!

Welcome to the world little babies!  My newest nephews were born earlier today!  I don't have all the info yet, but I'll post an update when I get it.  But here they are!

Luke (baby A) & Max (baby B)

I SO wish they all still lived here!  I want to snuggle them SO bad!!  Congrats to Kristin, Patrick, Will & Audry on the new additions to their family!