No Rag? No Problem!

I bought Kyler a water bottle a few months ago. He loves it, but it's not spill proof. Yesterday he apparently spilled some water...then [I'm guessing] he felt guilty and wanted to clean it up, but couldn't reach the paper towels/rags which were on the kitchen counter. So what did he do?

He stripped down and used his underwear to mop the water up! Not his shirt. Not his shorts. His UNDERWEAR. Sometimes I wish I could have a lil peek into his brain to see why he does the things he does.

 

He's the grandson of an engineer, I tell people, he figures out how to solve problems that might otherwise seem impossible.

Be Back Soon Topsail Island!

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We made it home from the beach, but oddly it still feels like I'm on vacation. I just uploaded a few more pics (well 223 to be exact- I may or may not be addicted to my new camera) onto my computer from our beach trip, and thought I'd post a few here. 

The first thing Kyler did each morning was grab his balloons and run outside on the deck to look at the ocean.

We walked from the boardwalk to the pier on Saturday at Sunset, it was beautiful!

On Sunday we watched the moon rise over the ocean...it was bright orange!

On Saturday we took the kids out on the giant raft in the ocean. They were all TERRIFIED at first because a huge wave washed over them on the way out, but they got used to it...eventually.

Kyler is typically a pretty shy little boy when he meets new people, however, somehow during this beach trip he gained a lot of confidence! He kept finding girls who were sunbathing on the beach and would walk up to them and start talking. Haha-what a flirt! He also interrupted some teens who were playing soccer on the beach and tried to played with them. Oh and this is my fav: this old grandpa had fallen asleep in a beach lounge chair and Kyler decided it was time for him to wake up so he climbed up on his chair and started JUMPING! Luckily the old dude had good humor and laughed at Kyler (I was so embarrassed). I'm wondering if his newly discovered confidence followed him home or not.

We made it out to the beach one last time on Monday before hitting the road. The drive back to Charlotte was smooth sailing. Kyler slept like this for half of the drive...doesn't he look so comfy?

We can't wait to go back to the Lucky Leaf beach house in 3 weeks for family reunion!

Can We Stay? Can We Stay Please?

We are currently on vacation on Topsail Island , NC- my most FAVORITE place to be. We usually come with family, but this time we invited a few friends to join us (The Foyes-old friends from GA/ school in ID, the Starnes-friends from church, and the Shufords-friends from Jared's work). Our kids are all getting along great, and we're having a blast! I'm not going to spend too much time on this post now-I just want to add a few pictures:

 

So Kyler. I LOVE it.

Ashlynn and Kyler



Beckett and Kyler playing tag

I forgot to tell Jared to switch the camera from manual to auto...but I love the way it came out anyway. This was right after my morning run. Be amazed. I exercised on vacation.

All of the lil kid swings were taken so Jared held Kyler...such a good daddy :)

 

 

I seriously don't want to leave. Ever.

GifBoom

The Dollar store is definitely Kyler's favorite store:

Kyler (my 2 year old) is in-between an 8 year old and an 11 year old...doesn't he look so big?!

"Why is the dollar store Kyler's favorite?" you might ask. Well...you see...this is where we buy: (I don't know if these will work on mobile devices, so if not get on your computer to see them!)

You may have guessed it... BALLOOONS!!

Which as you can tell by the jumping up and down...are still his most favorite thing in the world.

I recently discovered this gifboom app thingy and am kinda obsessed with it. I tried to copy one I saw of a dog a few weeks ago, and it didn't really turn out haha but I still like it:

This is my all time favorite one. I didn't make it, but it's hilarious:

We are off to the beach (Topsail Island, NC) tomorrow for a much much needed vacation with friends. Get ready for some gorgeous beach pics! xoxox-Char

102 lbs

Last year when we took Bauer to the vet he weighed 86lbs, which is a good weight for a golden retriever his height. Soon after that appointment we switched his dog food to a cheaper brand.

Last week, we took Bauer in for his yearly visit, and his vet told us he weighs 102lbs now!!! Apparently cheap dog food is like the dollar menu at McDonalds. It's cheap, delicious, and full of fat. So this week we switched his dog food back to the healthy kind....and will be doing this every day after dinner:

 Kyler insists that he gets to be the one that holds Bauer's leash. Also, I just realized how we rarely use Kyler's stroller anymore. When I do get the stroller out.... Kyler prefers to push it rather than sit in it. Sad...my baby is a big boy now!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Scents

This is a random post, but I'm always curious what my friend's favorite scents are...so here are mine at the moment:

In not particular order:

1. Paris Amour -Bath and Body Works

2. Love Spell -Victoria's Secret

3. Be Enchanted -Bath and Body Works

4. Aqua di Gioia for women -Giorgio Armani

What other scents are good?! (comment below!)

Thumbs Up for Summer, Popsicles, and Blessings!

It's finally popsicle weather here! Summer certainly took its' sweet time this year.

We have been busy planning for our move next month! Moving is definitely not a fun process. Forwarding mail from the Post Office, changing addresses on bank accounts, transferring services with utility companies... let alone all the packing and planning that goes into relocating. In the end though it will all be worth it! As I mentioned in my previous post, my parents are serving a mission in Chile for 2 years! We are so excited for them! They have been trying to sell their home over the past few months, while we have simultaneously been searching for a home to buy (in a much lower price range than my parents!). Both of us had been unable to find what we were looking for. It ended up becoming a blessing in disguise though! We decided to rent their home while they are away. This way we can take care of their home maintenance, bills, and taxes, plus they wont need to rent their home to strangers while they are gone. We, on the other hand, get to rent a beautiful home in a fantastic neighborhood at a great price, and serve my parents while they serve the Lord!  

We're Moving!!

Over the past several months we have been "house hunting" around Charlotte. At first, we were excited to potentially find a really great deal....because supposedly we are still coming out of an economic recession, and interest rates are at record lows. Or so we thought... but the Real Estate market in Charlotte is experiencing an interesting turn around, meaning investors have flooded the market and are snatching up every home that becomes available!! The inventory of homes in Charlotte are meeting record lows. After we were disappointed on 7 different offers on different homes, we began to feel like maybe this isn't the best time to buy. Some of the homes we put offers on were foreclosures, others were resales. Some of our offers were below the asking price, and others we offered well above. In every instance, we were outbid by an investor with cash. Nothing panned out for us, and I'm okay with that. I never felt like any of the homes we saw were perfect for us like I wanted them to be. We didn't want to make an impulsive decision and settle for a home that we were not completely happy with, but that is what was beginning to happen.

In the end, Jared and I decided to continue renting for the time being. Perhaps the market will swing back the other way after a while, and the buyer's market will return!  Once Grad School is out of the way, we will have a better idea of where we want to look anyway. Either way, our lease is up at the end of June (our landlord wants to sell this house), and we needed to figure out where we wanted to live.

At the time we were making this difficult decision THIS house (pictured below) happened to become available to rent at the exact time that we needed to move out of our current house. It is PERFECT for us! Great location (about 15 min away from where we are now) that is close to Jared's work and Wake Forest, and we absolutely love the neighborhood (lots of pools and parks!) We are so excited!

I also have to add what a blessing it is that this fell into our laps the way it did. My parents who are leaving on a 2 year mission to Chile... offered to rent it out to us!

Here is Kyler on the front porch of our soon-to-be new home. I'm trying out my new camera (mother's day present) LOVE IT!! I have no clue how use it yet...so much to learn...like.... Jared had to show me how to take the lens cap off haha and I don't know how to focus or change the shutter speed or anything ...but even still the pictures are SOOO much better than my old camera.

 I was trying to focus on Kyler and make the background blurry...kinda succeeded but not really because he is not really in focus either...I need to watch some camera tutorials ASAP.

Our dog and kid approve of our soon-to-be new (rental) back yard! They were both running around like crazy. I'm just happy you can see them in the picture-with my old camera it would have been one big blur and a splash of color flying in the air.

We will be sad that we won't see some of our church friends as often (we will be in a new congregation with the new area), but we won't be too far away...
at the same time we are looking forward to making a few more friends and starting new adventures in our new home come the end of June!

Locked Out

Jared took his little "boy scouts" (from church) camping and my dad is at the beach house tonight....which left my mom and I widows for the evening/night- so we decided to hang out! As I was leaving her house around 10pm my mom said:

"Make sure to call me when you get home so that I know you made it safely. Especially because Jared isn't home. What if something happened on your drive and you didn't make it home? Nobody would know about it!" 

She is a worrier if you can't tell. I promised I would, and was on my way. When I pulled in the garage at home Kyler was just about to fall asleep. I turned off the car, opened both of our doors, and locked them before taking him out of his car seat. Habit. As I was unbuckling him I remembered my mom's request to call her but I wanted to hurry and put Kyler in bed before he woke up all the way. So "brilliant me" decided I would leave my phone in the car so I would have to come back out to the car to get my phone and that would remind me to call her.

After Kyler was in bed I walked back out to the garage and "tried" to open the car door. Locked. I looked in the windows and saw my keys sitting on the seat right next to my phone. I panicked. The spare key was with Jared who was of course camping. I ran inside and got on my computer thinking maybe one of my siblings would be online and then they could text my mom (I don't memorize cell numbers. I have a smart phone thank you. A smart phone that is USELESS locked in my car) and husband (who was also expecting to hear from me of course) to tell them what happened.  Of course all 4 of my siblings were "offline" So I decided to panic some more. That made me feel better. Not. So I logged onto facebook hoping one of them would be on facebook chat. Nope! Finally I discovered that one of my friends whose husband had Jared's cell number was on facebook chat and she basically saved the night.

A few hours later one of my sisters FINALLY got online and when I told her what happened she couldn't stop laughing at me. Part of our conversation:
 

Mel: Oh sorry i saw you tried to chat with me...I was outside whatcha doin?

Char: Your a little too late to save the day but it's all good now. i locked my phone and keys in the car. Jared is out camping and mom was at her house waiting for me to call her ...so i needed you to text them and tell them what happened.
Mel: LOL hahahahahaha
Char: I was panicking so bad! ....and now I'm so paranoid without a phone! How do I call 911 if I need to...what if a boogie man breaks in? I like how you laugh at me. Just wait. You'll do the same thing tomorrow ;)

Mel: LOL! don't say that! We'll be in dallas tmr. that would stink. Call me and i'll call 911 for u....Oh wait. hahaaha

Char: Good one.

Mel: BOO

Char: ahhh!

Mel: hahahahaha don't be scared

Char: Don't do that!

Mel: LOL!!!!!

RAHHHH!!!

RAAAAAAH!!!!!

Char: >:( stop iiiiit!

Mel: wait....what....

Char: gulp

Mel:....was that?! Out your sliding glass door....

My sister loves me...can't you tell? haha

I'm trying to look at the bright side....at least I got locked out of my car at home. I am safe and sound inside with my toddler peacefully snoozing down the hall....I think I'll join him... Good night!

Climber Kyler

Kyler has never been a climber; he has always been so cautious. He finally braved up just a few months before his second birthday and climbed onto the couch by himself (he used to always ask me for help) and when going down any stair(s) he would take the safe route and turn around and go on his hands and knees. 

Now, however, it is like he is a completely different child! He climbs on EVERYTHING, and is so brave (a little too brave for my comfort). Yesterday at the park he found the perfect tree to climb. At first I thought it was cute that he was "trying" to climb the tree.... then a few seconds later I was like "wait he is actually climbing up really high and I can barely reach him! Come back!" My mom thought it was funny and captured the moment:

A Nap Time Post

Today when I woke up I knew it was going to be a bad day. I was right.

 Every tiny little thing that went wrong I over reacted only making things worse. Two hours into my morning, I knew I wouldn't be able to make it through the day if my attitude continued this way. So I put on some good music, and let that work it's magic. For me, listening to a few gospel songs always does the trick.(haha) ...but really how can I have a bad attitude while listening to songs about my Savior?

 It really helped a lot....even though my day didn't get any better, the way I chose to react to the adversity was a little different, making things bearable.

Now it is Kyler's nap time. GLORIOUS nap time. I just logged into a few social media websites to see what's going on today, and as I was scrolling down facebook a few of my friends posted quotes that COMPLETELY changed my attitude today. Thank you friends! I'm going to share them here now:

The last couple are from my friend's facebookpage here

Now, I know today will be a good day. It is. :D

Potty Training ...DONE

We did it! We potty trained our little boy. I am SO proud of him!

He had been showing signs of potty training readiness, so I researched a lot of different methods of potty training and customized them into my own...and it worked! Oh and he is 2 years, 5 months. Here is what we did:

Step 1. Bought all of the gear. 

We bought 2 packs of thick Gerber training pants (these are the ones pictured on the right...they come in a package with blue/stripes/and dog prints) We got these kind for the first few week of potty training. They are super absorbent and Ky never had pee running down his leg when he had an accident. The toddler boxer briefs pictured on the left are what he is starting to wear now. They are from Target and I think they are the cutest things everrrr!

We also bought gerber water proof pants to put on over his underwear when we went out in public for the first week of potty training. (I had a lot of places to be that week-as always). Luckily he has NEVER had an accident out in public though. Lucky right? Knock on wood.We also purchased the baby bjorn potty seat that you put directly onto the toilet. I am SO happy with it. I would definitely recommend this seat for potty training little boys. It has an integrated splash guard (no pinching or leaking) it is easy to clean and small and light weight. We also bought Kyler a potty book ('Chugga Chugga Poo Poo' haha it's a cute book) and of course we also bought potty treats and flush-able wipes. I think that's all. It sounds like a lot, but really it's nothing compared to the price of diapers!

Step 2. We explained to him what was happening.
 I told him diapers (he calls them "diaper bum bums" haha) are all gone and showed him where they used to be. He agreed that they were all gone and when I took the diaper off that he was wearing he threw it away and I said "last diaper is gone!" ...and he repeated. I put his underwear on and told him "no more diapers- you get to wear underwear and be a big boy and use the potty!"

Kyler the proceeded to say "Noooo!" and "underwear stuck!" I guess he didn't like the feeling at first, but he got used to it quickly- ESPECIALLY when I told him that if he goes pee or poop in the toilet he could have a piece of candy. That switched his attitude right around. He got really excited and wanted to try immediately. The first time I put him on the toilet nothing happened. It took several trips (every 20 min) before he finally went.

Step 3. We had to be consistent. 
The first  few days of potty training I set the timer and put him on the toilet every 30 minutes. He only got a piece of candy if he went. When we had to leave the house to run errands I put his potty seat and a change of clothes (just in case he had an accident while we were out)  in a back pack and took it everywhere we went.

Now I don't need to bring the potty seat with me, but it really helped for the first 2 weeks to make everything normal and consistent for him. Also now I only take him on the potty every 1-2 hours because I know he can hold it longer. He is also starting to tell me when he needs to go which is nice in case I forget how long its been since he last went. We still put a pull-up on him for naps and bedtime, but they are always dry when he wakes up- he holds it until I get him out of his room and take him to the bathroom which is really nice!

Day 1 of potty training was about 50/50. Half accidents, half made it in the potty. (I didn't bother putting pants on him)
Day 2 of potty training he only had two accidents.
Day 3 of potty training-one accident.

We are now on week THREE of potty training and he hasn't had an accident since the first week! We got it down! We are so proud of Kyler.

 Here is our potty trained boy- 2.5 years old!

He is so proud of himself. He seriously tells EVERYONE he is wearing underwear. It's his favorite word, and he actually pronounces it crystal clear (seems like a hard word for a 2 year old to pronounce right?). The other day he walked up to a few cute 5 year old girls on the playground and declared "I gots UNDERWEAR!" The girls giggled and ran away. I'm writing this on the blog to embarrass future Kyler :D

Also, if it wouldn't be too much trouble...could you "join this site" ...I would REALLY appreciate it! Thank you so much!

Moldy Cheese. Yum.

Don't you just love that moment when you open up the fridge and panic when you find that the block of cheese has gone moldy?

.....then you think about it and you realize you usually don't even buy blocks of cheese, you usually buy your cheese already shredded...is that really cheese at all?



Nope. Apparently you husband bought this without you knowing:

 I love this kind of moldy cheese ;)