Drumroll Please....

(Yes, this is finally happening....I'm updating the blog!) Back to the drumroll....

After months and months (8 to be exact) of effort, patience, and struggle.....after exhausting all professional ideas and suggestions....after giving up and then trying again, the event we've all been waiting for (okay, the event I've been DYING for) has finally come to pass....Luke is POTTY TRAINED!!!! If you have been keeping up with us even a little bit then you all know what an ENORMOUSLY HUGE deal this is!!! Luke is the most stubbornly adorable kid I have ever met and he just had to make me suffer for 8 whole months to prove to me and to the world that he will do things when he is good and ready to do them... and no matter how much bribing, begging, and pleading I throw his way he could care LESS!

Brandon had just about had it as well so starting in February he threw all "professional" tactics aside because he could see that "keeping it positive and fun" was just a waste of time with Luke. Instead, he got serious. He made Luke pick 2 toys from his room to give back to us every time he went to the bathroom in his diaper. I should mention that he's been doing #1 in the toilet for months now--it's the disgusting #2 that he wouldn't do. By mid-March we had collected a port-a-crib full of toys and he still wasn't getting it. I guess a combination of things finally aligned for him because I don't feel like I did anything I hadn't tried already....I got him a new spiderman toilet seat (the first 2 didn't do anything for him I guess) and then stripped him naked and refused to leave the house until he pooped in the toilet. It took a day and a half for this to happen (and for Luke who goes 3-4 times a day, that was a long time). On March 20th, a day I'll now remember just as well as my children's birthdays, he finally put #2 in the toilet and so far, knock on wood, he hasn't had a single #2 accident (a couple #1 accident's but I can handle that). He's staying dry in underwear through the night and is doing great! He got all his toys back as well as the hulk action figure that we've been dangling over his nose for 8 months. Below you can see the pictures of all the toys as well as a big HULK kiss. Enjoy!

Besides Potty training, here are some pictures of some fun things we've done over the past few months...

We went to Utah over Christmas and was able to spend a day at Temple Square. The kids had a lot of fun.

We took the kids, Nana Wagner, Aunt Kira, and cousin McKelle ice skating. Karina did really well---Luke, well, he gave good hugs.

Uncle Jason came out to Austin in January to visit (this picture is in Utah at Christmas...I forgot to take pics while he was here). Luke still calls out for Uncle Jason in the house when he's mad at me and wants to get comforted, hoping by some miracle he has come back. They adore their uncle!

We don't have a playroom so I converted the under-the-stairs storage room into their little playroom....complete with glow in the dark stars, magnetic door, and dry erase wall they can color on.

Brandon decided to make a pie and enlisted the help of his 2 junior chefs. They had a lot of fun and to be totally honest, it was really good! And I'm not a pie person.

Watching the hundreds of kites at the Annual Zilker Park Kite Festival